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This article is about Long Island in New York State. For other uses, see Long Island (disambiguation)
File:Long Island Mercator projection.png
Mercator projection of Long Island

Long Island is an island in New York, USA. It has an area of 1,377 square miles (3567 km²) and a population of 7.536 million, making it the largest island in the continental United States and the most populous in any U.S. state or territory. It is the 17th most populous island in the world, ahead of Ireland, Jamaica and the Japanese island of Hokkaido. True to its name, the island is much longer than it is wide, jutting out some 118 miles (190 km) from New York Harbor, with only from 12 to 20 miles (32 km) between the southern Atlantic coast and Long Island Sound. The Native American name for Long Island is Paumanok, meaning "The Island that Pays Tribute" -- more warlike tribes in the surrounding areas forced the relatively peaceful Long Islanders to give tributes and payment to avoid attacks.

On the western part of Long Island are the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn (Kings County) and Queens (Queens County). To the east are Nassau and Suffolk counties. However, colloquial usage of the term "Long Island" or "the Island" usually refers only to the suburban and rural Nassau and Suffolk counties; the more urban Brooklyn and Queens are omitted as they are part of New York City.

Long Island is known for its affluence and high quality of life. According to the 2000 Census, Nassau County is the second richest county per capita in New York State and the sixth richest in the United States[citation needed]. Suffolk County is known for the many communities located on its beaches, including the world-renowned Hamptons.

Long Island is also known for its strong middle class accenting a strong dedication to hard work, suburban homeownership, investment in schools and education, and "soccer moms and dads" who are strongly committed to family living and local community events. Many of these are second (or third) generation families who had originally come from Brooklyn and Queens, seeking the space and tranquility of the early suburbs. In particular, a strong Brooklyn orientation remains among many of these families. [citation needed]

According to the FBI's Crime Index, Long Island (Nassau-Suffolk) has the second lowest crime rate in the United States.

Climate

Long Island has a climate that is very similar to other coastal areas of the Northeastern United States; it has warm, humid summers and cold winters, but the Atlantic Ocean helps bring afternoon sea breezes that temper the heat in the warmer months and limit the frequency and severity of thunderstorms. However, severe thunderstorms are not uncommon, especially when they approach the island from the mainland (Bronx, Westchester and Connecticut) in the northwest. Some thunderstorms can be extremely severe and tornadoes, though very rare, are possible. In August, 2005, a small tornado hit Glen Cove and one year later in August, 2006 a small tornado hit Massapequa, both in Nassau County, though the latter tornado did hit parts of Amityville, New York which is a border town but located in Suffolk County. On September 27, 2006, a rare waterspout was seen over the Long Island Sound near Port Jefferson. In the wintertime, temperatures are warmer than areas further inland (especially in the night and early morning hours), sometimes causing a snowstorm further inland to fall as rain on the island. However, measurable snow falls every winter, and in many winters one or more intense storms called Nor'easters produce blizzard conditions with snowfalls of 1-2 feet (30-60 cm) and near-hurricane force winds. Long Island temperatures also vary from west to east, with the western part of the island warmer on most occasions than the east. This is due to two factors; one because the western part is closer to the mainland and the other is the western part is more developed causing what is known as the "urban heat island" effect. The eastern part is cooler on most occasions due to the ocean and sound and it being less developed. On dry nights with no clouds or wind, the Pine Barrens in eastern Suffolk County can be almost 20-Fahrenheit degrees cooler due to radiational cooling.

Long Island is somewhat vulnerable to hurricanes.[1] Its northern location and relatively cool waters tend to weaken storms to below hurricane strength by the time they reach Long Island. Despite this, some storms had made landfall at Category 1 or greater strength, including two unnamed Category 3 storms in 1938 (New England Hurricane of 1938) and 1944, Hurricane Donna in 1960, Hurricane Belle in 1976, Hurricane Gloria in 1985, Hurricane Bob in 1991 (brushed the eastern tip), and Hurricane Floyd in 1999 (there is debate amongst climatologists as to whether Hurricane Floyd landfalled as a Category 1 or as a very strong "almost hurricane strength" tropical storm, the official records note it as the latter). Many other storms crossed the island directly at tropical storm strength, including Hurricane Bertha in 1996 and Hurricane Charley in 2004. In September 2006, the remnents of Hurricane Ernesto swept through the area, causing several temporary power outages on parts of the island.

Geology

Long Island is formed largely of two spines of glacial moraine, with a large, sandy outwash plain beyond. These moraines consist of gravel and loose rock left behind during the two most recent pulses of Wisconsin glaciation some 12,000 years ago. The northern moraine, which directly abuts the North Shore of Long Island at points, is known as the Harbor Hill moraine. The more southerly moraine, known as the Ronkonkoma moraine, forms the "backbone" of Long Island; it runs primarily through the very center of Long Island, roughly coinciding with the length of the Long Island Expressway. Most of the more level land south of this moraine to the South Shore is the outwash plain.

Eventually, the glacers melted and receded to the north, resulting in the difference between the north shore beaches and the south shores. The North Shore beaches are rocky from the remaining glacial debris, while the South Shores are crisp clear outwash sand. Running along the center of the island almost like a spine is the moraine left by the glaciers. (Bald Hill is the highest point along the moraine.) The glaciers also formed Lake Ronkonkoma, a kettle lake.

The island's tallest natural point is Jayne's Hill near Melville, with an elevation of 400.9 feet (122.2 m) above sea level. Long Island is separated from the mainland by the East River — actually not a river but a tidal strait.

Long Island contains a series of sand and gravel aquifers, geologic formations which can hold, transmit and yield water in usable quantities. All of Long Island's water supply comes from underground water held in aquifers. Stacked one on top of the other like layers in a cake, three major and one minor aquifer make up the Long Island aquifer system. In sequence from shallowest to deepest, the Long Island aquifers are: the Upper Glacial, the Magothy and the Lloyd Aquifers. All Long Island aquifers receive their fresh water from precipitation which takes from 25 to 1,000 years to migrate through the layers to the aquifers, which hold roughly 70 trillion gallons (264 trillion liters) — enough to flood the entire surface of Long Island with more than 300 feet (91 m) of water — and can withstand long droughts that dry up surface-water reservoirs like the ones that supply New York City. Almost four million gallons each day are taken from beneath Nassau and Suffolk Counties, providing the primary source of water for the resident population. While most homes are on a municipal water system, there are still many areas where homes have their own wells to provide them with water. Due to contamination associated with development, the concern over preserving the quality of Long Island's groundwater has become the single most important factor limiting the region's growth.

Demography

Population trend
Year Inhabitants
1790 37,108
1800 42,097
1810 48,752
1820 56,978
1830 69,775
1840 110,406
1850 212,637
1860 379,788
1870 540,648
1880 743,957
1890 1,029,097
Year Inhabitants
1900 1,452,611
1910 2,098,460
1920 2,723,764
1930 4,103,638
1940 4,600,022
1950 5,237,918
1960 6,403,852
1970 7,141,515
1980 6,728,074
1990 6,861,474
2000 7,448,618

Long Island is one of the most densely populated regions in the United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the total population of all four counties of Long Island was 7,448,618. New York City's portion of the census was 4,694,705, with Brooklyn's population at 2,465,326 and Queens having 2,229,379 residents. The combined population of Nassau and Suffolk counties was 2,753,913 people, Suffolk County's share at 1,419,369 and Nassau County's at 1,334,544. Nassau County had a larger population for decades, but Suffolk County surpassed it in the 1990 census as growth and development continued to spread eastward.

Long Island has a substantial Italian American presence, accounting for 28.8% of Suffolk's population and 23.9% of Nassau's as of the 2000 census.

As of the 2000 census the racial makeup of the island is 20.1% African American, 17.8% Hispanic, 9% Asian/PI, 49.6% Caucasian and 3.5% other or mixed race.

History

Farm Island

Early colonial figures on the island include Wyandanch, Smith, Captain William Kidd, Lionel Gardner, and John Underhill. The western portion of Long Island was settled by the Dutch, while the eastern region was settled by English Puritans from Massachusetts. Long Island was the scene of several witch hunts, including one involving Lionel Gardner in East Hampton.

During the American Revolutionary War, the island was captured by the British early on in the Battle of Long Island, and had a notable loyalist influence, especially in Hempstead. Yankees in northern and eastern parts were more inclined to Rebel sentiments. The island remained a British stronghold until the end of the war. Close ties with England (since colonization and even after independence) may account for the similarities between English accents and the New York Accent, most notably the non-rhotic pronunciation.

19th Century Long Island was rural and agricultural, except along the East River and the country estates of rich city people on the North Shore. Fishermen also plied their trade. Late in the century, the Long Island Railroad began the transformation of some western parts of the island into commuter towns.

Prior to May 4, 1897, the whole of Long Island remained outside the boundaries of New York City as the counties of Queens, Kings and Suffolk. Long Island itself formerly possessed two incorporated cities; the City of Brooklyn and the City of Long Island (in Queens County, now a neighborhood in the Borough of Queens. The name Long Island City harks back to its former status). Both, along with Kings and Queens counties, were consolidated into "The City of Greater New York" on the May 4th date, with an officially celebrated date of January 1, 1898 (Kings and Queens Counties survive as county names). The easternmost 280 square miles (725 km²) of Queens County, which rejected consolidation into New York City, formed a separate county. "Nassau", one of several names by which the island was once known, was revived to represent the newly established county. The figurative "separation" of Brooklyn and Queens from Long Island in popular usage must have begun around this time, since the Battle of Long Island and Long Island City (all nowadays in "The City") all allude to their geographical location on the island.

Long Island was the home of several prominent Roosevelts, such as author Robert Roosevelt, and the summer home of his nephew President Theodore Roosevelt, who made his home at Sagamore Hill in Nassau County, and Theodore's son Quentin, for whom Roosevelt Field was named. Long Island was also the home of the Vanderbilt family.

When road racing was banned, one of the Vanderbilts opened the Long Island Motor Parkway in 1908 from Kissena to Lake Ronkonkoma. This limited access motor highway was one of the first in the world.

Immigrants spilling over from New York City have made comfortable lives on Long Island. The immigration waves of Southern and Eastern Europe have been pivotal in creating the diversity on Long Island that most other American regions lack. These immigrations are reflected in the large Italian American and Jewish-American populations. Typically the immigrants lived in the more urban western parts of the island, and their children and grandchildren farther east. Late 20th Century immigrants often arrived directly in Nassau County and other suburban areas.

Sprawl Island

Suburbanization came modestly to Long Island in the early 19th Century when reliable steam ferry service allowed prosperous Wall Street workers to get to new Brooklyn Heights homes in time for dinner. After the American Civil War, streetcar suburbs sprawled out onto the outwash plain of central and southern Kings County, bringing annexation with them. Trolleys also brought workers from other parts of western Queens to Long Island City jobs. After the turn of the century, elevated and subway trains allowed masses of workers to commute to Manhattan jobs from Queens and eastern Brooklyn, which offered cheaper and larger housing but were far beyond reasonable walking distance. The Long Island Railroad played only a limited role in this process, and automobiles were little relevant yet.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Long Island began the transformation from backwoods and farms to the paradigm of the American suburb. With Robert Moses, various parkway projects began to span the island, along with various state parks, Jones Beach being the most famous, "the crown jewel in Moses' State Park System". Long Island quickly became New York City's retreat - with millions of people going to and from the city to the new state parks. As the years wore on, development started to follow the parkways, with various communities springing up along the more travelled routes: (the Southern State Parkway, the Northern State Parkway, and, in the 1960s, the Long Island Expressway).

After World War II, Long Island's population skyrocketed, mostly in Nassau and western Suffolk, as people who worked and lived in New York City moved out to Long Island in the new developments built during the post-war era boom. The most famous post-war development was the town of Levittown, New York. Positioned along the Wantagh Parkway in the area formally known as Newbridge, (the main traffic corridor has the same name as a homage to what once was), the area became the first place to massively reproduce houses on a grand scale- providing great opportunity for GI's returning home to start a family.

After the success of Levittown, other areas surrounding fell to "suburban sprawl" and Nassau County became more densely populated than its eastern counterpart, Suffolk County. As the years wore on into the 1960's and 70's however, sprawl sent development east of the county line- with areas such as Deer Park, New York and Commack, New York seeing rapid development. As you drive out east along routes such as New York Route 27 (Sunrise Highway) along the south shore or New York Route 25 (Jericho Turnpike) you will see development start to spread out, even turning back to the potato and sod farms that once were east of towns such as Mount Sinai, New York. Long Island always has a shortage of land, and with real estate prices always on the rise, it is expected to see urban sprawl approach even the farms of Riverhead, New York and beyond. The development of the island is mostly low density, with each house sitting on about 1/2 acre of land out in Nassau and 1-2 acres in Suffolk. The island has a dependency on cars, since mass transit systems aren't as developed as they are in cities like New York, and many suburbs have no railroad station.

Long Island: Suburbia or something else?

Some urban planners would say that Long Island is only half-suburb, and half-Technoburb. A Technoburb is a community that isn't urban traditionally, but the population lives in a self sustaining community without a big urban center such as New York City being their main source of jobs. Nassau County is full of New York City commuters and thus the suburban part of the island; Suffolk County contains mostly professionals who work within a 20-mile radius of their homes, in places such as State University of New York at Stony Brook or Computer Associates.

It can be argued, however, that the same is true for dwellers in Nassau County, as it too has opportunities for professionals stemming from its large population as well as universities including Hofstra University, Adelphi University, C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, and SUNY Old Westbury. A drive to New York City from Eastern Suffolk County could take up to 3 hours with traffic on a normal weekday, thus making it impractical to commute each day, although those living in the western and central communities of the county can quickly arrive in Manhattan via the Long Island Railroad. In recent years, due to home prices, this dynamic has shifted with more and more Eastern Long Island residents commuting to NYC.

Long Island and 9/11

Long Island was hit hard by the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. Many people who live there commute to Manhattan for work every day. In the days after the attacks, it was common to see cars parked for days in the parking lots of Long Island Rail Road stations that belonged to victims of the attacks. On a per capita basis, the village of Garden City lost the largest number of people in the attacks. Also, many of the firefighters called in to assist in evacuation efforts or quelling the underground fires that occurred after the Twin Towers fell were from Long Island.

Aviation history

Long Island is important in the history of aviation. It was the home of the Roosevelt Airfield in Garden City, Nassau County. From this airport, Charles Lindbergh took off for his historic 1927 nonstop flight from the New York City area to Paris, France. But Roosevelt Airfield was closed in 1951, and its land is now the location of commercial development, including a shopping mall.

Long Island was also home to several historic aerospace companies. Farmingdale-based Republic Aviation, for instance, manufactured the famed P-47 fighter plane during the World War II period. Grumman Aircraft, with operations in Bethpage and Calverton, produced the F-14 Navy fighter during the 1970s and 1980s and was also involved in NASA's Apollo program during the 1960's.

Another important historic Long Island airport was Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. Established in the early 1930s, it was New York City's first commercial airport, and it was also a terminus of historic flights by Amelia Earhart, Roscoe Turner, Wiley Post, and Howard Hughes. Its runways were closed in the 1970s, and it is currently part of a wildlife refuge.

In 1996, tragedy struck Long Island, as TWA Flight 800 exploded over water off the coast of the small hamlet of East Moriches. 230 people were killed in the disaster. A monument to those lost now stands at Smith Point County Park on Fire Island in Suffolk County.

Economy

The counties of Nassau and Suffolk have long been renowned for their affluence. With median home prices rising in excess of $400,000 USD,[2] Long Island has a very high cost of living with residents paying some of the highest property taxes in the country. Such affluence is especially pervasive among the hamlets and villages on the North Shore of Long Island also known as the 'Gold Coast' and among opulent pockets of the South Shore.

Long Island is home to some of the most expensive houses in the country. In fact, the most expensive residence in the country is Three Ponds in Bridgehampton.[3] Long Island is home to the luxury communities of the Hamptons, as well as Cold Spring Harbor and Lloyd Harbor in Suffolk County and Garden City, Laurel Hollow, Syosset, and Manhasset in Nassau County. Long Island is also home to the second largest private residence in the country, the Otto Kahn estate. Otto Kahn was a famous Long Islander who built the second largest private home in the United States, in the style of a French Chateau.

The economy of Long Island has long benefited from its proximity to New York City, although before and during World War II, Long Island began developing industry of its own. From about 1930 to about 1990, Long Island was considered one of the aviation centers of the United States, with companies such as Grumman Aircraft and Sperry Gyroscope having their headquarters and factories in the Bethpage area. Grumman has long been the source of top warplanes for the U.S. Navy and the Marine Corps, as seen in the movie Top Gun and numerous WW-II naval and Marine Corps aviation movies. Prominent WW-II Grumman aircraft included the F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat fighters, and the TBF Avenger bomber, flown by hundreds of U.S. and Allied pilots, including former President George H.W. Bush.

Long Island has played a prominent role in scientific research and in engineering. It was the home of the Grumman Aircraft factories where all the Apollo Program Lunar Module spacecraft were built; and it still is the home of the Brookhaven National Laboratories in nuclear physics and Department of Energy research. All of this makes Long Island one of the leading high-technology areas in the world.

In their early decades, Sperry Gyroscope and related companies were concentrated on Long Island, especially in Nassau County in the Bethpage area. Over the years, it also diversified to other locations. The company did very well during WW-II as military demand skyrocketed; it specialized in high technology devices such as gyrocompasses, analog computer-controlled bombsights, airborne radar systems, and automated take-off and landing systems. As the reader can see, these were jumping-off points into the multibillion-dollar annually aviation electronics business. During the Cold War decade of the 1950s, part of Sperry Gyroscope was moved to Phoenix, Arizona, and soon thereafter became part of the Sperry Flight Systems Company. This was to try to preserve parts of this vital defense company in the event of a thermonuclear conflagration. Both on Long Island and in Arizona, Sperry continued to excel at aviation electronics — avionics, and it also provided avionics systems for such NASA programs as the Space Shuttle.

In recent decades companies such as Sperry Rand and Computer Associates, headquartered in Islandia, have made Long Island a center for the computer industry. Gentiva Health Services, a national provider of home health and pharmacy services, also is headquartered in Long Island.

Nevertheless, the eastern end of the island is still partly agricultural, now including many vineyards as well as traditional truck farming. Fishing also continues to be an important industry, especially at Northport and Montauk.

A Long Island fisherman cleans his nets

Since World War II, Long Island has become increasingly suburban and, in some areas, fully urbanized. Levittown was only the first of many new suburbs, and businesses followed residential development eastward.

Long Island is home to the East Coast's largest industrial park, the Hauppauge Industrial Park. The park has over 1,300 companies, and employs over 55,000 Long Islanders. Companies in the park and abroad are represented by the Hauppauge Industrial Association.

A growing entertainment industry presence can also be found on the Island. Most recently producer Mitchell Kriegman established Wainscott Studios in Water Mill where the PBS children's show, “It's a Big, Big World”, is shot.

Politics

Brooklyn and Queens do not have independent county governments. As boroughs of New York City, both have subsidiary offices headed by borough presidents, largely ceremonial titles with little political power.

Nassau County and Suffolk County, in contrast, have their own governments, with a County Executive leading both. Each also has a county legislature as well as other countywide-elected officials, such as district attorney, county clerk and county comptroller. The towns in both counties have their own governments as well, with town supervisors and a town council.

Politically, Long Island was long controlled by the Republican Party. Republican presidential candidates won both Nassau and Suffolk counties from 1900 until 1988, with the exception of the 1912 victory of Woodrow Wilson and the Lyndon Johnson landslide of 1964. In 1972, Richard Nixon won Nassau, Suffolk and Queens and came within 14,000 votes of winning heavily Democratic Brooklyn. In 1992, the suburban counties split, with Nassau voting Democratic and Suffolk voting Republican; however, since 1996, both counties, along with Brooklyn and Queens, have been Democratic, although sometimes by fairly close margins. In 2004, John Kerry won Suffolk County by just under 14,000 votes. The close 2004 margins followed a large Gore win in Nassau and Suffolk in 2000, and many observers think the 2004 results were more of a reflection from a 9/11 bump Bush received through portions of the NY Metro area (as his #'s jumped quite a bit from 2000 in Staten Island, Rockland County and parts of New Jersey as well) rather than a reversal of the Democratic trend. In 2000, Senator Hillary Clinton lost both Nassau and Suffolk to Republican Rick Lazio, who had previously served as a congressman from Suffolk County. While the 2004 results did show a much stronger showing for Bush across Nassau and Suffolk County it did not hurt Democrat Charles Schumer and his re-election bid in the area. Schumer won both Nassau and Suffolk in a landslide receiving close to 70% of the vote in both counties. Republican Governor George Pataki won both Nassau and Suffolk in all three of his victories.

In 2001, Nassau County elected Democrat Thomas Suozzi as county executive and Democrats took control of the county legislature, marking the first time Democrats had full control over county governments. Republicans still held on to the District Attorney's office and Hempstead town government, which has not had a Democratic majority on the town council or held the town supervisor position in close to 100 years. In 2003, Suffolk County followed suit, elected Democrat Steve Levy as county executive.

The 2005 election saw Nassau move further into Democratic hands. Denis Dillon, the Republican District Attorney of Nassau County for over thirty years, lost his re-election bid to the Democrat Kathleen Rice. The Republicans also lost the Town of Brookhaven, long known as a bastion of the Republican Party on the Island. This has been attributed, in part, to what was perceived as widespread Republican corruption in the town; some critics had begun to refer to Brookhaven as "Crookhaven" because of this. The Suffolk County sheriff's race also resulted in a Democratic win. For the first time in years, Democrats once again control the Suffolk County Legislature. In 2006, for the first time ever, Democrats will control a majority of government offices in both counties including county executives, legislatures, and district attorneys.

On the western side, both Brooklyn and Queens are reliably Democratic, although Queens became that way fairly recently, having still been politically volatile through the 1980's. This is mainly a consequence of the recent changes in Queens demographics, that used to be a white-middle-class suburban county, and is now one of the most diverse places in the United States.

All or parts of 15 of New York's 29 congressional districts are located on Long Island. Of them, the Republicans only represent two; Peter T. King of Seaford represents the 3rd Congressional District, which includes most of eastern Nassau County and parts of southwestern Suffolk County. The other, Vito Fossella of the 13th Congressional District, represents parts of southwest Brooklyn, though his district is mainly located in Staten Island. The other 13 representatives are all Democrats.

Law enforcement and crime

In 2005, Forbes magazine listed Long Island as having 2,042 crimes per 100,000 residents; the lowest crime rate and less than half the US average [1].

Long Island is patrolled by the New York City Police Department, Nassau County Police Department, Suffolk County Police Department, New York State Police and several dozen local police departments.

Both Nassau and Suffolk have a sheriff's office that handles civil process, evictions, warrant service and enforcement, prisoner transport, courthouse security and detention, and operation of the county jail. The Nassau County Sheriff's Department employs about 900 sworn officers and only performs the above duties although deputy sheriff's have full police officer powers and can make arrests for any crime they come across. The Suffolk County Sheriff's Office has 1,300 sworn officers and in addition to the above duties also has a full service patrol unit including K9, Aviation, SWAT, and Marine divisions as well as a Criminal Investigation Division and various other special details and assignments.

Nassau and Suffolk County are often noted for having some of the highest police officer salaries in the country.

See List of Long Island law enforcement agencies

Transportation

Long Island is the location of three large airports with regularly scheduled commercial jet airline service. These are the John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport, both in Queens County (in New York City), and the Long Island MacArthur Airport, (sometimes referred to as the "Islip Airport"), a smaller airport in Suffolk County. This is the only airport in Nassau or Suffolk counties with regularly scheduled commercial flights, handling about 2 million passengers a year.

Long Island is also important in the history of aviation. It was the home of the Roosevelt Airfield - an airfield in Garden City, Nassau County. From this airport, Charles Lindbergh took off for his historic 1927 non-stop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean to Paris, France. Roosevelt Airfield was closed in 1951, and commercial developments built there, including Roosevelt Field Mall.

Another important historic Long Island airport was Floyd Bennett Field in Kings County (in New York City). Established in the early 1930s, it was New York City's first commercial airport, and it was also a terminus of historic flights by Amelia Earhart, Roscoe Turner, Wiley Post, and Howard Hughes. Its runways were closed in the 1970s, and most of it is currently part of a wildlife refuge.

The Long Island Rail Road, Long Island Expressway, and Northern and Southern State Parkways (the latter three all products of the automobile-centered planning of Robert Moses) make east-west travel on the island straightforward, if not always quick. Indeed, locals lovingly refer to Long Island Expressway as "The World's Longest Parking Lot".

Until the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883, all travel to Long Island was by boat. The first trains to connect Long Island to Manhattan were elevated rail lines that travelled over that same bridge.

The MTA Long Island Bus provides bus transportation throughout Nassau County and the western portions of Suffolk County. Suffolk Transit provides bus transportation throughout Suffolk County.

For a less stressful ride, one only needs to travel east across Long Island to the "Twin Forks". These two peninsulas offer a long and ambling journey far removed from the hustle and bustle of suburbia further west. Indeed, even after one reaches the end of Long Island Expressway in Riverhead, it is another 45 minute drive along Middle Country Road to reach the eastern end of the North Fork at Orient Point, and over an hour along Sunrise and Montauk Highways to reach Montauk Point at the end of the South Fork.

Suffolk county and Nassau County Police also make much more money than any other county in the Country. It is not uncommon for police to be making 6 figure salaries and high pensions.

Colleges and universities

Nassau and Suffolk counties are home to numerous colleges and universities, including:

Public

Private

Leisure

Beaches

Long Island has many beaches.

  • Atlantic Beach: a private beach on a southern barrier island in Nassau County
  • Coney Island (in Brooklyn)
  • The Rockaways (in Queens)
  • Town of Riverhead beaches, including Iron Pier Beach
  • Town of Southold Beaches
  • Town of Brookhaven Beaches, including Shoreham Beach
  • Smith's Point County Park beach
  • Jones Beach in Nassau County
  • Nickerson Beach in Nassau County
  • Long Beach
  • Cedar Beach
  • Sunken Meadow State Park, Kings Park in Suffolk County
  • Town of Hempstead Beaches at Point Lookout and Lido
  • Town of North Hempstead Beaches: Bar Beach and Hempstead Harbor
  • Town of Babylon Beaches: Gilgo Beach, Cedar Beach, and Overlook Beach
  • Town of Oyster Bay Beaches: Tobay Beach
  • Town of Smithtown Beaches: Short Beach, Long Beach, Callahan's Beach, Otto Schubert's Beach ("Little Africa")
  • Southampton Town Beaches: Tiana, Ponquogue, and various others on Dune Road and Gin Lane
  • Robert Moses State Park
  • Smith Point County Park (Suffolk County)
  • Cupsogue Beach (Suffolk County)
  • Montauk Point State Park

Resort areas

Fire Island National Seashore, which is a long barrier island off Long Island's South Shore, is a hot spot for tourists, especially during the summer. The Village of Ocean Beach is the most populous community on Fire Island. There are restrictions on automobile use and the island is not accessible by car (except for one small westerly portion), requiring passage by one of numerous ferries or other watercraft.

The Hamptons, in eastern Long Island's Suffolk County, is one of the area's most popular summer destinations. Parts of the Hamptons are well known for being a playground for the rich, and are frequented by residents of New York City during the summer months for weekend getaways. This has given rise to the terms "House in the Hamptons" or "Hamptons summer share."

The Garden City Hotel is near to several train stations, to the Roosevelt Field Mall, and to three golf courses.

Country Clubs and Sporting Clubs

Long Island is home to numerous country clubs, polo clubs, golf clubs, and many other private recreational organizations, including:

  • Bretton Woods Country Club (Coram)
  • The Bridgehampton Polo Club (Bridgehampton)
  • Brookvile Country Club (Glen Head)
  • Cherry Valley Country Club (Garden City)
  • Cold Spring Harbor Country Club (Cold Spring Hills)
  • The Crescent Beach Club (Bayville)
  • Crest Hollow Country Club (Woodbury)
  • Garden City Country Club (Garden City)
  • Garden City Golf Club (Garden City)
  • Engineers Country Club (Roslyn)
  • Hamlet Golf and Country Club (Commack)
  • The Hamlet Windwatch Golf Club (Hauppauge)
  • Huntington Country Club (Huntington)
  • Huntington Crescent Club (Huntington)
  • Moments Golf Club (Elmont)
  • Nissequogue Point Beach Club (Smithtown)
  • Port Jefferson Country Club (Port Jefferson)
  • Roslyn Country Club (Roslyn Heights)
  • Rockville Links Country Club (Rockville Centre)
  • Seawane Country Club (Hewlett Harbor)
  • Smithtown Landing Country Club (Smithtown)
  • South Fork Country Club (Amagansett)
  • Towers Country Club (Floral Park)
  • Westhampton Country Club (Westhampton)
  • Westhampton Yacht Squadron (Westhampton)
  • Woodbury Country Club (Woodbury)
  • Strathmore Vanderbuilt Country Club (Manhasset)

Food

Both Nassau and Suffolk County are host to numerous restaurants, many of them top quality. As New York is known as a melting pot, every kind of restaurant from Mexican to Hungarian can be found. These specialty restaurants are often family owned.

Small family-owned pizzerias are ubiquitous. It is not uncommon for a town on Long Island to have several different pizzerias, each with its own distinct flavor. The Long Island Pizza Festival & Bake-Off is annual competition where mom and pop pizzerias compete to be named best on Long Island.

Bagel stores and delis are also extremely common. Some bagel stores are Jewish owned and approved as kosher. Long Island bagels are considered some of the best in the world. At least one (and often more than one) deli can be found in a town. Some are open very late, most are not.

Diners also abound on Long Island and many depending on the business of the town are open all night, for late night patrons.

Professional Sports Teams

Club Sport Founded League Venue
Long Island Rough Riders Soccer 1994 United Soccer Leagues Mitchel Athletic Complex
New York Islanders Hockey 1972 National Hockey League Nassau Coliseum
Long Island Lizards Lacrosse 2001 Major League Lacrosse Mitchel Athletic Complex
New York Dragons Arena Football 1995 Arena Football League Nassau Coliseum
Long Island Ducks Baseball 2000 Atlantic League Citibank Park
Strong Island Sound Basketball 2005 American Basketball Association Suffolk County Community College
New York Mets Baseball 1962 Major League Baseball Shea Stadium
Brooklyn Cyclones Baseball 1999 New York-Penn League KeySpan Park

Ebbets Field, which stood in Brooklyn from 1913-1957, was the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who decamped to California after the 1957 season to become the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers won several National League penants in the 1940s and 1950s, losing several times in the World Series — often called Subway Series — to their Bronx rivals, the New York Yankees. The Dodgers won their lone championship in Brooklyn in the 1955 World Series versus the Yankees. The Brooklyn Nets Arena is a proposed sports arena, business and residential complex to be built partly on a platform over the Atlantic Yards at Atlantic Avenue, and is intended to serve as a new home for the New Jersey Nets.

The New York Mets play at Shea Stadium in Flushing in Queens. Plans have been announced for a New Mets Ballpark in Willets Point in the parking lot of the current stadium, to be completed for the 2009 baseball season. The new stadium is designed with an exterior facade and main entry rotunda inspired by Ebbets Field. The Brooklyn Cyclones are a minor league baseball team, affiliated with the New York Mets. The Cyclones play at KeySpan Park just off the boardwalk on Coney Island.

Nassau County is home to the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League, and the New York Dragons of the Arena Football League, who both play at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale. The Long Island Lizards of the National Lacrosse League play at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Uniondale. Belmont Park, whose main track is the longest dirt Thoroughbred racecourse in the world, is located in the Nassau County community of Elmont.

Long Island is also home to the Long Island Ducks minor league baseball team of the Atlantic League. Their stadium, Citibank Park, is located in Central Islip. The American Basketball Association's Strong Island Sound play home games at Suffolk County Community College. The two main rugby teams are the Long Island RFC in East Meadow and the Suffolk Bull Moose in Stony Brook. It also has a professional soccer club, the Long Island Rough Riders, who play at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Uniondale. The Rough Riders have won two national championships, in 1995 and 2002.

Another category of sporting events popular in this region are Firematic Racing events, involving many local Volunteer fire departments.

Music

Modern music has a long history on Long Island, as it has long been part of US history and is near the most populous city in North America, yet is located in the suburbs and as such is strongly influenced by youth culture. Psychedelic music was widely popular in the 1960s as flocks of disaffected youth travelled to NYC to participate in protest and the culture of the time. R & B also has a history in Long Island, especially in Nassau County, where population is denser and more closely influenced by New York City (Queens and Brooklyn).

Long Island, known in the hip-hop community, as Strong Island, was home to the members of the groundbreaking rap groups Public Enemy and De La Soul as well as the iconic MC Rakim. Numerous other artists have called Long Island home at one time or another, including EPMD, Keith Murray, RA the Rugged Man, A+, and Craig Mack. Method Man, Busta Rhymes, and Prodigy of Mobb Deep also share roots on Long Island. One of the genre's leading radio DJ's — Andre (Doctor Dre) Brown, a native of Westbury — plied his trade at Adelphi University's WBAU prior to achieving success on WQHT-FM and MTV as co-host of the influential Yo! MTV Raps.

Other famous artists also have roots in Long Island. For example, superstar diva Mariah Carey was born and raised in Huntington in Suffolk County and Billy Joel is from Hicksville in Nassau County. Joel's debut solo album, Cold Spring Harbor, was a reference to the Long Island town of the same name. Many compositions by Billy Joel pertain to life on Long Island, particularly his youth. Examples include songs "Keepin' the Faith", "Captain Jack", "It's Still Rock n Roll to Me" (where he actually references the "Miracle Mile" located on Northern Boulevard in Manhasset) and most notably "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant", which names local eateries and hangouts. The restaurant itself is believed to be Christiano's in Syosset, New York. Also, the song "Movin' Out" is a highly identifiable song for Long Islanders. Its commiseration of the increasing cost for living on Long Island has its protagonists working too hard just to "move up", all too familiar to this island's inhabitants. The songs "No Man's Land" and "Downeaster Alexa" lament the increasing development of the island; the latter song specifically referring to the eastern island and its effect on the fishing industry. The pioneering heavy metal / psychedelic rock group Blue Öyster Cult came together around Stony Brook University, releasing hits such as (Don't Fear) The Reaper, Astronomy, and Godzilla. Both of these artists had genre-defining roles in the popular music scene of the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Also, New Orleans heavy metal band, Zebra, while not experiencing much success elsewhere, become popular on Long Island during the 1980s. In addition, the progressive metal band Dream Theater has most of its members stemming from Long Island, including John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy World-known drummer, John Miceli, who plays with Meatloaf, formerly Blue Oyster Cult is from Port Jefferson and currently resides in St. James.

Modern music in Long Island includes indie music, which has rapidly grown in popularity particularly in Suffolk County where the local emo and hardcore punk scene continues to grow. It has been felt nationally by the moderate success of local bands such as Quinn, Taking Back Sunday, Brand New, Straylight Run, The Movielife, and From Autumn to Ashes selling Gold albums nationwide. Many churches and synagogues, as well as VFW Halls and community centers constantly house underground shows, affording cheap entertainment and an underlying sense of "scene community". Ska and pop punk bands also have an impressive following, with bands like Patent Pending, High School Football Heroes, the long-since disbanded Edna's Goldfish, SGT and Arrogant Sons of Bitches topping the list of crowd pleasers. It is a self-serving "business", so to speak, and most bands are known on the island spill over into the northeast regions such as New Jersey and Connecticut.

A Long Island-based rock station, WBAB, 102.3 FM, plays classic rock music from the 1960s, 70s and 80s. WBAB is also known for bringing together radio personality Greg Hughes and former HVAC worker Anthony Cumia in August 1994. The duo are now known as Opie and Anthony.

Garden City-based radio station WLIR at 92.7 FM was nationally known in the 1980s and 90s for playing "new wave" bands from Europe that were at the time unheard of in the U.S. Many of the bands and songs eventually crossed over to more mainstream radio, for example, the groups Frankie Goes to Hollywood and The Pet Shop Boys. Since 2004, the station has operated under a Spanish-language format since being bought-out by Univision. (WLIR has been reborn at 107.1 FM, but its more easterly location in Riverhead means many parts of the New York metro area that used to be able to hear it can now only do so via the Internet)

Jones Beach is an extremely popular place to view summer concerts, with new as well as classic artists performing there during the summer months at its outdoor venue. It hosts a large Fourth of July fireworks show every year, and the stands are filled. People park cars along the highway leading to the show, and others watch from the nearby beaches.

Tourism and Long Island Towns and Villages

Tourism is a good part of the Long Island economy in certain regions. Tourism thrives primarily in the summer because of the natural beauty, parks and beaches in Long Island along with the warmer weather of summer. Regions of Long Island that are large tourist attractions are the North fork on the east end of Suffolk County, which is known for fishing villages, quaint towns, ferries across to Connecticut or other northern states, and for the world famous wineries. The South fork is primarily known for similar features including golf, equestrian, boating, surfing, and fine dining in the Hamptons and Montauk.

Villages are significant additional source of tourism for the Island. Some of the tourism is from local Long Islander's simply visiting nearby friendly villages. Examples of well developed villages that attract surrounding communities are Huntington Village, Northport Village, Port Jefferson Village, Sayville, & Cold Spring Harbor in Suffolk County. Roslyn Village, Great Neck, The City of Long Beach, The City of Glen Cove, Massapequa Park and Rockville Center, Garden City are popular Nassau County Villages.

Trivia

  • Long Island is more populated than 97 countries in the world. As an independent nation, it would rank 95th among the world's largest countries.
  • The 179 fire agencies in Nassau and Suffolk combined have more fire trucks than New York City and Los Angeles County put together.[4]

Characters in the comic book Marvel Universe from Long Island include:

  • At least 3 members of the X-Men team, including 2 out of the 5 original recruits, were from Long Island. Archangel (real name Warren Worthington and previously called Angel) was from Centerport. His fellow original teammate Iceman (real name Bobby Drake) was from a town called Fort Washington, Long Island, which apparently exists in that universe but not in the real world, deriving its name from the town of Port Washington. Also a later recruit called Dazzler (real name Alison Blaire) was from another apparently fictional town in Long Island called Gardendale.
  • Iron Man (real name Tony Stark) is from or was born in Long Island, which town is uncertain, but it was likely one of the most affluent.

See also

  • NEW YORK: Atlas of Historical County Boundaries; John H. Long, Editor; Compiled by Kathryn Ford Thorne; 1993.

References

  1. ^ "weather.com — Vulnerable Cities: Long Island". Retrieved December 5. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ "Housing prices up - supply, too — Newsday". Retrieved March 14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "The Most Expensive Homes in America — Special Edition — Yahoo! Finance". Retrieved December 5. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Fire alarm: The trucks, Newsday November 15, 2005

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