area 3600 km²/1400 sq mi, length 190 km/118 mi. Island in SE New York State, USA; bounded N by Long Island Sound; separated from the Bronx and Manhattan by the East River, and from Staten I by the Narrows; comprises the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, and the New York State counties of Kings (includes Brooklyn), Nassau, Queens, Suffolk; many residential towns and resort beaches; contains John F Kennedy airport; settled by the Dutch in 1623, and by the English c.1640; site of the Battle of Long Island (1776) in the US War of Independence, when British forces under Howe defeated American forces under Washington.
Long Island is an island in New York, USA. 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.
The west end of Long Island is the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn (Kings County) and Queens (Queens County). However, colloquial usage of the term "Long Island" or "the Island" refers only to the suburban and rural Nassau and Suffolk counties; the more urban Brooklyn and Queens are not thought of as being part of Long Island, as they are part of New York City.
Long Island is known for its affluence and high quality of life.
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 people who are strongly committed to family living and local community events.
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; In August, 2005, a small tornado hit Glen Cove and one year later in August of 2006, a small tornado hit Massapequa in Nassau County, though the latter tornado did hit parts of Amityville, which straddles Nassau and Suffolk counties but is officially located in Suffolk County. Long Island temperatures also vary from west to east, with the western part of the island warmer on most occasions than the east. The eastern part is cooler on most occasions due to the Atlantic Ocean and the Long Island Sound and it being less developed.
Long Island is somewhat vulnerable to hurricanes. Its northern location and relatively cool waters tend to weaken storms to below hurricane strength by the time they reach Long Island.
Geology
Long Island is formed largely of two spines of glacial moraine, with a large, sandy outwash plain beyond. 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. 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. 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 BSL New York City. 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
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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. 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.
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.
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.
19th Century Long Island was rural and agricultural, except along the Kings (Brooklyn) 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). "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 on the North Shore of Nassau County, and Theodore Roosevelt'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 (Queens) to Lake Ronkonkoma.
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.
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. Trolleys also brought workers from other parts of western Queens to Long Island City jobs.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Long Island began the transformation from backwoods and farms to the paradigm of the American suburb. 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. 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.
Long Island: Suburbia or something else?
Some urban planners would say that Long Island is only half-suburb, and half-Technoburb. Nassau County is full of New York City commuters and thus the suburban part of the island;
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, Long Island U, Post Campus, SUNY Old Westbury, and NYIT. 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 Rail Road. 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. 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.
Aviation history
Long Island is important in the history of aviation.
Long Island was also home to several historic aerospace companies.
Another important historic Long Island airport was Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.
In 1996, tragedy struck Long Island, as TWA Flight 800 exploded over water off the coast of the small hamlet of East Moriches. A monument to those lost now stands at Smith Point County Park on Fire Island in Suffolk County. With median home prices rising in excess of $400,000 USD, 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. 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.
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.
Long Island has played a prominent role in scientific research and in engineering. 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. 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.
Since World War II, Long Island has become increasingly suburban and, in some areas, fully urbanized.
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.
Nassau County and Suffolk County, in contrast, have their own governments, with a County Executive leading both.
Politically, Long Island was long controlled by the Republican Party. 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 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. The Republicans also lost the Town of Brookhaven, long known as a bastion of the Republican Party on the Island.
All or parts of 15 of New York's 29 congressional districts are located on Long Island.
Law enforcement and crime
In 2005, Forbes magazine listed Long Island as having 2,042 crimes per 100,000 residents;
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.
Transportation
Long Island is the location of three large airports with regularly scheduled commercial jet airline service. 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.
Long Island is also important in the history of aviation.
Another important historic Long Island airport was Floyd Bennett Field in Kings County (in New York City).
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 MTA Long Island Bus provides bus transportation throughout Nassau County and the western portions of Suffolk County. Travelers heading to or from Kennedy Airport may use AirTrain to connect with the Long Island Rail Road in Jamaica or the New York City subway system at Howard Beach.
For a less stressful ride, one only needs to travel east across Long Island to the "Twin Forks". 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.
Colleges and universities
Nassau and Suffolk counties are home to numerous colleges and universities, including:
Public
branches of the State University of New York Stony Brook University including Southampton College campus SUNY College at Old Westbury Farmingdale State University Nassau Community College Suffolk County Community College other United States Merchant Marine AcademyPrivate
Adelphi University Five Towns College Briarcliffe College Dowling College Hofstra University Katharine Gibbs School, Melville Long Island University C.W. Post Campus Molloy College New York Institute of Technology Brooklyn Polytechnic University Touro Law Center Watson School of Biological Sciences Webb Institute Saint Joseph's College (Suffolk Campus) Saint John's University (Queens) Saint Francis College (Brooklyn)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 Rockaway Beach Far Rockaway 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 ParkResort 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 Hamptons, in eastern Long Island's Suffolk County, is one of the area's most popular summer destinations.
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 at Harbor Hills (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. It is not uncommon for a town on Long Island to have several different pizzerias, each with its own distinct flavor.
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.
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.
Long Island is also home to the Long Island Ducks minor league baseball team of the Atlantic League. 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.
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. 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.
Other famous artists also have roots in Long Island. Joel's debut solo album, Cold Spring Harbor, was a reference to the Long Island town of the same name. 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. 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.
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. The station, whose studios are located in Farmingdale, New York, is owned by the Long Island Radio Group.
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.
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. 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.
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