Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Long Island shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Long Island offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Long Island at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Long Island? Wrong! If the Long Island is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Long Island then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Long Island? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Long Island and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Long Island wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Long Island then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Long Island site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Long Island, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Long Island, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.



and to the west are New York City and New Jersey.

Long Island is an island in southeast New York, United States. It has an area of 3,567 square miles (10,377 km²) and a population of 7,448,618 as of the United States Census, 2000, with the population estimated at 7,559,372 as of July 1, 2006, making it the largest island in the continental United States and the List of islands by population in any U.S. state or territory. It is the List of islands by population in the world, ahead of Ireland, Jamaica and the Japanese island of Hokkaidō. Its population density is 5,470 people per square mile (2,110 per km²). True to its name, the island is much longer than it is wide, jutting out some 122 miles (196 km) from New York Harbor, with only from 12 to 20 miles (32 km) between the southern Atlantic Ocean coast and Long Island Sound. The Native Americans in the United States 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 westernmost end of Long Island contains the New York City Borough (New York City) of Brooklyn (Kings County) and Queens (Queens County), and the central and eastern portions contain Nassau County, New York and Suffolk County, New York counties. However, colloquial usage of the term "Long Island" or "the Island" refers only to the suburban Nassau and Suffolk counties; the more Urban area Brooklyn and Queens are not always thought of as being part of Long Island, as they are politically part of New York City, though geographically they are on the island.

Nassau County, New York tends to be the more urbanized and congested county, with pockets of rural affluence in the cliffs of the Gold Coast of the North Shore (Long Island) overlooking the Long Island Sound. Nassau County, owing to the vast suburbanization that occurred in America after World War II, was the fastest growing county in the United States from the 1950s to the 1970s. Suffolk County, New York remains less congested despite substantial growth in high technology and light manufacturing sectors since 1990. Suffolk remains rural in the far east sections, such as The Hamptons and Greenport, Suffolk County, New York.

Long Island is known for its affluence and high quality of life. According to the United States Census 2000, Nassau County is the New York locations by per capita income (behind New York County, New York, which is coterminous with the New York City borough of Manhattan) and the Highest-income counties in the United States. Suffolk County is known for beach towns, including the world-renowned Hamptons, and for the most eastern part of the Island, Montauk Point, home of Montauk Lighthouse.

Long Island is also known for its strong middle class accenting a dedication to hard work, suburban homeownership, investment in schools and education and people 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. Long Island's Nassau County has the second highest property taxes in the United States.{{cite news | title = Study: Property Taxes Sky-High in Metro Areas | publisher = WCBS | date = October 4, 2006 | url = http://www.wcbs880.com/pages/96453.php?contentType=4&contentId=217028 | accessdate = August 6, 2007 -->

Climate of Long IslandLong Island has a climate 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 areas of the Bronx, Westchester County, New York and Connecticut in the northwest. Some thunderstorms can be extremely severe and tornadoes, though very rare, are possible. In September 1998, a small tornado hit Lynbrook, New York; in August 1999, an F-2 tornado hit parts of Mattituck, New York, in August 2005, a small tornado hit Glen Cove, New York; one year later in August 2006, a small tornado hit Massapequa, New York in Nassau County, New York, and parts of Amityville, New York, which straddles Nassau and Suffolk counties but is officially located in Suffolk County. On July 18, 2007, an F-1 tornado hit Islip Terrace, New York and on September 27, 2006, a rare waterspout was seen over the Long Island Sound near Port Jefferson, New York. 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 or mixed precipitation on the island.

Measurable snow falls every winter and in many winters one or more intense storms (called a Nor'easter) produce blizzard conditions with snowfalls of 1–2 feet (30–60 cm) and near-hurricane force winds.

Long Island temperatures 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 Atlantic Ocean and the Long Island Sound and it being less developed. On dry nights with no clouds or wind, the Long Island Central Pine Barrens in eastern Suffolk County can be almost 20 Fahrenheit degrees cooler due to radiational cooling.

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. 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 among climatologists as to whether Hurricane Floyd made landfall 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 remnants of Hurricane Ernesto swept through the area, causing several temporary power outages on parts of the island.

Geology Landsat Satellite imagery of Long Island and surrounding areas.Long Island, as part of the Outer Lands region, 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 21,000 years ago (18 000 BP). The northern moraine, which directly abuts the North Shore (Long Island) at points, is known as the Harbor Hill moraine. The more southerly moraine, known as the Ronkonkoma, New York 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 Long Island is the sandur plain.

Eventually, the glaciers melted and receded to the north, resulting in the difference between the Long Island beaches and the South Shore beaches. The North Shore beaches are rocky from the remaining glacial debris, while the South Shore's 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, New York, with an elevation of 400.9 feet (122.2 m) above sea level. Long Island is separated from the mainland by the East River, which is 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 US gallons (260 km³) — enough to flood the entire surface of Long Island with more than 300 feet (90 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 {| border=1 style="float:right; margin: 1em;border-collapse:collapse; text-align:right"|+ Population trend| valign="top" |{|! style="background:#efefef;" | Year! style="background:#efefef;" | 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|}| valign="top" |{|! style="background:#efefef;" | Year! style="background:#efefef;" | 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. Combined, Long Island's population is greater than 38 of the 50 United States. If it were an independent nation, it would rank as the 96th List of countries by population, falling between Sweden and Israel.

As of the 2000 census, the racial makeup of the island was 57.16% Race (United States Census), 21.18% Race (United States Census), 0.36% Race (United States Census), 9.06% Race (United States Census), 0.05% Race (United States Census), 8.17% Race (United States Census), and 4.01% from two or more races. 17.82% of the population were Race (United States Census) or Race (United States Census) of any race.

Population figures from the U.S. Census Bureau Census 2000 show that non-whites are in the majority in the two urban counties of New York City, while whites are in the majority in the two suburban counties of Nassau and Suffolk:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"|+align=top|Religious groups on Long Island|-|align=left|County!Population
2000 census!%
Catholic!% not
affiliated!%
Jewish!%
Protestant!Estimate
of % not
reporting

|-|align=left|Kings||2,465,326||37||4||15||8||33|-|align=left|Queens||2,229,379||29||37||11||5||15|-|align=left|Nassau||1,334,544||52||9||16||7||15|-|align=left|Suffolk||1,419,369||52||21||7||8||11|-|align=left|Total||7,448,618||40||18||12||7||20|-|+align=bottom|Source: ARDA The Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA), Year 2000 Report Churches were asked for their membership numbers. ARDA estimates that most of the churches not reporting were black Protestant congregations.|-|}

"History" "Farm island" The western portion of Long Island was settled by the Dutch, while the eastern region was settled by English Puritans from New Haven, Connecticut, settling in Southold on October 21, 1640. Under the leadership of the Reverend John Youngs, with Peter Hallock (after lots were drawn, the first to step ashore) the families of Barnabas Horton, John Budd, John Conklin, William Wells, John Tuthill, Thomas Mapes, Richard Terry, Matthias Corwin, Robert Akerly, Zachariah Corey and Issac Arnold planted the first English and the first white settlement in eastern Long Island. The land had been purchased in the summer of 1640 from and Indian tribe called the Corchaugs, and the Indian name of what became Southold (a "holding" to the South New Haven) was Yenniock. Southampton was settled shortly thereafter, with settlers from Lynn, Massachusetts acquiring land in what was to become Southampton in December 1640, and holding their first assembly meeting of settlers there in April 1641.

Southold was to remain under the juristiction of New Haven until 1662, and of Connecticut until 1674. When the colony of New York was handed over to the Dutch in 1673, the eastern towns, including Southold, Easthampton and Southampton, refused to submit; the Dutch attempted to force the matter by arms, and the colonists of the towns repelled them, with assistance from Connecticut. When New York became English again in 1674, these eastern towns preferred to stay part of Connecticut, and Connecticut agreed, but the government of the Duke of York forced the matter, with New York Governor Sir Edmund Andross threatening to eliminate their rights to land if they did not yield, which they did by 1676.Sketches of Suffolk County, Historical and Descriptive, with a Historical Outline of Long Island, by Richard Mather Bayles, 1874 This is largely a result of the Duke of York's grudge against Connecticut, as New Haven had hidden three of the judges who sentenced the Duke's father, King Charles I, to death in 1649.

Long Island was the scene of several witch hunts, including one involving the daughter of Lion Gardiner in East Hampton. Early United States figures on the island include Wyandanch, William "Tangier" Smith, Captain William Kidd, Lion Gardiner, and Captain John Underhill.

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 (American Revolution) influence, especially in Town of Hempstead, New York. 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 accent (linguistics)s and the New York Accent, most notably the non-rhotic pronunciation.

19th century Long Island was rural and agricultural, except in parts of Kings (Brooklyn) and Queens counties, which were consolidated into "The City of Greater New York" on May 4, 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 (both nowadays in "The City") both allude to their geographical location on the island.

Long Island was the home of several prominent Roosevelt family, 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 - on the outskirts of Oyster Bay, and Theodore Roosevelt's son Quentin Roosevelt, 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 Park (Queens) to Lake Ronkonkoma. This Freeway 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.

Strong 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, Brooklyn 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 Rail Road played only a limited role in this process, and automobiles had little relevance 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 State Park 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 traveled 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 County, New York and western Suffolk County, New York, 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 Island Trees, 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 modeled what some people criticize as "suburban sprawl" and Nassau County, New York became more densely populated than its eastern counterpart, Suffolk County, New York. As the years wore on into the 1960s 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 State Route 25 (Jericho Turnpike) or New York State Route 25A you will see development start to spread out, even turning back to the potato and sod farms that once were east of and including 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 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 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, New York 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. Due to extremely clear weather at the time, the smoke rising from the ashes of the World Trade Center was visible as far as Eastern Long Island, including places like Old Inlet and Fire Island, New York.

Aviation history Long Island is important in the history of aviation. It was the home of the Roosevelt Airfield in Garden City, New York, Nassau County. From this airport, Charles Lindbergh took off on his historic 1927 nonstop Orteig Prize 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, Hofstra University, and numerous mid-density housing developments.

Long Island was also home to several historic aerospace companies. Farmingdale-based Republic Aviation, for instance, manufactured the famed P-47 fighter aircraft during the World War II period. Grumman Aircraft, with operations in Bethpage, New York and Calverton, New York, produced the F-14 U.S. Navy fighter during the 1970s and 1980s, and was also the chief contractor on the Apollo Lunar Module that landed men on the moon. They received the contract on 7 November, 1962, and ultimately built 13 lunar modules (LMs). One is on display at the Cradle of Aviation Museum at the former Mitchel Air Force Base on the Hempstead Plains of Long Island.

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, New York. 230 people were killed in the disaster. A monument to those lost now stands at Smith Point County Park on Fire Island, New York in Suffolk County.

Economy The counties of Nassau County, New York and Suffolk County, New York have long been renowned for their affluence. Long Island has a very high standard 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 (Long Island) and among opulent pockets of the South Shore. Contrasting the affluence in the nation's other wealth renowned counties such as Orange County, California, Nassau and Suffolk Counties do not tend to be of the parvenus. Statistics from U.S. census concurs with this notion, as most affluence has been traced to inheritance on Long Island; subsequently Long Island affluent are sometime referred to as old money.

Long Island is home to some of the most expensive homes in the country. In fact, the most expensive residence in the country is Three Ponds in Bridgehampton, New York. Long Island is home to the luxury communities of the Hamptons, Cold Spring Harbor, New York and Lloyd Harbor, New York in Suffolk County, and Cove Neck, New York, Oyster Bay Cove, New York, Laurel Hollow, New York, Sands Point, Roslyn, Brookville, Old Brookville, Upper Brookville, Muttontown, Syosset, Woodbury, Jericho,Garden City, and Manhasset, New York in Nassau County. Long Island is also home to the second largest private residence in the country, the Oheka castle, known as OHEKA. 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.

Long Island has long benefited from its proximity to New York City. During the 1930s, 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 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 (film) 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 is home to the first Trans-Atlantic radio broadcast, made in Rocky Point New York to Paris, France.

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 United States Department of Energy research. All of this makes Long Island one of the leading high-technology areas in the world.

In their early decades, aerospace 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, New York, 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 and pumpkin farms as well as traditional truck farming. Fishing also continues to be an important industry, especially at Northport, New York and Montauk, New York.

Since World War II, Long Island has become increasingly suburban and, in some areas, fully urbanized. Levittown, New York 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.

Government and politics Nassau County, New York and Suffolk County, New York each have their own governments, with a County Executive leading both. Each 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.

Brooklyn and Queens, on the other hand, do not have independent county governments. As borough (New York City)s of New York City, both have Borough Presidents, largely ceremonial offices with little political power since the shutdown of the city's New York City Board of Estimate due to a Supreme Court decision which declared it unconstitutional and led to a reorganization of the city government.

Politically, Nassau and Suffolk were long controlled by the Republican Party (United States). Republican presidential candidates won both counties from 1900 until 1988, with the exception of the U.S. presidential election, 1912 of Woodrow Wilson and the Lyndon Johnson landslide of U.S. presidential election, 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 Party (United States), 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 numbers 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 Town of Hempstead, New York 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 Party District Attorney of Nassau County for over thirty years, lost his re-election bid to the Democrat Kathleen Rice. The Republicans also lost the Brookhaven, New York, long known as a bastion of Republican corruption and patronage on the Island. As a result, many critics and residents had begun to refer to Brookhaven as "Crookhaven". Republican corruption and the ensuing scandals, indictments, resignations and convictions helped usher in Democrat Brian Foley's as Brookhaven town supervisor. 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.

In 2006, Long Island continued its Democratic trend, helped by a strong Democratic win nationwide, Democrats Eliot Spitzer and Hillary Rodham Clinton won Long Island in a landslide in the Governor and US Senate race. Democratic Comptroller Alan Hevesi, despite being scandal-ridden, won Long Island and Democrat Andrew Cuomo won all of the island's counties in the Attorney General race, with Republican Jeanine Pirro narrowly losing in Suffolk. Republican Peter T. King held on to his Congressional seat in a race against Nassau County Legis. Dave Mejias by a 56%-44% margin, even as two other New York Republican Congressmen lost their seats upstate and one open Republican seat flipped to the Democrats. His 12 point margin of victory was less than half his margins in past elections.

Much of the traditional edge Republicans have had in the New York State Senate is due to dominating elections for these offices on Long Island, but the election of a Democrat to replace Michael Balboni in 2007 for the 7th District on Nassau County's North Shore demonstrated a recent weakness at that level of government as well.

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 1980s. 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.

Five of New York's 29 congressional districts are located on Long Island. Of them, the Republicans only represent one; Peter T. King of Seaford, New York represents the United States House of Representatives, New York District 3, which includes most of eastern Nassau County and parts of southwestern Suffolk County. The other four districts are represented by 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 .

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. The county jail in Nassau has been probed by the Federal government for prisoner abuses, including death.

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, New York. 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, New York, 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, Northern State Parkway, and Southern State Parkway (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 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 Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York) 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. Travelers heading to or from Kennedy Airport may use AirTrain JFK 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". These two peninsulas offer a long and ambling journey far removed from the hustle and bustle of suburbia and the city further west. Indeed, even after one reaches the end of Interstate 495 (New York) in Riverhead, it is another 45 minute drive along New York State Highway 25 to reach the eastern end of the North Fork at Orient Point, and over an hour along New York State Highway 27 and Montauk Highways to reach Montauk, New York at the end of the South Fork.

The Long Island Rail Road is the busiest commuter railroad system in North America, carrying an average of 282,400 customers each weekday on 728 daily trains. Chartered on April 24, 1834, it is also the oldest railroad still operating under its original name.

The 179 fire agencies in Nassau and Suffolk combined have more fire trucks than New York City and Los Angeles County put together. Fire alarm: The trucks, Newsday November 15, 2005

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

Public



Private

Leisure Public beaches Long Island is well known for its many public beaches. They include:



Resort areas Fire Island National Seashore, which is a long barrier island off Long Island's South Shore (Long Island), is a hot spot for tourists, especially during the summer. Ocean Beach, New York 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, New York Hotel is near to several train stations, to the Roosevelt Field Mall, and to three golf courses. As well, Splish Splash, one of the worlds leading water parks, can be found in Suffolk County

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



Food Both Nassau and Suffolk County are home to thousands of 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, except in Manhasset. Some bagel stores are Jewish owned and approved as kosher. Long Island bagels are considered some of the best in the world. Often more than one deli can be found in a town.

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

Athletics Long Island is home to numerous famous athletes, including hall of fames Jim Brown, Julius Erving, John Mackey and Carl Yastrzemski. Others include Jumbo Elliott, E

and to the west are New York City and New Jersey.

Long Island is an island in southeast New York, United States. It has an area of 3,567 square miles (10,377 km²) and a population of 7,448,618 as of the United States Census, 2000, with the population estimated at 7,559,372 as of July 1, 2006, making it the largest island in the continental United States and the List of islands by population in any U.S. state or territory. It is the List of islands by population in the world, ahead of Ireland, Jamaica and the Japanese island of Hokkaidō. Its population density is 5,470 people per square mile (2,110 per km²). True to its name, the island is much longer than it is wide, jutting out some 122 miles (196 km) from New York Harbor, with only from 12 to 20 miles (32 km) between the southern Atlantic Ocean coast and Long Island Sound. The Native Americans in the United States 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 westernmost end of Long Island contains the New York City Borough (New York City) of Brooklyn (Kings County) and Queens (Queens County), and the central and eastern portions contain Nassau County, New York and Suffolk County, New York counties. However, colloquial usage of the term "Long Island" or "the Island" refers only to the suburban Nassau and Suffolk counties; the more Urban area Brooklyn and Queens are not always thought of as being part of Long Island, as they are politically part of New York City, though geographically they are on the island.

Nassau County, New York tends to be the more urbanized and congested county, with pockets of rural affluence in the cliffs of the Gold Coast of the North Shore (Long Island) overlooking the Long Island Sound. Nassau County, owing to the vast suburbanization that occurred in America after World War II, was the fastest growing county in the United States from the 1950s to the 1970s. Suffolk County, New York remains less congested despite substantial growth in high technology and light manufacturing sectors since 1990. Suffolk remains rural in the far east sections, such as The Hamptons and Greenport, Suffolk County, New York.

Long Island is known for its affluence and high quality of life. According to the United States Census 2000, Nassau County is the New York locations by per capita income (behind New York County, New York, which is coterminous with the New York City borough of Manhattan) and the Highest-income counties in the United States. Suffolk County is known for beach towns, including the world-renowned Hamptons, and for the most eastern part of the Island, Montauk Point, home of Montauk Lighthouse.

Long Island is also known for its strong middle class accenting a dedication to hard work, suburban homeownership, investment in schools and education and people 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. Long Island's Nassau County has the second highest property taxes in the United States.{{cite news | title = Study: Property Taxes Sky-High in Metro Areas | publisher = WCBS | date = October 4, 2006 | url = http://www.wcbs880.com/pages/96453.php?contentType=4&contentId=217028 | accessdate = August 6, 2007 -->

Climate of Long IslandLong Island has a climate 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 areas of the Bronx, Westchester County, New York and Connecticut in the northwest. Some thunderstorms can be extremely severe and tornadoes, though very rare, are possible. In September 1998, a small tornado hit Lynbrook, New York; in August 1999, an F-2 tornado hit parts of Mattituck, New York, in August 2005, a small tornado hit Glen Cove, New York; one year later in August 2006, a small tornado hit Massapequa, New York in Nassau County, New York, and parts of Amityville, New York, which straddles Nassau and Suffolk counties but is officially located in Suffolk County. On July 18, 2007, an F-1 tornado hit Islip Terrace, New York and on September 27, 2006, a rare waterspout was seen over the Long Island Sound near Port Jefferson, New York. 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 or mixed precipitation on the island.

Measurable snow falls every winter and in many winters one or more intense storms (called a Nor'easter) produce blizzard conditions with snowfalls of 1–2 feet (30–60 cm) and near-hurricane force winds.

Long Island temperatures 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 Atlantic Ocean and the Long Island Sound and it being less developed. On dry nights with no clouds or wind, the Long Island Central Pine Barrens in eastern Suffolk County can be almost 20 Fahrenheit degrees cooler due to radiational cooling.

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. 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 among climatologists as to whether Hurricane Floyd made landfall 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 remnants of Hurricane Ernesto swept through the area, causing several temporary power outages on parts of the island.

Geology Landsat Satellite imagery of Long Island and surrounding areas.Long Island, as part of the Outer Lands region, 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 21,000 years ago (18 000 BP). The northern moraine, which directly abuts the North Shore (Long Island) at points, is known as the Harbor Hill moraine. The more southerly moraine, known as the Ronkonkoma, New York 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 Long Island is the sandur plain.

Eventually, the glaciers melted and receded to the north, resulting in the difference between the Long Island beaches and the South Shore beaches. The North Shore beaches are rocky from the remaining glacial debris, while the South Shore's 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, New York, with an elevation of 400.9 feet (122.2 m) above sea level. Long Island is separated from the mainland by the East River, which is 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 US gallons (260 km³) — enough to flood the entire surface of Long Island with more than 300 feet (90 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 {| border=1 style="float:right; margin: 1em;border-collapse:collapse; text-align:right"|+ Population trend| valign="top" |{|! style="background:#efefef;" | Year! style="background:#efefef;" | 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|}| valign="top" |{|! style="background:#efefef;" | Year! style="background:#efefef;" | 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. Combined, Long Island's population is greater than 38 of the 50 United States. If it were an independent nation, it would rank as the 96th List of countries by population, falling between Sweden and Israel.

As of the 2000 census, the racial makeup of the island was 57.16% Race (United States Census), 21.18% Race (United States Census), 0.36% Race (United States Census), 9.06% Race (United States Census), 0.05% Race (United States Census), 8.17% Race (United States Census), and 4.01% from two or more races. 17.82% of the population were Race (United States Census) or Race (United States Census) of any race.

Population figures from the U.S. Census Bureau Census 2000 show that non-whites are in the majority in the two urban counties of New York City, while whites are in the majority in the two suburban counties of Nassau and Suffolk:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"|+align=top|Religious groups on Long Island|-|align=left|County!Population
2000 census!%
Catholic!% not
affiliated!%
Jewish!%
Protestant!Estimate
of % not
reporting

|-|align=left|Kings||2,465,326||37||4||15||8||33|-|align=left|Queens||2,229,379||29||37||11||5||15|-|align=left|Nassau||1,334,544||52||9||16||7||15|-|align=left|Suffolk||1,419,369||52||21||7||8||11|-|align=left|Total||7,448,618||40||18||12||7||20|-|+align=bottom|Source: ARDA The Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA), Year 2000 Report Churches were asked for their membership numbers. ARDA estimates that most of the churches not reporting were black Protestant congregations.|-|}

"History" "Farm island" The western portion of Long Island was settled by the Dutch, while the eastern region was settled by English Puritans from New Haven, Connecticut, settling in Southold on October 21, 1640. Under the leadership of the Reverend John Youngs, with Peter Hallock (after lots were drawn, the first to step ashore) the families of Barnabas Horton, John Budd, John Conklin, William Wells, John Tuthill, Thomas Mapes, Richard Terry, Matthias Corwin, Robert Akerly, Zachariah Corey and Issac Arnold planted the first English and the first white settlement in eastern Long Island. The land had been purchased in the summer of 1640 from and Indian tribe called the Corchaugs, and the Indian name of what became Southold (a "holding" to the South New Haven) was Yenniock. Southampton was settled shortly thereafter, with settlers from Lynn, Massachusetts acquiring land in what was to become Southampton in December 1640, and holding their first assembly meeting of settlers there in April 1641.

Southold was to remain under the juristiction of New Haven until 1662, and of Connecticut until 1674. When the colony of New York was handed over to the Dutch in 1673, the eastern towns, including Southold, Easthampton and Southampton, refused to submit; the Dutch attempted to force the matter by arms, and the colonists of the towns repelled them, with assistance from Connecticut. When New York became English again in 1674, these eastern towns preferred to stay part of Connecticut, and Connecticut agreed, but the government of the Duke of York forced the matter, with New York Governor Sir Edmund Andross threatening to eliminate their rights to land if they did not yield, which they did by 1676.Sketches of Suffolk County, Historical and Descriptive, with a Historical Outline of Long Island, by Richard Mather Bayles, 1874 This is largely a result of the Duke of York's grudge against Connecticut, as New Haven had hidden three of the judges who sentenced the Duke's father, King Charles I, to death in 1649.

Long Island was the scene of several witch hunts, including one involving the daughter of Lion Gardiner in East Hampton. Early United States figures on the island include Wyandanch, William "Tangier" Smith, Captain William Kidd, Lion Gardiner, and Captain John Underhill.

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 (American Revolution) influence, especially in Town of Hempstead, New York. 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 accent (linguistics)s and the New York Accent, most notably the non-rhotic pronunciation.

19th century Long Island was rural and agricultural, except in parts of Kings (Brooklyn) and Queens counties, which were consolidated into "The City of Greater New York" on May 4, 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 (both nowadays in "The City") both allude to their geographical location on the island.

Long Island was the home of several prominent Roosevelt family, 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 - on the outskirts of Oyster Bay, and Theodore Roosevelt's son Quentin Roosevelt, 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 Park (Queens) to Lake Ronkonkoma. This Freeway 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.

Strong 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, Brooklyn 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 Rail Road played only a limited role in this process, and automobiles had little relevance 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 State Park 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 traveled 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 County, New York and western Suffolk County, New York, 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 Island Trees, 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 modeled what some people criticize as "suburban sprawl" and Nassau County, New York became more densely populated than its eastern counterpart, Suffolk County, New York. As the years wore on into the 1960s 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 State Route 25 (Jericho Turnpike) or New York State Route 25A you will see development start to spread out, even turning back to the potato and sod farms that once were east of and including 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 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 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, New York 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. Due to extremely clear weather at the time, the smoke rising from the ashes of the World Trade Center was visible as far as Eastern Long Island, including places like Old Inlet and Fire Island, New York.

Aviation history Long Island is important in the history of aviation. It was the home of the Roosevelt Airfield in Garden City, New York, Nassau County. From this airport, Charles Lindbergh took off on his historic 1927 nonstop Orteig Prize 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, Hofstra University, and numerous mid-density housing developments.

Long Island was also home to several historic aerospace companies. Farmingdale-based Republic Aviation, for instance, manufactured the famed P-47 fighter aircraft during the World War II period. Grumman Aircraft, with operations in Bethpage, New York and Calverton, New York, produced the F-14 U.S. Navy fighter during the 1970s and 1980s, and was also the chief contractor on the Apollo Lunar Module that landed men on the moon. They received the contract on 7 November, 1962, and ultimately built 13 lunar modules (LMs). One is on display at the Cradle of Aviation Museum at the former Mitchel Air Force Base on the Hempstead Plains of Long Island.

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, New York. 230 people were killed in the disaster. A monument to those lost now stands at Smith Point County Park on Fire Island, New York in Suffolk County.

Economy The counties of Nassau County, New York and Suffolk County, New York have long been renowned for their affluence. Long Island has a very high standard 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 (Long Island) and among opulent pockets of the South Shore. Contrasting the affluence in the nation's other wealth renowned counties such as Orange County, California, Nassau and Suffolk Counties do not tend to be of the parvenus. Statistics from U.S. census concurs with this notion, as most affluence has been traced to inheritance on Long Island; subsequently Long Island affluent are sometime referred to as old money.

Long Island is home to some of the most expensive homes in the country. In fact, the most expensive residence in the country is Three Ponds in Bridgehampton, New York. Long Island is home to the luxury communities of the Hamptons, Cold Spring Harbor, New York and Lloyd Harbor, New York in Suffolk County, and Cove Neck, New York, Oyster Bay Cove, New York, Laurel Hollow, New York, Sands Point, Roslyn, Brookville, Old Brookville, Upper Brookville, Muttontown, Syosset, Woodbury, Jericho,Garden City, and Manhasset, New York in Nassau County. Long Island is also home to the second largest private residence in the country, the Oheka castle, known as OHEKA. 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.

Long Island has long benefited from its proximity to New York City. During the 1930s, 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 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 (film) 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 is home to the first Trans-Atlantic radio broadcast, made in Rocky Point New York to Paris, France.

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 United States Department of Energy research. All of this makes Long Island one of the leading high-technology areas in the world.

In their early decades, aerospace 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, New York, 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 and pumpkin farms as well as traditional truck farming. Fishing also continues to be an important industry, especially at Northport, New York and Montauk, New York.

Since World War II, Long Island has become increasingly suburban and, in some areas, fully urbanized. Levittown, New York 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.

Government and politics Nassau County, New York and Suffolk County, New York each have their own governments, with a County Executive leading both. Each 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.

Brooklyn and Queens, on the other hand, do not have independent county governments. As borough (New York City)s of New York City, both have Borough Presidents, largely ceremonial offices with little political power since the shutdown of the city's New York City Board of Estimate due to a Supreme Court decision which declared it unconstitutional and led to a reorganization of the city government.

Politically, Nassau and Suffolk were long controlled by the Republican Party (United States). Republican presidential candidates won both counties from 1900 until 1988, with the exception of the U.S. presidential election, 1912 of Woodrow Wilson and the Lyndon Johnson landslide of U.S. presidential election, 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 Party (United States), 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 numbers 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 Town of Hempstead, New York 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 Party District Attorney of Nassau County for over thirty years, lost his re-election bid to the Democrat Kathleen Rice. The Republicans also lost the Brookhaven, New York, long known as a bastion of Republican corruption and patronage on the Island. As a result, many critics and residents had begun to refer to Brookhaven as "Crookhaven". Republican corruption and the ensuing scandals, indictments, resignations and convictions helped usher in Democrat Brian Foley's as Brookhaven town supervisor. 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.

In 2006, Long Island continued its Democratic trend, helped by a strong Democratic win nationwide, Democrats Eliot Spitzer and Hillary Rodham Clinton won Long Island in a landslide in the Governor and US Senate race. Democratic Comptroller Alan Hevesi, despite being scandal-ridden, won Long Island and Democrat Andrew Cuomo won all of the island's counties in the Attorney General race, with Republican Jeanine Pirro narrowly losing in Suffolk. Republican Peter T. King held on to his Congressional seat in a race against Nassau County Legis. Dave Mejias by a 56%-44% margin, even as two other New York Republican Congressmen lost their seats upstate and one open Republican seat flipped to the Democrats. His 12 point margin of victory was less than half his margins in past elections.

Much of the traditional edge Republicans have had in the New York State Senate is due to dominating elections for these offices on Long Island, but the election of a Democrat to replace Michael Balboni in 2007 for the 7th District on Nassau County's North Shore demonstrated a recent weakness at that level of government as well.

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 1980s. 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.

Five of New York's 29 congressional districts are located on Long Island. Of them, the Republicans only represent one; Peter T. King of Seaford, New York represents the United States House of Representatives, New York District 3, which includes most of eastern Nassau County and parts of southwestern Suffolk County. The other four districts are represented by 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 .

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. The county jail in Nassau has been probed by the Federal government for prisoner abuses, including death.

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, New York. 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, New York, 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, Northern State Parkway, and Southern State Parkway (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 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 Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York) 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. Travelers heading to or from Kennedy Airport may use AirTrain JFK 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". These two peninsulas offer a long and ambling journey far removed from the hustle and bustle of suburbia and the city further west. Indeed, even after one reaches the end of Interstate 495 (New York) in Riverhead, it is another 45 minute drive along New York State Highway 25 to reach the eastern end of the North Fork at Orient Point, and over an hour along New York State Highway 27 and Montauk Highways to reach Montauk, New York at the end of the South Fork.

The Long Island Rail Road is the busiest commuter railroad system in North America, carrying an average of 282,400 customers each weekday on 728 daily trains. Chartered on April 24, 1834, it is also the oldest railroad still operating under its original name.

The 179 fire agencies in Nassau and Suffolk combined have more fire trucks than New York City and Los Angeles County put together. Fire alarm: The trucks, Newsday November 15, 2005

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

Public



Private

Leisure Public beaches Long Island is well known for its many public beaches. They include:



Resort areas Fire Island National Seashore, which is a long barrier island off Long Island's South Shore (Long Island), is a hot spot for tourists, especially during the summer. Ocean Beach, New York 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, New York Hotel is near to several train stations, to the Roosevelt Field Mall, and to three golf courses. As well, Splish Splash, one of the worlds leading water parks, can be found in Suffolk County

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



Food Both Nassau and Suffolk County are home to thousands of 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, except in Manhasset. Some bagel stores are Jewish owned and approved as kosher. Long Island bagels are considered some of the best in the world. Often more than one deli can be found in a town.

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

Athletics Long Island is home to numerous famous athletes, including hall of fames Jim Brown, Julius Erving, John Mackey and Carl Yastrzemski. Others include Jumbo Elliott, E

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