History
Early history
By the year 1643, there were 14 indigenous tribes living on Long Island: Canarsee, Rockaway,18th and 19th centuries
William Floyd was born on Long Island on December 17, 1734. His family had emigrated to America in 1654 and by the time of his birth were well established and wealthy. He was a member of the Suffolk County Militia in the early conflict with Britain, attaining the rank of Major General. In 1774 he was chosen as a representative from New York to the First Continental Congress. His property was destroyed by the British and Tory sympathizers. In 1789 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives, serving until 1791. Francis Lewis from Brookhaven on Long Island was another signer of the Declaration that also had his home destroyed by the British, who then imprisoned his wife. George Washington managed her release by having the wives of two wealthy Philadelphia Tories arrested, then exchanging them for Mrs. Lewis. Marinus Willett of Jamaica, Queens enlisted in the New York Guard, colonial militia after the French and Indian War broke out in 1754. He participated in the Battle of Carillon, Ticonderoga campaign and the Battle of Fort Frontenac, capture of Fort Frontenac in 1758. Joining the revolutionary Sons of Liberty in the 1770s, Willett shortly thereafter enlisted in the Continental Army in 1775. Serving in the 1st New York Regiment, 1st New York, he took part in the Invasion of Quebec (1775), Invasion of Quebec before transferring to the 3rd New York Regiment, 3rd New York in 1776. Seeing action Battle of Monmouth, at Monmouth, Willett then participated in the 1778 Sullivan Expedition, Sullivan Campaign. He was made the Colonel (United States), colonel of the 5th New York Regiment, 5th New York in 1780 and the Tryon County militia in 1781, where he fought Battle of Johnstown, at Johnstown. On August 22, 1830, Willett died and was buried in the graveyard of Trinity Church (Manhattan), Trinity Church. The Willets Point and the accompanying Mets–Willets Point station (IRT Flushing Line), Mets-Willets Point station is named in his honor. Early in the American Revolutionary War, the island was captured by the British from General George Washington in the Battle of Long Island, a decisive battle after which Washington narrowly evacuated his troops from Brooklyn Heights under a dense fog. After the British victory on Long Island, many Patriot (American Revolution), Patriots withdrew, leaving mostly Loyalist (American Revolution), Loyalists behind. The island was a British stronghold until the end of the war in 1783. General Washington based his Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War, espionage activities on Long Island, due to the western part of the island's proximity to the British Army during the American Revolutionary War, British military headquarters in New York City. The Culper Spy Ring included agents operating between Setauket, New York, Setauket and Manhattan. This ring alerted Washington to valuable British secrets, including the treason of Benedict Arnold and a plan to use counterfeiting to induce economic sabotage. Long Island's colonists served both Loyalist and Patriot causes, with many prominent families divided among both sides. During the occupation British troops used a number of civilian structures for defense and demanded to be quartered in the homes of civilians. A number of structures from this era remain. Among these are Raynham Hall Museum, Raynham Hall, the Oyster Bay, New York, Oyster Bay home of patriot spy Robert Townsend (spy), Robert Townsend, and the Caroline Church and Cemetery, Caroline Church in Setauket, New York, Setauket, which contains bullet holes from a skirmish known as the Battle of Setauket. Also in existence is a reconstruction of Brooklyn's Old Stone House (Brooklyn), Old Stone House, on the site of the Maryland 400's celebrated last stand during the Battle of Long Island. In the 19th century, Long Island was still mainly rural and devoted to agriculture. The predecessor to the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) began service in 1836 from the South Ferry, Brooklyn, South Ferry in20th century
Charles Lindbergh lifted off from Roosevelt Field (airport), Roosevelt Field with his ''Spirit of Saint Louis'' for his historic 1927 solo flight to Europe, one of the events that helped to establish Long Island as an early center of aviation during the 20th century. Other famous aviators such as Wiley Post originated notable flights from Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, which became the first major airport serving New York City before it was superseded by the opening of La Guardia Airport in 1939. Long Island was also the site of Mitchel Air Force Base and was a major center of military aircraft production by companies such as Grumman and Fairchild Aircraft during World War II and for some decades afterward. Aircraft production on Long Island extended all the way into the Space Age – Grumman was one of the major contractors that helped to build the early lunar flight and space shuttle vehicles. Although the aircraft companies eventually ended their Long Island operations and the early airports were all later closed – Roosevelt Field, for instance, became the site of a Roosevelt Field (shopping mall), major shopping mall – the Cradle of Aviation Museum on the site of the former Mitchel Field documents the Island's key role in the history of aviation. From the 1920s to the 1940s, Long Island began the transformation from backwoods and farms as developers created numerous suburbs. Numerous branches of the LIRR already enabled commuting from the suburbs to Manhattan. Robert Moses engineered various automobile parkways in New York, parkway projects to span the island, and developed beaches and state parks for the enjoyment of residents and visitors from the city. Gradually, development also followed these parkways, with various communities springing up along the more traveled routes. After World War II, suburban development increased with incentives under the G.I. Bill, and Long Island's population skyrocketed, mostly in Nassau County and western Suffolk County. Second and third-generation children of immigrants moved out to eastern Long Island to settle in new housing developments built during the post-war boom. Levittown, New York, Levittown became noted as a suburb, where housing construction was simplified to be produced on a large scale. These provided opportunities for white World War II military veterans returning home to buy houses and start a family. In his 1966 book, ''My Private America'' (''Moja prywatna Ameryka''), Kazimierz Wierzyński, a Polish poet who could not go back to Poland after World War II, describes Polish farmers living there, as "walking novels".21st century
By the start of the 21st century, a number of Long Island communities had converted their assets from Manufacturing, industrial uses to post-industrial roles. Brooklyn reversed decades of population decline and factory closings to resurface as a globally renowned cultural and intellectual hotbed. Gentrification has affected much of Brooklyn and a portion of Queens, relocating a sizeable swath of New York City's population. On eastern Long Island, such villages as Port Jefferson, New York, Port Jefferson, Patchogue, New York, Patchogue, and Riverhead (town), New York, Riverhead have been changed from inactive shipbuilding and mill towns into tourist-centric commercial centers with cultural attractions. The descendants of late 19th and early 20th-century immigrants from southern Europe, southern and eastern Europe, and Great Migration (African American), black migrants from the South, have been followed by more recent immigrants from Asia and Latin America. Long Island has many ethnic Irish Americans in New York City, Irish, Jews in New York City, Jews, and Italian Americans in New York City, Italians, as well as an increasing numbers of Asian Americans in New York City, Asians and Hispanic and Latino Americans, Hispanics, reflecting later migrations.Geography
The westernmost end of Long Island contains the New York City boroughs ofGeology
A detailed Geomorphology, geomorphological study of Long Island provides evidence of glacial period, glacial history of the kame and terminal moraines of the island which were formed by the advance and retreat of two ice sheets. 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 during the ice ages some 21,000 years ago (19,000 BC). The northern moraine, which directly abuts the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island at points, is known as the Harbor Hill moraine. The more southerly moraine, known as the Ronkonkoma Moraine, 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. The land to the south of this moraine to the South Shore is the outwash plain of the last glacier. One part of the outwash plain was known as the Hempstead Plains, and this land contained one of the few natural prairies to exist east of the Appalachian Mountains. The glaciers melted and receded to the north, resulting in the difference between the topography of the North Shore 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. Jayne's Hill, at , within Suffolk County near its border with Nassau County, is the highest hill along either moraine; another well-known summit is Bald Hill (Farmingville, New York), Bald Hill in Brookhaven Town, not far from its geographical center at Middle Island, New York, Middle Island. The glaciers also formed Lake Ronkonkoma (lake), Lake Ronkonkoma in Suffolk County and Lake Success, New York, Lake Success in Nassau County, each a deep kettle lake.Countyscapes
Climate
Under the Köppen climate classification, Long Island lies in a transition zone between a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) and a hot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa). The climate features hot, usually humid summers with occasional thunderstorms, mild spring and fall weather, and cold winters with a mix of snow and rain and stormier conditions. Spring can be cool due to the relatively cooler temperatures of the Atlantic Ocean and occasional Block (meteorology), blocking. Thunderstorms rarely form directly over Long Island, but can form over inland areas and then move eastward. Some storms may weaken as they approach Long Island due to the moderating effects of the Atlantic Ocean. The ocean also brings afternoon sea breezes to the immediate South Shore areas (within ) that temper the heat in the warmer months. The temperatures south of Sunrise Highway (New York State Route 27, NY Route 27) tend to be significantly cooler than the rest of Long Island in the spring and summer months because of the relatively cooler temperatures of the Atlantic Ocean. Long Island has a moderately sunny climate, averaging 2,400 to 2,800 hours of sunshine annually. Due to its coastal location, Long Island winter temperatures are milder than most of the state. The coldest month is January, when average temperatures range from , and the warmest month is July, when average temperatures range from . Temperatures seldom fall below or rise above . Coldest temp ever recorded on Long Island was on January 22, 1961. Long Island temperatures vary from west to east, with the western part (Nassau County, Queens, and Brooklyn) generally 2 to 3 degrees F (1 to 2 degrees C) warmer than the east (Suffolk County). This is due to several factors: the western part is closer to the mainland and more densely developed, causing the "urban heat island" effect, and Long Island's land mass veers northward as one travels east. Also, daytime high temperatures on the eastern part of Long Island are cooler on most occasions, due to the moderating effect of the Atlantic Ocean and Long Island Sound. On dry nights with no clouds or wind, the Central Part of Suffolk County and Pine Barrens forest of eastern Suffolk County can be almost 5 to 10 F (3 to 5 C) cooler than the rest of the island, due to radiational cooling. Average dew points, a measure of atmospheric moisture, typically lie in the range during July and August. Precipitation is distributed uniformly throughout the year, with approximately on average during each month. Average yearly snowfall totals range from approximately , with the north shore and western parts averaging more than the immediate south shore (South of Sunrise Hwy) and the east end. In any given winter, however, some parts of the island can see up to of snow or more. There are also milder winters, in which much of the island see less than of snow. On August 13, 2014, flash flooding occurred in western-central Suffolk County after a record-setting rainfall deposited more than three months' worth of precipitation on the area within a few hours. Long Island is somewhat vulnerable to tropical cyclones. While it lies north of where most tropical cyclones turn eastward and out to sea (most landfalls on the East Coast of the U.S. occur from North Carolina southward), several tropical cyclones have struck Long Island, including a devastating Category 3, the 1938 New England hurricane (also known as the "Long Island Express"), and another Category 3, Hurricane Carol in 1954. Other 20th-century storms that made landfall on Long Island at hurricane intensity include the 1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Hurricane Donna in 1960, Hurricane Belle (1976), Hurricane Belle in 1976, and Hurricane Gloria in 1985. Also, the eyewall of Hurricane Bob in 1991 brushed the eastern tip. In August 2011, portions of Long Island were evacuated in preparation for Hurricane Irene (2011), Hurricane Irene, a Category 1 hurricane which weakened to a tropical storm before it reached Long Island. On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy caused extensive damage to low-lying coastal areas of Nassau and Suffolk counties, Brooklyn, and Queens, destroying or severely damaging thousands of area homes and other structures by ocean and bay storm surges. Hundreds of thousands of residents were left without electric power for periods of time ranging up to several weeks while the damage was being repaired. The slow-moving "Superstorm Sandy" (so-nicknamed because it merged with a nor'easter before it made landfall) caused 90% of Long Island households to lose power and an estimated $18 billion in damages in Nassau and Suffolk counties alone. The storm also had a devastating impact on coastal communities in the Brooklyn and Queens portions of the island, including Coney Island in Brooklyn and the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, although estimates of monetary damages there are usually calculated as part of the overall losses suffered in New York City as a whole. When allowance is made for inflation, the extent of Sandy's damages is second only to that of those caused by the 1938 Long Island Express. Although a lower central pressure was recorded in Sandy, the National Hurricane Center estimates that the 1938 hurricane had a lower pressure at landfall. Hurricane Sandy and its profound impacts have prompted the discussion of constructing seawalls and other coastal barriers around the shorelines of Long Island and New York City to minimize the risk of destructive consequences from another such event in the future.Additional islands
Several smaller islands, though geographically distinct, are in proximity to Long Island and are often grouped with it. These islands include Fire Island, the largest of the outer barrier islands that parallels the southern shore of Long Island for approximately ; Plum Island (New York), Plum Island, which was home to theDemographics
Long Island is the most populous island and one of the most densely populated regions in the United States. At the United States 2020 Census, 2020 U.S. census, the total population of all four counties of Long Island was 8,063,232, comprising 40% of the population of the State of New York. As of 2020, the proportion of New York City residents (total 8,804,190) living on Long Island had risen to 58.4%, given the 5,141,538 residents living in Brooklyn and Queens. Furthermore, the proportion of New York State's population residing on Long Island has also been increasing, with Long Island's Census-estimated population increasing 6.5% since 2010, to 8,063,232 in 2020, representing 40% of New York State's Census 2020-enumerated population of 20,215,751 and with a population density of on Long Island; the island is more populous than 37 of the 50 U.S. states. At the 2020 census, the combined population of Nassau and Suffolk counties was 2,921,694 people, Suffolk County's share being 1,525,920 and Nassau County's 1,395,774. 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. As Suffolk County has more than three times the land area of Nassau County, the latter still has a much higher population density, given its proximity to New York City. According to the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau's 2008 American Community Survey, Nassau and Suffolk counties had the 10th and 26th highest median household incomes in the nation, respectively. Population figures from the U.S. Census Bureau ''Census 2010'' show that whites are the largest racial group in all four counties, and are in the majority in Nassau and Suffolk counties. In 2002, ''The New York Times'' cited a study by the non-profit group ERASE Racism, which determined that Nassau and Suffolk counties constitute the most racially segregated suburbs in the United States. In contrast, Queens is the most ethnically diverse county in the United States and the most diverse urban area in the world. According to a 2000 report on religion, which asked congregations to respond, Catholic Church, Catholics are the largest religious group on Long Island, with non-affiliated in second place. Catholics make up 52% of the population of Nassau and Suffolk, versus 22% for the country as a whole, with Jews at 16% and 7%, respectively, versus 1.7% nationwide. Churches were asked for their membership numbers. ARDA estimates that most of the churches not reporting were black Protestant congregations. Only a small percentage of Protestantism, Protestants responded, 7% and 8% respectively, for Nassau and Suffolk counties. This is in contrast with 23% for the entire country on the same survey, and 50% on self-identification surveys. A growing population of nearly half a million Chinese people in New York City#Queens (皇后華埠), Chinese Americans now live on Long Island.Economy
Long Island has played a prominent role in scientific research and in engineering. It is the home of the Brookhaven National Laboratory in nuclear physics and United States Department of Energy, Department of Energy research. Long Island is also home to the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, which was directed for 35 years by James D. Watson (who, along with Francis Crick and Rosalind Franklin, discovered the double helix structure of DNA). Companies such as Sperry Corporation, Computer Associates (headquartered in Islandia, New York, Islandia), Zebra Technologies (now occupying the former headquarters of Symbol Technologies, and a former Grumman plant in Holtsville, New York, Holtsville), have made Long Island a center for the Tech companies on Long Island, computer industry. Stony Brook University and New York Institute of Technology conduct advanced medical and technology, technological research. Long Island is home to the East Coast of the United States, East Coast's largest industrial park, the Hauppauge Industrial Park, hosting over 1,300 companies which employ more than 71,000 individuals. Companies in the park and abroad are represented by the Hauppauge Industrial Association. As many as 20% of Long Islanders commute to jobs in Manhattan. The island's eastern end is still partly agricultural. Development of vineyards on the North Fork has spawned a major viticulture, viticultural industry, replacing potato fields. Pumpkin farms have been added to traditional truck farming. Farms allow fresh fruit picking by Long Islanders for much of the year. Fishing continues to be an important industry, especially at Huntington, Northport, New York, Northport, Montauk, New York, Montauk, and other coastal communities of the East End and South Shore. From about 1930 to about 1990, Long Island was considered one of the aerospace manufacturing centers of the United States, with companies such as Grumman, Republic Aviation, Republic, Fairchild Aircraft, Fairchild, and Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, Curtiss having their headquarters and factories on Long Island. These operations have largely been phased out or significantly diminished.Government and politics
Nassau County and Suffolk County each have their own governments, with a County Executive leading each. Each has a county legislature and countywide-elected officials, including district attorney, county clerk, and county comptroller. The Political subdivisions of New York State#Town, towns in both counties have their own governments as well, with town supervisors and a town council. Nassau County is divided into three Political subdivisions of New York State#Town, towns and two small incorporated cities (Glen Cove, New York, Glen Cove and Long Beach, New York, Long Beach). Suffolk County is divided into ten towns.Law enforcement
Queens and Brooklyn are patrolled by the New York City Police Department. Nassau and Suffolk counties are served by the Nassau County Police Department (New York), Nassau County Police Department and Suffolk County Police Department, respectively, although several dozen villages and the two cities in Nassau County have their own police departments. The Nassau County Sheriff's Department (New York), Nassau County Sheriff's Department and Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County Sheriff's Office handle civil procedure, evictions, warrant service and enforcement, prisoner transport and detention, and operation of the county jails. The Suffolk County Sheriff also has a patrol division, and in 2008, had patrol duties along the Long Island Expressway, when the County Executive briefly disbanded the Suffolk County Police Highway Patrol Division. The Suffolk County Sheriff's Office is the oldest law enforcement agency in the State of New York, founded in the year 1683. New York State Police patrol List of New York state parks, state parks and Parkways in New York, parkways. The several SUNY colleges and universities are patrolled by the New York State University Police.Statehood proposals
The secession of Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island from New York State was proposed as early as 1896, but talk was revived towards the latter part of the twentieth century. On March 28, 2008, Suffolk County Comptroller Joseph Sawicki proposed a plan that would make Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island the 51st state of the United States of America. Sawicki claimed all of Nassau and Suffolk taxpayers' money would remain locally, rather than the funds being dispersed all over the entire state of New York, with these counties sending to Albany, New York, Albany over three billion dollars more than they receive. The state of Long Island would have included nearly 3 million people (a larger population than that of fifteen other states). Nassau County executive Ed Mangano came out in support of such a proposal in April 2010 and commissioned a study on it.Education
Primary and secondary education
Many public and private high schools on Long Island are ranked among the best in the United States. Nassau and Suffolk counties are the home of List of school districts in New York#Long Island Region, 125 public school districts containing List of Long Island public school districts and schools, 656 public schools. It also hosts private schools such as Friends Academy, Chaminade High School, Kellenberg Memorial High School, St. Anthony's High School (New York), St. Anthony's High School, and North Shore Hebrew Academy, as well as parochial schools, many of which are operated by the Catholic Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, Diocese of Rockville Centre. In contrast, all of Brooklyn and Queens are served by the New York City Department of Education, the largest school district in the United States. Three of the nine specialized high schools in New York City are in the two Long Island boroughs, those being Brooklyn Latin School, Brooklyn Technical High School (one of the original three specialized schools), and Queens High School for the Sciences. Like Nassau and Suffolk counties, they are home to private schools such as Poly Prep Country Day School, Packer Collegiate Institute, and Saint Ann's School (Brooklyn), Saint Ann's School, and Berkeley Carroll School, and parochial schools operated by the Catholic Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, Diocese of Brooklyn.Colleges and universities
Long Island is home to a range of higher education, higher-education institutions, both public and private. Brooklyn and Queens contain five of eleven senior colleges within City University of New York, CUNY, the public university system of New York City and one of the largest in the country. Among these are the notable institutions of Brooklyn College and Queens College. Brooklyn also contains private colleges such as Pratt Institute and the New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering, an engineering college that merged with New York University in 2014. Several colleges and universities within the State University of New York system are on Long Island, including Stony Brook University (which noted its health sciences research and medical center), as well as Nassau Community College and Suffolk County Community College that serve their respective counties. Private institutions include Molloy College in Rockville Centre, the New York Institute of Technology, Hofstra University and Adelphi University (both in the Town of Hempstead), as well as Long Island University (with its LIU Post, C.W. Post campus, on a former Gold Coast estate in Brookville, New York, Brookville, and a LIU Brooklyn, satellite campus in downtown Brooklyn). Long Island also contains the Webb Institute, a small naval architecture college in Glen Cove, New York, Glen Cove. The island is also home to the United States Merchant Marine Academy, a Federal Service Academy in Kings Point, New York, Kings Point, on the North Shore.Culture
Music
Music on Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk) is strongly influenced by the proximity to New York City and by the youth culture of the suburbs. Psychedelic rock was widely popular in the 1960s as flocks of disaffected youth travelled to NYC to participate in protest and the culture of the time. R & B also has a history on Long Island, most notably Huntington-born Mariah Carey, one of the top-selling musicians of all time. In the late 1970s through the 1980s, the influence of radio station WLIR made Long Island one of the first places in the U.S. to hear and embrace European New wave music, New Wave bands such as Depeche Mode, the Pet Shop Boys, and Culture Club. In the 1990s, hip-hop became popular with rap pioneers Rakim, EPMD, MF Doom, and Public Enemy (group), Public Enemy growing up on Long Island. Long Island was the home of a bustling emo scene in the 2000s, with bands such as Brand New (band), Brand New, Taking Back Sunday, Straylight Run, From Autumn to Ashes and As Tall as Lions. More recently, newer acts from Long Island, including Austin Schoeffel, Jon Bellion, and Envy on the Coast, have made a name for themselves. Famous rock bands from Long Island include The Rascals, The Ramones (from Queens), Dream Theater, Blue Öyster Cult, Twisted Sister, and guitar virtuosos Buck Dharma, Donald (Buck Dharma) Roeser, John Petrucci, Steve Vai, and Joe Satriani, and drummer Mike Portnoy. Rock and pop singer Billy Joel grew up in Hicksville, New York, Hicksville, and his music often reflects Long Island and his youth. Nassau Coliseum and Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater are venues used by national touring acts as performance spaces for concerts. Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater is an outdoor amphitheatre at Jones Beach State Park. It is a popular place to view summer concerts that feature new and classic artists. It hosts a large Fourth of July fireworks show every year which fills the stands. Long Island is also known for its school music programs. Many schools in Suffolk County have distinguished music programs, with high numbers of students who are accepted into the statewide All-State music groups, or even the National All-Eastern Coast music groups. Both the Suffolk County and Nassau County Music Educator's Associations are recognized by The National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and host numerous events, competitions, and other music-related activities.Cuisine
Long Island has historically been a center for fishing and seafood. This legacy continues in the Blue Point, New York, Blue Point oyster, a now ubiquitous variety originally harvested on the Great South Bay that was the favorite oyster of Queen Victoria. Clams are also a popular food and clam digging a popular recreational pursuit, with Manhattan clam chowder reputed to have Long Island origins. Of land-based produce, Long Island duck has a history of national recognition since the 19th century, with four duck farms continuing to produce 2 million ducks a year . Two symbols of Long Island's duck farming heritage are the Long Island Ducks minor-league baseball team and the Big Duck, a 1931 duck-shaped building that is a historic landmark and tourist attraction. In addition to Long Island's duck industry, Riverhead, New York, Riverhead contains one of the largest American bison, buffalo farms on the East coast. Long Island is well known for its production of alcoholic beverages. Eastern Long Island is a significant producer of Long Island AVA, wine. Vineyards are most heavily concentrated on Long Island's North Fork (Long Island), North Fork, which contains 38 wineries. Most of these contain tasting rooms, which are popular attractions for visitors from across the New York metropolitan area. Long Island has also become a producer of diverse craft beers, with 15 microbrewery, microbreweries across Nassau and Suffolk counties . The largest of these is Blue Point Brewing Company, best known for its ''toasted lager''. Long Island is also globally known for its signature cocktail, the Long Island Iced Tea, which was purportedly invented at the popular Babylon, Oak Beach Inn nightclub in the 1970s. Long Island's eateries are largely a product of the region's local ethnic populations. Asian cuisines, Italian cuisine, Jewish cuisine, and Latin American cuisines were the most popular ethnic cuisines on Long Island as of the second decade of the 2000s. Asian cuisines are predominantly represented by East Asian cuisine, East Asian, South Asian cuisine, South Asian, and Middle-Eastern cuisine, Middle Eastern cuisines. Italian cuisine is found in ubiquitous pizzerias throughout the island, with the region hosting an annual competition, the Long Island Pizza Festival & Bake-Off. Jewish cuisine is likewise represented by delicatessens and bagel stores. Latin American cuisines span their geographical origins, from Brazilian cuisine, Brazilian rodizios to Mexican cuisine, Mexican taquerias.Sports
Major league sports
The New York Mets baseball team plays at Citi Field in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens. Their former stadium, Shea Stadium was also home for the New York Jets football team from 1964 until 1983. The new stadium has an exterior façade and main entry rotunda (architecture), rotunda inspired by Brooklyn's famous Ebbets Field (see below). The New York Mets planned to move their Double-A farm team to Long Island, as part of the ambitious but now-defunct plan for Nassau County called The Lighthouse Project. The Brooklyn Cyclones are a minor league baseball team, affiliated with the New York Mets. The Cyclones play at MCU Park just off the boardwalk on Coney Island in Brooklyn. An artificial turf baseball complex named Baseball Heaven is in Yaphank, New York, Yaphank. The Barclays Center, a sports arena, business, and residential complex built partly on a platform over the Atlantic Yards at Atlantic Avenue (New York City), Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, is the home of the Brooklyn Nets basketball team. The move from New Jersey in the summer of 2012 marked the return to Long Island for the Nets franchise, which played at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, Uniondale from 1972 to 1977. The Islanders played at Nassau Coliseum from their 1972 inception through 2015, and then splitting time between Nassau Coliseum and Barclays Center from 2017 to 2021, playing their last full season at the Nassau Coliseum during the 2020-2021 NHL Season. The Islanders moved full-time to UBS Arena at Belmont Park, in Elmont, New York, in November 2021. Ebbets Field, which stood in Brooklyn from 1913 until its demolition in 1960, was the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team, who moved to California after the 1957 Major League Baseball season to become the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers won several National League pennants in the 1940s and 1950s, losing several times in the World Series—often called ''Subway Series''—to their The Bronx, Bronx rivals, the New York Yankees. The Dodgers won their lone championship in Brooklyn in the 1955 World Series versus the Yankees. Despite this success during the latter part of the team's stay in Brooklyn, they were a second-division team with an unspectacular winning record for much of their history there – but nonetheless became legendary for the almost-fanatical devotion of the Brooklynites who packed the relatively small ballpark to vigorously root for the team they affectionately called, "Dem Bums". Loss of the Dodgers to California was locally considered a civic tragedy that negatively affected the community far more than the similar moves of other established teams to new cities in the 1950s, including the Dodgers' long-time arch-rival New York Giants (NL), New York Giants, who also left for California after 1957.Minor league and college sports
The Stony Brook Seawolves represent Stony Brook University, and have had a bevy of athletic accomplishments such as reaching the 2012 College World Series as an underdog after defeating the LSU Tigers baseball, LSU Tigers in a best-of-3 series. Long Island is also home to the Long Island Ducks minor league baseball team of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, Atlantic League. Their stadium, Bethpage Ballpark, is in Central Islip, New York, Central Islip. The Brooklyn Cyclones minor league baseball team, affiliated with the New York Mets, plays in the High-A classification South Atlantic League. The Cyclones play at MCU Park just off the Riegelmann Boardwalk, Coney Island Boardwalk in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The New York Dragons of the Arena Football League played their home games at Nassau Coliseum. The two main rugby union teams are the Long Island RFC in East Meadow, New York, East Meadow and the Suffolk Bull Moose in Stony Brook, New York, Stony Brook. The New York Sharks is a women's American football team that is a member of the Women's Football Alliance. The New York Sharks home field is at Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn. Long Island's professional soccer club, the New York Cosmos (2010), New York Cosmos, play in the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, Division 2 North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League at James M. Shuart Stadium in Hempstead. Long Island has historically been a hotbed of lacrosse at the youth and college lacrosse, college level, which made way for a Major League Lacrosse team in 2001, the Long Island Lizards. The Lizards play at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Uniondale, New York, Uniondale.Other sports
Long Island has a wide variety of golf courses found all over the island. Two of the most well-known are the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club and the public Bethpage Black Course that has hosted multiple U.S. Open (golf), U.S. Open tournaments as well as several other top level international championships. Queens also hosts one of the four tennis grand slams, the US Open (tennis), US Open. Every August (September, in Olympic years) the best tennis players in the world travel to Long Island to play the championships held in the USTA National Tennis Center, adjacent to Citi Field in Flushing Meadows Park. The complex also contains the biggest tennis stadium in the world, the Arthur Ashe Stadium. Long Island also has two horse racing tracks, Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, Queens and Belmont Park on the Queens/Nassau border in Elmont, New York, Elmont, home of the Belmont Stakes. The longest dirt thoroughbred racing, thoroughbred racecourse in the world is also at Belmont Park. Another category of sporting events popular in this region involves Firematic Racing, firematic racing events, involving many local volunteer fire departments.Notable sportspeople and teams
Long Island is home to numerous famous athletes, including Hall of Famers Jim Brown, Julius Erving, John Mackey (American football), John Mackey, Whitey Ford, Nick Drahos, and Carl Yastrzemski. Others include gold medalists Sue Bird, Sarah Hughes and Derrick Adkins, USWNT World Cup champions Crystal Dunn and Alexandra Long, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Billy Donovan, Larry Brown (basketball), Larry Brown, Rick Pitino, John McEnroe, Jumbo Elliott (American football), Jumbo Elliott, Mick Foley, Zack Ryder, Matt Serra, Boomer Esiason, Vinny Testaverde, Craig Biggio, Frank Catalanotto, Greg Sacks, Gilles Villemure, Rob Burnett (American football), Rob Burnett, Steve Park (NASCAR), Steve Park, Frank Viola, Chris Weidman, Marques Colston and Speedy Claxton. Several NHL players were born and/or raised on Long Island, such as Vancouver Canucks Chris Higgins (ice hockey), Christopher Higgins and Matt Gilroy, Nashville Predators Eric Nystrom, Toronto Maple Leaf Mike Komisarek, Pittsburgh Penguin Rob Scuderi, and New York Ranger Keith Kinkaid. Both Komisarek and Higgins played on the same Suffolk County Hockey League team at an early age, and later played on the Montreal Canadiens together. Nick Drahos was an All Scholastic and All Long Island honoree at Lawrence High School, Nassau Co. in 1936 and 1937, and a two-time Unanimous National College All-American in 1939 and 1940 at Cornell University.Transportation
Many major forms of transportation serve Long Island, including aviation via John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, and Long Island MacArthur Airport, and multiple smaller airports; commuter rail, rail transportation via the Long Island Rail Road and the New York City Subway; bus routes via MTA Regional Bus Operations, Nassau Inter-County Express, and Suffolk County Transit; ferry service via NYC Ferry and multiple smaller ferry companies; and several major highways. There are historic and modern bridges, and Trails on Long Island, recreational and commuter trails, serving various parts of Long Island. There are eleven road crossings out of Long Island, all but one providing Brooklyn-Manhattan, Queens-Manhattan, and Queens-Bronx connections across the East River, with the Triborough Bridge providing two connections from Queens, one each to Manhattan and the Bronx. The single non-East River crossing is the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, connecting Brooklyn toPublic transportation
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, MTA implements mass transit, mass transportation for the New York metropolitan area including all five boroughs of New York City, the suburban counties of Dutchess County, New York, Dutchess, Nassau County, New York, Nassau, Orange County, New York, Orange, Putnam County, New York, Putnam, Rockland County, New York, Rockland, Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk, and Westchester County, New York, Westchester, all of which together are the "Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District (MCTD)". The MTA considers itself to be the largest regional public transportation provider in the Western Hemisphere. , MTA agencies move about 8.6 million customers per day (translating to 2.65 billion rail and bus customers a year). The MTA's systems carry over 11 million passengers on an average weekday systemwide, and over 850,000 vehicles on its MTA Bridges and Tunnels, seven toll bridges and two tunnels per weekday.Rail
The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) is North America's busiest Commuter rail in North America, commuter railroad system, carrying an average of 282,400 passengers each weekday on 728 daily trains. Chartered on April 24, 1834, and operating continuously since, it is also the oldest railroad in the U.S. that still operates under its original charter and name. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has operated the LIRR as one of its two commuter railroads since 1966, and the LIRR is one of the few railroads worldwide that provides service 24/7, all the time, year round. In July 2017, a $2 billion plan to add a third railroad track to the LIRR Main Line (Long Island Rail Road), Main Line between the Floral Park (LIRR station), Floral Park and Hicksville stations in Nassau County was approved. Other LIRR projects, such as the Ronkonkoma Branch Double Track Project, are also underway. Five "readiness projects" across the LIRR system, which will cost a combined $495 million, are also under construction in preparation for expanded peak-hour LIRR service after the completion of East Side Access, which will bring LIRR trains to Grand Central Terminal.Bus
Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) provides bus service in Nassau County, while Suffolk County Transit, an agency of the Suffolk County government, provides bus service in Suffolk County. In 2012, NICE replaced the former MTA Long Island Bus in transporting Long Islanders across Nassau County while allowing them to use MTA MetroCard (New York City), MetroCards as payment.Roads
The Long Island Expressway, Northern State Parkway, and Southern State Parkway, all products of the automobile-centered planning of Robert Moses, are the island's primary east–west high-speed controlled-access highways.Ground transportation
Several hundred transportation companies service the Long Island/New York City area. Winston Airport Shuttle, the oldest of these companies in business since 1973, was the first to introduce door-to-door shared-ride service to and from the major airports, which almost all transportation companies now use.See also
* List of tallest buildings on Long Island *Geography of New York City * List of films shot on Long Island * List of Long Island recreational facilities * List of Long Islanders, famous residents of Nassau and Suffolk * List of people from New York City, including famous residents of Brooklyn and Queens * Long Island (proposed state) * Timeline of town creation in Downstate New York * Coastal Connecticut * Jersey ShoreNotes
References
External links
* {{authority control Long Island, Coastal islands of New York (state) Islands of New York City Islands of New York (state) Landforms of Long Island Moraines of the United States New York metropolitan area