Floral Park is an incorporated village in Nassau County,

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, United States. The population was 16,172 at the 2020 census. Floral Park is at the western border of Nassau County, mainly in the Town of Hempstead, while the section north of Jericho Turnpike (NY 25) is within the Town of North Hempstead. The area was formerly known as East Hinsdale. The neighborhood of

Floral Park Floral Park is an incorporated village in Nassau County, Long Island, New York, United States. The population was 16,172 at the 2020 census. Floral Park is at the western border of Nassau County, mainly in the Town of Hempstead, while the ...

in the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

borough of

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

is adjacent to (but not part of) the village.

History

The area that is now Floral Park once marked the western edge of the great

Hempstead Plains The Hempstead Plains is a region of central Long Island, in what is now Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, in New York State. It was once an open expanse of native grassland estimated to once extend to about . It was separated from the Nort ...

, and by some reports was initially known as Plainfield. Farms and tiny villages dominated the area through the 1870s when the development of the

Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , or LIRR, is a Rail transport, railroad in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County on Long Islan ...

Hempstead Branch and Jericho Turnpike cut through the area. Hinsdale had more than two dozen flower farms after the Civil War. The present-day village of Floral Park was once called East Hinsdale. In 1874, John Lewis Childs arrived in the area to work for C.L. Allen as a seed seller. After building his own seed and bulb business and starting America's first seed catalog business, Childs bought a great deal of land in the area. To promote his own business and the local

horticultural Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

industry, Childs named the local streets after flowers and renamed the area Floral Park. The expansion of the Floral Park Post Office and nearby village businesses are attributed solely to the success of Childs' business. When the local Post Office took the name Floral Park, the

followed suit by changing the name of the East Hinsdale station to Floral Park in 1888. Formerly part of

, Floral Park became part of the new county of Nassau in 1899, and it was incorporated as a village in 1908. Childs served as its first president starting that year. In 1903, the village boasted more than of Childs' flower beds. The massive volume of his mail order business grew the local post office to such an extent that it drew comparisons with the post offices of Chicago, Baltimore, and Boston.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the village has a total area of , all land. Portions of the northern and western village boundaries are the border with

. The village also shares borders with the several Nassau County communities; the Village of Floral Park borders the Village of Bellerose and Bellerose Terrace to the northwest, the Villages of New Hyde Park and Stewart Manor to the east, the Village of South Floral Park to the south, and Elmont to the southwest – in addition to Floral Park Centre and North New Hyde Park to the northeast.

Demographics

2020 census

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, the population was 87%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 81.6%

Non-Hispanic White Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as White Anglo Americans or Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans who are classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the Unit ...

, 1.3% Black or

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.1% Native American, 6.9% Asian, 0.0%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 2.6% from other races, and 2% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 8.8% of the population.

2000 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 15,967 people, 5,770 households, and 4,258 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 5,892 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 93.56%

, 0.46%

, 0.06% Native American, 3.88% Asian, 0.03%

, 1.03% from other races, and 0.98% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 5.38% of the population. There were 5,770 households, out of which 34.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.9% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.2% were non-families. 23.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 3.30. In the village, the population was spread out, with 24.5% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 25.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.4 males. The median income for a household in the village was $113,719, and the median income for a family was $137,243. Males had a median income of $56,527 versus $38,592 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the village was $51,183. None of families or the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including none of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over. The average and median sales prices of a home in the village as of 2011, were, respectively, $468,738 and $460,000.

Education

The Village of Floral Park is located within the boundaries of (and is thus served by) the Floral Park–Bellerose Union Free School District and the Sewanhaka Central High School District. Two high schools are located in Floral Park: Floral Park Memorial High School and Sewanhaka High School, both of which are part of the Sewanhaka Central High School District (which also includes schools in nearby New Hyde Park, Franklin Square and Elmont.) There are three elementary schools in Floral Park. Two of them – the John Lewis Childs School and the Floral Park–Bellerose School – are part of the Floral Park–Bellerose Union Free School District (the latter school also serves the neighboring village of Bellerose and Bellerose Terrace). Furthermore, Our Lady of Victory Elementary School is operated by the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre The Diocese of Rockville Centre () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in the Long Island region of New York State in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the me ...

, Our Lady of Victory parish.

Emergency services

The Village of Floral Park has its own Police Department, which is made up of an Operations and Administration division. The Floral Park Police Department provides service to all residents within the boundaries of the Village of Floral Park. The Village also has a volunteer fire department, made up of three Engine Companies (Alert Engine Co. #1, Reliance Engine Co. #2, Active Engine Co. #3), a Hook & Ladder Company, and a Rescue (Emergency Medical Services) Company.

Notable people

* Benedetto Aloi (1935–2011),

consigliere Consigliere ( , ; plural is a position within the leadership structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word was popularized in English by the novel ''The Godfather'' (1969) and its film adaptation. In the novel, a c ...

Colombo crime family The Colombo crime family (, ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City within the criminal organization known as the American Mafia. It was during ...

, New York City mobster * John Lewis Childs (1856–1921), horticulturist and politician; founding father of the Village of Floral Park * Diana Diamond (born 1937), newspaper editor * William Diard (1924–2009), opera singer * Steve Falteisek (born 1972), former Major League Baseball pitcher. Falteisek was drafted in the tenth round of the 1992 Major League Baseball Draft by the Montreal Expos *

Robert Mapplethorpe Robert Michael Mapplethorpe ( ; November 4, 1946 – March 9, 1989) was an American photographer, best known for his black-and-white photographs. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female Nude (art), n ...

(1946–1989), photographer, born and raised on the Queens side. * Pete Nice (born 1967), hip-hop MC (born Peter J. Nash) * Pete Richert (born 1939), former Major League Baseball pitcher * Max Shachtman (1904–1972), associate of

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

(born 1932), classical composer

Adjacent Queens neighborhood

The Queens neighborhood is adjacent to the Village of Floral Park, and uses the designation "North Floral Park" with a ZIP Code of 11004 and

telephone area code A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, reach ...

s of 718, 347, and 917. North Floral Park also extends into the ZIP Code of 11001. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 13.Queens Boards

. Accessed January 26, 2024. Floral Park is a middle-class neighborhood that consists mostly of

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...

–style houses. Most of the houses were built after World War II to accommodate returning soldiers. Veterans today make up 11 percent of all residents in Floral Park, versus six percent citywide. Union Turnpike is the border between the neighborhoods, with Glen Oaks to the north. The other boundaries of Floral Park are roughly

Little Neck Parkway Little Neck Parkway (formerly Little Neck Road) is the easternmost, major north–south route in the northern portion of the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Queens, traveling between the neighborhoods of Little Neck and Bell ...

and 252nd Street to the west, Langdale Street to the east, and a diagonal boundary from Hillside Avenue at 271st Street to Jericho Turnpike at 257th Street to the south. The neighborhood is close to the

Cross Island Parkway The Cross Island Parkway is a controlled-access parkway in New York City and Nassau County, part of the Belt System of parkways running along the perimeter of the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. The Cross Island Parkway runs from the Whit ...

and the

Grand Central Parkway The Grand Central Parkway (GCP) is a 14.61-mile (23.51 km) controlled-access parkway that stretches from the Triborough Bridge in New York City to the Queens– Nassau County line on Long Island. At the Nassau County line, it becomes t ...

. MTA New York City Transit buses serve Floral Park on the local routes and express route. MTA Bus Company operates the express buses, to Midtown Manhattan. The neighborhood is also served by Nassau Inter-County Express bus. The Floral Park station, located in Nassau County proper, is the closest service on the

Hempstead Branch, which travels to

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

station and to Penn Station in

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...

References

External links

*
Floral Park Historical Society

{{authority control Villages in Nassau County, New York Neighborhoods in Queens, New York