Freeport, New York

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For other locations with this name, see Freeport.

Freeport is a village in the Town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York, USA, on the South Shore of Long Island. The population was 43,783 at the 2000 census.

The Incorporated Village of Freeport is in the southwestern part of Nassau County, lying within the Town of Hempstead. Freeport has its own municipal electric utility and police department. Freeport has the nickname of "Don't Pop." Freeport is also a station on the Long Island Rail Road.

Contents

[edit] History and culture

[edit] History

The village now known as Freeport was part of an area called "the Great South Woods" during colonial times. In the mid-1600s, the area was renamed Raynor South, and ultimately Raynortown, after a herdsman named Edward Raynor, who had moved to the area from Hempstead in 1659, cleared land and built a cabin.[1] In 1853, residents voted to rename the village Freeport, adopting a variant of a nickname used by ship captains during colonial times because they were not charged customs duties to land their cargo.[1] The village was incorporated in 1892.[1] Oystering became a thriving industry after the Civil War, although it declined at the beginning of the 20th Century because of changing salinity in the bay and because of pollution.

Freeport saw its share of the social, political, and racial turbulence of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The 1969–70 school year saw three high school principals in the village's only high school, after which William McElroy, formerly the junior high school principal, came to the position of high school principal in August 1970 "in the midst of racial tension and a constantly-polarizing student body"; McElroy backed such initiatives as a student advisory committee to the Board of Education and, in his own words, "made [him]self available to any civic-minded group" that wished to discuss with him the situation in the school. By May 1972, he could claim success, of a sort. "Formerly, a fight between a black and a white student would automatically become racial; now a fight is just a fight—between two students."[2]a

[edit] Description

Freeport is located on the south shore of Long Island. The south part of the village is penetrated by several canals that allow access to the Atlantic Ocean by means of passage through salt marshes; the oldest of these canals is the late 19th century Woodcleft Canal.[1] Freeport has extensive small boat facilities and a resident fishing fleet, as well as charter and open fishing boats. In the early years Freeport was a tourist and sportsman's destination for its boating and fishing, but after World War II the village became a bedroom community for New York City. The separation between the two eras was marked by the fire that destroyed the Freeport Hotel in the late 1950s.

[edit] Culture

Freeport is a Long Island hot spot during the summer season in New York. A popular festival occurs on Freeport's Nautical Mile (the west side of Woodcleft Canal) each June, which attracts many people from across Long Island, and New York City. The Nautical Mile is a strip along the water that features their well-known seafood restaurants, crab shacks, bars, eclectic little boutiques, fresh fish markets, as well as party cruise ships, and casino boats that float atop the canals. People line up for the boat rides, and clamor to the many restaurants which provide diners with seating on the water's edge & eat mussels, oysters, crabs, and steamed clams (known locally simply as "steamers") accompanied by pitchers of beer. A very popular 18-hole miniature golf course offers fun for the whole family. Additionally, a new waterfront park, which will include a transient marina, boardwalk, and benches is nearing completion at the foot of the Nautical Mile. This is in addition to an existing scenic pier.

Freeport has a sizable African-American population, particularly in the northern section of the village. There is one housing project, named after Nassau County's first black judge, Moxie Rigby. There is also a significant Hispanic community, made up of Puerto Ricans and immigrants who hail from Colombia, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic and many other Latin American nations. One can go through Freeport and experience the wares, groceries of Latin American cuisine at Compare Foods Warehouse, a Latin American themed supermarket (there are three in the village) and, on top of that, there are many Latin American themed grocery stores, restaurants dotting Merrick Road and Main Street that display Caribbean food, Central American food, Dominican food and South American food. While most of Long Island boasts of its delicatessens, Freeport is home to the bodega. Across town, is the South Side, with many suburban homes gracefully adorning a canal system.

Freeport is also the gateway to Jones Beach, one of the largest state beaches in New York. One famous area is the Town of Hempstead Marina, where people from all over Long Island dock their boats. Freeport is a 40-45 minute ride by the Long Island Rail Road to Manhattan, making the trip an easy commute to New York City.

Freeport was also one of the few Long Island towns to hold a sizeable open air market area, known as the Freeport Mall. Many of the local businesses objected when the mall area became shabby and disused. The mall was then dismantled and returned to through traffic with regular parking on each side of the street.

The children of Freeport, in grades 1-4, attend magnet elementary schools, which aid to integrate the village's youngsters. There are 2 schools on the south side, Archer Street and Leo F. Giblyn, and 2 in the north, Bayview Avenue and New Visions. In grades 5 & 6, all public school children attend Atkinson School on the north side of the town. 7th and 8th graders attend Dodd Junior High School, which some say is a frightening looking establishment that looks like prison. It is built on the property that housed the older Freeport High School, but not on exactly the same site. The old high school served for some years as the junior high; then the new junior high was built on what was previously parking lot and playground, and the old building was torn down.

Children in grades 9-12 attend Freeport High School, which borders the town of Baldwin and sits beside the Milburn duck pond, which is fed by a creek, several hundred yards of which was diverted underground when the high school was built. Freeport High School uses the Red Devil as a mascot, and its colors are red & white. The school is quite large, and has an admirable track & field.

Upstream, just north of the high school and the railroad tracks, is the ruin of the former Brooklyn Water Works, described by Christopher Gray of the New York Times as looking like an "ancient, war-damaged abbey". Designed by architect Frank Freeman and opened in 1891 to serve what was then the nearby City of Brooklyn (later part of New York City), it was fully active until 1929 with a capacity of 54 million gallons a day, and remained in standby for emergency use until 1977, when the pumps and other machinery were removed. An unsuccessful 1989 plan would have turned the building into condos. It is now roofless and deteriorating.[3][4]

Until the late 1970s, Freeport was home to Freeport Speedway, also known as Freeport Municipal Stadium: a race track which showcased stock car racing, and demolition derbies. The site is now a shopping center.

Freeport is still home to a large ice skating rink at the Freeport Recreation Center. The recreation center features an indoor Olympic size pool, an outdoor Olympic size pool, an outdoor diving tank, a large outdoor children's pool, a tennis court, sauna, steam room, fully equipped workout gym, basketball courts, and sizeable snack bar serving hot & cold foods. The "Rec Center" also offers up some of its space for evening adult classes.

[edit] Geography

Freeport is located at 40°39′14″N, 73°35′13″W (40.653935, -73.587005)GR1.

[edit] Demographics

As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 43,783 people, 13,504 households, and 9,911 families residing in the village. The population density was 3,682.9/km² (9,531.3/mi²). There were 13,819 housing units at an average density of 1,162.4/km² (3,008.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 42.92% White, 32.57% African American, 0.46% Native American, 1.38% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 17.21% from other races, and 5.41% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 33.46% of the population.

There were 13,504 households out of which 36.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.7% were married couples living together, 17.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.6% were non-families. 21.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.20 and the average family size was 3.65.

In the village the population was spread out with 26.4% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 32.1% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 92.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $55,948, and the median income for a family was $61,673. Males had a median income of $37,465 versus $31,869 for females. The per capita income for the village was $21,288. About 8.0% of families and 10.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.5% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Famous Freeporters

NBC executive Brandon Tartikoff was born in Freeport.

Graduates of Freeport High School include:

  • Michael Zielenziger, journalist and author, Shutting Out the Sun: How Japan Created its Own Lost Generation (Random House, 2006), as well a veteran correspondent for Knight Ridder Newspapers in Asia and the U.S.

Freeport was also the home to musician Guy Lombardo during the latter portion of his life. His former residence on South Grove Street (now Guy Lombardo Avenue) included a boat house where he kept his powerful speed boats, which he raced on the ocean.

Havoc and Prodigy of hip-hop group Mobb Deep currently live in Freeport.

Author and former priest Tom Phelan [1] lives in Freeport, where he served at Our Holy Redeemer Roman Catholic Church before leaving the priesthood.

Former Garden City Boys Varsity lacrosse coach William "Doc" Dougherty lives in Freeport. Dougherty was formerly the Boys Varsity coach for GC High School lacrosse until he was arraigned on charges of vandalism after stealing a neighbor's license plate, when Garden City High Schools relieved him of his duties as coach.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Newsday.com Long Island History: Freeport, accessed 20 July 2006.
  2. ^ Veronica Seabrook, "McElroy Sees Change Evolving", Flashings (Freeport High School newspaper), May 15, 1972. p. 3–4. The quotation "in the midst of racial tension and a constantly-polarizing student body" is Seabrook's.
  3. ^ Christopher Gray, STREETSCAPES: Millburn Pumping Station; A Rundown 'Abbey' Gets New Life as Condominiums, New York Times, October 1, 1989. Accessed online 20 July 2006.
  4. ^ Brooklyn Water Works on the Long Island Oddities site. Accessed online 20 July 2006.

[edit] External links



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