Nassau County, New York

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There is also a Town of Nassau in Rensselaer County.

Nassau County, New York

Map
Location in the state of New York
New York's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded	1899
Seat	Mineola
Area - Total - Land - Water	453 sq mi (1,173 km²) 287 sq mi (743 km²) 166 sq mi (430 km²), 36.72%
Population - (2000) - Density	1,334,544 4,649/sq mi (1,795/km²)
Website: www.nassaucountyny.gov

Theodore Roosevelt home at Sagamore Hill

Nassau County is a suburban county in the New York Metropolitan Area east of New York City in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2000 census, the population was 1,334,544. The name of the county comes from an old name for Long Island, which was at one time named Nassau, after William of Nassau, Prince of Orange (who later became King William III of England.) The county colors, orange and blue, are also the colors of the House of Orange. Nassau County's county seat is Mineola.

Nassau and Suffolk counties together are generally referred to as "Long Island" by area residents — as distinct from the New York City boroughs of Queens (Queens County) and Brooklyn (Kings County), which physically make up the island's westernmost end.

In 2005, Forbes magazine named Nassau County, along with Suffolk County, New York, as the safest region in the United States, with the lowest crime rate.

As of 2008, Nassau County is the second richest county per capita in the State of New York and the 10th richest in the nation, with a median household income of $85,994.^[1]

1 History
2 Law and government
- 2.1 Law enforcement
3 Politics
4 Geography
- 4.1 Adjacent counties
- 4.2 National protected areas
5 Demographics
6 Colleges and universities
7 County symbols
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

[edit] History

Nassau County was originally the eastern 70% of Queens County, when New York was divided into 12 counties in 1683. The area was originally contained in two towns: Hempstead and Oyster Bay. During the American Revolutionary War, the town of Hempstead was split into two, when Patriots in the northern part formed the new Town of North Hempstead, leaving Loyalist majorities in the Town of Hempstead. Following the 1898 formation of the City of Greater New York, the part of Queens County that was not annexed to New York City, consisting of the two towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay and most of the town of Hempstead (excluded was the Rockaway Peninsula, which did join Greater New York), was constituted as the new Nassau County, but not until 1899, one year later. Several other names had been considered, including Matinecock (a village within the county currently has that name), Norfolk (presumably because of the proximity to Suffolk County), Bryant, and Sagamore. However, Nassau had the historical advantage of having at one time been the name of Long Island itself, and was the name most mentioned when the new county was proposed as early as 1876.

The elegant, ivy-framed arched windows of the Belmont Park grandstand in this 1999 photo. The current grandstand, Thoroughbred racing's largest, was completed in 1968 after five years of renovations to the Belmont complex.

In 1910 (some sources state 1918), the Village of Glen Cove became a city and seceded from the Town of Oyster Bay. In 1918, the Village of Long Beach was incorporated in the Town of Hempstead. In 1922, it became a city and seceded from the Town. These are the only two cities in Nassau County.

The United Nations Security Council was temporarily located in Nassau County from 1946 to 1951. Council meetings were held at the Sperry Gyroscope headquarters in the village of Lake Success near the border with Queens County. It was here on June 27, 1950 that the Security Council voted to back U.S. President Harry S Truman and send a coalition of forces to the Korean Peninsula, leading to the Korean War.

During the latter part of the 20th Century, Nassau County saw an influx of migrants from the five boroughs of New York City, especially Brooklyn and Queens, who left their urban dwellings for a more suburban setting. This led to a massive boom in population in the county, especially on the south shore. In 1947, William Levitt built his first planned community in Nassau County, in the Island Trees section (later renamed Levittown). (This should not be confused with the county's first planned community, in general, which is Garden City). In later decades, communities such as Wantagh, East Meadow, Massapequa, Massapequa Park, and Franklin Square began to grow.

In 1994, Federal Judge Arthur Spatt declared the Nassau County Board of Supervisors unconstitutional and directed that a 19-member legislature be formed.^[2] Elections were held and Republicans won 13 seats and elected Bruce Blakeman as its first Presiding Officer (Speaker).^[3]

In the 1990s, Nassau County saw huge budget problems, forcing the county to near bankruptcy. The county government increased taxes to prevent a takeover by the state of New York. This has led to the county having notoriously high property taxes, leaving some migrants from New York City who are seeking suburban life to move to Suffolk County, the Hudson Valley, New Jersey, Connecticut or Pennsylvania.

The economy has been booming and according to the United States Census Bureau, residents of Nassau County have among the highest per capita wealth in the country. Nassau County has also experienced heavy urbanization in many areas, such as Hempstead, Freeport, Mineola, and Westbury, leading some to say that some parts of the county resemble the outer boroughs of New York City rather than a suburb of it, though the Five Towns region tends to be more affluent than western Queens. The northern "Gold Coast" region tends to more closely resemble nearby Westchester County.

[edit] Law and government

The head of the executive is the County Executive, a post created in Nassau County in 1938. The current county executive is Thomas Suozzi, a Democrat who was elected in 2001; he is the first Democratic county executive since Eugene Nickerson left office in 1970. The District Attorney is Democrat Kathleen Rice, who in November, 2005 defeated 30-year incumbent Republican Denis Dillon in an upset victory. The county comptroller is Howard Weitzman, a Democrat, the county clerk is Republican Maureen O'Connell, and the county assessor is Harvey Levinson, another Democrat.

**Nassau County Executives**
Name	Party	Term
J. Russell Sprague	Republican	1938–1953
A. Holly Patterson	Republican	1953–1962
Eugene Nickerson	Democrat	1962–1970
Ralph G. Caso	Republican	1970–1978
Francis T. Purcell	Republican	1978–1987
Thomas Gulotta	Republican	1987–2001
Thomas Suozzi	Democrat	2001–Present

The county legislature has 19 members. There are ten Democrats, nine Republicans.

**Nassau County Legislature**
District	Legislator	Party
1	Kevan Abrahams	Democrat
2	Roger Corbin	Democrat
3	John Ciotti	Republican
4	Denise Ford	Republican
5	Joseph Scannell	Democrat
6	Francis X. Becker, Jr.	Republican
7	Jeffrey Toback	Democrat
8	Vincent Muscarella	Republican
9	Richard Nicolello	Republican
10	Judi Bosworth	Democrat
11	Wayne H. Wink, Jr.	Democrat
12	Peter J. Schmitt, minority leader	Republican
13	Norma L. Gonsalves	Republican
14	Dave Mejias	Democrat
15	Dennis Dunne, Sr.	Republican
16	Judith Jacobs	Democrat
17	Edward Mangano	Republican
18	Diane Yatauro, presiding officer	Democrat
19	David Denenberg	Democrat

[edit] Law enforcement

Main article: Nassau County Police Department

County police services are provided by the Nassau County Police Department. The cities of Glen Cove and Long Beach, as well as a number of villages, such as Freeport, Garden City, Hempstead, Lake Success, Malverne, Lynbrook, Rockville Centre, and Sands Point, are not members of the county police district and maintain their own police forces. The same goes for the villages and unincorporated areas of Port Washington, which belong to the Port Washington Police District, the only such district in New York State. These smaller forces, however, make use of such specialized county police services as the police academy and the aviation unit. Also, all homicides in the county are investigated by the county police, regardless of whether or not they occur within the police district.

In 2006, Village leaders in the county seat of Mineola expressed dissatisfaction with the level of police coverage provided by the county force and actively explored seceding from the police district and having the village form its own police force. A referendum on December 5, 2006, however, decisively defeated the proposal.^[4]

Since the Long Island State Parkway Police was disbanded in 1980, all of Nassau County's state parkways have been patrolled by Troop L of the New York State Police. State parks in Nassau are patrolled by the New York State Park Police. In 1996, the Long Island Rail Road Police Department was consolidated into the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police.

County correctional services and enforcement of court orders are provided by the Nassau County Sheriff's Department. New York State Court Officers provide security for courthouses.

[edit] Politics

Main article: Politics of Long Island

**Presidential elections results**
Year	Republican	Democrat
2004	46.6% 288,355	52.2% 323,070
2000	38.5% 226,954	57.9% 341,610
1996	36.1% 196,820	55.7% 303,587
1992	40.5% 246,881	46.4% 282,593
1988	57.0% 337,430	42.2% 250,130
1984	61.8% 392,017	38.0% 240,697
1980	56.0% 333,567	34.8% 207,602
1976	53.7% 329,176	47.6% 302,869
1972	63.3% 438,723	36.5% 252,831
1968	51.3% 329,792	43.3% 278,599
1964	39.4% 248,886	60.5% 382,590
1960	55.1% 324,255	44.8% 263,303
1956	69.0% 372,358	30.9% 166,646
1952	69.9% 305,900	29.8% 130,267
1948	70.1% 184,284	26.8% 70,492

Like its neighbor Suffolk County, the county residents had voted for years chiefly for the Republican Party. In the 1990s, it began to swing Democratic. Democrat Bill Clinton won the county in presidential elections of 1992 and 1996. Later Nassau voters gave a large margin of victory to Al Gore in 2000 (57.9% to 38.5%) but John Kerry won in 2004 by a slimmer margin (52.2% to 46.6%) : in that election, Kerry won the towns of Hempstead and North Hempstead , but lost the town of Oyster Bay.

Democratic strength is chiefly concentrated in the central and northern part of the county. This includes the central area near the Village of Hempstead and Uniondale, where there are large African-American and Hispanic populations as well as the affluent northern half of the county. This includes Great Neck, Glen Cove and Roslyn. There are also pockets of staunch Democrats in the Five Towns area in the southwest part of the county and in Long Beach.

Republicans are chiefly concentrated in the more suburban areas of the county. The middle class southeastern portion of the county is heavily Republican, and communities such as Massapequa, Seaford, Wantagh, Levittown, and Bethpage are the political base of Congressman Peter T. King. In the western portion of the county, wealthy Garden City is solidly Republican, as is the more middle-class community of Franklin Square.

The politically volatile areas of the county are in Farmingdale, East Meadow, Mineola, Oceanside and Rockville Centre.

Long Island's only Republican member of Congress, Representative Peter T. King is from Nassau County. His 3rd District includes heavily populated suburban neighborhoods like Long Beach, Massapequa, Levittown, Hicksville, Seaford, Wantagh, and Glen Cove. But Nassau County is also home to the popular gun-control advocate, Democrat Carolyn McCarthy, whose 4th District includes Garden City, Hempstead, Uniondale, East Meadow, Valley Stream and Rockville Centre. McCarthy defeated Republican congressman Dan Frisa in 1996 and has held on to her seat since.

Nassau County's other two congressmen are both Democrats. Representative Gary Ackerman, represents the 5th District, which includes the northwestern part of the county, including Great Neck, Sands Point, and Port Washington, and stretches into northeastern Queens. Steve Israel's 2nd District is mainly in Suffolk County, but also includes parts of Plainview, Old Bethpage, Jericho, Syosset, and Woodbury in Nassau County.

All of Nassau County's state senators were Republicans until February 2007 when Nassau County Legislator Craig Johnson was elected to the State Senate in a special election in the 7th district. The GOP, however still has a State Senate advantage of 8-1 on the Democratic trending Long Island, which is largely the reason the state senate is still in GOP hands. The districts are drawn so as not to overlap Queens, which has a stronger lean toward the Democrats.

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 453 square miles (1,173 km²), of which, 287 square miles (743 km²) of it is land and 166 square miles (431 km²) of it (36.72%) is water.

Nassau County occupies a portion of Long Island immediately east of New York City, in the southeastern portion of New York State. It is divided into

2 cities:
1. Glen Cove
2. Long Beach

3 towns
1. The Town of Hempstead contains 22 villages and 35 hamlets:
  - The 22 villages in the Town of Hempstead are:
  1. Atlantic Beach
  2. Bellerose
  3. Cedarhurst
  4. East Rockaway
  5. Floral Park
  6. Freeport
  7. Garden City
  8. Hempstead (village)
  9. Hewlett Bay Park
  10. Hewlett Harbor
  11. Hewlett Neck
  12. Island Park
  13. Lawrence
  14. Lynbrook
  15. Malverne
  16. Mineola (part; with North Hempstead)
  17. New Hyde Park (part; with North Hempstead)
  18. Rockville Centre
  19. South Floral Park
  20. Stewart Manor
  21. Valley Stream
  22. Woodsburgh
  - The 35 hamlets in the Town of Hempstead are:
2. The Town of North Hempstead contains 31 villages:
  1. Baxter Estates
  2. East Hills
  3. East Williston
  4. Floral Park (This village is shared with the Town of Hempstead.)
  5. Flower Hill
  6. Garden City
  7. Great Neck
  8. Great Neck Estates
  9. Great Neck Plaza
  10. Kensington
  11. Kings Point
  12. Lake Success
  13. Manorhaven
  14. Mineola
  15. Munsey Park
  16. New Hyde Park (This village is shared with the Town of Hempstead.)
  17. North Hills
  18. Old Westbury (This village is shared with the Town of Oyster Bay.)
  19. Plandome
  20. Plandome Heights
  21. Plandome Manor
  22. Port Washington North
  23. Roslyn
  24. Roslyn Estates
  25. Roslyn Harbor (This village is shared with the Town of Oyster Bay.)
  26. Russell Gardens
  27. Saddle Rock
  28. Sands Point
  29. Thomaston
  30. Westbury
  31. Williston Park
3. The Town of Oyster Bay contains 18 villages and 18 hamlets:
  - The 18 villages in the Town of Oyster Bay are:
  1. Bayville
  2. Brookville
  3. Centre Island
  4. Cove Neck
  5. East Hills (This village is shared with the Town of North Hempstead.)
  6. Farmingdale
  7. Lattingtown
  8. Laurel Hollow
  9. Massapequa Park
  10. Matinecock
  11. Mill Neck
  12. Muttontown
  13. Old Brookville
  14. Old Westbury (This village is shared with the Town of North Hempstead.)
  15. Oyster Bay Cove
  16. Roslyn Harbor (This village is shared with the Town of North Hempstead.)
  17. Sea Cliff
  18. Upper Brookville
  - The 18 hamlets in the Town of Oyster Bay are:
  1. Bethpage
  2. East Massapequa
  3. East Norwich
  4. Glen Head
  5. Glenwood Landing (part)
  6. Greenvale (part)
  7. Hicksville
  8. Jericho
  9. Locust Valley
  10. Massapequa
  11. North Massapequa
  12. Old Bethpage
  13. Oyster Bay
  14. Plainedge
  15. Plainview
  16. South Farmingdale
  17. Syosset
  18. Woodbury
  - There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of Seaford. Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of Sea Cliff that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.

[edit] Adjacent counties

Queens County, New York - west
Suffolk County, New York - east
Bronx County, New York - west-northwest, water boundary only, across Long Island Sound
Westchester County, New York - northwest, water boundary only, across Long Island Sound
Fairfield County, Connecticut - north, water boundary only, across Long Island Sound

[edit] National protected areas

Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site

[edit] Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1900	55,448		—
1910	83,930		51.4%
1920	126,120		50.3%
1930	303,053		140.3%
1940	406,748		34.2%
1950	672,765		65.4%
1960	1,300,171		93.3%
1970	1,428,080		9.8%
1980	1,321,582		−7.5%
1990	1,287,348		−2.6%
2000	1,334,544		3.7%
Est. 2006	1,325,662	^[5]	−0.7%

As of the census^[6] of 2000, there were 1,334,544 people, 447,387 households, and 347,172 families residing in the county. The population density was 4,655 people per square mile (1,797/km²). There were 458,151 housing units at an average density of 1,598 per square mile (617/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 79.30% White, 10.01% African American, 0.16% Native American, 4.73% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 3.57% from other races, and 2.12% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.09% of the population.

By 2005 Non-Hispanic Whites were 70.1% of Nassau County's population. African Americans were 11.3% of the population. Only 1% of the population reported more than one race. Asians were up to 6.6% of the population. The Latino population had grown slightly faster than the African-American population and now was 11.7% of the population.

Italian Americans make up a large portion of Nassau, and there are numerous Italian communities throughout the county. The large Sikh population in Nassau County has built numerous Sikh Gurdwaras or temples; the two main ones are in Plainview and Glen Cove. Other groups of significant European descent include: 17.43% Irish, 13.20% German and 3.07% English.

According to the Census Bureau, the population of the county has slightly decreased to 1,333,137 people in 2005, although it had increased to 1,339,641 in 2004.

There were 447,387 households, out of which 35.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.10% were married couples living together, 10.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.40% were non-families. 18.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.93 and the average family size was 3.34.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.70% under the age of 18, 7.30% from 18 to 24, 28.90% from 25 to 44, 24.00% from 45 to 64, and 15.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $72,030, and the median income for a family was $81,246. Males had a median income of $52,340 versus $37,446 for females. The per capita income for the county was $32,151. About 3.50% of families and 5.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.80% of those under age 18 and 5.60% of those age 65 or over.