Suffolk County, New York

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Suffolk County, New York
Seal of Suffolk County, New York
Map
Map of New York highlighting Suffolk County
Location in the state of New York
Map of the U.S. highlighting New York
New York's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded 1683
Seat Riverhead
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water
2,373 sq mi (6,146 km²)
912 sq mi (2,362 km²)
1,461 sq mi (3,784 km²), 61.56%
Population
 - (2000)
 - Density
1,419,369
1,598/sq mi (617/km²)
Website: www.co.suffolk.ny.us

Suffolk County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2000 census, the population was 1,419,369. It was named for the county of Suffolk in England, from which its earliest settlers came. The county seat is Riverhead, though many county offices are in Hauppauge on the west side of the county where most of the population lives. There are also offices in Smithtown, for the legislature, Yaphank, and Farmingville.

Suffolk and Nassau 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 geographically make up the island's western end.

Suffolk County is the easternmost county in New York State and the New York Metropolitan Area.

Contents

[edit] History

Suffolk County was an original county of New York State, one of twelve created in 1683. Its boundaries were substantially the same as at present, with only minor changes in the boundary with its western neighbor, which was originally Queens County but since 1899 has been Nassau County. However, as eastern Suffolk County has become more suburbanized there have been efforts to split the east end of the county off into a new county, called Peconic County.

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,373 square miles (6,146 km²), of which, 912 square miles (2,363 km²) of it is land and 1,461 square miles (3,784 km²) of it (61.56%) is water.

Suffolk County occupies the easternmost portion of Long Island, in the southeastern portion of New York State. The eastern end of the county splits into two peninsulas, known as the North Fork and the South Fork. The county is surrounded by water on three sides, including the Atlantic Ocean and the Long Island Sound. The eastern end contains large bays. Suffolk County is divided into 10 towns: Babylon, Brookhaven, East Hampton, Huntington, Islip, Riverhead, Shelter Island, Smithtown, Southampton, and Southold. Also part of the county, but not considered parts of the above towns, are the Poospatuck and Shinnecock Indian reservations. Poospatuck is enclaved within Brookhaven in the Mastic CDP, and Shinnecock is enclaved within Southampton, adjacent to Southampton village, Tuckahoe, and Shinnecock Hills.

Major facilities include Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton and Plum Island Animal Disease Center on Plum Island. Several airports serve commuters and business travelers, most notably Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip, Republic Airport in East Farmingdale and Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach.

[edit] Adjacent counties

[edit] National protected areas

[edit] Law and government


Presidential elections results
Year Republican Democrat
2004 48.5% 309,949 49.5% 315,909
2000 42.0% 240,992 53.4% 306,306
1996 36.1% 182,510 51.8% 261,828
1992 40.4% 220,811 38.9% 229,467
1988 60.5% 311,242 38.7% 199,215
1984 66.0% 335,485 33.7% 171,295
1980 57.0% 256,294 33.3% 149,945
1976 54.1% 248,908 45.3% 208,263
1972 70.3% 316,452 29.4% 132,441
1968 58.2% 218,027 32.7% 122,590
1964 44.4% 144,350 55.5% 180,598
1960 59.3% 166,644 40.6% 114,033

Suffolk County has long been a Republican bastion in New York. U.S. Congressman Rick Lazio, who opposed Hillary Clinton in the 2000 Senate race, was from Suffolk County. However, recent elections have turned the county more toward the Democrats. In 2003, Democrat Steve Levy was elected county executive, ending longtime Republican control. In 2001, Democrat Thomas Spota was elected District Attorney, and ran unopposed in 2005. Although Suffolk voters gave George H. W. Bush a victory here in 1992, the county voted for Bill Clinton in 1996 and continued the trend by giving Al Gore a large victory here in 2000 and John Kerry a smaller margin of victory in 2004.

Suffolk County is represented by three congressional districts, the first, second and part of the third. The former two seats are held by Democrats. Tim Bishop, a Democrat, represents the once heavily Republican first district, which includes almost half of the county, from Smithtown to Montauk, including The Hamptons and Riverhead. The second district, which includes Huntington, Brentwood and Bay Shore, is represented by Steve Israel. A Democrat, Israel won the seat vacated by Rick Lazio in 2000 when he made his unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate. The third district, which is mainly in Nassau County, but includes some middle-class coastal areas of southwestern Suffolk County, is represented by Peter King, a Republican.

Democratic voters in Suffolk, as well as neighboring Nassau County have helped to turn Downstate New York into a solidly Democratic region.

[edit] Suffolk County Executives

Suffolk County Executives
Name Party Term
H. Lee Dennison Democrat 1961–1973
John V.N. Klein Republican 1973–1979
Peter F. Cohalan Republican 1979–1986
Michael A. LoGrande* Republican 1986–1987
Patrick G. Halpin Democrat 1987–1991
Robert J. Gaffney Republican 1991–2003
Steve Levy Democrat 2003–Present

* Appointed to compete Cohalan's term

[edit] Suffolk County Legislature

The county is divided into 18 legislative districts, each represented by a legislator. As of 2008, there are 11 Democrats, 6 Republicans, and one legislator from the Working Families Party:

  1. Edward P. Romaine (R)
  2. Jay Schneiderman (R)
  3. Kate M. Browning (WF)
  4. Brian Beedenbender (D)
  5. Vivian Viloria-Fisher (D)
  6. Daniel P. Losquadro (R)
  7. Jack Eddington (D)
  8. William Lindsay (D)
  9. Ricardo Montano (D)
  10. Cameron Alden (R)
  11. Thomas F. Barraga (R)
  12. John M. Kennedy, Jr. (R)
  13. Lynne Nowick (R)
  14. Wayne R. Horsley (D)
  15. Elie Mystal (D)
  16. Steven H. Stern (D)
  17. Louis D'Amaro (D)
  18. Jon Cooper (D)

Republicans controlled the county legislature until a landmark election in November 2005 where three Republican seats switched to the Democrats, giving them control. William Lindsay is the current Presiding Officer of the legislature while Jon Cooper is the majority leader.

In November 2007, the Democratic Party once again retained control over the Suffolk County Legislature picking up one seat in the process. Beginning in January 2008, Democrats will hold a 11-7 advantage.

[edit] Law enforcement

Police services in the five western towns (Babylon, Huntington, Islip, Smithtown and Brookhaven) are provided primarily by the Suffolk County Police Department. The five "East End" towns (Riverhead, Southold, Shelter Island, East Hampton, and Southampton), maintain their own police forces. Also, there are a number of villages, such as Amityville, Lloyd Harbor and Westhampton Beach, that maintain their own police forces.

In an unusual move, the Village of Greenport in 1994 voted to abolish its police department and turn responsibility for law and order over to the Southold Town Police Department.

After the Long Island State Parkway Police was disbanded in 1980, all state parkways in Suffolk County became the responsibility of Troop L of the New York State Police, headquartered at Republic Airport. State parks, such as Robert Moses State Park, are the responsibility of the New York State Park Police, based at Belmont Lake State Park. In 1996, the Long Island Rail Road Police Department was consolidated into the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police, which has jurisdiction over all rail lines in the county.

The Suffolk County Sheriff's Office is a separate agency. With over three hundred years of tradition, the Sheriff's Office has been an integral part of Suffolk County's history. The Sheriff's Office is headed by the Sheriff, an elected position that serves a four year term. The Sheriff is the highest law enforcement official in the county. The Sheriff's Office operates the two Suffolk County correctional facilities (in Yaphank and Riverhead), provides county courthouse security and detention, service and enforcement of civil papers, evictions and warrants, etc. There is also a full-service patrol unit that primarily assists the East End town and village police forces although can be assigned anywhere in the county and can respond to 911 calls and make arrests anywhere in Suffolk County. In addition, the Sheriff's Office also has a K-9 Unit, a Marine Unit, a Traffic Enforcement Unit (including a Motorcycle Section) that covers all roadways in Suffolk County though is primarily concerned with the East End, Sunrise Highway and the Long Island Expressway, a Mountain Bike Unit, an ATV Unit, a SWAT-type unit called the Sheriff's Emergency Response Team (SERT) which includes a tactical weapons team and sniper section. An aviation unit and a horse mounted unit are currently under consideration as well. Suffolk County Deputy Sheriff Investigators participate in various task forces (such as the East End Drug Task Force or the specially created joint task force with the US Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to crack down on illegal immigrant gangmembers), undercover assignments, and also carry out many types of criminal and civil investigations. Suffolk County Deputy Sheriffs are also responsible for patrolling and investigating all crimes committed on county-owned property such as county government office buildings and the 3 campuses of the Suffolk County Community College, as well as providing assistance to the Suffolk County Park Police (which is currently in the process of being merged into the Sheriff's Office). By 2010, the Sheriff will also be responsible for all law enforcement services for Suffolk County parks and recreation facilities.

As of 2006, the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office employs about 250 Deputy Sheriffs, 1,000 Correction Officers and about 200 civilian staff.

Suffolk County has a special system of courts, somewhat similar to Nassau County, and very different from the rest of the state. Like Nassau, there is a District Court. For much of the county, most traffic tickets are handled by the Traffic Violations Bureau of Suffolk County. TVB is an arm of the Department of Motor Vehicles, and is not really part of the state court system. There are TVBs in New York City, Rochester and Buffalo as well. Suffolk County also has village courts and a few town courts.

[edit] Demographics

Historical populations
Census Pop.  %±
1900 77,582
—
1910 96,138 23.9%
1920 110,246 14.7%
1930 161,055 46.1%
1940 197,355 22.5%
1950 276,129 39.9%
1960 666,784 141.5%
1970 1,124,950 68.7%
1980 1,284,231 14.2%
1990 1,321,864 2.9%
2000 1,419,369 7.4%

As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 1,419,369 people, 469,299 households, and 360,421 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,556 people per square mile (601/km²). There were 522,323 housing units at an average density of 573 per square mile (221/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 84.60% White, 6.94% African American, 0.27% Native American, 2.45% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 3.65% from other races, and 2.06% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.53% of the population. Some main European ancestries in Suffolk county as of 2000: 28.33% Italian, 22.02% Irish, 16.95% German and 5.98% English.

By 2006 the non-Hispanic white population of Suffolk County was at 75.4%. African Americans were 7.8% of the population. Asians stood at 3.4% of the population. Latinos were 13.0% of the population.[2]

There were 469,299 households out of which 37.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.00% were married couples living together, 10.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.20% were non-families. 18.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.96 and the average family size was 3.36.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.10% under the age of 18, 7.60% from 18 to 24, 31.20% from 25 to 44, 23.30% from 45 to 64, and 11.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 95.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $65,288, and the median income for a family was $72,112. Males had a median income of $50,046 versus $33,281 for females. The per capita income for the county was $26,577. About 3.90% of families and 6.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.70% of those under age 18 and 6.30% of those age 65 or over.

Suffolk County ranks at number twenty-one on the list of the most populous counties in the United States. [3]

Suffolk County has a very high number of Italian-Americans.

[edit] Colleges and universities

Suffolk County is home to numerous colleges and universities, including:

[edit] Indian reservations

Two Indian reservations are located within the borders of Suffolk County:

[edit] Towns, villages, and hamlets

The Montauk Lighthouse is a landmark of Suffolk County, NY
The Montauk Lighthouse is a landmark of Suffolk County, NY

In New York State, a town is the major subdivision of each county. Towns provide or arrange for most municipal services for residents of hamlets and selected services for residents of villages. All residents of New York who do not live in a city or on an Indian reservation live in a town. A village is an incorporated area which is usually, but not always, within a single town. A village is a clearly defined municipality that provides the services closest to the residents, such as garbage collection, street and highway maintenance, street lighting and building codes. Some villages provide their own police and other optional services. A hamlet is a populated area within a town that is not part of a village. The term "hamlet" is not defined under New York law (unlike cities, towns and villages), but is often used in the state's statutes to refer to well-known populated sections of towns that are not incorporated as villages. For more information, see the article Political subdivisions of New York State.

In 2006 Forbes Magazine ranked six Suffolk County zip codes as among the top 110 most expensive in the United States. Sagaponack, New York was ranked the most expensive zip code in the nation with a median home sale price in 2005 of $2,787,500. Water Mill, New York was ranked the sixth most expensive zip code in the nation, with a median home sale price in 2005 of $2,150,000.[4]

[edit] Sorted by town

[edit] Sorted by name

[edit] See also

New York Portal

[edit] References

  1. ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  2. ^ Suffolk County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau
  3. ^ 100 Largest Counties
  4. ^ Forbes Lists [1]

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Municipalities and communities of
Suffolk County, New York
County seat: Riverhead
Towns
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Coordinates: 40°56′N 72°41′W / 40.94, -72.68