West Gilgo Beach is a small private gated community located in the Town of Babylon in Suffolk County, New York. The census considers it part of Gilgo-Oak Beach-Captree, New York
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Created in the late 1930s by residents of High Hill Beach who were displaced by the creation of Jones Beach State Park. Some of the original houses were moved by barge to the new community, the others were moved by road over the newly-constructed causeway connecting Jones Beach to Captree. Since then the West Gilgo Beach Association has grown to approximately 80 houses.
Originally almost entirely a summer community, over half of the houses are now winterized. There is a mix of full time and second home residents. There is a small non-denominational church, a self service library, and an unmanned post office. There are small firehouses with hoses on carts. Residents depend on central well water and individual septic tanks. Cable television remains inaccessible.
The land is not owned by the residents, but is on long term lease from the Town of Babylon. In the early 1990s, there was litigation by the state to not extend the lease. After much negotiation, the lease was renewed, with a ramp up in costs.
In July 2011, West Gilgo Beach residents united to beautify the community via a large scale mural painting in the beach-access tunnel. A documentary of the project can be seen here: West Gilgo Beach Mural Project.
Located on Jones Beach Island, a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great South Bay of Long Island. West Gilgo is an L shaped community with two roads, Ocean Walk which begins at the border of Nassau County, New York and Suffolk County, New York and extends East along Ocean Parkway and Bay Walk which begins at the gate and heads North towards the Great South Bay. West Gilgo is a Right-in/right-out exit from Ocean Parkway, between Tobay Beach and Gilgo Beach.
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