Amityville, New York

Amityville, New York
Village
Village of Amityville

The Amityville Village Hall in December 2009.

U.S. Census Map
Amityville, New York

Location within the state of New York

Coordinates: 40°40′18″N 73°24′54″W / 40.67167°N 73.41500°W / 40.67167; -73.41500Coordinates: 40°40′18″N 73°24′54″W / 40.67167°N 73.41500°W / 40.67167; -73.41500
Country United States
State New York
County Suffolk
Government
 • Mayor Dennis M. Siry
Area
 • Total 2.5 sq mi (6.4 km2)
 • Land 2.1 sq mi (5.4 km2)
 • Water 0.4 sq mi (1.0 km2)
Elevation 20 ft (6 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 9,523
 • Estimate (2016)[1] 9,494
 • Density 3,800/sq mi (1,500/km2)
Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes 11701, 11708
Area code(s) 631
FIPS code 36-02044
GNIS feature ID 0942440
Website amityville.com

Amityville is a village in the town of Babylon in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. The population was 9,523 at the 2010 census.

History

Huntington settlers first visited the Amityville area in 1653 as a source of salt hay. Chief Wyandanch granted the first deed to land in Amityville in 1658.[2] The area was originally called Huntington West Neck South (it is on the Great South Bay and Suffolk County, New York border in the southwest corner of what once called Huntington South but is now the Town of Babylon. According to village lore, the name was changed in 1846 when residents were working to establish its new post office. The meeting turned into bedlam and one participant was to exclaim, "What this meeting needs is some amity". Another version says the name was first suggested by mill owner Samuel Ireland to name the town for his boat, the Amity.[3]

The place name is strictly speaking an incidental name, marking an amicable agreement on the choice of a place name.[4] The village was formally incorporated on March 3, 1894. In the early 1900s Amityville was a popular tourist destination with large hotels on the bay and large homes. Annie Oakley was said to be a frequent guest of vaudevillian Fred Stone. Will Rogers had a home across Clocks Boulevard from Stone. Gangster Al Capone also had a house in the community. Amityville has been twinning with Le Bourget, France since 1979.[2]

The Amityville Horror

The Amityville Horror house in December 2005. The house's signature quarter moon windows on the top floor were replaced in 1990.

Amityville is the setting of the book The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson, which was published in 1977 and had been adapted into a series of films made between 1979 and 2015. The story of The Amityville Horror can be traced back to a real life murder case in Amityville in November 1974, when Ronald DeFeo, Jr. shot all six members of his family at 112 Ocean Avenue. In December 1975 George and Kathy Lutz and Kathy's three children moved into the house, but left after twenty-eight days, claiming to have been terrorized by paranormal phenomena produced by the house. Jay Anson's novel is said to be based on these events but has been the subject of much controversy.

The house featured in the novel and its film versions still exists, but has been renovated and the address changed in order to discourage tourists from visiting it. The Dutch Colonial Revival architecture house built in 1927 was put on the market in May 2010 for $1.15 million and sold in September for $950,000.[5]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.5 km2), of which, 2.1 square miles (5.4 km2) of it is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km2) of it is water. The total area is 15.38% water.

The Village of Amityville is bordered to the west by East Massapequa (in Nassau County), to the north by North Amityville, to the east and south by Copiague, and to the south by the Great South Bay.

Points of interest

The Triangle in downtown Amityville

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
1860204—
1870500145.1%
18801,063112.6%
18902,293115.7%
19002,038−11.1%
19102,51723.5%
19203,26529.7%
19304,43735.9%
19405,05814.0%
19506,16421.9%
19608,31834.9%
19709,79417.7%
19809,076−7.3%
19909,2862.3%
20009,4411.7%
20109,5230.9%
Est. 20169,494[1]−0.3%
U.S. Decennial Census[6]

As of the census[7][8] of 2010, there were 9,523 people and 3,107 households in the village, with 2.61 persons per household. The population density was 4,506.9 people per square mile.

There were 3,997 housing units, of which 28.2% were in multi-unit structures. The homeownership rate was 71.8%. The median value of owner-occupied housing units was $443,500. 3.6% of housing units were vacant and 20.7% of occupied housing units were occupied by renters.

The racial makeup of the village was 81.7% White, 9.7% African American, 0.3% Native American, 1.8% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 4.1% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 13.1% of the population. The village was 74.5% non-Hispanic White.

There were 3,107 households out of which 23.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.6% had individuals over the age of 65, 47.3% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.1% were non-families. 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the village, the population was relatively old with 4.5% under the age of 5, 17.7% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 20 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 32.2% from 45 to 64, and 19.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46.4 years.

78.7% of the population had lived in the same house 1 year & over. 14.9% of the entire population were foreign born and 21.6% of residents at least 5 years old spoke a language other than English at home.

90.1% of residents at least 25 years old had graduated from high school, and 30.7% of residents at least 25 years old had a bachelor's degree or higher. The mean travel time to work for workers aged 16 and over was 27.8 minutes.

The median income for a household in the village was $74,366. The per capita income for the village was $35,411. 6.5% of the population were below the poverty line.

Public schools

All of the village is served by the Amityville Union Free School District, which also serves large portions of North Amityville and East Massapequa and a small portion of Copiague (however this part of Copiague is served by the Amityville post Office and is probably thought to be part of Amityville).

As of the 2010-2011 School Year, the Amityville Union Free School District had 2,780 students. The racial demographics were 0% American Indian or Alaska Native, 54% non-Hispanic black or African-American, 35% Hispanic or Latino, 1% Asian or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, 8% non-Hispanic white, and 2% multiracial. 51% of students were eligible for free lunch, 10% for reduced-price lunch, and 11% of students were Limited English Proficient. 16.5% of students were classified as "Special Ed".

The school district had a graduation rate of 79% and 2% of students did not complete school. 87% of graduates received a Regents Diploma and 31% received a Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation. Of the 2011 completers, 35% planned to move on to 4-year College, 52% to 2-year College, 4% to Other Post-Secondary, 3% to the Military, 5% to Employment, 1% to Adult Services, 0% had other known post-secondary plans, and 1% had no known post-secondary plan.

The district currently has:

One Elementary School serving Pre-K and Kindergarten: Northeast Elementary School

One Elementary School serving Grades 1-3: Northwest Elementary School

One Elementary School serving Grades 4-6: Park Avenue Memorial Elementary School

One Junior High School (Grades 7-9): Edmund W. Miles Middle School

One High School (Grades 10-12): Amityville Memorial High School

For the 2011-2012 School Year, the Accountability Status for Northeast and Northwest Elementary Schools and the high school was "In Good Standing", while Park Avenue Memorial Elementary School was "In Need of Correction Action (year 2) Focused" and the middle school was "In Need of Restructuring (year 1) Comprehensive". The Accountability Status for the district overall was "In Good Standing"

Up until recently, Amityville Memorial High School served grades 9-12, Edmund W. Miles Middle School served grades 6-8, Park Avenue Memorial Elementary School served grades 3-5, and Northwest Elementary School served grades 1-2. The first part of the change was implemented at the start of the 2009-2010 School Year, when new 9th graders were kept at Edmund W. Miles Middle School and new 6th graders were kept at Park Avenue Memorial Elementary School. At the start of the 2012-2013 school year, new 3rd graders were kept at Northwest Elementary School.

Transportation

Amityville is served by the Babylon Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. The station is a hub for buses in the area:[9]

Notable people

References

  1. 1 2 "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". Retrieved June 9, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "History". Amityvillehistoricalsociety.org. Archived from the original on 2011-07-25.
  3. ↑ "Amityville: Al Capone Was in the Lineup". Newsday. Retrieved November 7, 2007.
  4. ↑ Room A. Placenames of the world: origins and meanings, p. 6
  5. ↑ Kellogg, Valerie (2010-09-27). "'Amityville Horror' home becomes a 'dream house'". Newsday. Retrieved 2014-08-15.
  6. ↑ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Archived from the original on May 12, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  7. ↑ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2013-09-11. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  8. ↑ "City of Westbury, NY Census 2010". Zip-codes.com. Retrieved 2014-08-15.
  9. ↑ "Assets" (PDF). Sct-bus.org.
  10. ↑ Von Bergen, Jane M. (December 15, 2014). "SAP’s CEO is telling a winner’s story". Philly.com. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
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