: ''There is also a
Town of Nassau in
Rensselaer County.''
'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 2004, Nassau County is the richest county
per capita in the State of New York and the
sixth richest in the nation, with a median household income of $78,762.
[1] As of 2005, Nassau had the second highest median property tax in the nation at $7,025.
[2]
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: 'Matinecock' (note that a village in the county currently has that name), 'Norfolk,' (presumably because of the proximity to Suffolk County), 'Bryant,' and 'Sagamore,' but 'Nassau' had the historical advantage of having at one time been the name of Long Island itself.
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.
The
United Nations Security Council was temporarily located in Nassau County from 1946 to 1951 -- 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, thus kicking off 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 1995 Federal Judge Arthur Spatt declared the Nassau County Board of Supervisors unconstitutional and directed that a 19 member legislature be formed. Elections were held and Republicans won 13 seats and elected Bruce Blakeman as its first Presiding Officer(Speaker).
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 or
Pennsylvania.
In recent years Nassau County has recovered from its economic malaise of the 1990s. Since 2000, housing prices on Long Island have been the highest in the country. 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.
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.
The county
legislature has 19 members. There are ten
Democrats, nine
Republicans.
Law enforcement
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,
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.
Village leaders in the county seat of
Mineola in 2006 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.
[3]
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, enforcement of court orders and courthouse security is provided by the Nassau County Sheriff's Department.
Politics
'Presidential elections results'| Year | GOP | Dems |
|---|
| 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 was for many years
politically controlled by 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 mainly concentrated in the central part of the county, near the Village of Hempstead and
Uniondale, where there is a large African American and Hispanic population. Also, the wealthy northern half of the county, with the exception of parts of
Manhasset, is heavily Democratic. 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 mainly 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.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,173
km² (453
mi²). 743 km² (287 mi²) of it is land and 431 km² (166 mi²) 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:
★ #
Glen Cove
★ #
Long Beach
★ 3
towns
★ # The
Town of Hempstead, contains 22
villages and 35
hamlets:
★ #
★
★ #
★ The 22 villages in the Town of Hempstead are:
★ ##
Atlantic Beach
★ ##
Bellerose
★ ##
Cedarhurst
★ ##
East Rockaway
★ ##
Floral Park
★ ##
Freeport
★ ##
Garden City
★ ##
Hempstead (village)
★ ##
Hewlett Bay Park
★ ##
Hewlett Harbor
★ ##
Hewlett Neck
★ ##
Island Park
★ ##
Lawrence
★ ##
Lynbrook
★ ##
Malverne
★ ##
Rockville Centre
★ ##
South Floral Park
★ ##
Stewart Manor
★ ##
Valley Stream
★ ##
Woodsburgh
★ #
★
★ #
★ The 35
hamlets in the Town of Hempstead are:
★ ##
Baldwin
★ ##
Baldwin Harbor
★ ##
Barnum Island
★ ##
Bay Park
★ ##
Bellerose Terrace
★ ##
Bellmore
★ ##
East Atlantic Beach
★ ##
East Garden City
★ ##
East Meadow
★ ##
Elmont
★ ##
Franklin Square
★ ##
Garden City South
★ ##
Harbor Isle
★ ##
Hewlett
★ ##
Inwood
★ ##
Lakeview
★ ##
Levittown
★ ##
Lido Beach
★ ##
Malverne Park Oaks
★ ##
Merrick
★ ##
North Bellmore
★ ##
North Merrick
★ ##
North Valley Stream
★ ##
Oceanside
★ ##
Point Lookout
★ ##
Roosevelt
★ ##
Salisbury
★ ##
Seaford
★ ##
South Hempstead
★ ##
South Valley Stream
★ ##
South Westbury
★ ##
Uniondale
★ ##
Wantagh
★ ##
West Hempstead
★ ##
Woodmere
★ #
★
★ # The
Town of North Hempstead, contains 34
villages:
★ ##
Baxter Estates
★ ##
East Hills ''(This village is shared with the Town of Oyster Bay.)''
★ ##
East Williston
★ ##
Floral Park ''(This village is shared with the Town of Hempstead.)''
★ ##
Flower Hill
★ ##
Garden City
★ ##
Garden City Park
★ ##
Great Neck
★ ##
Great Neck Estates
★ ##
Great Neck Plaza
★ ##
Kensington
★ ##
Kings Point
★ ##
Lake Success
★ ##
Manorhaven
★ ##
Manhasset
★ ##
Mineola
★ ##
Munsey Park
★ ##
New Hyde Park ''(This village is shared with the Town of Hempstead.)''
★ ##
North Hills
★ ##
Old Westbury ''(This village is shared with the Town of Oyster Bay.)''
★ ##
Plandome
★ ##
Plandome Heights
★ ##
Plandome Manor
★ ##
Port Washington
★ ##
Port Washington North
★ ##
Roslyn
★ ##
Roslyn Estates
★ ##
Roslyn Harbor ''(This village is shared with the Town of Oyster Bay.)''
★ ##
Russell Gardens
★ ##
Saddle Rock
★ ##
Sands Point
★ ##
Thomaston
★ ##
Westbury
★ ##
Williston Park
★ #
★
★ # The
Town of Oyster Bay contains 18
villages and 18
hamlets:
★ #
★
★ #
★ The 18
villages in the Town of Oyster Bay are:
★ ##
Bayville
★ ##
Brookville
★ ##
Centre Island
★ ##
Cove Neck
★ ##
East Hills ''(This village is shared with the Town of
North Hempstead.)''
★ ##
Farmingdale
★ ##
Lattingtown
★ ##
Laurel Hollow
★ ##
Massapequa Park
★ ##
Matinecock
★ ##
Mill Neck
★ ##
Muttontown
★ ##
Old Brookville
★ ##
Old Westbury ''(This village is shared with the Town of North Hempstead.)''
★ ##
Oyster Bay Cove
★ ##
Roslyn Harbor ''(This village is shared with the Town of North Hempstead.)''
★ ##
Sea Cliff
★ ##
Upper Brookville
★ #
★
★ #
★ The 18
hamlets in the Town of Oyster Bay are:
★ ##
Bethpage
★ ##
East Massapequa
★ ##
East Norwich
★ ##
Glen Head
★ ##
Glenwood Landing ''(part)''
★ ##
Greenvale ''(part)''
★ ##
Hicksville
★ ##
Jericho
★ ##
Locust Valley
★ ##
Massapequa
★ ##
North Massapequa
★ ##
Old Bethpage
★ ##
Oyster Bay
★ ##
Plainedge
★ ##
Plainview
★ ##
South Farmingdale
★ ##
Syosset
★ ##
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.
Adjacent Counties
★
Suffolk County, New York - east
★
Queens County, New York - west
Demographics
As of the
census² of 2000, there were 1,334,544 people, 447,387 households, and 347,172 families residing in the county. The
population density was 1,797/km² (4,655/mi²). There were 458,151 housing units at an average density of 617/km² (1,598/mi²). 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 though. Asians were up to 6.6% of the population, which means that even if all the people who had reported more than one race who switched to one race had switched to reporting themselves as Asian, there was a growth in the Asian 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. There is a small
Sikh population in Nassau County which is evident by two Sikh
Gurdwaras or temples; one in
Plainview and the other in
Glen Cove. Other significant European descent groups 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, althrough 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.
Colleges and universities
Nassau county is home to numerous colleges and universities, including
Adelphi University,
Molloy College,
Briarcliffe College,
New York Institute of Technology,
SUNY Old Westbury,
Nassau Community College,
Hofstra University,
C. W. Post Campus of Long Island University, and the
United States Merchant Marine Academy.
Adjacent counties
★ with land boundaries
★
★
Queens County
★
★
Suffolk County
★ with water boundaries
★
★
Bronx County
★
★
Westchester County
★
★
Fairfield County,
Connecticut
County Symbols
Bird =
Osprey
Nassau county official flower is
viola pedata "Birdsfoot Violet"
References
1. America's richest and poorest places - 20 richest and poorest: the most affluent counties are in the East, but western cities score well, CNNMoney.com, August 31, 2005
2. Suburbs Near NYC Have Highest Tax Bills, ''Newsday'', October 4, 2006
3. Residents Make Statement Against Village Police Department, ''Mineola American'', Dec. 15, 2006
See also
★
Nassau County Police Department
★
Nassau County Sports Commission
External links
★
Nassau County official website
★
★
Nassau County Photo Gallery
★
PDF map showing LI school district boundaries and wealth comparisons
★
Directory of traffic courts and criminal courts in Nassau County
★
Nassau County Traffic & Parking Violations Agency information
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