Talk:Long Island/Archive 1

Archive 1

Archive 2

De-forestation

A large portion of Long Island's native forests were harvested for lumber in the early 1800's, Perhaps earlier. Would someone with the information post this story? Company names, types of trees etc.

Robber Barons/North Folk

I think that someone should add a few sentences about the historical presence of the "Robber Barons" who made homes for themselves on LI.

Upstate Status

Poughkeepsie isn't even upstate. Anything from around that area south is downstate and the rest is upstate.

Poughkeepsie is Upstate, as is anything north of the Tappan Zee Bridge.

Most people from the city consider Long Island to be upstate. I live on the Upper East Side, that's always what people say. "Upstate" is a way of distinguishing New York City from New York State, not just northern areas from southern areas.

-- I'm a long islander, I've actually never heard anyone refer to it as this in the city or on long island.

and gues what, I'm from manhattan, and no one here calls it 'the city' so we can call you whatever we want, besides, you are upstate, technically you're at least a mile or two north, so stop arguing over semantics, the real test is, if someone from an inhabitted part of the state got lost in Long Island or (formal)Upstate wilderness, would they be able to tell the difference? No of course not!

Long Island is no more part of New York City than are the Adirondack Mountains. Hence, upstate.

How can anyone consider Long Island "upstate"? It really doesn't get any more southern in New York than Long Island. Two out of the five boroughs of New York City are on Long Island. It makes no sense for "upstate" to mean simply any part of New York other than New York City. —Gordon P. Hemsley→✉ 16:58, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)

• Some people object to being called "upstate" and want others to "feel their pain". It is true that many Metro NY people call even very southernly counties "upstate" - but they also call parts of Manhattan "uptown". I must confess that I know very little about most of the places "up there" - but I have not lived in NY since leaving in 1967. Anyway, it's plain silly to bring this gripe to an encyclopedia - but many people think this is just another place to chat--JimWae 17:13, 2005 Jun 23 (UTC)

• Long Island is NOT upstate. See the article on Upstate New York.

• What does LI have more in common with? Manhattan or Connecticut? It is not culturally New York and is therefore upstate

• I'm from Dyker Heights, in the City. Long Island = Not the City. It is upstate, please stop arguing semantics, people in the city don't know north from south, just "uptown" from "downtown", so how do you expect them to know that LI is *technically* east of the city when they don't even use the concept of directions in their everyday lives? To New Yorkers, it's basically New York City vs. the rest of the world.

• To consider Long Island as upstate is clearly one of the most idiotic things I've ever seen written. I've never heard anyone refer to Long Island as upstate. However, Western Long Islanders (Nassau County), have a tendency to refer to Eastern Long Island (Suffolk County) as "The Boon Docks" or "Booneys" because the further east you travel, the less populated the island becomes and in some parts (way out by the forks), there is even farm land. Now, to say that people in the city don't know the difference between north, south, east and west is insulting to me as a New Yorker. Just because you failed to retain information you should have learned in 4th grade, doesn't give you the right to start assuming that millions of other people never looked at a map. Secondly, I find the term UP and DOWNstate very inaccurate because the directions up and down actually span perpendicular to North South East and West, where up points to the sky and down points to the center of the earth. But somewhere along the line, up became north and down became south and is very accepted this way. But the term UPSTATE is relevant to where you are. To New Yorkers and Long Islanders, upstate (anything north of you) is Westchester. For someone in Niagara Falls, Albany would be considered downstate but for NYers it's obviously upstate. However, people who call less populated, rural areas of NY upstate simply to distinguish themselves from the rest of the state are just arrogant people who need to realize that there's more to this world than their little circle of existance. - CHRIS CALABRESE

So if you live in Massepequa, then is Great Neck upstate? What about parts of Westchester that are on the same latitude as parts of the Bronx (e.g. Wakefield in the Bronx and Pelham Manor in Westchester) or on the same or lower latitude as parts of Nassau County?

I guess Staten Island is upstate too - it's not citified. Even if a 1,000 people call LI upstate, that does not mean it belongs in an encyclopedia --JimWae 06:55, 2005 July 26 (UTC)

Just because this is not as blatantly non-encyclopedic as some of your other recent additions such as "The term "Long Island" most often refers to a prissy little suburban peninsula east of New York." does not mean it belongs --JimWae 07:23, 2005 July 26 (UTC)

" so how do you expect them to know that LI is *technically* east of the city " I'm assuming you've never looked at a map of the United States in your entire life. I refuse to believe that anyone in New York City, doesn't realize Long Island is east of NYC, regardless of their use of direction. We don't exactly carry compasses on Long Island either, its really just brain dead common sense knowledge.. I mean seriously.

- Makes absolutely no sense to call Long Island upstate, spare Staten Island, it is the southernmost part of the state. The population density is much higher than upstate, as well as commercial development...It makes no logical sense to refer to any area of New York other than the city as Upstate, considering the completely obvious geographic and cultural reasons to the contrary. You'd also have to ignore that the largest portion of NYC is on Long Island, and if you think east of that is some sort of wildnerness..you really haven't been out there.

• Fuckin' A! Finally someone got it right, Maspeth Queens in tha house, i'm right in the backyard of Manhattan, you can see the ESB from my house. From my point of view there might as well not be anything besides Manhattan and Queens, people down here are so provincial that they actually *do* believe that the landscape turns to wilderness when you cross from QUeens to Nassau Co.

I've never met anyone upstate or on Long Island who considers Long Island part of upstate. And, you certainly could tell the difference between being los6t on Long Island and lost upstate--the land is very different. (As a side note, my experience has been that much of the rest of the country considers the entire NYC metro area to be NYC, because from a distance they seem to have more in common with each other than the rest of the country, but that's neither here nor there for this article.) Janni 16:06, 21 October 2005 (UTC)

Well hey, not to mention, Nassau and Suffolk counties have a combined population of 2.6 million people, making it larger than almost every major city in the country. We also have more money than almost every major city in the country. If Nassau and Suffolk county were to become a state, it would have a higher population than 20 existing states. Suffolk County also has the highest paid police force in the country. To consider this area 'wilderness' is rediculous. If you consider it 'upstate', you failed geography in elementary school. The only reason we look 'small' is because we're right next to New York City. In regards to culture, come on - we are not more closer to Connecticut, we are inevitably tied to NYC as it is to us - I can't even tell how many people commute to and from NYC to LI but it is a huge amount of people, daily. Long Islanders make up a significant percentage of the workforce in NYC. Culture from NYC is more prevalent than Connecticut culture by far. To see complaints from city denizens saying we're complaining about 'semantics' (yet acknowledging that they can't tell north from south) is a little absurd, this encyclopedia is for the world and not for the city resident's selfish point of view. Yes, it is selfish to consider LI upstate, because it's retarded on so many levels, in terms of physical reality and cultural similarity. It's virtually impossible to 'get lost' out here because you can go about 8 miles north or south (for the most part) and reach a 6 lane highway going to and from NYC. It's not my fault that millions of retarded Queens residents have some fantasy about Long Island being as it was 400 years ago, the uneducated should not take control of encyclopedias. Not to mention, whether you like to believe it or not, if you live in Queens or Brooklyn, you live on Long Island. And Long Island is not upstate. Unless you turned the world upside down, thats a fact you'll have to deal with. And in my personal opinion, with the continuous reduction of farmlands and influx of population, Long Island, in perhaps a century or two, will simply be a continuation of new york city.

Wow! What a rant! Perhaps you should move to New York City while you're waiting for Long Peninsula to become a "continuation" of it. Wizard1022 02:42, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

How, exactly, do you figure that LI is a peninsula? --Rory096 05:34, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

If you're using "Long Island" to mean just Nassau and Suffolk, then it is a peninsula. It's only an island if you include Brooklyn and Queens. -Wizard1022 06:16, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

Geographically, everybody knows that Brooklyn and Queens are obviously part of LI. Nassau and Suffolk is only the entire LI in the socio-political sense. --Rory096 06:30, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

So 2.6 million (actually 2.75 million) residents make LI more populous than "almost every major city in the country"...yet a city like Philadelphia with 1.5 million residents has only 135 square miles to work with rather than the spacious 1200 square miles of suburban sprawl in Nassau and Suffolk. Your point is irrelevant, you have to take land area into account. Sure Long Island is pretty densely populated compared to most of the rural US, but your assertion just reeks of arrogance. As for the 'Nassau and Suffolk have a higher population than 20 states', did you actually look that up? Wow, you must really have an inferiority complex to the City! So it's 'selfish' to call Long Island 'upstate', but not to call a part of Westchester within walking distance of the Bronx 'upstate'? As for Connecticut, that's the state right across your little sound. It seems like you're the one who flunked geography. As for commuters, people commute to the City from up in the mountains of Orange and Ulster County, yet it might as well be West Virginia up there. And yes, Queens is provincial, it's New York City, what did you expect. I don't think the Archie Bunker types in Maspeth consider themselves to be "Long Islanders" nor have any reason to care about some affluent suburban region they can't afford to live in. Sure most people from Queens probably don't call Long Island 'upstate' per se but to suggest that NYC identifies with LI like LI identifies with NYC is arrogant and out-of-touch.

• Long island the only place in the world that thinks it should be considered both its own state and part of nyc--152.163.100.131 02:26, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

• • im from brooklyn (windser terrace) and we NEW YORKERS get a good laugh every time you UPSTATE long island people claim to be part of our city. you dont see us claiming to be part of hicksville or farmingtown do you. people in the city do not hold you on a higher pedestal than say, connecticut or new jersey or rockland country or any other area the same distence from us. you are not more culterally new york than anyone else who lives outside of nyc. youre about asmuch a new yorker as someone from jersey city -MIKE DIFULCO
    • and like all internet discussions about long island, we have a 13 year old from long island pretending to be from Brooklyn, see strawman for reference--64.12.116.131 18:51, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

• This discussion is absurd. i was born in Queens, grew up in Long Island, and now split time between Brooklyn and LI, and I have never, ever, ever heard anyone refer to Long Island as "upstate." You can call it lame, provincial, suburban, culturally more similar to NJ and Westchester or other things (the same way people can call many manhattanites and brooklynites obnoxious, parochial, and self-centered), but it's NOT upstate. It's called "Long Island." Anyone born east of the Hudson knows this, which makes me wonder how many of the alleged New Yorkers were actually born in New York and how many of them moved here in their 20s looking for a good place to gentrify. Or have at minimum seen a map of New York State once.

Secession

The thing about Long Island seceding is a JOKE. I only wish... no one would miss those jerks

• OK, can't you harness your Long Island secessionist fantasies toward a more productive end?--Pharos 20:14, 23 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Replaced this guess with correct data from InfoPlease:

approximately 100 miles long, and 40 miles wide at its widest point

Guess what? No matter where you are on Long Island, you're never more than 10 miles from the ocean! It's long and skinny, like Baja California!! User:Ed Poor

---

We might want to mention, as in Manhattan/Talk, the difference between the geographical and political usages of Long Island. I daresay the political difference is more important to residents. In the metro area of New York, when people say Long Island they mean Nassau and Suffolk counties, as distinct from New York City (NYC).

Some things change when you go across the border from NYC to Long Island. NYC charges income tax (in addition to New York State tax). Right turn on red is permitted in Nassau and Suffolk counties, but is forbidden in NYC. Streets are generally named (Main St.) rather than numbered (34th St.) on Long Island, while in NYC street names with numbers are prevalent (even as high as 214th St.)

User:Ed Poor (my father grew up on Long Island, and I lived there for about 5 years.

As long as it's talk, a nitpick: the street numbers go up into the 250s, I believe. I *know* that I live on 218th, and that the subway goes up to 242nd. And, of course, there are at least two Main Streets in NYC. But I ramble. Vicki Rosenzweig

East River

Long Island is considered by most to be an Island, however it was found in the 1980's that its separation from the mainland was due to canal building by the Dutch who first settled in what is now New York City; thus it is not technically an island.

I find it hard to believe (a) that the Dutch had the engineering ability to create a canel the length and breadth of the East River, AND (b) that this "fact" could have been lost to history until the 1980s! --Uncle Ed 21:51, 18 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Article says:

Technically speaking, the island is actually a peninsula separated from the mainland by the East River, a tidal estuary of the Hudson River

Wouldn't Manhattan then also be a peninsula? Is this not just plain wrong? Are islands that get connected via infill still islands? Would that not make Manhattan several islands? Or do I mean peninsulas?--JimWae 23:03, 2005 Mar 13 (UTC)

Names of towns

Long Island, NY is comprised of counties, two cities (Long Beach and Glen Cove), numerous local towns, townships, villages, hamlets and designated places. Technically Queens and Brooklyn are part of Long Island, but we've yet to find a person from Brooklyn or Queens that refers to themselves as Long Islanders. Many people in the New York metropolitan area (even those on the island in Queens and Brooklyn) use the term "Long Island" or "the island" to refer to Nassau and Suffolk counties only.

• County:
  A county is a municipal corporation, a subdivision of the state, created to perform state functions; a "regional government. All counties are divided into cities, towns and Indian reservations
• City:
  A city is a unique government entity with its own special charter. Cities are not sub-divided, except into neighborhoods which are informal geographic areas.
• Town:
  A town is a municipal corporation and encompasses all territory within the state except that within cities or Indian reservations. Towns can be sub-divided into villages and hamlets
• Village:
  A village is a general purpose municipal corporation formed voluntarily by the residents of an area in one or more towns to provide themselves with municipal services. The pattern of village organization is similar to those of a city. A village is divided into neighborhoods, which are informal geographic areas.
• Hamlet:
  A hamlet is an unincorporated area in one or more towns that is governed at-large by the town(s) it is in. A hamlet is divided into neighborhoods, which are informal geographic areas.
• Postal Zone:
  A postal zone "City and "Town" is an administrative district established by the U.S. Postal Service to deliver the mail. Postal zone "City" and "Town" may or may not conform to municipal or community border. Thus, postal zone location does not always determine city, village or hamlet location
• Designated Place:
  A designated place is a term derived from the term "Census Designated Place" or CDP in censuses beginning with 1980. It replaced the designation (U) or unincorporated. A designated place is similar to that of a hamlet.

  Nassau County

  Town of Hempstead
  Atlantic Beach
  Baldwin
  Bellerose
  Bellmore
  Cedarhurst
  East Meadow
  East Rockaway
  Elmont
  Floral Park
  Franklin Square
  Freeport
  Garden City
  Gibson
  Green Acres
  Hempstead
  Hempstead Gardens
  Hewlett
  Inwood
  Island Park
  Lakeview of Rockville Centre
  Lakeview of West Hempstead
  Lawrence
  Levittown
  Lynbrook
  Malverne
  Merrick
  Munsey
  New Cassel
  New Hyde Park
  North Woodmere
  Oceanside
  Old Westbury
  Plandome
  Point Lookout
  Rockville Centre
  Roosevelt
  Roosevelt Field
  Seaford
  Uniondale
  Valley Stream-North Valley Stream-South Wantagh
  West Hempstead
  Woodmere
  

  Town of North Hempstead
  Albertson
  Baxter Estates
  Carle Place
  East Williston
  Floral Park
  Flower Hill - Port Washington
  Flower Hill - Roslyn
  Garden City Park
  Glenwood Landing
  Great Neck
  Greenvale
  Herricks
  Kensington
  Kings Point
  Manhasset
  Manhasset Hills
  Manorhaven
  Munsey
  New Cassel
  New Hyde Park
  Port Washington
  Roslyn
  Roslyn Heights
  Russell Gardens
  Saddle Rock
  Sands Point
  Sea Cliff
  Searingtown
  Stewart Manor
  Westbury
  Williston Park
  

  Town of Oyster Bay
  Bayville
  Bethpage
  Brookville
  East Norwich
  Farmingdale
  Glen Head
  Greenvale
  Hicksville
  Jericho
  Lattingtown
  Locust Valley
  Massapequa
  Massapequa Park
  Mill Neck
  Old Bethpage
  Old Brookville
  Oyster Bay
  Plainedge
  Plainview
  Syosset
  Woodbury
  

  City of Glen Cove
  City of Long Beach
  

  Suffolk County

  Town of Babylon
  Amityville
  Babylon Village
  Bay Shore
  Copiague
  Deer Park
  East Farmingdale
  Lindenhurst
  North Babylon
  Oak Beach
  West Babylon
  West Gilgo
  Wheatley Heights
  Wyandanch
  

  Town of Brookhaven
  Belle Terre
  Bellport
  Blue Point
  Brookhaven
  Calverton
  Center Moriches
  Centereach
  Coram
  Gordon Heights
  East Moriches
  East Patchogue
  Eastport
  Farmingville
  Holbrook
  Holtsville
  Lake Grove
  Lake Ronkonkoma
  Manorville
  Mastic Beach
  Medford
  Miller Place
  Middle Island
  Moriches
  Mount Sinai
  Old Field
  Patchogue
  Poquott
  Port Jefferson
  Port Jefferson Station
  Ridge
  Rocky Point
  Selden
  Setauket
  Shirley
  Shoreham
  Sound Beach
  Stony Brook
  Upton
  Yaphank
  

  Town of East Hampton
  Amagansett
  East Hampton
  Montauk
  Springs
  Wainscott
  

  Town of Huntington
  Asharoken
  Centerport
  Cold Spring Harbor
  Commack
  Dix Hills
  East Northport
  Eaton's Neck
  Elwood
  Fort Salonga
  Greenlawn
  Halesite
  Huntington
  Huntington Station
  Lloyd Harbor
  Melville
  Northport
  

  Town of Islip
  Bayport
  Bohemia
  Brentwood
  Brightwaters
  Central Islip
  Cherry Grove
  Davis Park
  East Islip
  Great River
  Hauppauge
  Holbrook
  Holtsville
  Islandia
  Islip
  Islip Terrace
  North Great River
  Oakdale
  Ocean Beach
  Ronkonkoma
  Sayville
  West Islip
  West Sayville
  

  Town of Riverhead
  Aquebogue
  Calverton
  Jamesport
  Riverhead
  Wading River
  

  Town of Smithtown Commack
  Fort Salonga
  Hauppauge
  Kings Park
  Lake Ronkonkoma
  Nesconset
  Nissequogue
  St. James
  Smithtown
  

  Town of South Hampton
  Bridgehampton
  East Quogue
  Eastport
  Flanders
  Hampton Bays
  Noyac
  Quogue
  Remsenburg
  Sag Harbor
  Shinnecock Hills
  Southampton
  Water Mill
  Westhampton
  Westhampton Beach
  Sagaponack
  

  Town of Southold
  Cutchogue
  East Marion
  Greenport
  Laurel
  Matinecock
  Mattituck
  New Suffolk
  Orient
  Peconic
  Southold
  Mastic
  

  Three Village Area

  Information provided by LongIsland.com.

• RE: Town project: How about breaking down the list into two groups, Nassau and Suffolk. Kings and Queens have no towns. The list ALREADY includes non-towns! Or do you want towns and VILLAGES too? Tmesipt.

I don't necessarily want anything. I just notice there's a list of towns in this article that has only three entries. If such a list exists in this article, and it does, it should be more complete. Whether or not Queens or Brooklyn should be included isn't up to me. One solution I just thought of: we could just link to the "Towns" section of the Nassau and Suffolk articles if no one wants the task of retyping all of the town/city/village names here. Moncrief 01:35, Mar 24, 2004 (UTC)

• Check out Nassau County and Suffolk County articles, but beware that this information is not entirely correct. Tmesipt.

I get that those two articles include lists of towns (that's too bad they're not entirely accurate). The point is that this article also purports to include a list of communities on Long Island, and it only has three entries. Something should be done at some point about that. Moncrief 01:41, Mar 24, 2004 (UTC)

Being merely an UPSTATE New Yorker -- and there are so few of us -- I really should defer this to the large population of Downstate Wikipedians to perform this task, unless I can find some time to spare form dealing with similar problems in Western New York. I admit that I do know something of LI. Tmesipt.

How about explaining what a "town" is? To most people (outside New York) -- a "town" is a "townSHIP".

I added links to lists of communities in the Nassau and Suffolk County articles. Moncrief 02:00, Mar 24, 2004 (UTC)

• I noticed the reference to this article on the problem page. I don't understand why anyone needs to copy over all the information from Nassau and Suffolk to the LI page, since the previous change references those pages. The real problem is that the Nassau and Suffolk pages each contain TWO lists. Someone really needs to decide which way looks best; then merge the information and remove the extraneous list.

People "from" Long Island

If this category is restricted to people born on Long Island, Theodore Roosevelt should not be included, he was born in NYC, though he made his home at Oyster Bay. Too Old 19:38, 2005 Feb 18 (UTC)

Along those lines, how come people I've never even heard of are on this list, but Billy Crystal, who was born in Long Beach, isn't? Obviously this isn't an all-inclusive list, but I think some better choices can be made here. GPHemsley→◊ 03:37, Mar 14, 2005 (UTC)

• thousands of people belong in this section (especially if Brklyn & Qns are included) - yet nearly 1/2 I've never heard of - many are minor stars of rock. I vote we delete this section as one could NEVER do it justice & will get filled with "fan" selections & vanity links --JimWae 21:55, 2005 Mar 14 (UTC)

Have a look at List of famous New Yorkers. It's divided between 'Native New Yorkers' and 'Other New Yorkers'. The same thing could be done for a List of famous Long Islanders, though I should think that list should be restricted to just Nassau and Suffolk counties. For illustration that its possible to have a very very long list of people, see List of Jews.--Pharos 22:53, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)

How New Yorkers use "Long Island"

As one who grew up in the Bronx, I must express puzzlement at JimWae's rewriting of my "as a rule" phrase. In my experience, New Yorkers (whether they are from Brooklyn and Queens) *never* call Brooklyn and Queens "Long Island"; the closest they'd ever say is that "Brooklyn and Queens are on Long Island," but as a rule any New Yorker who says he's going out to/from/living in/coming from Long Island or "the Island" is referring to Nassau and Suffolk counties *only*. My preference for wording the sentence remains:

As a rule, residents of the New York metropolitan are, including those in Queens and Brooklyn, use the term "Long Island" or "the island" to refer to Nassau and Suffolk counties only.

What do others think? --Yeechang Lee 21:29, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

As someone who grew up on Long Island in Suffolk County, I agree with the above editor that "from Long Island" refers to only Nassau and Suffolk County. Andrew73 22:49, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

• I changed it because "as a rule" is either far too vague or else wrong (there is no "rule"). I grew up in western Queens. I also introduced "out on the island" since "out on" (which you also used) is an important part of the way "the Island" is used. --JimWae 04:01, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

As a rule (ahem), "as a rule" doesn't imply that there's actually such a formal rule; it means that's the conventional behavior or expectation (while still implying *some* wiggle room for exceptions; just less than "many people").

What this really boils down to is that to me "many people" implies there exists a substantial number of New Yorkers who *doesn't* adhere to the "Long Island"="Nassau and Suffolk only" convention, which I simply don't believe based on more than two decades living in the New York area. How about this as a compromise?

Residents of the New York metropolitan area, including those in Queens and Brooklyn, almost always use the term "Long Island" or "out on the island" to refer to Nassau and Suffolk counties only.

Honestly, even the above "almost" annoys me a tiny bit since *no one* in my experience would *ever* refer to Brooklyn and Queens as a part of Long Island except in the rare, rare, rare occasions of discussing the physical entity of the island called Long Island that lies east of Manhattan island, but I'm willing to live with it. Another possibility is

Unless referring to the physical entity of the island itself, residents of the New York metropolitan area, including those in Queens and Brooklyn, always use the term "Long Island" or "out on the island" to refer to Nassau and Suffolk counties only.

. . . but that sounds clumsier. In any case, what say ye?

(I know we're picking at nits, but I think it's important that we precisely document a non-obvious, but factual, point highly relevant to the article.)--Yeechang Lee 04:25, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

• I have always agreed that many, even most, "city people" usually use LI for just the two counties. But it is not for wikipedians to determine either if all do (quite unlikely, given the eccentricities of people) nor if not doing so would be against any (however informal) "rule" --JimWae 05:13, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

I have to diagree; our job is to state a fact, even if that fact is necessarily imprecise. And we both agree that

• You're right, the 2nd is too cumbersome--JimWae 05:17, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

  Nearly all current residents of the New York metropolitan area, including even those in the boroughs of the city actually on Long Island (Queens and Brooklyn), almost always use the term "Long Island" or "out on the island" to refer to Nassau and Suffolk counties only.

Surely there's no reason to use two qualifiers ("nearly" and "almost")? Here's my newest proposal:

Today, residents of the New York metropolitan area, including those in Queens and Brooklyn, almost always use the term "Long Island" or "out on the island" to refer to Nassau and Suffolk counties only.

I'm open to moving "almost" to ahead of "residents," but otherwise I'm happy with how it stands.--Yeechang Lee 05:36, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

• This was not always the case. Before WW2, Queens would often be referred to as "Long Island" or "out on the Island". Curiously, everyone seems to know which island "out on the Island" refers to.

Hmm. Queens (but not Brooklyn?), was once known as part of "Long Island"? I didn't know that; I presume it's some artifact of the days before the 1898 city unification.--05:36, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

• No, you just have to go further back in time for Brooklyn to have been called "over on the Island". My grandfather lived in Queens when it was almost all farmland. Yes, put "almost all" in front of "residents" - Since nobody has done an official survey, it's not up to wikipedian editors to draw their own favorite conclusions. "Residents" without a qualifier suggests "all" - though sometimes "a few". As for the 2nd qualifier? Well, you already agreed there were some exceptions to the usage.--JimWae 05:50, 6 November 2005 (UTC)
• Our job might include stating clearly supported facts, but not to present semi-wry observations with no independent research (remember No Original Research) as if they were fact, nor to state such "facts" in an imprecise way to avoid not having support for them--JimWae 06:09, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

September 11th

I tried to clean up and clarify the end of the article explaining about the September 11th attacks. I did give September 11th its own subheading, but after some thought I have decided to remove it and just leave it under the history section. If anyone feels that this would be a good idea feel free to make it into its own subheading. Flyerhell 07:26, 16 November 2005 (UTC)

Climate

I removed this sentence: "Long Island has a tendency to heat waves. During the summer of 2005, Long Island experienced what felt like a month of 90 degree plus weather."

This is false. Does any place in the country that has heatwaves sometimes have a "tendancy to heat waves?" The summer of 2005 was NOTHING compared to the summer of 1999 when the temperature in LI was over 100 for a week or more. Sure there are hot periods, but I have never seen anything showing that LI has more heatwaves statistically than any other place in the country. The water around Long Island helps to moderate the temperature also, keeping the temperature slightly warmer in the winter and slightly cooler in the summer as well. If someone can cite a source with the fact that LI has a tendancy for heatwaves cite the source and put it back into the article, but if not I don't think it should be in the article. Flyerhell 23:49, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

EDIT** The summer of 1999 was much warmer than normal, however, there was only one reported day that was over 100°, and that was July 5, 1999 where the temperature rose to 102°F and 13 days that were in the 90's as reported at Islip MacArthur Airport. 2005 had 15 90°F+ days and no 100° days.

Diners

Could anyone here from Long Island tell me why only Long Island has diners, as asserted in the article? Are you people really so provincial that you think everything is unique to your inconsequential little peninsula? What's next, are you going to say Long Islanders eat a substance known as food in order to nourish their bodies and stay alive? Or, Long Islanders engage in an activity known as sleep approximately 8 hours a day? What's the deal? Wizard1022 03:11, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

I think there's some difference between the diner concept on Long Island and Metro New York as compared to the rest of the country that is worth noting. I'm around Boston, and the diner one would visit here is a far cry from the diners this article speaks of. --Meadowbrook 17:27, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

Our "Inconsequential little ISLAND" has a population of 2.5 million people (In Nassau and Suffolk alone, not counting millions of others in Queens/Brooklyn) which is greater than 20 existing states. This is not inconsequential. I agree with your point about diners but not on your incorrect analysis of what we actually are - a huge population center.

Yeah, but nobody cares. What is incredible, however, is that NYC is one-quarter the size of Long Peninsula (300 sq mi as opposed to 1200) and yet has more than twice its population. Now that's a population center. Wizard1022 02:32, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

While I, being a typical proud New Yorker, am inclined to agree with this statement, let's be realistic and admit that New York City can overshadow almost any population center, major or not. At least in this country, anyway (Can anyone say Tokyo? Now THAT'S a population center). Regardless, a lot of people live on Long Island, dude, and I think it's quite fair to call it a major population center. Err, that said, "huge" might be taking things a biiiit too far. 64.131.211.228 04:06, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

The text in the article under "Food" says "Most every town in Nassau County has at least one diner, most of them operating 24/7, where people can meet and eat. Most were established during the 70's, and specialize in hamburgers and sandwiches." I don't think this implies that diners exist only on Long Island or that there is anything unique about Long Island's diners from those that exist elsewhere. That said, the entire statement is inane and idiotic and doesn't add anything to the article. It makes a set of categorical statements that are probably all incorrect, and should probably just be removed. Alansohn 17:39, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

Unsupported crime statistic

The following statement was removed as it is unsupported and seems questionable:

According to the [[National Census Bureau of Statistics]], Long Island is considered the "safest place to live" per capita in the United States.

What is the National Census Bureau of Statistics? Is it the United States Census Bureau, and if so why the awkward construction? Shouldn't there be some sort of as of date or year for this data? How is Long Island defined: is it Nassau and Suffolk only or all four counties? All of these questions seem to require removal of the sentence. Let's reinsert this only if we can find documentation for the information. Alansohn 14:25, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

The crime section is a little better now..However, the section states that "Long Island is patrolled by NYPD, Nassau PD and Suffolk PD"..and gives a crime statistic. Where is this crime statistic from? Nassau? Suffolk? Brooklyn? Queens? or all four? As the article also states, even though Long Island includes Brooklyn and Queens, when people say "Long Island", 9/10 times they mean Nassau and Suffolk...meaning that the NYPD would not be patrolling in those areas. Thoughts? Flyerhell 05:20, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

Map of Long Island

The four counties of Long Island.

Has anyone noticed that the map of the four counties of Long Island shown at the top of the article seems to be wildly inaccurate. In addition to what appear to be boundary problems, it also seems that many of the peninsulas have disappeard (or maybe broken off). The North Fork, and the Great Neck, Manhasset and Rockaway peninsulas all seem to be missing. Can we find a more detailed map that shows a more accurate outline, defines the borders and perhaps also shows major locations (including county seats and borough halls) along the way. Can anyone out there help with this? Alansohn 13:31, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

• Long island doesn't have 4 counties, it has 2 counties--152.163.100.131 02:41, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
  • I count four: Kings, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk. Anyone count any differently?
    • Kings and Queens counties are, politically, part of New York City (the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, respectively). There's no physical border between those and Nassau County, so in a sense, they're part of Long Island, in that they are physically on the same island. Generally, when someone is referring to Long Island, they mean Nassau and Suffolk counties only. —LrdChaos 03:18, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
      • For reference purposes, I inserted the map in question of "The four counties of Long Island." After further thought, I simply overlaid it with the present Mercator map, which created its own controversy. No matter what, there are four counties on Long Island. This article is about the island, not just the non-NYC portions thereof. Alansohn 03:45, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
        • Okay, let me explain the confusion over the term "Long Island." The name "Long Island" actually refers to two overlapping regions. One is the natural region - the island itself - which has four counties, Kings, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk. The second, and more common usage, uses the term "Long Island" to refer to a particular social region within that natural region - and this social region is Nassau and Suffolk only. -Wizard1022 03:58, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
          • I've lived far too long on Long Island to need an explanation. While I never observed a ceremony, there have probably been hundreds of thousands of times when I had one foot in Queens County and the other on Long Island, all without crossing the body of water that by definition constitutes an island. I laugh along with everyone else when people use "Long Island" to mean Nassau and Suffolk only. All that said, the article we're dealing with is about the "Long Island" with four counties on it, not just the easternmost two. Alansohn 04:26, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
            • Well obviously this article doesn't refer to the geographical feature, or we'd have to move it to long archipelago, since it's really a whole bunch of little islands connected by large sections of filled in swamps and barrier beaches, clearly the fact that the article refers to a population of 3 million should be enough to prove that this article clearly only relates to the two eastern most counties--205.188.117.6 04:54, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
              • Are we reading the same article??? I see "7.4 million residents" in the first sentence of the article!?!? Sure, there are parts that aren't connected, but it's an island, swamps and all. Alansohn 05:04, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
                • Well no, if you're going to play the geography card, then no, it's not one island at all, it's a long string of small islands, which makes it an archipelago, not an island at all, since the only other meaning long island has is colloquial, it should be easy to see that the article should refer only to the most common meaning, suffolk and nassau--205.188.117.6 05:29, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
                  • The way I read both the article and List of islands by area (where LI ranks in at #146). There are many other islands off the coasts of Long Island, but I'd say looking at a map that it's one, big island. What is the biggest island in the archipelago, after Long Island itself? Please, read the article and tell me that it's only about Nassau and Suffolk, not all four counties. Alansohn 05:59, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
                    • The article makes a few odd, random sounding references to Queens and Brooklyn, and their relation to long island, they sound like they were added later in the articles life by people from you know where trying to make it seem like long island actually has something to do with nyc other sharing a border with Queens, if you want a real test, go find some editors from either of the two boroughs, and see if they'd self identify with long island--64.12.116.131 17:11, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
                      • This has nothing to do with self identification. It's about an island. A long one. One that includes four counties; Kings, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk. Of course, it's appropriate to include the wacky geography that has people using "Long Island" to mean only Nassau and Suffolk. But folk usage doesn't change the facts. I've bicycled end-to-end from the 59th Street Bridge to Montauk, some 125 miles. I can assure you that it's one continuous island. I encourage you to read the article. With minor exceptions (which will be corrected), the article refers to all four conties, not just the easternmost two. Alansohn 17:26, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
                        • Geologically, long island isn't an island, culturally long island certianly isn't nyc, and if I'm not mistaken, according to a 1985 Supreme Court ruling long island essentially isn't an island in the legal sense either,
                        • in what way do you consider it an island? I'm not suggesting we re-write the article, but certianly there's no reason to pretend that long island extends beyond the Queens border, just because you want it to, suggesting that anything that touches long island must be part of it is silly, by that line of reasoning we may as well merge the articles on Canada and the United States, I can walk from one to the other if I ever feel the urge to visit upstate ny,

surely they must be the same thing--64.12.116.131 17:33, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

• This is an article about an island. An island, says Wikipedia, "any piece of land that is completely surrounded by water." By that definition, all the land that touches any part of the island, is part of the island. I agree that there are cultural, political and sociological differences between the two counties on the left of the map and the two on the right. So what. I have seen every inch of the Queens / Nassau border and I can assure you that all four counties are connected by land on a single land mass surrounded by water. That makes it an island. I would never argue that the US and Canada are the same country because they share a border, and this has no relevance to what constitutes an island. take a look at Borneo, which is politically divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, yet somehow constitutes one single island, despite the presence of borders. If Kings and Queens are not on Long Island, where are they? And please refer me to this "1985 Supreme Court ruling {that} long island essentially isn't an island" I'd love to see this one. Alansohn 17:59, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
  • Seeing as no one bothered to provide the reference, I believe the case in question is United States v. Maine, 469 U.S. 504 (1985). I really don't see it as relevant to the argument. The ruling defined Long Island juridically as a peninsula, essentially saying that because the East River was originally too shallow for navigation, Long Island is (practically speaking) part of the mainland. The effect was to define Long Island sound and part of Block Island Sound as a juridical bay, i.e. not "high seas" but subject to state, rather than federal jurisdiction. This doesn't change the everyday geographical definition of "island" nor the colloquial use of "Long Island" to mean less than a geographical island.--ChasFink (talk) 17:16, 31 July 2008 (UTC)
• As I said earlier, Long Island is a term referring to two different but overlapping regions: a natural region (i.e. an island) (4 counties) and a social region (2 counties) whose name happens to contain the word "island" even though it is only part of an island, or a peninsula more correctly then. However, place names containing the word "island" do not necessarily have to be an island, and such an argument misses the point. The State of Rhode Island is not an island, just a name of a state which contains the word "island." -Wizard1022 18:41, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
  • I have never argued that "Long Island" is never used to mean Nassau & Suffolk. All I am trying to clear up is the belief that "Long Island" only means Nassau and Suffolk. As stated in the lead sentences of the article:

Long Island is an island in New York, at 1,377 square miles (3567 km²) the largest island in the continental United States, and with 7.4 million residents, the 17th most populous island in the world. True to its name, the island is much longer, jutting out some 118 miles (190 km) from New York Harbor...

The article is thus about the island (i.e. the land mass surrounded by water that includes all four counties, not just the state of mind that its only the easternmost two. As to Rhode Island, it's not a Rhode and it's not an island, it's just a name. Talk amongst yourselves. Long Island is not just a name, it's actually an island. Alansohn 00:32, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

• I think the question that remains is, would it be misleading to talk about Long Island as the counties Kings, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk when a fair amount of people refer to Long Island as just Nassau and Suffolk, no matter how grevious the misnomer? In other words, Long Island is both an island and a name. Let's talk about both. Kevin F. Story 06:36, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

• Then would Shelter Island be considered part of Long Island in this case? What about Atlantic beaches like Fire Island? Anthony71 18:55, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Average home prices

I'm pretty sure I read in Newsday a few months ago that the average has reached $400,000, but I can't find a source, besides maybe this one. Can anyone help me get an official website with the information on it? --Rory096 05:59, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

The article linked above refers to sale prices, which may not accurately reflect average home values. We need to have some source to document the statement in the main article. Alansohn 17:34, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

I've added a reference for the statement, from a Newsday story on the subject. —LrdChaos 21:59, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

Template:New York City Islands

Should this really be here? While yes, two entire boroughs of NYC are physically on LI, we've established many times in here that Long Island is completely different from NYC. --Rory096 07:05, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

Long island is north of most of westchester, and at least 2 other counties north of the city

Map of upstate ny/long island

So, where are all those islanders who keep telling us if we could read a map we'd realize they weren't upstate? Because this map puts Suffolk County, north of "Mt. Vernon" which seems to be a bonafide part of upsate ny, you know what they say, if the Latitude and Longitude fits, wear it...--152.163.100.131 02:31, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

Mt. Vernon is Upstate New York? That's news to this Brooklynite. Mt. Vernon is south of White Plains, which itself is considered part of the New York metro area and has much much much more in common with the city and its surroundings than with the rest of "Upstate." Hell, Mt. Vernon even borders the Bronx! Calling that upstate is like calling Jersey City a part of Central Jersey, which would be patently ridiculous. 64.131.211.228 04:20, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

Thank you! Sure "upstate" can be defined as the area north of any arbitrary point, and not necessarily mean the literal northern area of a state, I think the connotation of the term "upstate" (rural, distant, the opposite of NYC) precludes applying it to any area within walking distance of the Bronx, at the VERY least. Personally I think upstate could begin even at some point in Upper Westchester, such as those Connecticut-like exurban areas like North Salem/Purdys, etc. which are substantially north of NYC. User 152.163.100.131: if a bunch of kids were playing football in the field at Mount Saint Michael Academy in the Wakefield section of the Bronx, and the ball flew over the fence into the front yard of a house across the street, they would technically be crossing over the NY city limits into Mt. Vernon to get it. So does that mean they must travel "upstate" to get the ball, considering the point I just made about connotation? If you Long Islanders just *gotta* have a term for NYS north of NYC, if somehow that is any sort of cohesive "region" to you, you should really come up with an alternate term. Wizard1022 02:48, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

hmm, that article on Upstate New York describes Upstate as starting north of Poughkeepsie, the outer end of Long Island is at least as far north east, as Poughkeepsie is to the north west, in fact quite a bit further really, "up" is all relatively arbitrary anyway, the "up" seems to imply anything north west of a certian point, saying that it can't apply to something to the north east by the same amount is semantics--152.163.100.131 22:40, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Been in NY all my life. There's Westchester--which is NORTH (hence on your way upstate.) Then it goes into the Bronx... which is South. further south is MAnhattan Island. EAST of Mahattan Island is Long Island--where Brooklyn and Queens begins. Technically Long Island jets out due east of new york city and is not upstate as some of you said. SyossetMan 00:37, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

It's based on perception. Most Long Islanders, I'd argue, consider anything north of the Bronx "upstate." Is it accurate? Not necessarily, at least until there's a set-in-stone definition of "upstate." As far as parts of LI being further north than Westchester: while geographically true, Long Islanders focus more on the east-west specifics (particularly because the Island is much wider than tall). As an analogy, take Hawaii. The state is the southernmost and the westernmost state in the country, but no one considers it part of the "West" or "South," nor do most people consider Alaska "North" in the way your typical northern states are. Anthony71 17:44, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

And this is part of what gives Long Islanders a bad name. The whole 'anything above the Bronx is upstate' attitude is dumbfoundingly ignorant, not to mention quite disrespectful as we all know that 'upstate' doesn't exactly have a real positive connotation, at least in the way that people in the New York metro area use it. This is because it is used to mean the "antithesis" of New York City, i.e. dowdy, rural, hickish, far from the city, outside its sphere of influence etc. Considering that the Bronx used to be part of Westchester County and that the county is literally 2 miles from Manhattan at the closest point of each (Marble Hill to southwest Yonkers - 35 blocks apart on Broadway), most Westchester residents don't appreciate people from Long Island insisting on calling them a derogatory term, considering that Westchester and New York City are close and culturally/historically related. This is especially irritating when someone from Suffolk County (not even Nassau!) just *has* to call cities in Westchester that literally BORDER THE BRONX "upstate." While these Long Islanders are full aware that "upstate" implies distance from the city and rural character, they for some reason just still have to include urban Yonkers and Mount Vernon in this region. Please consider everything I just said and next time you use the term "upstate", can you please not start it until at least the Tappan Zee Bridge? It might help you make a couple friends you wouldn't have otherwise made.-EJ220 01:04, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

Isn't this whole arguement rather silly? Is a difference in terminology REALLY something that is giving Long Islanders a bad name? Seriously now, this is getting ridiculous, at best. RSimione 16:22, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Population

I've found several sites that cite the population of Long Island as 2.65 million, not the 7.4 million the article's first paragraph says. [1] [2]. Is the higher figure a misprint? --67.182.211.191 21:39, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

I couldn't find the numbers you were mentioning at either link, but see the Demography section of the article, which explains that "As of the United States 2000 Census, the total population of all four counties of Long Island was 7,448,618. New York City's portion of the census was 4,694,705, with Brooklyn's population at 2,465,326 and Queens having 2,229,379 residents. The combined population of Nassau and Suffolk counties was 2,753,913 people. It was the first census in which the population of the larger, less densely populated Suffolk County (1,419,369) surpassed that of Nassau County (1,334,544)." Alansohn 21:43, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Suburbia or Something Else

This is an interesting section that could use a little expansion. I do not agree with the statement that Nassau County includes mostly city commuters while Suffolk is inhabited primarily by professionals. Having lived in both Nassau and Suffolk, I'd like to point out that both areas are equally self-sustaining and both areas have equal avenues of employment for professionals. There are plenty of hospitals, schools, dentistry units, etc in Nassau and universities as well (see: Hofstra). Nassau is very much like Baltimore County, Maryland, another place I’ve lived with similar characteristics. While Baltimore houses commuters to its local metros of Washington and Baltimore (Baltimore County is Not Baltimore City), more than half are employed inside the county they live in. Now as for Suffolk, I’m surprised that no one has already pointed out that although it is difficult to commute daily from Greenport, thousands of people travel from Suffolk County to NYC every day on the Long Island Rail Road. In fact it’s the country’s most patronized commuter railroad. Commute times are generally one and a half hours or less (about an hour from Deer Park). Two hours or less would be considered a reasonable commute time for most city workers. I do not wish to argue that either county is more typically a commuter county, I merely wish to argue that both counties are probably equals with Nassau having only slightly more commuters per capita. Heck, you’d have to work in NYC to buy property there at today’s prices. Perhaps there are figures from LIRR that can help our points. In the meantime I suggest developing the technoburb wiki if that is the proper term. GavinSimmons 00:05, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

Living more than ten miles from your job being essentially a 20th Century innovation, the division of the History section belongs with the building of the superhighways and the conversion of eastern Queens, Nassau and western Suffolk from farmland to residential suburbs. And no, the presence of universities, bakeries, bowling alleys, dental offices and other workshops serving the residential population does not turn a suburb into a "technoburb". If anything, the withering of the aviation industry demoted central Long Island from the status of a technoburb, but in any case it's a classification of little relevance, since suburban factories were commonplace long before five mile commutes were. Jim.henderson 15:11, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

I agree. It's been decades since the mass exodus of the middle class to the suburbs. In that time, much of the suburban areas in the country have been graced with corporate campuses, office complexes. And a big chunk of the U.S.' colleges are in suburban areas well. This is just what the suburbs are. It's nothing unique to Long Island. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.249.47.102 (talk) 09:13, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Meaning of Paumonauk

I took a college course on Long Island history here on Long Island, and although I did learn of this term, I am pretty sure it does not mean 'fish shaped island'. Specifically, it means 'The Island that Pays Tribute' - Although I can't remember enough details basically, surrounding indian tribes were jealous of the resources of long island and were much more warlike than the long island indians. They would have the long island indians pay tribute to them in order to prevent them from attacking long island. So I am going to change this, as I was taught by perhaps one of the most well-knowledged professors on the subject and a true long island historian. A source for this would be very useful but as we even learned in class, there literally is no text-book on long island history. I'm going to change this slightly in the article and I hope anyone with better information or sources can help out. Once again, I would not do this unless I were absolutely sure of the actual meaning of Paumonauk. In addition, I am changing the spelling to one used by Walt Whitman - Paumanok.

• Apparently there is a dispute over the meaning - and many spellings --JimWae 02:23, 19 August 2006 (UTC)
  • http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLG%2CGGLG%3A2006-07%2CGGLG%3Aen&q=Paumanok+tribute
  • http://archive.easthamptonstar.com/ehquery/981029/out1.htm
  • http://www.richmondhillhistory.org/indians.html
  • http://www.forgotten-ny.com/STREET%20SCENES/paumanok/pomonok.html

Depends on where you're at

I had a friend across the border on Ryder Road. In the Munsey Park playground, he said he was from Ryder Road. MP has no high school, so in Manhasset High school he was from Munsey Park. When we went to the movies in Great Neck or the beach in Manorhaven, we were both from Manhasset. In the Hamptons, we were from Nassau County. In Brooklyn, from "The Island". In New Jersey, from Long Island. In Detroit, from New York. In Wyoming, from "back east." If we were ever in some hick town in eastern Peru or northern Burma, we would probably be from "America" and if they never heard of that, then from "far across the sea" and if they never heard of the sea, then simply from "far away." Where you're from depends on where you're at and whom you're talking to. Long Islanders hundreds of miles from home are New Yorkers and no need to be ashamed either way, or to explain to strangers the complexity of whether Munsey Park is part of Manhasset or not. Jim.henderson 04:56, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

Maybe a stupid question

Lindsay Lohan comes from Long Island, right?

• Yes. From Merrick, I believe. -Kevin F. Story 20:42, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

• Her appendix is formerly of Long Island. ;) --Meadowbrook 04:16, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

YES AND NO. Yes, she comes from Long Island, No she is not from Merrick. Lohan resided in the leas affluent side of Huntington.

Demography

"Nassau County is ... the fifth richest in the United States." But the "fifth richest" text links to a page where Nassau is #30 on the list. I haven't changed this, I don't know which is correct. Tom239 21:00, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

I have added population figures by county to the Demography section because I believe presenting amalgamted numbers blurs the stark distinction in population between the urban and suburban counties, and that the distinction exists is a fact according to the US Census Bureau. I used the bulleted format for clarity and ease of comparison. Cryptonymius 17:47, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

Also.....I have removed the following sentences, which are unsourced: "The largest ethnic presence is that of Jewish Americans who comprise 34.0% of Nassau County and 29.8% of Suffolk County by population. Long Island also has a substantial Italian American presence, accounting for 28.8% of Suffolk's population and 23.9% of Nassau's as of the 2000 census."

I have found no US Census Bureau data to either confirm or contradict the assertion regarding the Jewish population, and it may be that the Census Bureau is prohibited by public law from inquiring into religious affiliation. However, the Wiki article on Distribution of Jewish-Americans [[3]] claims that the Jewish populations are as follows: Nassau 15.5%, Queens 10.7%, Kings 15.4%, Suffolk 7%.

The assertion regarding Italian-Americans appears to approximate the US Census Bureau 2003 American Community Survey for the Nassau-Suffolk NY PMSA [[4]] which estimates Italian-Americans account for 708,657 of a total population of 2,754,769, or roughly 25.7%. My question however is whether any of this data should be included in this article, and if it is included just how selective should it be and which ethnicities and religions should be included. Cryptonymius 07:17, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

Most state articles do have such information, and since such groups are an important part of LI's diversity, I think they should be included. I thought there was basic Census info on self-identification. Newspapers have probably done extensive articles as well on this topic.--Parkwells (talk) 16:31, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

"Noteworthy People"

This sections lists two people that I'm sure most Long Islanders have never heard of. Should this section be removed, considering there's already a List_of_famous_Long_Islanders? Anthony71 15:27, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Native American Name

The article states in the first paragraph that "The Native American name for Long Island is Paumanok." Native American, however, is not a language. It's a rather superficial groupng of people who speak thousands on different languages (see the article on Indigenous languages of the Americas). Which tribe called Long Island Paumanok? And what was the name of the language they spoke? Absolutadam802 20:35, 26 July 2007 (UTC)ghbvdxhvbgdsv ggsdgdgdgfhjsdcgbtfew 86t27843 5riu435 ty98q3ya 4x a trdjvcdrkljvyhj5tou4 jfnvdxh gbvyujhre

Incorrect info was added 59 days ago

Not sure how many editors have this page on their watch list, but a recent DYK entry from List of islands of the United States by area prompted someone to notice [5] that while both that article and List of islands by area have Long Island listed as being 1,401 square miles in area, the Long Island article itself states it is 3,567 square miles. Reviewing the edit history on the Long Island article shows an embarrassing chain of mistakes going back 59 days:

• On 8/30 an anonymous user changed [6] the area from "1,377" to "10,3777" square miles.
• The next day an editor removed [7] one of the two extra numbers, leaving the article to state "10,377" sq mi.
• On 9/6 an anonymous editor noticed that the mi² number (10,377) was larger than the km² (3567), and switched them [8] without first checking the math. (One may wish to note that 3567 mi² = 9238 km², while 10,377 mi² = 26,880 km².)

Some external fact-checking found that Encyclopædia Britannica states [9] Long Island, "is 118 mi (190 km) long, 12–23 mi (19–37 km) wide, and has an area of 1,401 sq mi (3,629 sq km)." Using this information, I updated the numbers and added citations to both List of islands of the United States by area and Long Island. --Kralizec! (talk) 18:45, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

Article length

Somewhat ironically, this article is, well, too long: it significantly exceeds the article length guidelines - it is currently 71kb versus a suggested size of 30-50kb. It's a little tough to decide what material should be split into a subarticle, though, since the organization of the current article is a bit choppy at the moment. Right now I'm thinking that the History section and the Athletics/Music section should be combined and forked to its own article, but I'm still not quite sure if that's the best way to break it down. Thoughts? Antony-22 05:58, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

Alright, I have forked the "History" and "Music" sections into History of Long Island and removed the lists of public beaches and country clubs (see this diff to retrieve them). It's still at 52kb, though, so the article could still use a little tightening. Antony-22 (talk) 20:17, 24 November 2007 (UTC)

I added back in the music section because its inclusion in the history article isn't a good fit. The section doesn't only contain a history of music on LI.

I also added back in the list of public beaches. Unless there's a specific reason to delete this content, it shouldn't be removed just to make the article shorter, unless it is recreated as a derivative article. Bsherr (talk) 21:03, 24 November 2007 (UTC)

I see your point about the music section. It's actually long enough to be its own article. Would anyone object if it were forked out? Antony-22 (talk) 04:05, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

Long Island navbox

Since there are now a lot of subarticles, I've created a navbox for the Long Island articles. Let me know what you think. (The redlinks are currently proposed splits.) Antony-22 (talk) 21:05, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Looks great, nice work! – ClockworkSoul 18:50, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Segregation Issues

How come there is no mention of the segregation issues that affect the schooling, and housing on long island because it is a significant issue? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.184.180.183 (talk) 23:21, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

You're welcome to add verified information yourself. MrVibrating (talk) 16:25, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

I saw those gaps, too, as well as references to earlier, long African American history on LI - in rural and town areas. I've added that African Americans were an integral part of LI since before the Revolution, and made a few other notes in this and History of Long Island articles. I had worked on Slavery in NY article, too, which has material that can apply here - not that there was only slavery. Newsday ran a good series about African-American history on LI a few years ago, which has much material, including about residential and school segregation, and events since 1960s.--Parkwells (talk) 16:49, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

GAN quick failed

Per the quick fail criteria - numerous issues.

• {{trivia}} in the Long Island in popular culture section
• Nowhere near enough referencing
• Lists (where there should be prose) in the Education section

Feel free to renominate when the article is closer to the GA criteria. Cheers, dihydrogen monoxide (H₂O) 05:03, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

New York Island

Apparently if one is looking for "New York Island" in Wikipedia one is currently being redirected to "Long Island". Why is that? According to numerous history books (1776 by David McCullough comes to mind) the name "New York Island" was never used for Long Island but instead was used for what is known today as Manhattan. In the book I mentioned there is even an historic Map showing the names. Because of this I would suggest the redirection link to be changed to Manhattan instead of Long Island. Hadoriel (talk) 13:20, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

I made the change. Next time, you can easily make that kind of change yourself. :) – ClockworkSoul 14:53, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Economy Section

Just had a quick glance at this section. Didn't have time to look at anything else, but before I got past the first paragraph I found several things that needed to be changed.

--I got rid of the part that says Nassau and Suffolk have "long been renowned for their affluence." Definitely a bit over the top, considering Long Island's reputation isn't always that great (and yes, the statement in the article was referring to reputation, not the mere fact that much of the Island is wealthy, which is indisputable).

--Also canned the part about wealth being handed down from one generation to the next over time. Hello? Where doesn't this happen? Unless there's some source that shows an unusual amount of hereditary wealth on L.I., this has no place here.

--"High standard of living"--this is an odd term to use considering the variety of household incomes in such a large place as LI. Anyway, it's enough to say that there's a high median/mean/whatever income. What is standard of living? Usually that connotes more basic differences in lifestyles that are used to compare different countries, not different parts of the U.S. It's just not precise.

I just hope the rest of the article doesn't read like this. It just reeks of POV. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.249.47.102 (talk) 09:08, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Split up the article?

It's fairly obvious that "Long Island" refers to two different things: the island itself, and the cultural construct of Nassau and Suffolk counties, which together are called "Long Island". No one today from Brooklyn or Queens refers to themselves as being "from Long Island", as far as I know. It's a relationship like the one between the Dominican Republic and the island of Hispaniola, and only the fact that they have the same name confuses the issue. This ambiguity carries its way into the article, which is clearly heavy on information about Nassau and Suffolk counties, even though Brooklyn and Queens have their own substantial history, politics, culture etc.; here they're an afterthought, because it's understood that they don't really belong in the article. Maybe it's time to split up this article to avoid this issue? I'm imagining keeping the main "Long Island" article on the cultural construct (what people talk about when they say they live in/on Long Island), and move the information about the entire island to an article called Long Island (New York island). Any thoughts? Korny O'Near (talk) 21:27, 25 July 2008 (UTC)

This article is about geographical Long Island, it's history and ALL the geographically and culturally separate parts of it. It doesn't matter if someone from Brooklyn or Queens is too ignorant to inquire about where they live. Is an Arab person from Egypt who was born there and still lives there not African because they don't think of themselves that way because of what is stereotypically African? Brooklyn (Kings), Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties are all apart of the island; so the article should remain the same (all of these things have their own articles BTW). If you feel there's unfair representation and distribution of facts, add things, cite things... Splitting the article is extremely unnecessary. Also, ever hear of Long Island City, Queens and Long Island University in Brooklyn? --IdLoveOne (talk) 04:24, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

Strong Island

I can't find any good sources to claim this nickname for LI.--otherlleft (talk) 16:13, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

Agreed - I've never, ever heard it used and I lived on Long Island for ~19 years. Antony-22 (talk) 05:20, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Suffolk County Ferries

From what I can tell, the only ferry to Rhode Island is to Block Island - and getting to the mainland requires another ferry. Furthermore, the ferry from (LI to Block Island, RI) seems to run only in the summer. Additionally, ferries to RI do NOT cross LI Sound. I do not see the need to include RI in the lede --JimWae (talk) 20:59, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

Image copyright problem with File:NCPDpatch.jpg

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varies in width from 12 to 23 miles (19 to 37 km)

I've seen this many times (& indeed it can be sourced) - but there are at least 2 problems with it:

1. http://www.co.suffolk.ny.us/Home/departments/CountyExec/Pages/Suffolk%20County%20History.aspx says "At Suffolk County's widest point the distance from Long Island Sound to the southern shore is 26 miles." That would make LI wider than above. Eatons Neck to Fire Island is 24 miles acc to Google Earth - but that includes a lot of Great South Bay. WHERE is the widest point? ... and is it across water?
2. WHERE is the narrowest part? If it is at Montauk Point, Orient Pt, or even Ft. Hamilton (Brklyn) the narrowest part could be much less than 1 metre. Flushing Bay to Jamaica Bay is less than 8 miles.

I propose removing any mention of the "narrowest width" --JimWae (talk) 19:39, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

TWELVE miles is the narrowest part of Nassau County - NOT of the entire island. --JimWae (talk) 06:59, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

See also section

I removed a lot of the links in this section because I felt they were getting out of hand and were not necessary anyways. The criteria for inclusion apparently was anything on Long Island, but it should be a little more narrow than that. Are there any links I removed from the section that shouldn't have? I merely commented them out so they'll be easy to re-insert, but if you don't mind I'd like an explanation before re-adding them. ~EdGl ★ 13:59, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

"Long Islanders" claim to be from "the city"

The following statement was removed from the article: "Additionally, much perturbation has occurred as increasingly more "Long Islanders" claim to be from "the city," when in fact this is neither politically, geographically, or culturally accurate given the immense wealth, essentially nonexistent crime, and low density and diversity of the region."

Not only is it written poorly, unsupported and mostly nonsensical, my biggest issue is that it's simply not true. Having grown up on the South Shore and lived on the North Shore, in areas at the Nassau County / Queens border, no one I have ever heard who lived in Nassau would claim to be from "the city." This is only compounded by the fact that in almost every case the Nassau County community west of the border is perceived to be more socioeconimically desireable than its neighboring communities in Queens. From the Five Towns vs. Far Rockaway to Great Neck vs. Douglaston, and up and down the border, you'd be far more likely to find "Long Islanders" looking down their noses at the perceived yokels from "The City". If this wannabe mentality exists, it's most likely in the reverse direction, exemplified by the insistence of some Far Rockaway residents that they live in something called "West Lawrence." Alansohn 17:12, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

The only time ive ever heard people from LI say they are from the city is in places outside of the NYC area where LI and NYC are synonomous. Maybe they sound "cooler" or whatever by saying they are from NYC Flyerhell 20:09, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

New York is an amazing city. Long Island is your average suburb. How do you figure that Long Islanders would not want to be perceived as living within New York city limits? While Douglaston may not be as affluent as Great Neck, it still must be frustrating to not be able to say one lives in New York City proper while being so close. So in that way, I would imagine that Great Neckers in some way are Douglaston wannabes. You don't think someone in New Hyde Park might brag that their zip code (11040) runs into Queens, for example? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wizard1022 (talk • contribs)

I spent a few years working at LIJ in New Hyde Park, and I can assure you that there would be no justification for those on the Nassau side to claim that they were from Queens. Consistently, the areas on the Nassau side of the border are more desirable than those on the New York City side. The few areas with a single name that straddle the border (New Hyde Park, Floral Park, etc.) only epitomize the point. Regardless of our respective opinions on the issue, any statement about Nassau or Suffolk residents calling themselves as from "The City" would have to be supported and documented or would be disqualified as original research. Alansohn 13:31, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Your argument is completely based on what seems to be regionalism. You just don't like Long Island, and you love NYC, so you think that everybody else shares your opinion and so would lie about being from LI. That is simply not true. There are absolutely no facts supporting anything like Long Islanders claiming to be from the City. Rory096 19:38, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

The idea of people from Long Island claiming that they're from New York is a familiar trolling exercise! Andrew73 19:04, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

I think the only thing we can all agree on is that long island is perfect, and there's no reason that this article shouldn't be written to the standards of the long island propagand travel/tourist beuro--152.163.100.131 02:16, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

long island does not equal nyc just as 2 doesnot equal 1. you dont have our mayor you dont have our culture you arent us haha go make your own state so that you cant say you're part of new york city anymore. MIKE DIFULCO

You, kind sir, are acting like one of the yokels from the city that Long Islanders look down on. I'm a New Yorker too, and most of the eight million of us love our city just as you and I do, but you're not gonna convince anyone of New York's greatness with rhetoric like that. 64.131.211.228 04:13, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

I know this discussion is a bit dated, but I think its a valid point, though poorly written and inclusive of a bit too much opinion. Someone said "no one I have ever heard who lived in Nassau would claim to be from the city.", this is correct. But the opposite is true, there are lots of people from Queens or Brooklyn who claim that they do not live on "Long Island" just because they live within the municipal bounds of NYC. I think its a very important distinction that people are confused on, and the original poster is correct Long Island is not a municipality, it doesnt have an overlying government, there is no political boundary that encompasses all and only Long Island. Long Island is simply a land geography. Its a somewhat unique, though its sort of like the island of Hispaniola which includes both Dominican Republic and Haiti. Parts of New York city and all of the counties of Suffolk and Nassau both lie on the island of "Long Island". -JVC —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.56.5.138 (talk) 14:08, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

I could only wish that one day long island will become its own state. The taxes that plague us from the undesirable element of nyc will be the nails in our coffins.The arrogance that protrudes from the mouths of people living in nyc is disgusting.Rest asured, if we get the chance to leave n.y it would be a blessing. You are more than welcome to take care of the shit that calls its home nyc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.186.21.0 (talk)

• yes, and I'm sure an island full of people whose only job skill is "comute to ny" would be a perfectly viable economic entity without having to be connected to the rest of the state--152.163.100.131 22:43, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

• • Well, it works for New Jersey GavinSimmons 19:47, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

• • I think too many people here are worried about the NYC Metro area blending together, when the real problem is the drain on all NYC and NYC Metro taxes due to upstate New York.

• • • long islanders dont want to be from nyc, its much better over here.... i wish we could cut queens off our island —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.160.130.38 (talk) 02:24, 5 February 2008 (UTC)

I've never heard such a ridiculous thing, Long Islanders claiming to be from "the city" Certainly residents of Brooklyn and Queens should state that as both are boroughs of NYC but having spent over 30 years on Long Island, I have never heard anything like this. Perhaps there's some Nassau County sub-culture claiming this but, still I have never heard of such a thing. Someone stated "why wouldnt a long island want to be from NYC..." - to which I would reply "why *would* a long islander want to be from NYC"? The thing with Long Island is that culturally it is shrinking. "Long Island" used to mean the entire island. Later it meant Nassau and Suffolk. Now it seems to mean everything to the east of Huntington. I suppose I cant really expect that to be really understood by non-residents, though, and I am tru;y sorry that I can't explain it more tangibly. 24.188.207.20 (talk) 03:04, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Far removed from the hustle and bustle of suburbia?

The next to last para in Transportation paints a nice picture of the east end, but it seems to me I've heard any number of people over the years saying that Montauk and Sunrise Highways become a jammed-up nightmare in the summer if you're trying to get anywhere near the Hamptons--and maybe this section could be revised a little by someone with personal experience? Cryptonymius 07:20, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

I have to agree. Anyone who is in the Hamptons in the summer would as well.Philbaaker 22:30, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

Yes the main roads in the Hamptons become exceptionally crowded but, the Hamptons represent only a portion of the East End. The East End also includes the North Fork and Shelter Island. Despite this, I have to agree that the Hamptons are a nightmare on weekends during the summer season. 24.188.207.20 (talk) 02:53, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

"In Long Island" or "On Long Island"?

Both are used throughout the article, which is inconsistent... F15x28 (talk) 00:25, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

That's an interesting thing about Long Island. People from elsewhere will typically say "in Long Island" while most long term and native residents will say "on Long Island". I would suggest that "on Long Island" is correct as people live "on" an island, not "in" an island. To support this, I could provide many, many sources but the funniest would be Gilligans Island. 24.188.207.20 (talk) 02:56, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

I agree with the anon, and concur that the correct term is the one that agrees with grammar and the residents. Don't know if it's contentious enough to need a source or not!--otherlleft 03:17, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

This [10] source says you live "on" an island unless its a very large island (like Ireland).--Neighborhoodpalmreader (talk) 17:28, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

I think that's a good enough reason to make it "on" unless there are sources which indicate that Long Islanders or others who do the opposite. My personal recollection is that "in Long Island" was an error made by out-of-towners, but I'm not exactly reliable. In summary: if you think it should be "in" you should probably provide a source to back yourself up!--otherlleft 17:34, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Long Island is not a political entity, Ireland is (though it has 2) and does not have "island" as part of its name. The only occurrence in the present version of the article of "in Long Island" is followed by "Sound" --JimWae (talk) 20:37, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

I live in CT so I say "on" Long Island since it's right across the water and it's an island... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.28.89.86 (talk) 03:15, 5 March 2010 (UTC)

See Shoreham L.I. trying to save Tesla labsite.No mention in article!

N.Y.Times article may 5th Pt D-1,William Braod Details the battle to save the Stanford White(His last builidng!) designed laboratory of invnetor Nikolla tesla91856-1943) Developers want to tear it down! Tesla wanted in 1901 to send Free Elcetrical power by a tranmittyer from this Wardencyllfee,Long Island,(Now Shore L.I.) site!THEEDSON1 (talk) 20:54, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

Considering the importance of this, I would recommend adding a link to the Tesla article by means of mention. 24.188.207.20 (talk) 02:57, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

How are there 13 tunnels?

In the article header it states that there are 9 bridges and 13 tunnels from Long Island to the other three boroughs of NYC. How is this true? I count 8 bridges, plus the one to Riker's Island, so nine bridges is okay. But 13 tunnels? I count two - the Queens-Midtown and the Brooklyn Battery. Where are the other 11 tunnels? Just wanted to make sure I am not missing something obvious before I change it. Kgdickey (talk) 16:59, 21 April 2010 (UTC)

• rail tunnels. see List of fixed crossings of the East River - Apparently there are more under construction too. Looks like there are 16 maybe. East River Tunnels are 4 tunnels - but check if they all go to LI --JimWae (talk) 21:55, 21 April 2010 (UTC)
• Looks like they all go to LI - but not sure if they should really be counted as 4 - unless they are not adjacent to one another--JimWae (talk) 02:18, 22 April 2010 (UTC)

There are actually 11 bridges, as follows: 1. Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge (I-278), 2. Brooklyn Bridge, 3. Manhattan Bridge, 4. Williamsburg Bridge, 5. 59th Street/Queensboro Bridge, 6. Roosevelt Island Bridge, 7. Triborough Bridge (recently renamed to the RFK Bridge), 8. Hell's Gate Bridge (Amtrak & CSX), 9. Riker's Island Bridge, 10. Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, 11. Throgs Neck Bridge. As Roosevelt Island is part of New York County (Manhattan) and Rikers Island is legally part of the Bronx, they should be counted.

There are currently 13 tunnels: 1. Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, 2. IRT Joralemon Street Tunnel (4&5), 3. BMT Montague Street Tunnel (R formerly J & M as well), 4. IRT Clark Street Tunnel (2&3), 5. IND Cranberry Street Tunnel (A&E), 6. IND Rutgers Street Tunnel (F), 7. BMT 14th Street Tunnel (L), 8. Queens Midtown Tunnel (I-495), 9. LIRR East River Tunnel, 10. IRT Steinway (42nd St) Tunnel (7), 11. IND 53rd St tunnel (E&M), 12. BMT 60th Street Tunnel (N,Q,R) 13. 63rd St Tunnel - IND F as well as the future LIRR East Side Access.

References: Add Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to list in List_of_fixed_crossings_of_the_East_River. Subtract Roosevelt Island Tramway, which is not a bridge and does not touch Long Island. Also see East_Side_Access. 71.180.153.12 (talk) 02:13, 1 January 2012 (UTC) GristlyBear, a Brooklyn native.

Two Islands

Based on this map at Google Maps ([[11]]), it seems that there is a canal a bit northeast of Hampton Bays. Google, unfortunately, does not label it, so I don't even have a name to look up. The point is, that it appears that Shinnecock Hills to Montauk is actually on a separate island, because of this canal. This kind of thing certainly deserve a mention at North America - Long Island deserves a mention, too. Dondegroovily (talk) 22:56, 19 September 2010 (UTC)

That would be the Shinnecock Canal, which is artificial and isn't considered to split the island into two islands. Antony–22 (^talk/_contribs) 18:22, 16 November 2010 (UTC)

Photo gallery

There are some nice photos in the gallery - BUT do they reflect Long Island? Many of them could have been taken anywhere in the world that has a shore-line. The impression one is left with is that practically the entire island is a beach & boating resort - this is completely misleading. The photos need to be replaced or discarded--JimWae (talk) 21:44, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

A few seaside photos would be OK, but it's too much right now. Not only that, there are way too many images in the whole article, and that's not including the gallery. The "Long Island Attractions" section also screams of promotion. That section would be better off disbanded and incorporated into the other sections. Tinlinkin (talk) 22:09, 18 March 2010 (UTC)

First picture: text says "Kings, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island, showing county and municipal boundaries." Kings? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.213.146.102 (talk) 01:12, 17 May 2013 (UTC)

Kings County shares the same boundaries as the borough of Brooklyn, New York, and is located on the western end of Long Island. Yours, Wordreader (talk) 01:36, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

Width vs Length

I have no idea how Wikipedia does this, but, it seems to me that the length and width are backwards. I consider width to be from east to west, and length or height from north to south. Skaizun (talk) 03:06, 29 October 2012 (UTC)

Long Island as an Entity

Even though Brooklyn (Kings) and Queens counties are part of the physical Long Island, when one refers to "Long Island," as in, "where are you from?" and "where are you going?" today, one is usually talking only about Nassau and Suffolk Counties, i.e., Long Island as a community. This wasn't always true (e.g., Long Island City which is in Queens, Long Island University founded in Brooklyn, etc.). This is largely due to the fact that in 1898, when Brooklyn and Queens signed the charter to become part of New York City, the 3 easternmost towns of Queens (Hempstead, North Hempstead, Oyster Bay) seceded from the county to form Nassau County (many accounts claim they were "kicked" out, but it's not 100% true ... it mainly had to do with taxes, and the fact that Queens wanted to move the County Court House to either Jamaica or Long Island City from Mineola.)

Whatever the reason, it did happen, and this drew a line of delineation that forever separated the 2 eastern counties from New York City, both legally, mentally, symbolically and territorially. People who live in Queens and Brooklyn have always thought of themselves as being closely related to New York county (what you call "Manhattan"), and this has been so for at least 200 years. Still, when someone either from Queens or Brooklyn (and sometimes, Nassau) says, "we're going into the city," they are referring to the island of Manhattan. This goes the other way too, whereas Long Islanders do not consider Brooklyn and Queens as part of Long Island, nor do folks in Brooklyn and Queens consider themselves as "Long Islanders."

As stated in, "The Creation of Nassau County," by J. Edward Smits, Brooklyn and Queens were more "sympathetic" to each other, as were the 3 above-stated towns, with the addition of the Town of Huntington. This isolates Nassau and Suffolk because not only are they NOT part of it (nor do they want to be), but because the terrain and layout is completely different. They have their own reality. It's a different mindset. Crossing over the county line brings on a wide range of variables ... everything from road and street name changes to different laws, taxes, to a changes in jurisdiction, albeit sometimes vague ones.

I live here and I also took the Nassau County History course at Nassau Community College. And I mentioned my sources above. But if you insist, here you go: <ref>Edward J. Smits, "The Creation of Nassau County" {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)</ref> Pookerella(talk) 03:11, 9 November 2012 (UTC)Pookerella

This article it about island called Long Island, not the entity consisting of the island's eastern counties, which is also called Long "Island". If this entity would warrant it's own article, feel free to make one. Emmette Hernandez Coleman (talk) 02:50, 24 November 2012 (UTC)

Music

Mariah Carey could also be mentioned in the music section as a local artist. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.194.178.178 (talk) 21:07, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

Correction

26th highest median household incomes in the nation. Kelly0987 (talk) 03:36, 6 October 2013 (UTC)

Weather Box

I have added a weather box to the climate section, and the data comes from the NWS station at Islip Macarthur Airport. To justify this addition, note that Long Island has a relatively small area and the weather/climate is more-or-less uniform over the entire island, so the data from just this one central location should be representative of the climate over the whole island (with the possible exception of a few small regions such as the pine barrens). If you feel that this weather box is not conducive to educating the public about Long Island climate then feel free to remove it, but at least state a reason below. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.114.94.117 (talk) 00:06, 1 March 2014 (UTC)

Theory

Is there anything to the theory that Long Island was created as a hurricane shield for the state of Connecticut? 65.79.173.135 (talk) 17:35, 29 July 2014 (UTC)Will in New Haven65.79.173.135 (talk) 17:35, 29 July 2014 (UTC)