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Nassau County, New York

Coordinates: 40°44′N 73°38′W / 40.733°N 73.633°W / 40.733; -73.633
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Nassau County
County of Nassau
Hempstead House, part of Sands Point Preserve, on Nassau County's Gold Coast, home to some of the world's most expensive real estate
Hempstead House, part of Sands Point Preserve, on Nassau County's Gold Coast, home to some of the world's most expensive real estate
Flag of Nassau County
Official seal of Nassau County
Map of New York highlighting Nassau County
Location within the U.S. state of New York
Map of the United States highlighting New York
New York's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 40°44′50″N 73°38′17″W / 40.7472°N 73.6381°W / 40.7472; -73.6381
Country United States
State New York
Founded1899
Named forHouse of Nassau
SeatMineola
Largest townHempstead
Government
 • ExecutiveBruce Blakeman (R)
Area
 • Total
453 sq mi (1,170 km2)
 • Land285 sq mi (740 km2)
 • Water169 sq mi (440 km2)  37%
Population
 (2020)
 • Total
1,395,774
 • Density4,897.45/sq mi (1,890.92/km2)
Time zoneUTC−5 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
Area code516, 363
Congressional districts2nd, 3rd, 4th
Websitenassaucountyny.gov
Population is 2020 official census
Map
Interactive map of Nassau County, New York
Manhasset Bay, as seen on a map from 1917

Nassau County (/ˈnæsɔː/ NASS-aw) is a suburban county located on Long Island, immediately to the east of New York City, bordering the Long Island Sound on the north and the open Atlantic Ocean to the south. As of the 2020 United States census, Nassau County's population was 1,395,774, making it the sixth-most populous county in the State of New York,[1] and reflecting an increase of 56,242 (+4.2%) from the 1,339,532 residents enumerated at the 2010 census.[2] Its county seat is Mineola, while the county's largest and most populous town is Hempstead.[3][4][5]

Situated on western Long Island, the County of Nassau borders New York City's borough of Queens to its west, and Long Island's Suffolk County to its east. It is the most densely populated and second-most populous county in the State of New York outside of New York City, with which it maintains extensive rail and highway connectivity, and is considered one of the central counties within the New York metropolitan area.

Nassau County comprises two cities, three towns, 64 incorporated villages, and more than 60 unincorporated hamlets. Nassau County has a designated police department,[6] fire commission,[7] and elected executive and legislative bodies.[8]

Main Street, Port Washington

A 2012 Forbes article based on the American Community Survey reported Nassau County as the most expensive county and one of the highest income counties in the U.S., and the most affluent in New York state, with four of the nation's top ten towns by median income located in the county.[9] As of 2024, the median home price overall in Nassau County is approximately US$800,000, while the Gold Coast of Nassau County features some of the world's most expensive real estate.

Nassau County high school students often feature prominently as winners of the International Science and Engineering Fair and similar STEM-based academic awards.[10] Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in the Town of Oyster Bay; the Old Westbury campus of New York Institute of Technology; Zucker School of Medicine in the Village of Hempstead; and the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in Manhasset, are prominent life sciences research and academic institutions in Nassau County. The presence of numerous prominent health care systems has made Nassau County a central hub for advanced medical care and technology. Eight cricket matches of the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup were played at the cricket stadium in East Meadow in June 2024.

Etymology

[edit]

The name of Nassau County originated from an old name for Long Island, which was at one time named Nassau, after the Dutch family of King William III of England, the House of Nassau,[11] itself named after the German town of Nassau. The county colors (orange and blue) are also the colors of the House of Orange-Nassau.

Several alternate names had been considered for the county, including "Bryant", "Matinecock" (a village within the county currently has that name), "Norfolk" (presumably because of the proximity to Suffolk County), and "Sagamore".[12] However, "Nassau" had the historical advantage of having at one time been the name of Long Island itself,[13] and was the name most mentioned after the new county was proposed in 1875.[14][15][16]

History

[edit]

The area now designated as Nassau County was originally the eastern 70% of Queens County, one of the original twelve counties formed in 1683, and was then contained within two towns: Hempstead and Oyster Bay. In 1784, the Town of North Hempstead, was formed through secession by the northern portions of the Town of Hempstead. Nassau County was formed in 1899 by the division of Queens County, after the western portion of Queens had become a borough of New York City in 1898, as the three easternmost towns seceded from the county.

When the first European settlers arrived, among the Native Americans to occupy the present area of Nassau County were the Marsapeque, Matinecoc, and Sacatogue. Dutch settlers in New Netherland predominated in the western portion of Long Island, while English settlers from Connecticut occupied the eastern portion. Until 1664, Long Island was split, roughly at the present border between Nassau and Suffolk counties, between the Dutch in the west and Connecticut claiming the east. The Dutch did grant an English settlement in Hempstead (now in western Nassau), but drove settlers from the present-day eastern Nassau hamlet of Oyster Bay as part of a boundary dispute. In 1664, all of Long Island became part of the English Province of New York within the Shire of York. Present-day Queens and Nassau were then just part of a larger North Riding. In 1683, the colonial territory of Yorkshire was dissolved, Suffolk County and Queens County were established, and the local seat of government was moved west from Hempstead to Jamaica (now in New York City).[17]

By 1700, virtually none of Long Island's area remained unpurchased from the Native Americans by the English colonists, and townships controlled whatever land had not already been distributed.[18] The courthouse in Jamaica was torn down by the British during the American Revolution to use the materials to build barracks.[19]

In 1784, following the American Revolutionary War, the Town of Hempstead was split in two, when Patriots in the northern part formed the new Town of North Hempstead, leaving Loyalist majorities in the Town of Hempstead. About 1787, a new Queens County Courthouse was erected (and later completed) in the new Town of North Hempstead, near present-day Mineola (now in Nassau County), known then as Clowesville.[20][21][23][24]

Mineola Station of the Long Island Rail Road

The Long Island Rail Road reached as far east as Hicksville in 1837, but did not proceed to Farmingdale until 1841 due to the Panic of 1837. The 1850 census was the first in which the population of the three western towns (Flushing, Jamaica, and Newtown) exceeded that of the three eastern towns that are now part of Nassau County. Concerns were raised about the condition of the old courthouse and the inconvenience of travel and accommodations, with the three eastern and three western towns divided on the location for the construction of a new one.[25] Around 1874, the seat of county government was moved to Long Island City from Mineola.[24][26][27] As early as 1875, representatives of the three eastern towns began advocating the separation of the three eastern towns from Queens, with some proposals also including the towns of Huntington and Babylon (in Suffolk County).[14][15][16]

In 1898, the western portion of Queens County became a borough of the City of Greater New York, leaving the eastern portion a part of Queens County but not part of the Borough of Queens. As part of the city consolidation plan, all town, village, and city (other than NYC) governments within the borough were dissolved, as well as the county government with its seat in Jamaica. The areas excluded from the consolidation included all of the Town of North Hempstead, all of the Town of Oyster Bay, and most of the Town of Hempstead (excluding the Rockaway Peninsula, which was separated from the Town of Hempstead and became part of the city borough). In 1899, following approval from the New York State Legislature, the three towns were separated from Queens County, and the new county of Nassau was constituted.

In preparation for the new county, in November 1898, voters had selected Mineola to become the county seat for the new county[28] (before Mineola incorporated as a village in 1906 and set its boundaries almost entirely within the Town of North Hempstead), winning out over Hicksville and Hempstead.[29] The Garden City Company (founded in 1893 by the heirs of Alexander Turney Stewart)[30] donated four acres of land for the county buildings in the Town of Hempstead, just south of the Mineola train station and the present day village of Mineola.[31] The land and the buildings have a Mineola postal address, but are within the present day Village of Garden City,[32] which did not incorporate, nor set its boundaries, until 1919.

The Long Island Expressway at Hicksville, New York, home to a growing Little India

In 1917,[33] the hamlet of Glen Cove was granted a city charter, making it independent 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, making it independent of the town. These are the only two administrative divisions in Nassau County identified as cities.

From the early 1900s until the Depression and the early 1930s, many hilly farmlands on the North Shore were transformed into luxurious country estates for wealthy New Yorkers, with the area receiving the "Gold Coast" moniker and becoming the setting of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby. One summer resident of the Gold Coast was President Theodore Roosevelt, at Sagamore Hill. In 1908, William Kissam Vanderbilt constructed the Long Island Motor Parkway as a toll road through Nassau County. With overpasses and bridges to remove intersections, it was among the first limited access motor highways in the world, and was also used as a racecourse to test the capabilities of the fledgling automobile industry.

Nassau County, with its extensive flat land, was the site of many aviation firsts.[34] Military aviators for both World Wars were trained on the Hempstead Plains at installations such as Mitchel Air Force Base, and a number of successful aircraft companies were established. Charles Lindberg took off for Paris from Roosevelt Field in 1927, completing the first non-stop trans-Atlantic flight from the United States. Grumman (which in 1986 employed 23,000 people on Long Island[35]) built many planes for World War II, and later contributed the Apollo Lunar Module to the Space program.[34]

The United Nations Security Council was temporarily located in Nassau County, from 1946 till 1951. Council meetings were held at the Sperry Gyroscope headquarters in the village of Lake Success, near the border with Queens County. It was here that on June 27, 1950, the Security Council voted to back U.S. President Harry S Truman and send a coalition of forces to the Korean Peninsula, leading to the Korean War.

Until World War II, most of Nassau County was still farmland, particularly in the eastern portion. Following the war, the county saw an influx of people from the five boroughs of New York City, especially from Brooklyn and Queens, who left their urban dwellings for a more suburban setting. This led to a massive population boom in the county. 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, which in general is Garden City). In the 1930s, Robert Moses had engineered curving parkways and parks such as Jones Beach State Park and Bethpage State Park for the enjoyment of city-dwellers; in the 1950s and 1960s the focus turned to alleviating commuter traffic.

In 1994, Federal Judge Arthur Spatt declared the Nassau County Board of Supervisors unconstitutional and directed that a 19-member legislature be formed.[36] Republicans won 13 seats in the election and chose Bruce Blakeman as the first Presiding Officer (Speaker).[37]

According to a Forbes magazine 2012 survey, residents of Nassau County have the 12th highest median household annual income in the country and the highest in the state.[9] In the 1990s, however, Nassau County experienced substantial budget problems, forcing the county to near bankruptcy. Thus, the county government increased taxes to prevent a takeover by the state of New York, leading to the county having high property taxes. Nevertheless, on January 27, 2011, a State of New York oversight board seized control of Nassau County's finances, saying the wealthy and heavily taxed county had failed to balance its $2.6 billion budgets.[38]

Geography

[edit]
Nighttime aerial view of much of the density of Nassau County, from the west-northwest; Hempstead is in the center, with roads projecting out in various directions; bridges to Jones Beach Island are at the upper right. The Grand Central ParkwayCross Island Parkway interchange, barely visible at the lower left, is just outside the county, within Queens.
An aerial photo of the greenery of the North Shore of Nassau County, looking west. The Cow Neck Peninsula is visible as the first peninsula at the center, with Manhasset Bay immediately above it and Hempstead Harbor immediately below it.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 453.2 square miles (1,174 km2), of which 284.7 square miles (737 km2) is land and 168.5 square miles (436 km2) (37%) is water.[39]

Nassau County borders the Long Island Sound on the north and the open Atlantic Ocean on the south. The county occupies a portion of Long Island immediately east of the New York City borough of Queens. It is divided into two cities and three towns, the latter of which contain 64 villages and numerous hamlets. The county borders Connecticut across the Long Island Sound.

Between the 1990 U.S. census and the 2000 U.S. census, the Nassau County exchanged territory with Suffolk County and lost territory to Queens County.[40] Dozens of CDPs had boundaries changed, and 12 new CDPs were listed.[40]

Countyscape

[edit]
The Village of Freeport on Baldwin Bay

Climate

[edit]

Nassau County has a climate similar to other coastal areas of the Northeastern United States; it has warm, humid summers and cool, wet winters. The county's climate is classified as humid subtropical (Cfa) according to the Köppen climate classification. According to the Trewartha climate classification the climate is oceanic (Do) since six to seven months average above 50″F (10″C). The Atlantic Ocean helps bring afternoon sea breezes that temper the heat in the warmer months and limit the frequency and severity of thunderstorms. Nassau County has a moderately sunny climate, averaging between 2,400 and 2,800 hours of sunshine annually.[41] The hardiness zone is 7b. [1]

Climate data for Mineola, New York
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 71
(22)
73
(23)
85
(29)
94
(34)
97
(36)
101
(38)
105
(41)
104
(40)
100
(38)
90
(32)
83
(28)
76
(24)
105
(41)
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) 39
(4)
43
(6)
50
(10)
61
(16)
70
(21)
80
(27)
85
(29)
83
(28)
76
(24)
65
(18)
55
(13)
45
(7)
63
(17)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) 26
(−3)
28
(−2)
34
(1)
42
(6)
51
(11)
61
(16)
66
(19)
65
(18)
58
(14)
48
(9)
40
(4)
31
(−1)
46
(8)
Record low °F (°C) −10
(−23)
−7
(−22)
3
(−16)
13
(−11)
32
(0)
43
(6)
50
(10)
48
(9)
38
(3)
27
(−3)
10
(−12)
−1
(−18)
−10
(−23)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 3.62
(92)
3.17
(81)
4.35
(110)
4.15
(105)
3.90
(99)
3.85
(98)
4.40
(112)
3.72
(94)
3.91
(99)
4.08
(104)
3.73
(95)
3.82
(97)
46.7
(1,186)
Source: The Weather Channel[42]

Adjacent counties

[edit]

Nassau County borders the following counties:[43]

Transportation

[edit]

In July 2017, the approval was granted by state legislators to the plan proposed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to add a third railroad track to the Long Island Rail Road corridor between the communities of Floral Park and Hicksville in Nassau County. The nearly US$2 billion transportation infrastructure enhancement project was expected to accommodate anticipated growth in rail ridership and facilitate commutes between New York City and Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island.[44]

The Long Island Expressway, Northern State Parkway, and Southern State Parkway are the primary east–west controlled-access highways in Nassau County. Northern Boulevard (New York State Route 25A), Hillside Avenue (New York State Route 25B), Jericho Turnpike (New York State Route 25), New York State Route 24, and Sunrise Highway (New York State Route 27) are also major east–west commercial thoroughfares across the county. The Meadowbrook State Parkway, Wantagh State Parkway, and Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway (New York State Route 135) are the major north–south controlled-access highways traversing Nassau County.

Nassau County also has a public bus network known as NICE (Nassau Inter-County Express, formerly MTA Long Island Bus) that operates routes throughout the county into Queens and Suffolk counties. 24 hour service is provided on the n4, n6, and most recently the n40/41 lines.

National protected areas

[edit]

Demographics

[edit]
Historical population
CensusPop.Note
190055,448
191083,93051.4%
1920126,12050.3%
1930303,053140.3%
1940406,74834.2%
1950672,76565.4%
19601,300,17193.3%
19701,428,0809.8%
19801,321,582−7.5%
19901,287,348−2.6%
20001,334,5443.7%
20101,339,5320.4%
20201,395,7744.2%
U.S. Decennial Census[46]
1790–1960[47] 1900–1990[48]
1990–2000[49] 2010–2020[1]

At the 2019 American Community Survey, the population of Nassau County stood at 1,356,924, an increase of 17,392 since the 2010 census.[50] At the 2010 U.S. census, there were 1,339,532 people, 448,528 households, and 340,523 families residing in the county. The population of Nassau County was estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau to have increased by 2.2% to 1,369,514 in 2017, representing 6.9% of the census-estimated State of New York population of 19,849,399[51] and 17.4% of the census-estimated Long Island population of 7,869,820.[52][53][54][55] At the 2000 United States census, there were 1,334,544 people, 447,387 households, and 347,172 families residing in the county.

In 2010, there were 340,523 family households. 33.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them. 60.0% were married couples living together. 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present. 24.1% were non-families. 20.1% of all households were made up of individuals. 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.94. The average family size was 3.38.[56]

In 2010, the population was 23.3% under the age of 18. 18.7% were 62 years of age or older. The median age was 41.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.4 males.[56] In 2019, there were 474,165 housing units and 446,977 family households.[57] From 2015 to 2019, there was an average of 2.99 persons per household, and 21.4% of the population was under 18 years of age.

At the 2019 American Community Survey, Nassau had a median household income of $116,100. The per capita income was $51,422. About 5.6% of the population lived at or below the poverty line.[57] The median income for a household in the county in 2010 was $72,030. and the median income for a family was $81,246. These figures had risen to $87,658 and $101,661 respectively according to a 2007 estimate.[58] 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.

The population density in 2010 was 4,700 people per square mile (1,800 people/km2). In 2000, the population density was 4,655 inhabitants per square mile (1,797/km2). In the 2010 census, there were 468,346 housing units at an average density of 1,598 per square mile (617/km2).

Race and ethnicity

[edit]
Racial groups and ethnicity on Long Island compared to state and nation[56][59]
Place Population
2010
census
%
white
%
black
or
African
American
%
Asian
%
Other
%
mixed
race
%
Hispanic/
Latino
of any
race
Race Ethnicity
Nassau County 1,339,532 71.0 11.1 7.6 5.9 2.4 14.6
Suffolk County 1,493,350 81.0 7.3 3.4 5.9 2.4 16.5
Long Island Total
(including Brooklyn and Queens)
7,568,304 54.7 20.4 12.3 9.3 3.2 20.5
NY State 19,378,102 65.7 15.9 7.3 8.0 3.0 17.6
USA 308,745,538 72.4 12.6 4.8 7.3 2.9 16.3
American Indian, Native Alaskan, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander make up just 0.5% of the population of Long Island, and have been included with "Other".
H Mart in Jericho – one of the busiest H Mart stores on Long Island and one of the busiest Asian-grocery stores outside Asia

In 2010, the racial makeup of the county was 73.0% White (65.5% non-Hispanic white), 10.1% African American, 0.2% Native American, 7.6% Asian (3.0% Indian, 1.8% Chinese, 1.0% Korean, 0.7% Filipino, 0.1% Japanese, 0.1% Vietnamese, 0.9% Other Asian), 0.03% Pacific Islander, 5.6% from other races, and 2.4% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 15.6% of the population.[56] In 2019, Nassau County's racial and ethnic makeup was 58.2% non-Hispanic white, 11.3% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian or Alaska Native, 10.3% Asian, 0.7% some other race, and 1.9% two or more races. The Hispanic and Latin American population increased to 17.5% of the population.[60] In 2011, there were about 230,000 Jewish people in Nassau County,[61] representing 17.2% of the population, (as compared to 2% of the total U.S. population). Italian Americans also made up a large portion of Nassau's population. The five most reported ancestries were Italian (23%), Irish (14%), German (7%), Indian (5%), and Polish (4%). The county's population was highest at the 1970 U.S. census. More recently, a Little India community has emerged in Hicksville, Nassau County,[62] spreading eastward from the more established Little India enclaves in Queens. Rapidly growing Chinatowns have developed in Brooklyn and Queens,[63][64][65] as did earlier European immigrants, such as the Irish and Italians.

The Reconstructionist Synagogue of the North Shore in Plandome – one of many Jewish synagogues in Nassau County

As of 2019, the Asian population in Nassau County had grown by 39% since 2010, to an estimated 145,191 individuals. There were approximately 50,000 Indian Americans and 40,000 Chinese Americans. Nassau County has become the leading suburban destination in the U.S. for Chinese immigrants.[66] Likewise, the Long Island Koreatown originated in Flushing, Queens, and is expanding eastward along Northern Boulevard[67][68][69][70][71] and into Nassau County.[65][68][69] The New York Times cited a 2002 study by the non-profit group ERASE Racism, which determined that Nassau, and its neighboring county, Suffolk, as the most de facto racially segregated suburbs in the United States.[72]

Religious groups on Long Island compared to state and nation[73][74]
Place Population
2010
census[56][59]
%
Catholic
% not
affiliated
%
Jewish
%
Protestant
Estimate
of % not
reporting
Nassau County 1,339,532 52 9 16 7 15
Suffolk County 1,493,350 52 21 7 8 11
Long Island Total
(including Brooklyn and Queens)
7,568,304 40 18 12 7 20
NY State 19,378,102 42 20 9 10 16
USA 308,745,538 22 37 2 23 12

Law enforcement

[edit]

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, are not members of the county police district and maintain their own police forces. The following village police departments exist in Nassau County: Brookville (Brookville P.D. provides police protection for Brookville, Matinecock, Mill Neck and Cove Neck), Centre Island, Floral Park, Freeport, Garden City, Great Neck Estates, Hempstead, Kensington, Kings Point, Lake Success, Lynbrook, Malverne, Muttontown-Upper Brookville, Old Brookville, Old Westbury, Oyster Bay Cove, Rockville Centre and Sands Point.

The Port Washington Police District is not a village department but is authorized by a special district, the only such district in the State of New York. These smaller forces make use of such specialized county police services as the police academy and the aviation unit. All homicides in the county are investigated by the county police, regardless of whether or not they occur within the police district.

In June 2011, the Muttontown Police Department commenced operations. The Old Brookville Police had formerly provided police services to the Village of Muttontown.

On June 1, 2022, the Old Brookville Police Department reverted to serving only the Village of Old Brookville and moved its headquarters to the grounds of the Old Brookville village hall. The Village of Brookville formed a new police department, established headquarters on the grounds of the Brookville Nature Park and assumed policing duties for the villages of Brookville, Matinecock, Mill Neck and Cove Neck, that were formerly served by the Old Brookville Police Department. The Village of Upper Brookville joined the Muttontown Police Department which was subsequently renamed the Muttontown-Upper Brookville (MUB) Police Department. The former Old Brookville Police headquarters is now the Upper Brookville village hall and also a substation for the Muttontown-Upper Brookville Police Department.

In 2006, village leaders in the county seat of Mineola 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 in December 2006 decisively defeated the proposal.[75]

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. The MTA Police patrol Long Island Rail Road tracks, stations and properties. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Police provides enforcement of state environmental laws and regulations. The State University of New York Police provides enforcement for SUNY Old Westbury.

The Nassau County Police Department posts the mug shots of DWI offenders as press releases on their website. This practice has come under the scrutiny of residents, media, and those pictured in these press releases. This practice has been criticized as being able to cost potential employees, students, or public figures their positions.[76]

County correctional services and enforcement of court orders are provided by the Nassau County Sheriff's Department. New York State Court Officers provide security for courthouses.

A Nassau County Auxiliary Police car

The Nassau County Auxiliary Police are a unit of the Nassau County Police Department. These volunteer police officers are assigned to 1 of 38 local community units and perform routine patrols of the neighborhood. They provide traffic control for local parades, races and other community events. Auxiliary Police officers are empowered to make arrests for crimes that occur in their presence.

Nassau County Auxiliary Police are required to complete a 42-week training course at the Nassau County Police Academy. Qualified officers are offered Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training. Auxiliary Police officers are certified and registered by the New York Division of Criminal Justice Services as full-time "peace officers". The City of Long Beach has an independent auxiliary police force which is part of its municipal police force. These officers are represented by the Auxiliary Police Benevolent Association of Long Island.

Fire departments

[edit]

Nassau County is currently protected and served by 71 independent volunteer or combination paid/volunteer fire departments, organized into 9 battalions. The Nassau County Fire Commission also provides logistical support to all 71 departments.[77]

1st Battalion
Department Number Department Name
100 Bellerose Village
110 Bellerose Terrace
120 Floral Park
130 Floral Park Centre
140 Garden City
150 Garden City Park
160 Mineola
170 New Hyde Park
180 South Floral Park
190 Stewart Manor
2nd Battalion
Department Number Department Name
200 Baldwin
210 Freeport
220 Village of Island Park
230 Long Beach
240 Oceanside
250 Point Lookout-Lido
3rd Battalion
Department Number Department Name
300 Hewlett
310 Inwood
320 Lawrence Cedarhurst
330 Meadowmere Park
340 Valley Stream
350 Woodmere
4th Battalion
Department Number Department Name
400 East Rockaway
410 Lakeview
420 Lynbrook
430 Malverne
440 Rockville Centre
The Roslyn Highlands Fire Department in Roslyn Heights in 2012.
5th Battalion
Department Number Department Name
500 Bayville
510 East Norwich
520 Glen Cove
530 Glenwood
540 Locust Valley
550 Oyster Bay
560 Roslyn Rescue
570 Sea Cliff
580 Syosset
590 Roslyn Highlands
6th Battalion
Department Number Department Name
600 Bellmore
610 East Meadow
620 Levittown
630 Massapequa
640 Merrick
650 North Bellmore
660 North Massapequa
670 North Merrick
680 Seaford
690 Wantagh
7th Battalion
Department Number Department Name
700 Elmont
710 Franklin Square and Munson
720 Hempstead
730 Roosevelt
740 South Hempstead
750 Uniondale
760 West Hempstead
8th Battalion
Department Number Department Name
800 Albertson
810 East Williston
820 Great Neck Alert
830 Great Neck Vigilant
840 Plandome
850 Port Washington
860 Williston Park
870 Manhasset-Lakeville
The Hicksville Fire Department
9th Battalion
Department Number Department Name
900 Bethpage
910 Carle Place
920 Farmingdale
930 Hicksville
940 Jericho
950 Plainview
960 Westbury
970 South Farmingdale

Law and government

[edit]
The Theodore Roosevelt County Executive and Legislative Building
The Nassau County Courthouse

The head of the county's governmental structure is the county executive, a post created in Nassau County in 1938. The current county executive is Bruce Blakeman, a Republican who was elected in 2021. The chief deputy county executive is Republican Arthur Walsh. The district attorney is Republican Anne T. Donnelly, who was elected in 2021, replacing Acting District Attorney Joyce Smith. Smith succeeded Madeline Singas after she was nominated and confirmed as an associate judge on the New York Court of Appeals in June 2021.

The county comptroller is Elaine Phillips, a Republican who formerly served in the New York State Senate. The county clerk is Republican Maureen O'Connell. Former elected offices chairman of the County Board of Assessors, county treasurer, and county sheriff were made appointed and serve at the pleasure of the county executive (county assessor in 2008 via referendum, changing it from a six-year term to appointed).[78]

County executive

[edit]

The current Nassau County executive is Bruce Blakeman, a Republican.

Nassau County executives
Name Party Term
J. Russell Sprague Republican 1938–1953
A. Holly Patterson Republican 1953–1962
Eugene Nickerson Democratic 1962–1970
Ralph G. Caso Republican 1970–1978
Francis T. Purcell Republican 1978–1987
Thomas Gulotta Republican 1987–2001
Tom Suozzi Democratic 2002–2009
Ed Mangano Republican 2010–2017
Laura Curran Democratic 2018–2021
Bruce Blakeman Republican 2022–present

Chief deputy county executive

[edit]

The chief deputy county executive[79] is the highest appointed official in the Nassau County government, serving second-in-command under the auspice of the county executive. The Chief Deputy is responsible for managing the activities of all departments of the Nassau County government, which provides services to its 1.36 million residents. The chief deputy also officially serves as the acting county executive in the absence of, or disability of the County Executive. The current chief deputy county executive is Arthur T. Walsh, who was appointed by Executive Bruce Blakeman in 2022.

Chief Deputy County Executives
Name Party Term Served Under
Robert McDonald Republican 1993–1999 Thomas Gulotta
Judy Schwartz Republican 1999–2001 Thomas Gulotta
Anthony Cancillieri Democrat 2002–2005 Thomas Suozzi
Christopher Hahn Democrat 2006–2009 Thomas Suozzi
Robert Walker Republican 2010–2017 Edward Mangano
Helena Williams Democrat 2018–2021 Laura Curran
Arthur Walsh Republican 2022–present Bruce Blakeman

Comptroller

[edit]

The comptroller of Nassau County is the chief fiscal officer and chief auditing officer of the County who presides over the Nassau County Comptroller's Office. The comptroller is elected countywide to a four-year term and has no term limit.

Nassau County Comptrollers (Nassau County Comptroller's Office)
Order Name Term Party
1 John Lyon January 1, 1911 – December 31, 1913 Republican
2 Chas L. Phipps January 1, 1914 – January 3, 1916 Republican
3 Earl J. Bennett January 14, 1916 – December 31, 1922 Republican
4 Philip Wiederson January 1, 1923 – December 31, 1934 Republican
5 Theodore Bedell January 1, 1935 – December 31, 1964 Republican
6 Peter P. Rocchio Sr. January 1, 1965 – December 31, 1967 Democratic
7 Angelo D. Roncallo January 1, 1968 – January 3, 1973 Republican
8 M. Hallstead Christ January 4, 1973 – August 16, 1981 Republican
9 Peter T. King August 17, 1981 – December 31, 1992 Republican
10 Alan Gurein January 1, 1993 – December 31, 1993 Republican
11 Frederick E. Parola January 1, 1994 – December 31, 2001 Republican
12 Howard S. Weitzman January 1, 2002 – December 31, 2009 Democratic
13 George Maragos* January 1, 2010 – September 29, 2016 Republican
13 George Maragos September 30, 2016 – December 31, 2017 Democratic
14 Jack E. Schnirman January 1, 2018 – December 31, 2021 Democratic
15 Elaine Phillips January 1, 2022 – present Republican

* George Maragos was originally elected as a Republican, but became a Democrat in September 2016.

County legislature

[edit]

The county legislature has 19 members. There are twelve Republicans and seven Democrats.

Nassau County Legislature
District Legislator Party Residence
1 Kevan Abrahams, Minority Leader Democratic Roosevelt
2 Siela Bynoe Democratic Westbury
3 Carrié Solages Democratic Elmont
4 Denise Ford, Alt. Deputy Presiding Officer Republican Long Beach
5 Debra Mule Democratic Freeport
6 C. William Gaylor Republican Lynbrook
7 Howard Kopel, Deputy Presiding Officer Republican Lawrence
8 John Giuffre Republican Stewart Manor
9 Richard Nicolello, Presiding Officer Republican New Hyde Park
10 Mazi M. Pilip Republican Great Neck
11 Delia DeRiggi-Whitton Democratic Glen Cove
12 James Kennedy Republican Massapequa
13 Thomas McKevitt Republican East Meadow
14 Laura M. Schaefer Republican Westbury
15 John R. Ferretti Republican Levittown
16 Arnold W. Drucker Democratic Plainview
17 Rose Marie Walker Republican Hicksville
18 Josh Lafazan Democratic Syosset
19 Michael J. Giangregorio Republican Merrick

Politics

[edit]
United States presidential election results for Nassau County, New York[80]
Year Republican Democratic Third party(ies)
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2024 368,117 50.94% 338,424 46.84% 16,045 2.22%
2020 326,716 44.59% 396,504 54.11% 9,536 1.30%
2016 292,025 45.13% 332,154 51.33% 22,943 3.55%
2012 259,308 45.64% 302,695 53.28% 6,148 1.08%
2008 288,776 45.43% 342,185 53.84% 4,657 0.73%
2004 288,355 46.63% 323,070 52.25% 6,918 1.12%
2000 227,060 38.46% 342,226 57.96% 21,153 3.58%
1996 196,820 36.14% 303,587 55.74% 44,257 8.13%
1992 246,881 40.52% 282,593 46.38% 79,852 13.10%
1988 337,430 56.96% 250,130 42.22% 4,858 0.82%
1984 392,017 61.83% 240,697 37.96% 1,349 0.21%
1980 333,567 55.97% 207,602 34.83% 54,851 9.20%
1976 329,176 51.78% 302,869 47.64% 3,711 0.58%
1972 438,723 63.31% 252,831 36.48% 1,473 0.21%
1968 329,792 51.27% 278,599 43.31% 34,804 5.41%
1964 248,886 39.37% 382,590 60.53% 639 0.10%
1960 324,255 55.12% 263,303 44.76% 761 0.13%
1956 372,358 69.08% 166,646 30.92% 0 0.00%
1952 305,900 69.87% 130,267 29.75% 1,669 0.38%
1948 184,284 69.48% 70,492 26.58% 10,462 3.94%
1944 159,713 66.88% 78,512 32.88% 576 0.24%
1940 143,672 66.12% 73,171 33.67% 450 0.21%
1936 94,968 54.97% 74,232 42.96% 3,579 2.07%
1932 78,544 54.51% 61,752 42.85% 3,804 2.64%
1928 71,015 62.77% 40,079 35.42% 2,046 1.81%
1924 45,825 70.47% 14,322 22.02% 4,884 7.51%
1920 33,099 76.39% 8,595 19.84% 1,637 3.78%
1916 13,910 61.67% 8,430 37.38% 215 0.95%
1912 4,608 24.85% 7,073 38.14% 6,865 37.02%
1908 9,787 63.04% 4,883 31.45% 855 5.51%
1904 8,222 60.02% 5,282 38.56% 195 1.42%
1900 6,994 61.03% 4,325 37.74% 141 1.23%

For most of the twentieth century, residents of Nassau County and neighboring Suffolk County primarily supported the Republican Party in national elections. In presidential elections during the first half of the century, the Republican candidate often received more than twice as many votes as the Democratic candidate. Between the county's incorporation in 1899 and the 1980s, Democrats only won Nassau County in the elections of 1912 (where Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party split the Republican vote) and 1964 (where Lyndon B. Johnson won in a landslide).

The county began trending Democratic in the 1990s, like many of New York City's suburbs. Until 2024, it had voted for a Democrat in every presidential election since 1992. Bill Clinton carried the county in 1992 and 1996, as did Al Gore in 2000, the latter two times by margins of nearly 20 points. John Kerry's margin in Nassau County was considerably slimmer (5.6%) in 2004, as he won the towns of Hempstead and North Hempstead but lost the town of Oyster Bay. The county went solidly for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, both times by around 8%. Hillary Clinton did marginally worse in 2016, winning by 6.2%. Joe Biden in 2020 fared better than Obama at 9.5%, but still not as well as Bill Clinton and Gore. Although the county leaned Democratic for the last 30 years on the national level, Democrats failed to win the county in the last presidential election.[81] In 2024, the county voted for Donald Trump by 4 percentage points, the first time it was won by a Republican Presidential candidate since 1988.

Democratic strength is chiefly concentrated in both the wealthier and lower income sections of the county. Liberal voters dominate many of the wealthy communities of the North Shore, particularly in the Town of North Hempstead where affluent villages such as Sands Point, Old Westbury, Roslyn, Kensington, Thomaston, Great Neck Plaza, and Great Neck Estates as well as the neighboring City of Glen Cove vote consistently Democratic. Democratic strongholds also include several low income municipalities in the central portion of the county, such as the Village of Hempstead, Roosevelt, Uniondale and New Cassel, as well as in a few waterfront communities on the South Shore, such as the City of Long Beach and the Village of Freeport.

Republican voters are primarily concentrated in the middle to upper middle class southeastern portion of the county, which developed during the "post-war boom era". Heavily Republican communities such as Massapequa, Massapequa Park, Seaford, Wantagh, Levittown, Bethpage, and Farmingdale are the political base of many county GOP officials such as former Congressman Peter T. King and former County Executive Edward P. Mangano. In the western portion of the county, wealthy Garden City is solidly Republican, as is the middle-class community of Floral Park. Additionally, some of the more rustic areas of the North Shore, particularly in the Town of Oyster Bay usually vote for the GOP.

Areas of the county containing large numbers of swing voters include East Meadow, Oceanside, and Rockville Centre on the South Shore and Mineola on the North Shore. Several areas have changed in partisan affiliation. Formerly Democratic strongholds such as the Five Towns and parts of Great Neck have trended to the GOP while previously Republican areas such as Elmont, Valley Stream and Baldwin have become Democratic bastions.

The House seats of the North Shore, New York's 3rd Congressional district and the South Shore along with Hempstead in the 4th district are represented by Democrats Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen (starting in 2025) respectively, while Republican Andrew Garbarino represents East Massapequa in the 2nd district.

Nassau County is split across five state senate districts, four of which are represented by Republicans and one of which is represented by a Democrat:

  • District 5 is represented by Senator Steven Rhoads (R) and covers Wantagh and North Wantagh, Merrick and North Merrick, Levittown, Salisbury, Farmingdale, Hicksville, and Bethpage.
  • District 6 is represented by Senator Kevin Thomas (D) and is a majority-minority district that covers Freeport, Rockville Centre, Hempstead (village), Uniondale, Garden City, and Westbury.
  • District 7 is represented by Senator Jack Martins (R) and covers the northern half of the county.
  • District 8 is represented by Senator Alexis Weik (R) and covers Massapequa and North Massapequa and parts of southwestern Suffolk County.
  • District 9 is represented by Senator Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick (R) and covers Valley Stream, Elmont, Floral Park, Malverne, Lynbrook, the Five Towns, East Rockaway, and Long Beach.

Education

[edit]

Education features strongly in Nassau County's culture. Nassau County has 58 public school districts,[82] which like post office districts use the same names as a city, hamlet, or village within them, but each sets the boundaries independently.[83] School district and community are not the same, and residences often have postal addresses that differ from the hamlet and/or school district in which they are located. Several of Nassau County's school districts are among the highest ranked public school systems in the country,[84] including the Jericho Union Free School District, Great Neck Public Schools, and the Syosset Central School District.

School districts include:[82]

K-12:

Secondary:

Elementary:

Colleges and universities

[edit]
The United States Merchant Marine Academy
Academic Quad at the New York Institute of Technology's Old Westbury campus

Sports

[edit]
The golf course at Bethpage State Park
Horse racing at Belmont Park

Nassau County is home to the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League, who played at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale from their inception in 1972. However, the Islanders announced in 2012 that starting in the fall of 2015, the team would be moving to Brooklyn and would play at the Barclays Center. Due to issues with Barclays Center being unable to adequately support ice hockey and declining attendance, the Islanders announced that for the 2018–19 season they would split their home games between Barclays Center and the newly renovated Nassau Coliseum. In December 2017, the Islanders won a bid to build a new 18,000-seat arena near Belmont Park in Elmont, returning them to Nassau County; UBS Arena opened in 2021.

The Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association, then known as the New York Nets, formerly played their home games in Nassau County at the now-demolished Island Garden arena in West Hempstead from 1969 to 1972 and then at the Coliseum from 1972 to 1977, before the franchise moved to New Jersey—its original home for several years before coming to Long Island in the late 1960s – and eventually, to Brooklyn.

The New York Cosmos (1970–1985) of the former North American Soccer League (1968–1984) played for two seasons, 1972 and 1973, at Hofstra Stadium at Hofstra University in Hempstead. The team's name was revived in 2010 with the New York Cosmos (2010) of the new North American Soccer League to also play at Hofstra Stadium, which had been renamed James M. Shuart Stadium in 2002. Nassau County is also the home of the New York Lizards of Major League Lacrosse, who play at Shuart Stadium. The county also operates several sports events for student-athletes, such as the Nassau County Executive Cup College Showcase.

Belmont Park in Elmont is a major horse racing venue which annually hosts the Belmont Stakes, the third and final leg of the prestigious Triple Crown of thoroughbred racing. The now-demolished Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury hosted auto racing and, from 1940 through 1988, was a popular harness racing track.

Nassau is home to some famous and historic golf courses. Rockaway Hunting Club, founded in 1878, is the oldest country club in the country.[85] The U.S. Open has been held in Nassau five times, once each at Garden City Golf Club, Inwood Country Club, and Fresh Meadow Country Club, and twice at Bethpage Black Course, the first ever municipally owned course. Courses consistently ranked in the top 100 in the U.S. such as Bethpage Black, Garden City Golf Club, Piping Rock Club, and The Creek are located in the county. Nassau County hosted the 1984 Summer Paralympics, marking the first Paralympic Games to be held in the United States.

Nassau County was chosen by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to host eight cricket matches of the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow during June 2024. The county will receive $2.7 million in direct revenue from the tournament, which will leave Eisenhower Park with a legacy of permanent improvements to host large cricket tournaments henceforth.[86][87]

Health

[edit]

The first case of COVID-19 was reported in March 2020.[88] As of January 12, 2021, there have been 104,078 cases, 3,044 deaths, 2,102,900 tests conducted, and a 4.9% positivity rate.[89] According to The New York Times' COVID-19 tracker, Nassau County's average daily case count is 1,567 (116 per capita), with 1 in 13 testing positive (the third-worst of any county in the state) and 1 in 545 dying.[90]

In August 2024, Nassau County passed into law a ban on wearing face masks in public, making it a misdemeanor subject to a $1,000 fine and up to one year in prison to wear a facial covering in public, a move that was criticized by the New York Civil Liberties Union as a "dangerous misuse of the law to score political points."[91] The law does not apply to facial coverings "worn to protect the health or safety of the wearer," but does appear to ban wearing a mask in order to protect the health or safety of others, including persons with compromised immune systems.[91]

Communities

[edit]

Figures in parentheses are 2019 population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.[92]

Cities

[edit]

Towns

[edit]

Villages

[edit]

Census-designated places

[edit]

Former CDPs

[edit]

County symbols

[edit]

Notable people

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "QuickFacts Nassau County, New York". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  2. ^ "State & County QuickFacts Nassau County, New York". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 3, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
  3. ^ Nassau County Atlas, 6th Large Scale Edition, Hagstrom Map Company, Inc., 1999
  4. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  5. ^ Toy, Vivian S. (March 30, 2003). "For Sale: Nassau's County Seat". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 25, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2017. The county's properties all have mailing addresses in Mineola, the official county seat, but are actually within Garden City's boundaries.
  6. ^ "NCPD: Nassau County Police Department". Nassau County. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  7. ^ "Nassau County Fire Commission". Nassau County. Archived from the original on February 21, 2015. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
  8. ^ "Governmental Structure: Nassau County". Nassau County. Archived from the original on February 18, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2010.
  9. ^ a b "America's Most Affluent Neighborhoods". Forbes.com. February 13, 2012. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
  10. ^ "Student Science a Resource of Society for Science & the Public". Society for Science & the Public. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  11. ^ "Encyclopaedia Britannica". June 2, 2023. Archived from the original on April 25, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  12. ^ "About Nassau County". Archived from the original on February 16, 2015. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  13. ^ "Last will and testament of Thomas Powell Sen late of Bethpage now of Westbury in the limits of Hempstead in Queens County on Nassau Island in the Colony of New York". 1719. Archived from the original on May 15, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  14. ^ a b "Long Island" (PDF). New York Times. April 12, 1875. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 27, 2022. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  15. ^ a b "Long Island" (PDF). New York Times. April 9, 1876. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 30, 2022. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  16. ^ a b "Proposed Division of Queens County" (PDF). New York Times. December 21, 1876. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 1, 2020. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  17. ^ "Early Five Borough's History". Hope Farm Press. Archived from the original on October 21, 2010. Retrieved December 30, 2007. When Queens County was created the courts were transferred from Hempstead to Jamaica Village and a County Court was erected. When the building became too small for its purposes and the stone meeting house had been erected, the courts were held for some years in that edifice. Later a new courthouse was erected and used until the seat of justice was removed to North Hempstead.
  18. ^ "Old Bethpage Village Restoration". Nassau County, NY. Archived from the original on May 27, 2012. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
  19. ^ "Civil History of Queens County- Crimes and Penalties- the Court-house- Officials". bklyn-genealogy-info.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  20. ^ *"Historical Essay: A Thumbnail View". Official History Page of the Queens Borough President's Office. Archived from the original on December 18, 2007. Retrieved December 29, 2007. From the final withdrawal of the British in November, 1783, until the 1830s, Queens continued as an essentially Long Island area of farms and villages. The location of the county government in Mineola (in present-day Nassau County) underscores the island orientation of that era. Population grew hardly at all, increasing only from 5,791 in 1800 to 7,806 in 1830, suggesting that many younger sons moved away, seeking fortunes where land was not yet so fully taken up for farming.
      • Jon A. Peterson and Vincent Seyfried, ed. (1983). A Research Guide to the History of the Borough of Queens and Its Neighborhood.
      • Peterson, Jon A., ed. (1987). A Research Guide to the History of the Borough of Queens, New York City. New York: Queens College, City University of New York.
    • "New York – Queens County". Time Voyagers. Archived from the original on July 20, 2008. Retrieved December 29, 2007.
    • "New York State History". Genealogy Inc. 1999. Archived from the original on January 8, 2008. Retrieved December 28, 2007. Under the Reorganization Act of March 7, 1788, New York was divided into 120 towns (not townships), many of which were already in existence.
    • "State of New York; Local Government Handbook; 5th Edition" (PDF). January 2000. pp. Ch 4, p 13, Ch 5 p 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 15, 2010. The 1777 New York State Constitution, Article XXXVI, confirmed land grants and municipal charters granted by the English Crown prior to October 14, 1775. Chapter 64 of the Laws of 1788 organized the state into towns and cities...The basic composition of the counties was set in 1788 when the State Legislature divided all of the counties then existing into towns. Towns, of course, were of earlier origin, but in that year they acquired a new legal status as components of the counties.
    • "History Mysteries: Shelter Island Ferry/Mineola Building". Archived from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved April 1, 2008. The building shown below "is one of the most important buildings in the history of Mineola," wrote Jack Hehman, president of the Mineola Historical Society. Built in 1787 and known as the "old brig," it was the first Queens County courthouse and later a home for the mentally ill. The building was at Jericho Turnpike and Herricks Road until 1910, when it burned to the ground.
      • "The Mineola Asylum; Witnesses who testified that it is and has been a model institution". New York Times. August 29, 1882. Archived from the original on July 25, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2008. The investigation of the charges made against the Superintendent and keepers of the Mineola Asylum for the Insane, which was begun last Tuesday, was continued yesterday by the standing Committee on Insane Asylums of the Queens County Board of Supervisors-- Messrs. Whitney, Brinckerhoff, and Powell. The committee were shown through the asylum, which is the old building of the Queens County Court-house over 100 years old
  21. ^ *David Roberts. "Nassau County Post Offices 1794–1879". bklyn-genealogy-info.com. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved April 1, 2008.
    • John L. Kay & Chester M. Smith, Jr. (1982). New York Postal History: The Post Offices & First Postmasters from 1775 to 1980. American Philatelic Society. There was only one post office established in present Nassau County when the Long Island post road to Sag Harbor was established September 25, 1794. It appears that the mail from New York went to Jamaica. This was the only post office in the present day Boroughs of Queens or Brooklyn before 1803. From Jamaica the mail went east along the Jericho Turnpike/Middle Country Road route and ended at Sag Harbor. The only post office on this route between Jamaica and Suffolk County was QUEENS established the same date as the others on this route 9/25/1794. This post office was officially Queens, but I have seen the area called "Queens Court House" and was located approximately in the Mineola-Westbury area. The courthouse was used until the 1870s when the county court was moved to Long Island City. Later it served as the Queens County Insane Asylum and still later as an early courthouse for the new Nassau County, during construction of the present "old" Nassau County Courthouse in Mineola. It was demolished shortly after 1900 ... after about 120 years of service of one type or the other.
    • "The Queens County Court-House Question A New Building to be Erected at Mineola". The New York Times. February 25, 1872. Archived from the original on July 23, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2008. For forty years the Supervisors of Queens County have been quarreling over a site for a Court-house. The incommodious building used
    • "1873 map of North Hempstead". Archived from the original on June 10, 2007. Retrieved December 31, 2007. bottom right by spur road off Jericho Tpk – location is now known as Garden City Park. Clowesville was the name of the nearest station on the LIRR, approximately at the location of the present Merillon Avenue station. The courthouse was north of the station.
  22. ^ Weidman, Bette S.; Martin, Linda B. (1981). Nassau County, Long Island, in early photographs, 1869–1940. Courier Dover. p. 55. ISBN 9780486241364. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved December 2, 2010.
  23. ^ The former county courthouse was located northeast of the intersection of Jericho Turnpike (NY Route 25) and the aptly named County Courthouse Road in an unincorporated area of the Town of North Hempstead, variously referred to in the present day as Garden City Park or New Hyde Park. The site is now a shopping center anchored by a supermarket and is located in the New Hyde Park 11040 ZIP Code. A stone marker located on the north side of Jericho Turnpike (NY Route 25), between Marcus Avenue and Herricks Road, identifies the site.[22]
  24. ^ a b Rhoda Amon. "Mineola: First Farmers, Then Lawyers". Newsday. Archived from the original on October 15, 2008. Retrieved November 11, 2012. That was the year when the "Old Brig" courthouse was vacated after 90 years of housing lawbreakers. The county court moved from Mineola to Long Island City.
  25. ^ *"Queen's County Court House" (PDF). New York Times. February 14, 1870. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 30, 2022. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  26. ^ *"A Queens Timeline". The Queens Tribune. Archived from the original on November 9, 2007. Retrieved December 23, 2007. 1874 – Queens County Courthouse and seat of county government moved from Mineola (in present-day Nassau County) to Long Island City.
  27. ^ Geoffrey Mohan (2007). "Nassau's Difficult Birth; Eastern factions of Queens win the fight to separate after six decades of wrangling". Newsday. Archived from the original on October 16, 2008. Retrieved November 11, 2012. North Hempstead, Oyster Bay and the rest of Hempstead were excluded from the vote.
  28. ^ "Mineola Chosen Nassau County's Seat". New York Times. November 10, 1898. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved June 6, 2010.
  29. ^ "County of Nassau Elections". New York Times. September 1, 1898. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved June 6, 2010.
  30. ^ "Incorporated Village of Garden City: History". Incorporated Village of Garden City. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved June 6, 2010.
  31. ^ * "Sites for Nassau County Buildings". New York Times. September 29, 1898. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved June 6, 2010.
  32. ^ Fischler, Marcelle S (November 15, 1998). "An Immigrant's Vision Created Garden City". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 24, 2013. Retrieved June 6, 2010.
  33. ^ Antonia Petrash; Carol Stern & Carol McCrossen. "HISTORY OF GLEN COVE". Archived from the original on October 25, 2005. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
  34. ^ a b Stoff, Joshua. "The Aviation History of Long Island". Cradle of Aviation Museum. Archived from the original on November 27, 2012. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  35. ^ "Long Islanders Shocked by Grumman's Merger". The New York Times. March 8, 1994. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  36. ^ McQuiston, John T. "Judge Says He Will Create a Nassau Legislature on His Own if Supervisors Fail to Act" Archived July 26, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, June 9, 1994. Retrieved December 11, 2007.
  37. ^ McQuiston, John T. "Amid Pomp, Nassau County Inaugurates Its Legislature" Archived September 30, 2023, at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, January 13, 1996.
  38. ^ "New York State Takes Control of Nassau's Finances". The New York Times. January 27, 2011. Archived from the original on October 14, 2011. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
  39. ^ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on May 19, 2014. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  40. ^ a b "New York: 2000 Population and Housing Unit Counts" (PDF). September 2003. p. III-9. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 19, 2004. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  41. ^ "united states annual sunshine map". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Archived from the original on April 29, 2011. Retrieved December 18, 2011.
  42. ^ "Monthly Averages for Mineola, NY (11501)". weatherco.com. The Weather Channel. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  43. ^ Areas touching Nassau County Archived March 20, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, MapIt. Accessed March 19, 2017.
  44. ^ Sophia Hall (July 12, 2017). "New York Senate Republicans OK $1.9B In Funding For 3rd LIRR Track". CBS New York. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  45. ^ "About the Refuge". U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
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  49. ^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
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40°44′N 73°38′W / 40.733°N 73.633°W / 40.733; -73.633