Long Beach, New York

Coordinates: 40°35′10″N 73°40′04″W / 40.58605°N 73.66775°W / 40.58605; -73.66775

Long Beach, New York
City
City of Long Beach

Kennedy Plaza in Central Long Beach

Flag
Seal
Nickname(s): The City by the Sea
Motto: Civitas ad mare

Location in Nassau County and the state of New York.

Location relative to New York City

Coordinates: 40°35′17″N 73°41′17″W / 40.58806°N 73.68806°W / 40.58806; -73.68806
Country United States
State New York
County Nassau
Settled 1623
Incorporated Village 1913
City of Long Beach 1922
Founded by William J. Reynolds
Government
 • Type Council-Manager
 • City Manager Jack Schnirman
 • City Council
Area
 • Total 3.9 sq mi (10.1 km2)
 • Land 2.1 sq mi (5.5 km2)
 • Water 1.8 sq mi (4.6 km2)
Elevation 0 ft (0 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 33,275
 • Density 16,571/sq mi (6,398.1/km2)
  34th densest in US
Time zone EST (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code 11561
Area code(s) 516
FIPS code 36-43335
GNIS feature ID 0955835
Website www.longbeachny.org

Long Beach is a city in Nassau County, New York, United States. Just south of Long Island, it is located on Long Beach Barrier Island, which is the westernmost of the outer barrier islands off Long Island's South Shore. As of the United States 2010 Census, the city population was 33,275. It was incorporated in 1922,[1] and is nicknamed The City By the Sea (as seen in Latin on its official seal).

The city of Long Beach is surrounded by Reynolds Channel to the north, east and west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south.

As of 2012, Jack Schnirman is the city manager, a position appointed by the City Council. It has been democratic for many years.[2]

History

Long Beach's first inhabitants were the Algonquian-speaking Rockaway Indians, who sold the area to English colonists in 1643. While the barrier island was used by baymen and farmers for fishing and harvesting salt hay, no one lived there year-round for more than two centuries. In 1849 Congress established a lifesaving station. A dozen years before, 62 people died when the barque Mexico, carrying Irish immigrants to New York, ran ashore on New Year's Day.

Austin Corbin, a builder from Brooklyn, was the first to attempt to develop the island as a resort. He formed a partnership with the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) to finance the New York and Long Beach Railroad Co., which laid track from Lynbrook to Long Beach in 1880. That same year, Corbin opened Long Beach Hotel, a row of 27 cottages along a 1,100-foot (340 m) strip of beach, which he claimed as the world's largest hotel.[3] In its first season, the railroad brought 300,000 visitors to Long Island. By the next spring, tracks had been laid the length of the island, but they were removed in 1894 after repeated washouts from winter storms.

Long Beach boardwalk, c. 1911
Crowded beach, c. 1923

In 1906, William Reynolds, a 39-year-old former state senator and real estate developer, entered the picture. Reynolds had already developed four Brooklyn neighborhoods (Bedford-Stuyvesant, Borough Park, Bensonhurst, and South Brownsville), as well as Coney Island's Dreamland, the world's largest amusement park. Reynolds also owned a theater and produced plays. He gathered investors and acquired the oceanfront from private owners and the rest of the island from the Town of Hempstead in 1907; he planned to build a boardwalk, homes, and hotels. Reynolds had a herd of elephants marched in from Dreamland, ostensibly to help build the Long Beach Boardwalk; he had created an effective publicity stunt. Dredges created a channel 1,000 feet (300 m) wide on the north side of the island to provide access by large steamboats and sea planes to transport more visitors; the new waterway was named Reynolds Channel. To ensure that Long Beach lived up to his billing it "The Riviera of the East", he required each building to be constructed in an "eclectic Mediterranean style," with white stucco walls and red-clay tile roofs. He built a theater called Castles by the Sea, with the largest dance floor in the world, for dancers Vernon and Irene Castle. After Reynolds' corporation went bankrupt in 1918, the restrictions were lifted. The new town attracted wealthy businessmen and entertainers from New York and Hollywood.

On July 29, 1907, a fire broke out at the Long Beach Hotel and burned it to the ground. Of the 800 guests, eight were injured by jumping from windows, and one woman died. The fire was blamed on defective electric wiring. A church, several cottages and the bathing pavilion were also destroyed. Trunks belonging to the guests, which had been piled on the sand to form "dressing rooms", were looted by thieves. A dozen waiters and others were apprehended by the police, who recovered $20,000 worth of jewelry and other stolen property.[4]

The community became an incorporated village in 1913 and a city in 1922.[5]

In 1923, the prohibition agents known simply as Izzy and Moe raided the Nassau Hotel and arrested three men for bootlegging. In 1930, five Long Beach Police officers were charged with offering a bribe to a United States Coast Guard officer to allow liquor to be landed. The police had another problem a year later in the summer of 1931, when a beachcomber found the body of a young woman named Starr Faithfull, who had drowned. She had left behind a suicide note, but others believed she had been murdered, and the circumstances of her death were never resolved. Corruption became rampant in Long Beach by then; in 1922, the state Legislature designated Long Beach a city and William H. Reynolds was elected the first mayor. Shortly thereafter Reynolds was indicted on charges of misappropriating funds. When he was found guilty, the clock in the tower at city hall was stopped in protest. When a judge released Reynolds from jail later that year on appeal, almost the entire population turned out to greet him, and the clock was turned back on.

In 1939, Mayor Louis F. Edwards was fatally shot by a police officer on the front steps of his home. Officer Alvin Dooley, a member of the police motorcycle squad and the mayor's own security detail, killed the mayor after losing his bid for PBA president to a candidate the mayor supported. Jackson Boulevard was later renamed Edwards Boulevard in honor of the late mayor. After the murder, the city residents passed legislation to adopt a city manager system, which still exists to this day. The city manager is hired by and reports to the City Council.

In the 1940s, Jose Ferrer, Zero Mostel, Mae West, and other famous actors performed at local theaters. Jack Dempsey, Cab Calloway, Humphrey Bogart, Lillian Roth, Rudolph Valentino, Florenz Ziegfeld, James Cagney, Clara Bow, and John Barrymore lived in Long Beach for decades. Other natives include Billy Crystal (his brother Joel Crystal has served as president of the Long Beach City Council),} Joan Jett, Derek Jeter, John Lannan, and "Long Island Lolita" Amy Fisher.

By the 1940s and 1950s, with the advent of cheap air travel attracting tourists to more distant places, and air-conditioning to provide year-round comfort, Long Beach had become a primarily bedroom community for commuters to New York City. It still attracted many summer visitors into the 1970s. The rundown boardwalk hotels were used for temporary housing for welfare recipients and the elderly until a scandal around 1970 led to many of the homes' losing licenses. At that time, government agencies were also "warehousing" in such hotels many patients released from larger mental hospitals. They were supposed to be cared for in small-scale community centers. The 2.2-mile (3.5 km) boardwalk had a small amusement park at the foot of Edwards Boulevard until the 1980s. In the late 1960s, the boardwalk and amusement park area were a magnet for youth from around Long Island, until a police crackdown on drug trafficking ended that. While there are few businesses left on the boardwalk, it attracts bicyclists, joggers, walkers and people-watchers.

The newly rebuilt boardwalk in November 2013.

Beginning in the 1980s and accelerating in the 1990s, Long Beach has begun an urban renewal, with new housing, new businesses and other improvements. Today, the city is again a popular bedroom community, for people working in New York who want the quiet beach atmosphere. With summer come local youths and college students and young adults who rent bungalows on the West End; they frequent the local bars and clubs along West Beech Street. Just behind the boardwalk near the center of the city, however, vacant lots now occupy several blocks that once housed hotels, bathhouses and the amusement park. Because attempts to attract development (including, at one time, Atlantic City-style casinos) to this potential Superblock have not yet borne fruit, the lots comprise the city's largest portion of unused land.

On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy struck Long Beach. As a result of flooding, hundreds of vehicles were totaled and houses suffered various levels of damage. The estimated cost of all the damage was over $250 million. The city was without power and running water for two weeks after the storm. The boardwalk was also destroyed during the storm. The City began rebuilding the boardwalk with grants from FEMA and the State of New York. The first two-block section of the new Long Beach boardwalk reopened on July 26, 2013,[6] and the entire boardwalk opened on October 25, 2013.[7]

Transportation

Buses

Long Beach Bus [8] operates a twenty-four-hour municipal bus service with five routes, including three routes serving the city, one overnight circulator route, and one route, the N69, extending service to Lido Beach and Point Lookout under contract to Nassau County. Long Beach Bus also operates a trolley bus.

Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) has two bus routes that originate in Long Beach; the n15 and n33 travel to Roosevelt Field and Far Rockaway via Rockville Centre and Atlantic Beach, respectively.[9][10] The n33 does not provide service wholly within Long Beach.

Railroad

The Long Island Rail Road [11] operates a terminal station at Park Place and Park Avenue with service on the railroad's Long Beach Branch. All other public transportation services in Long Beach converge at this terminal.

Geography

U.S. Census Map
View of the Long Beach barrier island

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.0 square miles (5.2 km2).

Long Beach Barrier Island

For the New Jersey island, see Long Beach Island.

The city is located on a barrier island off the South Shore of Long Island. It shares the island with Atlantic Beach to the west and Lido Beach and Point Lookout to the east. Within its section of the barrier island, the city takes up the entire north-south span, fronting on both Reynolds Channel to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. A drawbridge, the Long Beach Bridge, connects it to Island Park, a small island community between Long Beach and the mainland of Long Island. To the west, another drawbridge, the Atlantic Beach Bridge, connects the island to Lawrence on the mainland of Long Island. The Loop Parkway, located to the east along the Lido Beach and Point Lookout borders, connects the island to nearby Jones Beach and, going in the opposite direction, to the rest of the expansive Long Island state parkway system via the Meadowbrook State Parkway.

The first inhabitants on the Long beach barrier island were the Rockaway Indians; the Island was sold to the New Netherland colonists in 1643. Local Long Island baymen and farmers used the island for fishing and harvesting salt hay; no people lived on the Island year round for more than two centuries. The United States Congress established a lifesaving station in 1849, a dozen years after 62 people died when the barque Mexico carrying Irish immigrants to New York ran ashore on New Year's Day. Development began on the island as a resort and was organized by Austin Corbin, a builder from Brooklyn New York. Austin Corbin formed a partnership with the Long Island Rail Road to finance the New York and Long Beach Railroad Company which laid tracks from Lynbrook, New York to Long Beach in 1880. The company also opened the 1,100-foot-long Long Beach Hotel, at the time the largest in the world. The railroad brought 300,000 visitors the first season. By the next spring, tracks had been laid almost the full length of the Long Beach island, but after repeated winter storm washouts they were removed in 1894.[12]

 Island Park
Reynolds Channel
Atlantic Beach Lido Beach
   Long Beach  
Atlantic Ocean

Climate

Long Beach has a moderate humid subtropical climate (Cfa) under the Köppen climate classification, with hot summers and cool winters. It is one of the northernmost locations in this climate zone, allowing for the growth of tropical plants like palm trees. Precipitation is evenly distributed year round, mostly in the form of rain. Its climate is tempered by the Atlantic Ocean current.

Climate data for Long Beach, New York
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 71
(22)		 71
(22)		 85
(29)		 90
(32)		 99
(37)		 100
(38)		 104
(40)		 101
(38)		 98
(37)		 90
(32)		 77
(25)		 75
(24)		 104
(40)
Average high °F (°C) 39
(4)		 42
(6)		 49
(9)		 59
(15)		 69
(21)		 78
(26)		 83
(28)		 82
(28)		 75
(24)		 65
(18)		 54
(12)		 44
(7)		 61.6
(16.5)
Average low °F (°C) 26
(−3)		 28
(−2)		 34
(1)		 44
(7)		 53
(12)		 63
(17)		 69
(21)		 68
(20)		 61
(16)		 50
(10)		 41
(5)		 32
(0)		 47.4
(8.7)
Record low °F (°C) −2
(−19)		 −2
(−19)		 7
(−14)		 20
(−7)		 34
(1)		 45
(7)		 55
(13)		 46
(8)		 41
(5)		 30
(−1)		 19
(−7)		 2
(−17)		 −2
(−19)
Source: [13]

Layout

Unlike most suburbs, Long Beach is a high-density community. Fewer than 40% of the homes are detached houses,[14] and the city ranks as the 35th densest community in the United States. The city is less than a mile wide from ocean to bay and about three and a half miles long. The city is divided into the West End, home to many small bungalows, and the East End. West of New York Avenue, the barrier island is less than a half mile wide and West Beech Street is the main east/west commercial street.

East of New York Avenue, the island is wider between the bay and ocean and is home to larger more expansive family houses. There is the city's boardwalk, which begins at New York Avenue and ends at Neptune Boulevard. Along the boardwalk are many apartment buildings and condos. The main commercial strip is Park Avenue, which narrows into a small residential strip west of New York Avenue.

Neighborhoods

Ocean View Avenue, West End
Kennedy Plaza in the Central District.

Parks and recreation

National Register of Historic Places

The Barkin House, Cobble Villa, Pauline Felix House, Granada Towers, House at 226 West Penn Street, United States Post Office, and Samuel Vaisberg House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[15][16][17]

Landmarks and historic districts

Museums and community centers

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
1920282—
19305,8171,962.8%
19409,03655.3%
195015,58672.5%
196026,47369.9%
197033,12725.1%
198034,0732.9%
199033,510−1.7%
200035,4625.8%
201033,275−6.2%
Est. 201433,664[18]1.2%
U.S. Decennial Census[19]
Sunset at Long Beach

As of the census[20] of 2000, there were 35,462 people, 14,923 households, and 8,103 families residing in the city. The population density was 16,594.9 people per square mile (6,398.1/km²). There were 16,128 housing units at an average density of 7,547.3 per square mile (2,909.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 84.20% White, 6.18% African American, 0.21% Native American, 2.32% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 4.75% from other races, and 2.26% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.80% of the population.

There were 14,923 households out of which 21.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.0% were married couples living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.7% were non-families. 36.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the city the population was spread out with 18.5% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 34.4% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $56,289, and the median income for a family was $68,222. Males had a median income of $50,995 versus $40,739 for females. The per capita income for the city was $31,069. About 6.3% of families and 9.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.2% of those under age 18 and 10.7% of those age 65 or over.

Government

City Manager

City Council

Five Members serve the City Council, currently:

Long Beach City Judge

Emergency services

The city's two emergency services are the Long Beach Police and Fire Departments

Education

Public schools

The Long Beach City School District serves the city of Long Beach and parts of the Town of Hempstead with one primary high school, one middle school, one prekindergarten, and four elementary schools. They also operate an "alternative" high school at the NIKE missile site on a campus shared with the district's transportation services.

Catholic Regional School

These schools are:

Private schools

Post-secondary education

Public libraries

The Long Beach Public Library serves greater Long Beach with a main library downtown and two branch libraries at Point Lookout and the West End.

Arts and culture

Annual events

In popular culture

In films and television

(Chronological)

In literature

(Alphabetical, by author's last name)

In music

Surfing

Nicknames and slogans

Notable people

Aerial view

The right section is Long Beach:

References

  1. ↑ Our History provided by Newsday (City of Long Beach Official Site)
  2. ↑ http://www.longbeachny.gov/index.asp?Type=B_DIR&SEC={C50281EA-B062-44FD-B714-35C29EDE6CB7}&DE={322DB027-B794-4136-AC30-91FE0BE18855}
  3. ↑ The Long Beach Hotel: 1880–1907 (I Love Long Beach New York.com)
  4. ↑ "1907: Fire Destroys Hotel," In Our Pages, International Herald Tribune, accessed 29 July 2007
  5. ↑ http://www.longbeachny.org
  6. ↑ "1st section of Long Beach boardwalk reopens after Superstorm Sandy". WABC TV. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  7. ↑ "Long Beach boardwalk to fully reopen after Superstorm Sandy". WABC TV. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  8. ↑ http://www.longbeachny.gov/vertical/sites/%7BC3C1054A-3D3A-41B3-8896-814D00B86D2A%7D/uploads/%7BC093BB43-F8A2-4F48-9996-4466C2D51FFA%7D.PDF
  9. ↑ http://www.nicebus.com/_meta/NewRoutePDFs/NICE-April_8_n15_MapSchedule.pdf
  10. ↑ http://www.nicebus.com/_meta/NewRoutePDFs/NICE-April_8_n33_MapSchedule.pdf
  11. ↑ http://lirr42.mta.info/stationInfo.php?id=105
  12. ↑ http://www.longbeachny.org/vertical/Sites/%7BC3C1054A-3D3A-41B3-8896-814D00B86D2A%7D/uploads/%7B04BE0A92-835C-4BEC-BF37-C72B7032B283%7D.PDF\
  13. ↑ "Average Weather for Long Beach, NY - Temperature and Precipitation". Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  14. ↑ http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=86000US11561&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U_DP4&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U&-_lang=en&-_sse=on
  15. ↑ Staff (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  16. ↑ "National Register of Historic Places Listings". Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 5/18/15 through 5/22/15. National Park Service. 2015-05-29.
  17. ↑ "National Register of Historic Places Listings". Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 1/26/15 through 1/30/15. National Park Service. 2015-02-06.
  18. ↑ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2014". Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  20. ↑ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  21. ↑ http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=1074&profileId=0
  22. ↑ "Roslyn Bernstein", Baruch College, CUNY
  23. ↑ Bernstein, Roslyn (2009). Boardwalk Stories. New York: Blue Eft Press. ISBN 978-0-9840546-0-2.
  24. ↑ Billy, Crystal (2005). 700 Sundays. New York: Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-57867-3.
  25. ↑ Roberta Fiore, Carole Shahda Geraci & Dave Roochvarg for the Long Beach Historical and Preservation Society (2010). Long Beach (Images of America Series). New York: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-7258-6.
  26. ↑ Grasso, John (2015). Historical Dictionary of Basketball. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 67 pp. ISBN 978-1442255333.
  27. ↑ Steve Zipay. "Long Island history: Mike Francesa and Chris Russo". Newsday. Archived from the original on 2006-08-13. Retrieved 2006-10-12.
  28. ↑ The Official Fan Page of Smith Hart: "Today my heart goes out to all those effected by the tragedies of 9/11. I was born in Long Beach, Long Island and consider myself a native New Yorker." Cf. https://www.facebook.com/smith.hart.5/posts/164047037011845
  29. ↑ Surviving The Dungeon Extra: Ross Hart on The Hart Siblings (1 of 2)

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