Hempstead, New York

For the village located within this town, see Hempstead (village), New York.

Hempstead, New York
Town
Town of Hempstead
Atlantic Beach view, downtown Hempstead, Uniondale skyline, Wantagh Park, Atlantic Beach from an airplane, Jones Beach Water Tower, Freeport Memorial Library, an MTA bus in downtown, Nassau University Medical Center, Atlantic Beach skyline, Downtown Wantagh, Lynbrook Post Office, Nassau Plaza, Hempstead Transit Center, bus in Rockville Centre, Inwood LIRR station, RC Diocese Building, Malverne (LIRR station) from Hempstead Avenue crossing, panorama looking across Baldwin Bay towards Baldwin, apartment building in Freeport, Cow Meadow Park marina, Point Lookout from Reynolds Channel, Bedford Avenue in Bellmore near the train station, East Rockaway dock, 9-11 Memorial, apartment building in Freeport, NY on North Grove Street, Point Lookout docks, Point Lookout from boat, Pistilli Corporate Centre.
Location in Nassau County and the state of New York.
Hempstead, New York Location within the state of New York
Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Nassau
Government
• Type	Town council
• Town supervisor	Anthony J. Santino (R)
• Town council	Members • D1: Dorothy L. Goosby (D) • D2: Edward A. Ambrosino (R) • D3: Bruce A. Blakeman (R) • D4: Anthony J. Santino (R) • D5: Erin King Sweeney (R) • D6: Gary Hudes (R)
Area
• Total	191.3 sq mi (495.5 km2)
• Land	120.0 sq mi (310.7 km2)
• Water	71.4 sq mi (184.8 km2)
Population (2010)
• Total	759,757
• Density	4,000/sq mi (1,500/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Area code(s)	516
Website	www.toh.li

Hempstead is the most populous town in the US, and is one of the three towns in Nassau County, New York, United States, occupying the southwest part of the county. Twenty-two incorporated villages are completely or partially in the town. Hempstead's combined population was 759,757 at the 2010 Census, the majority of the population of the county and by far the most of any town in New York. Also, a village named Hempstead is within the Town.

If the town were to be incorporated as a city, it would be the second-largest city in New York behind New York City and ahead of Buffalo. It would be the 16th-largest city in the country, between Columbus, Ohio and Fort Worth, Texas. The town's population density is greater than that of Columbus and Fort Worth.

Part of Hofstra University's north campus is located in Hempstead.

History

The town was first settled around 1644 following the establishment of a treaty between English colonists, John Carman and Robert Fordham, and the Lenape Indians in 1643. Although the settlers were from the English colony of Connecticut, a patent was issued by New Amsterdam after the settlers had purchased land from the local natives. This transaction is depicted in a mural in the Hempstead Village Hall, reproduced from a poster commemorating the 300th anniversary of Hempstead Village.

In local Dutch-language documents of the 1640s and later, the town was invariably called Heemstede, and several of Hempstead's original 50 patentees were Dutch, suggesting that Hempstead was named after the Dutch town and/or castle Heemstede, which are near the cities of Haarlem and Amsterdam. However, the authorities possibly had Dutchified a name given by co-founder John Carman, who was born in 1606 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England, on land owned by his ancestors since the 13th century.

In 1664, the settlement under the new Province of New York adopted the Duke's Laws, austere statutes that became the basis upon which the laws of many colonies were to be founded. For a time, Hempstead became known as "Old Blue", as a result of the "Blue Laws".

During the American Revolution, the Loyalists in the south and the American sympathizers in the north caused a split in 1784 into "North Hempstead" and "South Hempstead". With the 1898 incorporation of the Borough of Queens as part of the city of New York, and the 1899 split of Queens County to create Nassau County, some southwestern portions of the Town of Hempstead seceded from the town and became part of the Borough of Queens.

Richard Hewlett, who was born in Hempstead, served as a Lieutenant Colonel with the British Army under General Oliver De Lancey in the American Revolution. Afterward, Hewlett departed the United States with other Loyalists and settled in the newly created Province of New Brunswick in what later became Canada. A settlement there was named Hampstead, in Queen's County next to Long Island in the Saint John River.

Government and politics

The town is headed by the Supervisor, currently Anthony J. Santino (R-East Rockaway). The responsibilities of the office include presiding over meetings of the Town Council and directing the legislative and administrative function of that body. The position also entails creating and implementing the town's budget. Santino succeeds Kate Murray, who was the town's first female supervisor. One famous former supervisor was Republican Alfonse D'Amato, who later represented New York in the United States Senate from 1981 to 1999.

Prior to 1994, the town also had a Presiding Supervisor, who along with the Supervisor, sat on what was then Nassau County's main governmental body, the Board of Supervisors, along with the Supervisors of the towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay and the independent cities of Long Beach—formerly a part of Hempstead Town until its incorporation as a separate municipality in 1922—and Glen Cove, which had been carved out of Oyster Bay Town in 1917. Typically, the Presiding Supervisor, besides chairing the weekly county Board of Supervisors meetings, acted as the senior official in the town government with the Supervisor in a more junior, subordinate role; a number of Supervisors moved up to Presiding Supervisor whenever that office became vacant, including, in succession during the 1970s, Ralph G. Caso and Francis T. Purcell, both of whom later went on to become the county executive, and then Al D'Amato, before he moved up to the Senate. Having the Presiding Supervisor on the county board along with the Supervisor gave Hempstead - by far the most populous of the county's three towns and two cities - the most clout on that body. However, in 1993-94, a federal judge ruled that the board's makeup violated the one-person, one-vote constitutional principle and also gave no representation to the country's growing minority population. As a result of that ruling, the Board of Supervisors was replaced by a 19-member county legislature. Gregory P. Peterson served as the last Presiding Supervisor, as the position was abolished with the demise of the county board.

The Town Council comprises six voting members, elected from a councilmanic district. Their primary function is to adopt the annual budget, adopting and amending the town code and the building zone ordinances, adopting all traffic regulations, and hearing applications for changes of zone and special exceptions to zoning codes.

As of 2015, the council members are:

1. Dorothy L. Goosby (D-Hempstead Village)
2. Edward A. Ambrosino (R-North Valley Stream)
3. Bruce A. Blakeman (R-Atlantic Beach)*
4. Anthony J. Santino (R-East Rockaway)
5. Erin King Sweeney (R-Wantagh)*
6. Gary Hudes (R-Levittown)

• Appointed to the Town Council in January of 2015 to fill vacancies

Other elected officials in the town include the clerk and the receiver of taxes. The clerk is responsible for issuing birth, marriage, and death certificates and is considered the town's record keeper. The clerk is currently Nasrin Ahmad of Salisbury. The Receiver of Taxes is Donald X. Clavin, Jr., of Garden City, New York.

State and federal representation

Hempstead is part of New York's 2nd and 4th Congressional Districts. District 2, represented by Peter T. King (R-Seaford), is the southern and eastern portions of the town, while District 4, formerly represented for nine terms by Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) and since the beginning of 2015 by Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City), covers the northern and western portions of the town.

Hempstead is in parts of New York's 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Senatorial Districts. They are currently represented by Kemp Hannon (R), Jack Martins (R), Michael Venditto (R), and Dean Skelos (R), respectively.

Eight assembly districts are either within or partly within the town. They are Districts 12, 14–15, and 17–22. The assembly members are Joseph Saladino (R), Brian F. Curran (R), Michael Montesano (R), Thomas McKevitt (R), Earlene Hill Hooper (D), David G. McDonough (R), Todd Kaminsky (D), and Edward Ra (R), Michaelle Solages (D), respectively.

County legislators

Hempstead has 12 county legislative districts either within or in part of the town. They are districts 1–8, 13–15, and 19. The legislators who represent those districts are:
1. Kevan Abrahams
2. Robert Troiano
3. Carrie Solages
4. Denise Ford
5. Laura Curran
6. C. William Gaylor, III
7. Howard Kopel
8. Vincent Muscarella
13. Norma L. Gonsalves
14. Laura Schaefer
15. Dennis Dunne, Sr.
19. Steven D. Rhoads

Politics

See also: Law and Government of Nassau County

Though the town government is still controlled by the Republicans (and has been for almost the entire history of the party), town voters in recent years leaned Democratic in elections on the state and federal level. In the last three presidential elections, the Democrat has won decisively in Hempstead (Bill Clinton received 56% in 1996, Al Gore received 58% in 2000 and John Kerry got 53% in 2004). Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer won Hempstead by a large margin in 2004, and Democratic County Executive Thomas Suozzi won in 2001 and 2005.

Economy

According to a Newsday survey, the Town of Hempstead is Long Island's 47th largest single employer with a total of 1,974 employees.

Lufthansa and Swiss International Air Lines have their United States headquarters in East Meadow. At one time Swiss operated its United States office at 776 RexCorp Plaza in the EAB Plaza in Uniondale. The airline moved from 41 Pinelawn Road in Melville, Suffolk County around 2002.

Geography

Wantagh Parkway approach to Jones Beach. Centered is the Jones Beach Water Tower.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 191.3 square miles (495.5 km²). 120.0 square miles (310.7 km²) of it is land and 71.4 square miles (184.8 km²) of it (37.30%) is water.

The west town line is the border of Queens County, New York, in New York City. Its northern border is along the main line of the Long Island Rail Road and along Old Country Road in Garden City heading east towards the Wantagh Parkway. Its eastern border runs parallel (and several hundred feet west of) Route 107. To the south is the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Atlantic Beach, Lido, Pt. Lookout, and Jones Beach. The town is located on Long Island.

The most popular beach on the east coast of the United States, Jones Beach is located in Hempstead. The beach is a popular destination for Long Islanders and residents of New York City. The beach itself receives about six million visitors a year.

Communities

The town of Hempstead contains 22 villages and 37 hamlets:

Villages

• Atlantic Beach
• Bellerose
• Cedarhurst
• East Rockaway
• Floral Park (part; with North Hempstead)
• Freeport
• Garden City (small part in North Hempstead)
• Hempstead (village)
• Hewlett Bay Park
• Hewlett Harbor
• Hewlett Neck
• Island Park
• Lawrence
• Lynbrook
• Malverne
• Mineola (almost all in North Hempstead)
• New Hyde Park (part; with North Hempstead)
• Rockville Centre
• South Floral Park
• Stewart Manor
• Valley Stream
• Woodsburgh

Hamlets

• Baldwin
• Baldwin Harbor
• Barnum Island
• Bay Park
• Bellerose Terrace
• Bellmore
• Bethpage (part; with Oyster Bay)
• East Atlantic Beach
• East Garden City
• East Meadow
• Elmont
• Franklin Square
• Garden City South
• Harbor Isle
• Hewlett
• Inwood
• Lakeview
• Levittown
• Lido Beach
• Malverne Park Oaks
• Merrick
• North Bellmore
• North Lynbrook
• North Merrick
• North Valley Stream
• North Wantagh
• North Woodmere
• Oceanside
• Point Lookout
• Roosevelt
• Salisbury (South Westbury)
• Seaford
• South Hempstead
• South Valley Stream
• Uniondale
• Wantagh
• West Hempstead
• Woodmere

Transportation

Railroad lines

The Long Island Rail Road's Main Line runs through the northwestern part of the town with stations from Bellerose through Merillon Avenue in Garden City. The Hempstead Branch breaks away from the Main Line in Floral Park, and uses stations from Bellerose into Hempstead. The West Hempstead Branch runs from Valley Stream northeast to West Hempstead. Further south in the town, the Babylon Branch runs from the New York City Line into southern portions of the Town of Oyster Bay with stations between Valley Stream and Seaford. Also the Far Rockaway Branch branches off from Valley Stream and curves to the southwest from that station through Inwood before finally re-entering the city in the Rockaways. Just east of there, the Long Beach Branch breaks away at Lynbrook and runs southeast into Long Beach.

Bus service

The Town of Hempstead is served primarily by Nassau Inter-County Express bus routes, though some MTA Bus Routes enter Nassau County from Queens. The City of Long Beach also has a separate bus service.

Major roads

See also: List of county routes in Nassau County, New York

• 24px Meadowbrook State Parkway
• 24px Wantagh State Parkway
• Southern State Parkway
• Bay Parkway
• Loop Parkway
• Ocean Parkway
• New York State Route 25
• Glen Cove Road
• Peninsula Boulevard
• New York State Route 24
• New York State Route 27
• Merrick Boulevard
• New York State Route 102
• New York State Route 105
• New York State Route 106
• New York State Route 107
• New York State Route 135
• New York State Route 878

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1790	3,828		—
1800	4,141		8.2%
1810	5,084		22.8%
1830	6,215		—
1840	7,609		22.4%
1850	8,811		15.8%
1860	12,376		40.5%
1870	13,999		13.1%
1880	18,164		29.8%
1890	23,756		30.8%
1900	27,066		13.9%
1910	44,297		63.7%
1920	70,790		59.8%
1930	186,735		163.8%
1940	259,318		38.9%
1950	432,506		66.8%
1960	740,738		71.3%
1970	801,592		8.2%
1980	738,517		−7.9%
1990	725,639		−1.7%
2000	755,924		4.2%
2010	759,757		0.5%
Est. 2014	770,116		1.4%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census of 2010, there were 759,757 people, 246,828 households, and 193,513 families residing in the town. The population density was 6,301.3 inhabitants per square mile (2,433.0/km²). There were 252,286 housing units at an average density of 2,103.0 per square mile (812.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 59.9% White, 16.5% Black or African American, 0.3% Native American, 5.2% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 4.5% from other races, and 2.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17.4% of the population.

There were 246,828 households out of which 36.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.2% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.6% were non-families. 18.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.02 and the average family size was 3.41.

In the town the population was spread out with 25.4% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 92.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.2 males.

According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the town was $84,362, and the median income for a family was $96,080.[1] Males had a median income of $50,818 versus $36,334 for females. The per capita income for the town was $28,153. About 4.0% of families and 5.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.6% of those under age 18 and 5.7% of those age 65 or over.

State parks

• Hempstead Lake State Park
• Valley Stream State Park
• Jones Beach State Park

External links

• Town of Hempstead, Long Island, NY
• Town of Hempstead information
• Town of Hempstead history