area land = 743 km² (287 mi²) | area water = 431 km² (166 mi²) | area percentage = 36.72% | census yr = 2000| pop = 1,334,544 | density = 1798.5| web = www.nassaucountyny.gov|}}
Nassau and Suffolk counties are generally referred to as "Long Island" (as distinct from New York City) by area residents, although the New York City boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn (Kings County) make up the island's westernmost counties. As of 2004, Nassau County is the richest county per capita in the State of New York and the sixth richest in the nation, with a median household income of $78,762. [1]
Nassau County was originally part of Queens County, when New York was divided into 12 counties in 1683. The area was originally contained in two towns: Hempstead and Oyster Bay. In the American Revolutionary War, the town of Hempstead was split into two, when pro-revolutionists in the northern part formed the new Town of North Hempstead, leaving royalist majorities in the Town of Hempstead. Following the 1898 formation of Greater New York, the part of Queens County that was not annexed to New York City, consisting of the two towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay and most of the town of Hempstead (excluded was the Rockaway Peninsula, which did join Greater New York), was constituted as the new Nassau County, but not until a year later in 1899. Several other names had been considered: Matinecock (note that a village in the county currently has that name), Norfolk, (presumably because of the proximity to Suffolk County), Bryant, and Sagamore, but Nassau had the historical advantage of having at one time been the name of Long Island itself.
In 1910 (some sources state 1918), The Village of Glen Cove became a city and seceded from the Town of Oyster Bay.
In 1918, the Village of Long Beach was incorporated in the Town of Hempstead. In 1922, it became a city and seceded from the Town.
During the latter part of the 20th Century, Nassau County saw an influx of migrants from the five boroughs of New York City, especially Brooklyn and Queens, who left their urban dwellings for a more suburban setting. This led to a massive boom in population in the county, especially on the south shore. In 1947, William Levitt built his first planned community in Nassau County, in the Island Trees section (later renamed Levittown). In later decades, communities such as Wantagh, East Meadow, Massapequa, Massapequa Park, and Franklin Square began to grow. By the 1980s, Nassau County became the epitome of suburban life.
In the 1990s, Nassau County saw huge budget problems, forcing the county to near bankruptcy. The county government increased taxes to prevent a takeover by the state of New York. This has led to the county having notoriously high property taxes, leaving some migrants from New York City who are seeking suburban life to move to Suffolk County, Hudson Valley, New Jersey or Pennsylvania.
In recent years Nassau County has recovered from its economic malaise of the 1990s. Since 2000, housing prices on Long Island have been the highest in the country. The economy has been booming and according to the United States Census Bureau, residents of Nassau County have among the highest per capita wealth in the country. Nassau County has also experienced heavy urbanization in many areas, such as Hempstead, Freeport, Mineola, and Westbury, leading some to say that some parts of the county resemble the outer boroughs of New York City rather than a suburb of it, though the Five Towns region tends to be more affluent than western Queens. The northern "Gold Coast" region tends to more closely resemble nearby Westchester County.
The head of the executive is the County Executive, a post created in Nassau County in 1938. The current county executive is Thomas Suozzi, a Democrat who elected in 2001; he is the first Democratic county executive since Eugene Nickerson left office in 1970. The District Attorney is Democrat Kathleen Rice, who in November, 2005 defeated 30 year incumbent RepublicanDennis Dillon in an upset victory. The county comptroller is Howard Weitzman, a Democrat, the county clerk is Republican Maureen O'Connell, and the county assessor is Harvey Levinson, another Democrat.
The county legislature has 19 members, 9 Democrats, 9 Republicans, and 1 Independent, the Independent changed her affiliation during a Legislative squabble in order to keep her leadership position in the County Legislature. However, she still cacuses and mainly votes with the Democrats in the Legislature.:
In 1925, concerned about rising crime rates, the County Board of Supervisors voted to create the Nassau County Police Department, replacing a scattered system of constables and town and village police departments. (Some jurisdictions declined to join the police district, however, and maintain their own independent police forces to this day.) Consisting initially of Chief of Police (later commissioner) Abram Skidmore, 55 officers and a fingerprint expert, the force grew to 450 officers by 1932 and reached 650 officers by the time Skidmore retired in 1945.
The expansion accelerated dramatically following World War II with the rapid suburbanization of the county. It reached 1,000 officers in six precincts by 1950. Responsibility for providing emergency medical response and ambulance transport was added in 1953. A seventh precinct was opened in 1955 and an eighth followed five years later.
The department has always been quick to embrace new technologies. Marine Bureau began in 1933 with the gift of an 18-foot Chris Craft mahogony speedboat from the residents of Manhasset Bay. The Aviation Bureau followed a year later with the gift of a Stinson airplane from wealthy county residents. The aircraft was grounded by World War II, but the air unit was revived in 1968 with the purchase of four helicopters to assist in pursuits and medical evacuations. The Highway Patrol unit was founded in 1935.
In addition to these units, the department also maintains many features, such as a Detective Bureau, a crime lab, a police academy, and a Bureau of Special Operations, that are usually found only in the police departments of large cities.
The Nassau County Police have investigated a number of nationally well-known crimes and incidents, including the Weinberger kidnappingof 1956, the crash of an Avianca Airlines jet in Cove Neck in 1990, and the shootings committed aboard a Long Island Rail Road commuter train by Colin Ferguson in 1993. Nassau officers also participated in the recovery effort at the World Trade Center site in September 2001 and found some of the last people to be pulled alive from the rubble.
In the early 1970's, with crime and civil disorder in neighboring New York and other cities a major concern, the force was boosted to its greatest strength, nearly 4,000 officers. Since then, it has declined to around 2,500, making it still the largest county police agency in the United States. In addition to police officers, the department also employs hundreds of Ambulance Medical Technicians (AMTs) and school crossing guards.
After a number of new-born children were found abandoned by AMT Timothy Jaccard, he and several colleagues founded the AMT Children of Hope Foundation, to give proper funerals and dignified burials to these children.
Nassau officers have become known in recent years for their exceptionally high rate of pay, especially as compared with the New York City Police Department. As a result, many NYPD officers have joined the Nassau force. Commissioner James H. Lawrence, appointed by County Executive Suozzi, is both the first Nassau Police Commissioner to be drawn from the ranks of the NYPD and the second African-American to hold the post.
Like its neighbor Suffolk County, the county was for many years politcally controlled by the Republican Party. In the 1990s, it began to swing Democratic. Democrat Bill Clinton won the county in presidential elections of 1992 and 1996. Later Nassau voters gave a large margin of victory to Al Gore in 2000 (57.9% to 38.5%) but John Kerry won in 2004 by a slimmer margin (52.2% to 46.6%) : in that election, Kerry won the towns of Hempstead and North Hempstead , but lost the town of Oyster Bay.
Democratic strength is mainly concentrated in the central part of the county, near the Village of Hempstead and Uniondale, where there is a large African American and Hispanic population. Also, the wealthy northern half of the county, with the exception of parts of Manhasset, is heavily Democratic. This includes Great Neck, Glen Cove and Roslyn. There are also pockets of staunch Democrats in the Five Towns area in the southwest part of the county and in Long Beach.
Republicans are mainly concentrated in the more suburban areas of the county. The middle class southeastern portion of the county is heavily Republican and communities such as Massapequa, Seaford, Wantagh, Levittown, and Bethpage are the political base of Congressman Peter T. King. In the western portion of the county, wealthy Garden City is solidly Republican, as is the more middle-class community of Franklin Square.
All of Nassau County's (As well as Suffolk County's) state senators are Republicans, which is largely the reason the state senate is still in GOP hands.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,173 km² (453 mi²). 743 km² (287 mi²) of it is land and 431 km² (166 mi²) of it (36.72%) is water.
As of the census² of 2000, there were 1,334,544 people, 447,387 households, and 347,172 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,797/km² (4,655/mi²). There were 458,151 housing units at an average density of 617/km² (1,598/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 79.30% White, 10.09% African American, 0.16% Native American, 4.73% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 3.57% from other races, and 2.12% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.99% of the population.
According to the Census Bureau, the population of the county has slightly increased to 1,339,641 people in 2004.
Some main European ancestries in Nassau County as of 2000: 27.52% Italian, 17.43% Irish, 13.20% German and 3.07% English. According to the above statistics, Nassau County is now one of the most Italian-American counties in the USA. Many middle-class Italian families have moved from "Little Italy" neighborhoods in New York City to suburban areas.
There were 447,387 households out of which 35.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.10% were married couples living together, 10.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.40% were non-families. 18.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.93 and the average family size was 3.34.
In the county the population was spread out with 24.70% under the age of 18, 7.30% from 18 to 24, 28.90% from 25 to 44, 24.00% from 45 to 64, and 15.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 92.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.00 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $72,030, and the median income for a family was $81,246. Males had a median income of $52,340 versus $37,446 for females. The per capita income for the county was $32,151. About 3.50% of families and 5.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.80% of those under age 18 and 5.60% of those age 65 or over.
