Nassau County, New York


 * There is also a in .

Nassau County is a suburban in the  east of  in the  of. As of the, the population was 1,334,544. The name of the county comes from an old name for Long Island, which was at one time named Nassau, after (who later became King William III of England.)  The county colors, orange and blue, are also the colors of the. Nassau County's is.

Nassau and together are generally referred to as "" by area residents &mdash; as distinct from the   of  (Queens County) and  (Kings County), which physically make up the island's westernmost end.

In 2005, Forbes magazine named Nassau County, along with, as the safest region in the , with the lowest crime rate.

As of 2004, Nassau County is the second richest county in the State of New York and the, with a median household income of $78,762. As of 2005, Nassau had the second highest median property tax in the nation at $7,025.

History
Nassau County was originally the eastern 70% of, when New York was divided into 12 counties in 1683. The area was originally contained in two towns: and. During the, the town of Hempstead was split into two, when s in the northern part formed the new , leaving majorities in the Town of Hempstead. Following the 1898 formation of the, 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 , which did join Greater New York), was constituted as the new Nassau County, but not until 1899, one year later. 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 became a city and seceded from the Town of Oyster Bay.

In 1918, the was incorporated in the Town of Hempstead. In 1922, it became a city and seceded from the Town.

The was temporarily located in Nassau County from 1946 to 1951 -- at the  Gyroscope headquarters in the village of  near the border with Queens County. It was here on, that the Security Council voted to back U.S. President  and send a coalition of forces to the , thus kicking off the.

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, built his first  in Nassau County, in the Island Trees section (later renamed ). (This should not be confused with the county's first planned community, in general, which is ). In later decades, communities such as, , , , and began to grow. In 1995 Federal Judge Arthur Spatt declared the Nassau County Board of Supervisors unconstitutional and directed that a 19 member legislature be formed. Elections were held and Republicans won 13 seats and elected Bruce Blakeman as its first Presiding Officer(Speaker).

In the 1990s, Nassau County saw huge budget problems, forcing the county to near. The county government increased taxes to prevent a takeover by the state of New York. This has led to the county having notoriously high es, leaving some migrants from New York City who are seeking suburban life to move to, the , , or.

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, 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, , , and , 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 region tends to be more affluent than western Queens. The northern "Gold Coast" region tends to more closely resemble nearby.

Law and Government
The head of the executive is the County Executive, a post created in Nassau County in 1938. The current county executive is, a who was elected in 2001; he is the first Democratic county executive since  left office in 1970. The District Attorney is Democrat, who in November, 2005 defeated 30-year incumbent  in an upset victory. The county comptroller is, a Democrat, the county clerk is Republican , and the county assessor is , another Democrat.

The county has 19 members. There are ten, nine.

Law enforcement
services are provided by the. The cities of and, as well as a number of villages, such as , , , , , , and , are not members of the county police district and maintain their own police forces. The same goes for the villages and unincorporated areas of, which belong to the Port Washington Police District, the only such district in New York State. These smaller forces, however, make use of such specialized county police services as the police academy and the aviation unit. Also, all homicides in the county are investigated by the county police, regardless of whether or not they occur within the police district.

In 2006, Village leaders in the county seat of 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 on, , however, decisively defeated the proposal.

Since the was disbanded in 1980, all of Nassau County's state parkways have been patrolled by Troop L of the. State parks in Nassau are patrolled by the. In 1996, the Police Department was consolidated into the.

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.

Politics
Like its neighbor, the county was for many years controlled by the Republican Party. In the 1990s, it began to swing Democratic. Democrat won the county in presidential elections of  and. Later Nassau voters gave a large margin of victory to in  (57.9% to 38.5%) but  won in  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, where there is a large African American and Hispanic population. Also, the wealthy northern half of the county, with the exception of parts of, is heavily Democratic. This includes, and. There are also pockets of staunch Democrats in the area in the southwest part of the county and in.

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, , , , and  are the political base of Congressman. In the western portion of the county, wealthy is solidly Republican, as is the more middle-class community of.

The politically volatile areas of the county are in, , , and.

Long Island's only Republican member of Congress, Representative is from Nassau County. His includes heavily populated suburban neighborhoods like, , , , , , and. But Nassau County is also home to the popular gun-control advocate, Democrat, whose includes , , , ,  and. McCarthy defeated Republican congressman in 1996 and has held on to her seat since. Nassau County's other two congressmen are both Democrats. Representative, represents the , which includes the northwestern part of the county, including , , and , and stretches into northeastern. 's is mainly in, but also includes parts of , , , , and  in Nassau County.

All of Nassau County's were Republicans until February 2007 when Nassau County Legislator  was elected to the State Senate in a  in the 7th district. The GOP, however still has a State Senate advantage of 8-1 on the Democratic trending Long Island, which is largely the reason the state senate is still in GOP hands. The districts are drawn so as not to overlap Queens, which has a stronger lean toward the Democrats.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,173 (453 ). 743 km² (287 sq mi) of it is land and 431 km² (166 sq mi) of it (36.72%) is water.

Nassau County occupies a portion of Long Island immediately east of New York City, in the southeastern portion of New York State. It is divided into


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 * (This village is shared with the Town of Oyster Bay.)
 * (This village is shared with the Town of Hempstead.)
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 * The 18 in the Town of Oyster Bay are:
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 * (This village is shared with the Town of Oyster Bay.)
 * (This village is shared with the Town of Hempstead.)
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 * (This village is shared with the Town of Oyster Bay.)
 * (This village is shared with the Town of Hempstead.)
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 * The contains 18  and 18 :
 * The 18 in the Town of Oyster Bay are:
 * (This village is shared with the Town of .)
 * (This village is shared with the Town of North Hempstead.)
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 * There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of . Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of  that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.
 * (This village is shared with the Town of Hempstead.)
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 * (This village is shared with the Town of Oyster Bay.)
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 * The contains 18  and 18 :
 * The 18 in the Town of Oyster Bay are:
 * (This village is shared with the Town of .)
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 * The 18 in the Town of Oyster Bay are:
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 * There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of . Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of  that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.
 * (This village is shared with the Town of Hempstead.)
 * (This village is shared with the Town of Oyster Bay.)
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 * The contains 18  and 18 :
 * The 18 in the Town of Oyster Bay are:
 * (This village is shared with the Town of .)
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 * The 18 in the Town of Oyster Bay are:
 * (part)
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 * There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of . Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of  that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.
 * The contains 18  and 18 :
 * The 18 in the Town of Oyster Bay are:
 * (This village is shared with the Town of .)
 * (This village is shared with the Town of North Hempstead.)
 * (This village is shared with the Town of North Hempstead.)
 * The 18 in the Town of Oyster Bay are:
 * (part)
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 * There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of . Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of  that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.
 * The 18 in the Town of Oyster Bay are:
 * (This village is shared with the Town of .)
 * (This village is shared with the Town of North Hempstead.)
 * (This village is shared with the Town of North Hempstead.)
 * The 18 in the Town of Oyster Bay are:
 * (part)
 * (part)
 * There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of . Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of  that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.
 * (This village is shared with the Town of North Hempstead.)
 * (This village is shared with the Town of North Hempstead.)
 * The 18 in the Town of Oyster Bay are:
 * (part)
 * (part)
 * There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of . Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of  that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.
 * (This village is shared with the Town of North Hempstead.)
 * (This village is shared with the Town of North Hempstead.)
 * The 18 in the Town of Oyster Bay are:
 * (part)
 * (part)
 * There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of . Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of  that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.
 * The 18 in the Town of Oyster Bay are:
 * (part)
 * (part)
 * There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of . Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of  that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.
 * (part)
 * (part)
 * There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of . Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of  that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.
 * There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of . Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of  that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.
 * There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of . Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of  that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.
 * There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of . Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of  that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.
 * There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of . Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of  that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.
 * There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of . Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of  that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.
 * There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of . Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of  that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.
 * There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of . Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of  that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.
 * There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of . Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of  that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.
 * There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of . Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of  that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.
 * There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of . Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of  that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.
 * There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of . Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of  that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.
 * There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of . Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of  that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.
 * There is a small section located within Massapequa that the post office has designated with the zip code of . Additionally, there is a small section outside of the village of  that has been designated with a Sea Cliff zip code. There is also a section of Bethpage that has been designated with the zip code of Old Bethpage. There are, likely, numerous other similar situations.

Adjacent Counties

 * - east
 * - west

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 1,334,544 people, 447,387 households, and 347,172 families residing in the county. The was 1,797/km² (4,655/sq mi). There were 458,151 housing units at an average density of 617/km² (1,598/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 79.30%, 10.01% , 0.16% , 4.73% , 0.03% , 3.57% from , and 2.12% from two or more races. or of any race were 10.09% of the population.

By 2005 Non-Hispanic Whites were 70.1% of Nassau County's population. African Americans were 11.3% of the population. Only 1% of the population reported more than one race though. Asians were up to 6.6% of the population, which means that even if all the people who had reported more than one race who switched to one race had switched to reporting themselves as Asian, there was a growth in the Asian population. The Latino population had grown slightly faster than the African-American population and now was 11.7% of the population.

make up a large portion of Nassau, and there are numerous Italian communities throughout the county. There is a large population in Nassau County which is evident by alot of  Sikh s or temples, two main ones are the; one in  and the other in. Other significant European descent groups include: 17.43%, 13.20% and 3.07%.

According to the Census Bureau, the population of the county has slightly decreased to 1,333,137 people in 2005, althrough it had increased to 1,339,641 in 2004.

There were 447,387 households out of which 35.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.10% were 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 for the county was $32,151. About 3.50% of families and 5.20% of the population were below the, including 5.80% of those under age 18 and 5.60% of those age 65 or over.

Colleges and universities
Nassau County is home to numerous colleges and universities, including,  , , , , , ,  , and the.

Adjacent counties

 * with land boundaries
 * with water boundaries
 * with water boundaries
 * with water boundaries

County Symbols
Bird =

Nassau county official flower is "Birdsfoot Violet"