Long Island

Lore & Background

Long Island is divided among four counties with Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, and Nassau counties occupying its western third and Suffolk County its eastern two-thirds. Geographically, both Kings and Queens county are located on the Island, but some argue they represent a culturally distinct area which should be considered as separate from the rest of Long Island. Long Island may refer both to the main island and the surrounding outer barrier islands. Long Island is separated from Manhattan Island and the Bronx by the East River tidal estuary in the west part of the island. North of the island is Long Island Sound, across which lie Westchester County, New York, and the state of Connecticut. Across the Block Island Sound to the northeast is the state of Rhode Island. Block Island, which is part of Rhode Island, and numerous smaller islands extend farther into the Atlantic Ocean. To the extreme southwest, Long Island, at Brooklyn, is separated from Staten Island and the state of New Jersey by Upper New York Bay, The Narrows, and Lower New York Bay.

In Their Own Story

The parking lot of the Coliseum on a Tuesday night in February, 1981. The sky is the flat grey of a Long Island winter, and the air smells of exhaust and the faint salt tang of the Atlantic a few miles south. A woman in a blue parka pulls her kids out of the sedan, their breath pluming, their small hands gripping her fingers. They walk the long concrete path toward the arena, past the ticket booth where a line stretches in the cold, past the concession stands where the smell of hot dogs and popcorn is already thick and sweet. Inside, the noise hits before the sight does—a low, continuous roar that builds as the players skate out, the pucks clacking on the ice, the skates carving white lines in the snow of the rink. The woman presses her forehead against the glass at the boards, her breath fogging it, and watches the puck fly. Her kids are screaming. The Coliseum is shaking, just slightly, just enough to feel in the soles of her boots. This is home. This is the only home that has ever mattered.

Reader's Guide

With a population of 8,063,232 residents as of the 2020 U.S. census, and origins deriving from around the globe, Long Island constitutes 40% of New York State's population. Long Island is the most populous island in any U.S. state or territory, the third-most populous island in the Americas after Hispaniola and Cuba, and the 18th-most populous island in the world ahead of Ireland, Jamaica, and Hokkaidō. Its population density is . Long Island is culturally and ethnically diverse, featuring some of the wealthiest and most expensive neighborhoods in the world near the shorelines, as well as a variety of working-class areas in all four counties. As of 2024, Kings, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties collectively had a gross domestic product of approximately US$600 billion. Median household income on the island significantly exceeds $100,000, and the median home price is approximately $800,000, with Brooklyn and Nassau County approximating $900,000. Among residents over the age of 25, 42.6% hold a college degree or higher educational degree. Unemployment on Long Island stays consistently below 4%. Biotechnology companies, engineering, and scientific research play a significant role in Long Island's economy, including research facilities at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Stony Brook University, New York Institute of Technology, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, the New York University Tandon School of Engineering, the Zucker School of Medicine, and the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. As a hub of commercial aviation, Long Island is home to two of the nation's and New York metropolitan area's busiest airports, JFK International Airport and LaGuardia Airport. Also located on Long Island are Long Island MacArthur Airport and two major air traffic control radar facilities, New York TRACON and New York ARTCC. Long Island has nine major bridges and thirteen traffic tunnels, which connect Brooklyn and Queens to the three other boroughs of New York City. Ferries connect Suffolk County northward across Long Island Sound to Connecticut. Long Island Rail Road is the busiest commuter railroad in North America and operates continuously.

Did You Know?

• Long Island is the most populous island in any U.S. state or territory.
• The island is divided among four counties: Kings, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk.
• Long Island is home to JFK International Airport and LaGuardia Airport.
• The Long Island Rail Road is the busiest commuter railroad in North America.