Islip, New York

Islip is a town in Suffolk County, New York, United States, located on the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 339,938 people, making it the fourth most populous city or town in the New York metropolitan area.

The Town of Islip includes a smaller area called the hamlet and census-designated place of Islip, which is where the town's main offices are located. This area helps serve as the center for the whole town.

History

Matthias Nicoll moved to New York from Islip, Northamptonshire, England, in 1664. His son, William Nicoll, received land that stretched from East Islip to Bayport and included many nearby areas. The Town of Islip was officially created in 1683.

Over time, Islip grew slowly until after the Revolutionary War, when progress sped up because of shipping. By the mid-1800s, ferries and the Long Island Rail Road began serving the area, bringing more visitors. Tourism helped the town grow, with many visitors building summer homes.

In the early 1900s, new forms of transportation and housing developments changed the town. After World War II, many people moved to Islip, turning it from a quiet farming area into a busy suburb. The population grew quickly from 71,000 in 1950 to 280,000 in 1970.

In 1987, the town dealt with an incident involving a garbage barge and responded by starting programs to help keep the environment clean, including one of the first recycling programs in the United States.

Geography

Islip is located on the South Shore of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the south, Babylon to the west, Smithtown to the north, and Brookhaven to the east. The town also touches Huntington to the northwest.

The town covers an area of 162.8 square miles (422 km²), with 103.2 square miles (267 km²) of land and 59.6 square miles (154 km²) of water. It includes parts of Fire Island, Jones Beach Island, and Captree Island, which are separated from Long Island by the Great South Bay.

Demographics

In the year 2000, the town of Islip had 322,612 people living there. There were 98,936 homes, and 78,555 families. Many people lived close together, with 3,064.5 people for every square mile. Most of the people were White, but there were also many Black or African American, Asian, and people from other races.

In these homes, 39.4% had children under 18. Most homes, 62.4%, were married couples living together. Some homes had only a mother and children, and others were made up of single people.

About a quarter of the people were children under 18, and about 10% were older people aged 65 or more. The average family had about 3.5 people.

By 2006, the average amount of money a family made was $86,190 each year. Not everyone had enough money, with about 6.2% of people living below the poverty line.

Government

Islip is led by a Town Supervisor, who acts like a Mayor, along with four elected council members. A Town Clerk and Receiver of Taxes are also elected. All of these leaders serve four-year terms, with elections happening in odd-numbered years.

The town board makes important decisions for the town, such as creating budgets and making new laws. Over time, control of the town has changed between political groups. In recent years, more people from different backgrounds have been encouraged to join local government to make sure everyone is fairly represented.

Economy

Some important companies have their main offices in Ronkonkoma, such as NBTY and Sigma Corporation. The town also has a special area for international trade called the Town of Islip Foreign Trade Zone, which is close to Long Island MacArthur Airport.

Communities and locations

Note: ✝ Denotes area is on Fire Island

Villages (incorporated)

• Brightwaters
• Islandia
• Ocean Beach ✝
• Saltaire ✝

Hamlets (unincorporated)

• Bay Shore
• Bayport
• Baywood
• Bohemia
• Brentwood
• Captree (partially; with the Town of Babylon)
• Central Islip
• East Islip
• Great River
• Hauppauge (partially; with the Town of Smithtown)
• Holbrook (partially; with the Town of Brookhaven)
• Holtsville (partially; with the Town of Brookhaven)
• Islip
• Islip Terrace
• Kismet ✝
• Lake Ronkonkoma (partially; with the Towns of Brookhaven and Smithtown)
• Lonelyville ✝
• North Bay Shore
• North Great River
• Oakdale
• Ronkonkoma (partially; with the Town of Brookhaven)
• Sayville
• West Bay Shore
• West Islip
• West Sayville

Other communities

• Atlantique ✝
• Captree
• Corneille Estates ✝
• Dunewood ✝
• East Fire Island (Middle Island)
• Edgewood (Brentwood ZIP code)
• Fair Harbor ✝
• Lakeland (Ronkonkoma ZIP code)
• Robbins Rest ✝
• Seaview ✝
• Sexton Island
• West Fire Island (Thompson's Island)

State parks

• Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park
• Brentwood State Park
• Connetquot River State Park Preserve
• Heckscher State Park
• Robert Moses State Park

Transportation

Airports

Long Island MacArthur Airport and the New York Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC), located in the Town of Islip, are both in the hamlet of Ronkonkoma. MacArthur Airport is owned by the Town of Islip and maintained through the Town of Islip Department of Aviation.

A smaller rural airport known as Bayport Aerodrome also exists within the town used for antique aircraft. It is also owned by the Town of Islip.

Railroad lines

The Long Island Rail Road's Montauk Branch is one of two lines running through the town spanning between the Village of Babylon and the Hamlet of Blue Point in the Town of Brookhaven, with stations from Bay Shore through Sayville. The other line is the Main Line which runs through the northern part of the town with stations in Brentwood, Central Islip and Ronkonkoma, which not only serves as a major transportation hub, but is also located on the Islip-Brookhaven Town Line.

Bus service

The Town of Islip is served entirely by Suffolk County Transit bus routes.

Major roads

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

• I-495 is the Long Island Expressway, and the sole interstate highway in the Town of Islip. It runs along the northern portion of the town between Exit 53 in Brentwood and east of Exit 59 in Ronkonkoma.
• Southern State Parkway, enters the Town of Islip from the Town of Babylon, and has interchanges at Robert Moses Causeway (Exit 40), Suffolk CR 57 (Exit 41 W-E), and Sagtikos State Parkway (Exit 41A). Trucks are forbidden from using the parkway, as with most parkways on Long Island.
• Heckscher State Parkway, is a continuation of Southern State Parkway leading west to east then curving south to Heckscher State Park in Great River.
• Sagtikos State Parkway, is the main south-to-north parkway leading from Southern State and Heckscher Parkways in West Islip through the Long Island Expressway where it crosses the Islip-Smithtown Town Line.
• Robert Moses Causeway is a south-to-north parkway leading from Robert Moses State Park to Southern State Parkway.
• Ocean Parkway runs across Jones Beach Island and terminates at Captree State Park.
• NY 27 is Sunrise Highway, the other limited-access highway in the town that does not forbid trucks.
• NY 27A is Montauk Highway west of Connetquot River State Park.
• CR 67, the remaining drivable portion of the Long Island Motor Parkway
• CR 85 is Montauk Highway east of Connetquot River State Park.
• CR 93 is a four-lane south-north highway running from the northwestern edge of Sayville to the south and west side of Lake Ronkonkoma.
• CR 97 (Nicoll's Road) is a partially limited-access highway in southeastern Islip.
• NY 111 is the south-to-north state route that runs from the Hamlet of Islip through Hauppauge into the Town of Smithtown.
• NY 231 runs along the Babylon-Islip town line as the unfinished Babylon-Northport Expressway before curving to the northwest and entering the Town of Babylon entirely.
• NY 454 is a west-east divided highway known as the Veterans' Memorial Highway, which runs northwest to southeast from Commack to NY 27 west of Suffolk CR 97 in Holbrook. Within the town it runs from NY 347 at the Islip-Smithtown Town Line and serves as the address for Long Island MacArthur Airport.

Ferries

Passenger ferries depart to Fire Island from Bay Shore and Sayville, which lead to communities both in the Towns of Islip and Brookhaven. Bay Shore has terminals for Fire Island ferries, serving Atlantique, Dunewood, Fair Harbor, Kismet, Ocean Bay Park, Ocean Beach, Saltaire, and Seaview, and smaller hamlets. They are located at the southernmost end of Maple Avenue. Some daily ferries to Atlantique also make a stop at the Bay Shore Marina, which is across the canal from the Maple Avenue ferries.

Sayville's ferry terminals lead to the communities of Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines, both popular vacation communities for LGBT New Yorkers, as well as to Sailors Haven, which is located within the Sunken Forest Visitor Center.