Brookhaven, New York: Map

Categories: Populated places in Suffolk County, New York > Towns on Long Island > Towns in New York > Brookhaven, New York

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The Town of Brookhaven is a town located in central Suffolk County

, New York

, USA

, and stretches from the North Shore to the South Shore of Long Island

. Brookhaven is part of the New York metropolitan area

. The population of the town was 448,248 at the 2000 census. It is largest town (by area, if including water area) in the state of New York, and the second most populous, exceeded only by the Town of Hempstead

in Nassau County

Geography

Brookhaven NY

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 531.5 square miles (1,376.6 km²), of which 259.3 square miles (671.6 km²) is land and 272.2 square miles (705.1 km² or 51.22%) is water. It is the largest town in New York in terms of total area. Excluding water, however, there are four towns in the state with more land area: Webb

in Herkimer County

, Long Lake

in Hamilton County

, Arietta

in Hamilton County, and Ohio

in Herkimer County.

It has coastline on both the Atlantic Ocean

and Long Island Sound

. Riverhead

and Southampton

lie to the east, and Smithtown

and Islip

lie to the west.

A large part of Fire Island

and the Great South Bay

are in the town.

It has a large hill, known as "Bald Hill

", in the hamlet of Farmingville, which marks where the glacier which formed Long Island stopped. At the top of Bald Hill is a Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Brookhaven National Laboratory

is located within the town.

History

The first known inhabitants were Algonquian-speaking Native Americans, of the Setauket

and Unkechaug tribes. The first English settlers arrived in 1655 and purchased land from the inhabitants. Early English settlers farmed, fished, and hunted whales.

The first English settlement was named Setauket

after the native American tribe. In 1666, Governor Richard Nicolls granted a Patent for the town which confirmed title to the lands purchased, and permitted additional purchases. Governor Thomas Dongan issued a Patent in 1686 which granted powers to the town and established a representative form of government.

The letter "D" on the official seal, associated with the original Dongan patent officially establishing Brookhaven, is a cattle branding letter assigned to Brookhaven in the mid-1600s, along with whaling harpoons.

Demographics

The Great South Bay at sunset

As of the census of 2000, there were 448,248 people, 146,828 households, and 112,910 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,728.8 people per square mile (667.5/km²). There were 155,406 housing units at an average density of 599.4/sq mi (231.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 88.43% White, 4.33% Black or African American, 0.23% Native American, 2.90% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 2.21% from other races, and 1.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.04% of the population.

There were 146,828 households out of which 38.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.3% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.1% were non-families. 17.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.97 and the average family size was 3.37.

In the town the population was spread out with 26.7% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 96.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males.

According to a 2006 estimate, the median income for a household in the town was $73,566, and the median income for a family was $84,705.[35373] Males had a median income of $48,601 versus $32,157 for females. The per capita income for the town was $24,191. About 3.9% of families and 5.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.5% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.

Historical Population
(see also sidebox for U.S. census data)

1865 10,159

1845 7,461

1825 5,393

Government and Politics

Brookhaven government is led by a town Supervisor and a six-member Town Council, which are all two-year term elected positions. Council members are elected by district.

Prior to 2002, the Brookhaven Town Republican Party controlled the majority of the town board for several decades, except for a two year period in the mid-1970s when Democrats held a majority under Supervisor John Randolph. This one-party domination, and a series of scandals, led to a tarnished reputation of local politics accorded the nickname "Crookhaven".

In 2002, a voter proposition was passed to create council districts, replacing the prior system of electing the six town council members at-large. Steve Fiore-Rosenfield became the first Democrat to be elected since the 1970s in 2003. In 2005, Brian X. Foley, a Democratic county legislator won the Town Supervisor race against Republican Councilman Edward Hennessy. In addition to Brian Foley, Constance Kepert and Carol Bissonette were also elected to the town board. As a result, the Democrats gained control of the Brookhaven town board.

Following the election of 2007, the Republican Party regained a majority on the Brookhaven Town Board, and elected Councilman Tim Mazzei as majority leader.

In 2008, Brian Foley was elected to the State Senate; he was replaced as Supervisor by Mark Lesko, a Democrat, in a special election in early 2009. However, the Republicans retained their majority on the Town Council.