Long Beach, New York
Encyclopedia
Long Beach is a city in Nassau County
, New York
. Just south of Long Island
, it is located on Long Beach Barrier Island
, which is the westernmost of the outer barrier islands
off Long Island's South Shore
. As of the United States 2010 Census, the city population was 33,275. It was incorporated in 1922, and is nickname
d The City By the Sea (as seen in Latin on its official seal).
The City of Long Beach is surrounded by Reynolds Channel to the north, east and west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south..
Charles T. Theofan is the current city manager
, a position which is appointed by the City Council
.
-speaking Rockaway Indians, who sold the area to English colonists in 1643. While the barrier island was used by baymen
and farmers for fishing and harvesting salt hay, no one lived there year-round for more than two centuries. In 1849 Congress established a lifesaving station. A dozen years before, 62 people died when the barque
Mexico, carrying Irish immigrants to New York, ran ashore on New Year's Day.
Austin Corbin, a builder from Brooklyn
, was the first to attempt to develop the island as a resort
. He formed a partnership with the Long Island Rail Road
(LIRR) to finance the New York and Long Beach Railroad Co., which laid track from Lynbrook
to Long Beach in 1880. That same year, Corbin opened Long Beach Hotel, a row of 27 cottages along a 1100 feet (335.3 m) strip of beach, which he claimed as the world's largest hotel. In its first season, the railroad brought 300,000 visitors to Long Island. By the next spring, tracks had been laid the length of the island, but they were removed in 1894 after repeated washouts from winter storms.
On July 29, 1907, a fire broke out at the Long Beach Hotel and burned it to the ground. Of the 800 guests, eight were injured by jumping from windows, and one woman died. The fire was blamed on defective electric wiring. A church, several cottages and the bathing pavilion were also destroyed. Trunks belonging to the guests, which had been piled on the sand to form "dressing rooms", were looted by thieves. A dozen waiters and others were apprehended by the police, who recovered $20,000 worth of jewelry and other stolen property.
In 1906, William Reynolds
, a 39-year-old former state senator and real estate developer, entered the picture. Reynolds had already developed four Brooklyn neighborhoods (Bedford-Stuyvesant, Borough Park, Bensonhurst and South Brownsville) and Coney Island
's Dreamland
, the world's largest amusement park. Reynolds also owned a theater and produced plays. He gathered investors and acquired the oceanfront from private owners and the rest of the island from the Town of Hempstead
in 1907; he planned to build a boardwalk
, homes and hotels.
Reynolds had a herd of elephant
s marched in from Dreamland, ostensibly to help build the boardwalk; he had created an effective publicity stunt
. Dredges created a channel 1000 feet (304.8 m) wide on the north side of the island to provide access by large steamboats and sea planes to transport more visitors. The new waterway was named Reynolds Channel
.
To ensure that Long Beach lived up to his billing it "The Riviera
of the East", he required each building to be constructed in an "eclectic Mediterranean style," with white stucco
walls and red-clay tile roofs. He built a theater called Castles by the Sea, with the largest dance floor in the world, for dancers Vernon and Irene Castle
. He restricted owners and renters to white Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs). After Reynolds' corporation went bankrupt in 1918, the restrictions were lifted. The new town attracted wealthy businessmen and entertainers from New York and Hollywood.
In the 1940s, Jose Ferrer
, Zero Mostel
, Mae West
, and other famous actors performed at local theaters. Jack Dempsey
, Cab Calloway
, Humphrey Bogart
, Lillian Roth, Rudolph Valentino
, Florenz Ziegfeld
, James Cagney
, Clara Bow
, and John Barrymore
lived in Long Beach for decades. The city's most famous modern-day native is the actor Billy Crystal
. (His brother Joel Crystal has served as president of the Long Beach City Council). More recently, rock-and-roll singer Joan Jett
, New York Yankees
shortstop
Derek Jeter
, Washington Nationals pitcher John Lannan
, and "Long Island Lolita" Amy Fisher
have lived in the city.
agents known simply as Izzy and Moe
raided the Nassau Hotel and arrested three men for bootlegging. In 1930, five Long Beach Police
officers were charged with offering a bribe to a United States Coast Guard
officer to allow liquor to be landed. The police had another problem a year later: a mystery that captivated the nation in the summer of 1931. A beachcomber
found the body of a young woman named Starr Faithfull. She had left behind a suicide note, but others believed she had been murdered.
By the early twenties, corruption became rampant in Long Beach. In 1922, the state Legislature designated Long Beach a city and William H. Reynolds was elected the first mayor. Shortly thereafter Reynolds was indicted on charges of misappropriating funds. When he was found guilty, the clock in the tower at city hall was stopped in protest. When a judge released Reynolds from jail later that year on appeal, almost the entire population turned out to greet him, and the clock was turned back on.
In 1939, Mayor Louis F. Edwards was fatally shot by a police officer on the front steps of his home. Officer Alvin Dooley, a member of the police motorcycle squad and the mayor's own security detail, killed the mayor after losing his bid for PBA president to a candidate the mayor supported. Jackson Boulevard was later renamed Edwards Boulevard in honor of the late mayor. After the murder, the city residents passed legislation to adopt a city manager system, which still exists to this day. The city manager is hired by and reports to the City Council.
Long Beach was the site for some of Francis Ford Coppola
's filming of The Godfather
.
The 2.2 miles (3.5 km) boardwalk had a small amusement park
at the foot of Edwards Boulevard until the late 1970s. In the late 1960s, the boardwalk and amusement park area were a magnet for youth from around Long Island, until a police crackdown on drug trafficking ended that. While there are few businesses left on the boardwalk, it attracts bicyclists, joggers, walkers and people-watchers.
Beginning in the 1980s and accelerating in the 1990s, Long Beach has begun an urban renewal, with new housing, new businesses and other improvements. Today, the city is again a popular bedroom community, for people working in New York who want the quiet beach atmosphere. With summer come local youths and college students and young adults who rent bungalows on the West End; they frequent the local bars and clubs along West Beech Street.
Just behind the boardwalk near the center of the City, "vacant" lots now occupy several blocks that once housed hotels, bathhouses and the amusement park. Because attempts to attract development (including, at one time, Atlantic City
-style casino
s) to this potential Superblock
have not yet borne fruit, the lots comprise the city's largest portion of unused land.
Long Beach has several buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places
:
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 2 square miles (5.2 km²).
The city is located on a barrier island
off the South Shore
of Long Island
. It shares the island with Atlantic Beach
to the west and Lido Beach and Point Lookout
to the east. Within its section of the barrier island, the
city takes up the entire north-south span, fronting on both Reynolds Channel
to the north and the Atlantic Ocean
to the south. A drawbridge
, the Long Beach Bridge
, connects it to Island Park
on the mainland of Long Island. To the west, the Atlantic Beach Bridge
, connects the island to Lawrence
on the mainland of Long Island. The Loop Parkway
, located to the east along the Lido Beach and Point Lookout
borders connects the island to Jones Beach
.
The city is less than a mile wide from ocean to bay and about three and a half miles long. The city is divided into the West End, home to many small bungalow
s, and the East End. West of New York Avenue, the barrier island is less than a half mile wide and West Beech Street is the main east/west commercial street.
East of New York Avenue, the island is wider between the bay and ocean and is home to larger more expansive family houses. There is the city's boardwalk, which begins at New York Avenue and ends at Neptune Boulevard. Along the boardwalk are many apartment buildings and condos. The main commercial strip is Park Avenue, which narrows into a small residential strip west of New York Avenue.
As of 2006 U.S. Census Estimates the demographics were:
As of the census
of 2000, there were 35,462 people, 14,923 households, and 8,103 families residing in the City. The population density
was 16,594.9 people per square mile (6,398.1/km²). There were 16,128 housing units at an average density of 7,547.3 per square mile (2,909.8/km²). The racial makeup of the City was 77.1% White, 6.2% African American, 0.5% Native American, 2.32% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 4.75% from other races
, and 2.26% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.80% of the population.
There were 14,923 households out of which 21.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.0% were married couples
living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.7% were non-families. 36.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 3.02.
In the City the population was spread out with 18.5% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 34.4% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.6 males.
The median income for a household in the City was $56,289, and the median income for a family was $68,222. The per capita income
for the City was $31,069. About 6.3% of families and 9.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.2% of those under age 18 and 10.7% of those age 65 or over.
and Fire Departments
serves the city of Long Beach and parts of the Town of Hempstead with one primary high school
, one middle school, and four elementary schools. They also operate an "alternative" high school at the NIKE missile site on a campus shared with the district's transportation services.
serves Greater Long Beach with a main library downtown and two branch libraries at Point Lookout and the West End.
Nassau County, New York
Nassau County is a suburban county on Long Island, east of New York City in the U.S. state of New York, within the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,339,532...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Just south of Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, it is located on Long Beach Barrier Island
Long Beach Barrier Island
Long Beach, NY is one of the outer barrier islands off the south coast of Long Island, New York. Long Beach, New York is the principal city, sharing the island with Atlantic Beach to the west and Lido Beach and Point Lookout to the east....
, which is the westernmost of the outer barrier islands
Outer barrier
The outer barrier, also known as the Long Island and New York City barrier islands, refers to the string of barrier islands that divide the lagoons south of Long Island from the Atlantic Ocean....
off Long Island's South Shore
South Shore (Long Island)
The South Shore of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York, is the area along Long Island's Atlantic Ocean shoreline. Though some consider the South Shore to include parts of Queens, particularly the beach communities in the Rockaways such as Belle Harbor, the term is generally used to refer to...
. As of the United States 2010 Census, the city population was 33,275. It was incorporated in 1922, and is nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
d The City By the Sea (as seen in Latin on its official seal).
The City of Long Beach is surrounded by Reynolds Channel to the north, east and west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south..
Charles T. Theofan is the current city manager
City manager
A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a council-manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief executive officer or chief administrative officer in some municipalities...
, a position which is appointed by the City Council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
.
History
The community became an incorporated village in 1913 and a city in 1922.Early history
Long Beach's first inhabitants were the AlgonquianAlgonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
-speaking Rockaway Indians, who sold the area to English colonists in 1643. While the barrier island was used by baymen
Fisherman
A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishermen and fish farmers. The term can also be applied to recreational fishermen and may be used to describe both men...
and farmers for fishing and harvesting salt hay, no one lived there year-round for more than two centuries. In 1849 Congress established a lifesaving station. A dozen years before, 62 people died when the barque
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...
Mexico, carrying Irish immigrants to New York, ran ashore on New Year's Day.
Austin Corbin, a builder from Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, was the first to attempt to develop the island as a resort
Resort
A resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation, attracting visitors for holidays or vacations. Resorts are places, towns or sometimes commercial establishment operated by a single company....
. He formed a partnership with the Long Island Rail Road
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
(LIRR) to finance the New York and Long Beach Railroad Co., which laid track from Lynbrook
Lynbrook, New York
Lynbrook is a village in Nassau County, New York, USA. The population was 19,427 at the 2010 census. The Village of Lynbrook is inside the Town of Hempstead. The Village of Lynbrook's current mayor is William Hendrick....
to Long Beach in 1880. That same year, Corbin opened Long Beach Hotel, a row of 27 cottages along a 1100 feet (335.3 m) strip of beach, which he claimed as the world's largest hotel. In its first season, the railroad brought 300,000 visitors to Long Island. By the next spring, tracks had been laid the length of the island, but they were removed in 1894 after repeated washouts from winter storms.
On July 29, 1907, a fire broke out at the Long Beach Hotel and burned it to the ground. Of the 800 guests, eight were injured by jumping from windows, and one woman died. The fire was blamed on defective electric wiring. A church, several cottages and the bathing pavilion were also destroyed. Trunks belonging to the guests, which had been piled on the sand to form "dressing rooms", were looted by thieves. A dozen waiters and others were apprehended by the police, who recovered $20,000 worth of jewelry and other stolen property.
The Riviera of the East
William Reynolds
William Reynolds may refer to:*William Reynolds , American movie and television actor*William Reynolds , English football defender of the 1890s...
, a 39-year-old former state senator and real estate developer, entered the picture. Reynolds had already developed four Brooklyn neighborhoods (Bedford-Stuyvesant, Borough Park, Bensonhurst and South Brownsville) and Coney Island
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....
's Dreamland
Dreamland (amusement park)
Dreamland was an ambitious amusement park at Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City from 1904 to 1911. It contained primarily freak shows.- History :Created by a Tammany Hall-connected businessman William H...
, the world's largest amusement park. Reynolds also owned a theater and produced plays. He gathered investors and acquired the oceanfront from private owners and the rest of the island from the Town of Hempstead
Town of Hempstead, New York
Hempstead is one of the three towns in Nassau County, New York, United States, occupying the southwest part of the county. There are twenty-two incorporated villages completely or partially in the town. Hempstead's combined population was 759,757 at the 2010 Census, the majority of the population...
in 1907; he planned to build a boardwalk
Boardwalk
A boardwalk, in the conventional sense, is a wooden walkway for pedestrians and sometimes vehicles, often found along beaches, but they are also common as paths through wetlands, coastal dunes, and other sensitive environments....
, homes and hotels.
Reynolds had a herd of elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
s marched in from Dreamland, ostensibly to help build the boardwalk; he had created an effective publicity stunt
Publicity stunt
A publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized or set up by amateurs...
. Dredges created a channel 1000 feet (304.8 m) wide on the north side of the island to provide access by large steamboats and sea planes to transport more visitors. The new waterway was named Reynolds Channel
Reynolds Channel
Reynolds Channel is a strait in Nassau County, New York which separates a barrier island that contains the City of Long Beach and the villages of Atlantic Beach and Lido Beach from Long Island and Barnum Island. The channel begins at the East Rockaway Inlet and ends at Point Lookout where it merges...
.
French Riviera
The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
of the East", he required each building to be constructed in an "eclectic Mediterranean style," with white stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
walls and red-clay tile roofs. He built a theater called Castles by the Sea, with the largest dance floor in the world, for dancers Vernon and Irene Castle
Vernon and Irene Castle
Vernon and Irene Castle were a husband-and-wife team of ballroom dancers of the early 20th century. They are credited with invigorating the popularity of modern dancing. Vernon Castle was born William Vernon Blyth in Norwich, Norfolk, England...
. He restricted owners and renters to white Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs). After Reynolds' corporation went bankrupt in 1918, the restrictions were lifted. The new town attracted wealthy businessmen and entertainers from New York and Hollywood.
In the 1940s, Jose Ferrer
José Ferrer
José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón , best known as José Ferrer, was a Puerto Rican actor, as well as a theater and film director...
, Zero Mostel
Zero Mostel
Samuel Joel “Zero” Mostel was an American actor of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye on stage in Fiddler on the Roof, Pseudolus on stage and on screen in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Max Bialystock in the original film version...
, Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
, and other famous actors performed at local theaters. Jack Dempsey
Jack Dempsey
William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey was an American boxer who held the world heavyweight title from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first...
, Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
, Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
, Lillian Roth, Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...
, Florenz Ziegfeld
Florenz Ziegfeld
Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. , , was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies , inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris. He also produced the musical Show Boat...
, James Cagney
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
, Clara Bow
Clara Bow
Clara Gordon Bow was an American actress who rose to stardom in the silent film era of the 1920s. It was her appearance as a spunky shopgirl in the film It that brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl." Bow came to personify the roaring twenties and is described as its leading sex...
, and John Barrymore
John Barrymore
John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
lived in Long Beach for decades. The city's most famous modern-day native is the actor Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal
William Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...
. (His brother Joel Crystal has served as president of the Long Beach City Council). More recently, rock-and-roll singer Joan Jett
Joan Jett
Joan Jett is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and actress.She is best known for her work with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts including their hit cover "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", which was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 from March 20 to May 1, 1982, as well as for their other popular...
, New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
shortstop
Shortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...
Derek Jeter
Derek Jeter
Derek Sanderson Jeter is an American baseball shortstop who has played 17 years in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees. A twelve-time All-Star and five-time World Series champion, Jeter's clubhouse presence, on-field leadership, hitting ability, and baserunning have made him a central...
, Washington Nationals pitcher John Lannan
John Lannan
John Edward Lannan is a left-handed starting pitcher in the Washington Nationals organization....
, and "Long Island Lolita" Amy Fisher
Amy Fisher
Amy Elizabeth Fisher is an American woman who became known as "the Long Island Lolita" by the media in 1992, when, at the age of 17, she shot and severely wounded Mary Jo Buttafuoco, the wife of her lover Joey Buttafuoco...
have lived in the city.
Corruption and scandal
In 1923, the world-famous prohibitionProhibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
agents known simply as Izzy and Moe
Izzy and Moe
Izzy & Moe is a 1985 made for TV crime/comedy film, starring Jackie Gleason and Art Carney. It is a fictional account of two Prohibition-era policemen, Izzy Einstein and Moe Smith, and their adventures in tracking down illegal bars and gangsters....
raided the Nassau Hotel and arrested three men for bootlegging. In 1930, five Long Beach Police
Long Beach Police Department (New York)
Long Beach Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency for the City of Long Beach on the South Shore of Long Island. Established in 1911, it currently has approximately 78 sworn members....
officers were charged with offering a bribe to a United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
officer to allow liquor to be landed. The police had another problem a year later: a mystery that captivated the nation in the summer of 1931. A beachcomber
Beachcomber
Beachcomber may refer to:* Beachcomber * Beachcomber , a nom de plume used by several humor columnists* Beachcomber , the name of multiple characters in the Transformers universe...
found the body of a young woman named Starr Faithfull. She had left behind a suicide note, but others believed she had been murdered.
By the early twenties, corruption became rampant in Long Beach. In 1922, the state Legislature designated Long Beach a city and William H. Reynolds was elected the first mayor. Shortly thereafter Reynolds was indicted on charges of misappropriating funds. When he was found guilty, the clock in the tower at city hall was stopped in protest. When a judge released Reynolds from jail later that year on appeal, almost the entire population turned out to greet him, and the clock was turned back on.
In 1939, Mayor Louis F. Edwards was fatally shot by a police officer on the front steps of his home. Officer Alvin Dooley, a member of the police motorcycle squad and the mayor's own security detail, killed the mayor after losing his bid for PBA president to a candidate the mayor supported. Jackson Boulevard was later renamed Edwards Boulevard in honor of the late mayor. After the murder, the city residents passed legislation to adopt a city manager system, which still exists to this day. The city manager is hired by and reports to the City Council.
Long Beach was the site for some of Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
's filming of The Godfather
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
.
Urban decay and renewal
By the 1940s and 1950s, with the advent of cheap air travel attracting tourists to more distant places, and air-conditioning to provide year-round comfort, Long Beach had become a primarily bedroom community for commuters to New York City. It still attracted many summer visitors into the 1970s. The rundown boardwalk hotels were used for temporary housing for welfare recipients and the elderly until a scandal around 1970 led to many of the homes' losing licenses. At that time, government agencies were also "warehousing" in such hotels many patients released from larger mental hospitals. They were supposed to be cared for in small-scale community centers.The 2.2 miles (3.5 km) boardwalk had a small amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
at the foot of Edwards Boulevard until the late 1970s. In the late 1960s, the boardwalk and amusement park area were a magnet for youth from around Long Island, until a police crackdown on drug trafficking ended that. While there are few businesses left on the boardwalk, it attracts bicyclists, joggers, walkers and people-watchers.
Beginning in the 1980s and accelerating in the 1990s, Long Beach has begun an urban renewal, with new housing, new businesses and other improvements. Today, the city is again a popular bedroom community, for people working in New York who want the quiet beach atmosphere. With summer come local youths and college students and young adults who rent bungalows on the West End; they frequent the local bars and clubs along West Beech Street.
Just behind the boardwalk near the center of the City, "vacant" lots now occupy several blocks that once housed hotels, bathhouses and the amusement park. Because attempts to attract development (including, at one time, Atlantic City
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
-style casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
s) to this potential Superblock
Superblock
Superblock may refer to:* A type of city block that is much larger than a traditional city block* A segment of metadata describing the file system on a block device...
have not yet borne fruit, the lots comprise the city's largest portion of unused land.
Long Beach has several buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
:
- Pauline Felix HousePauline Felix HousePauline Felix House is a historic home located at Long Beach in Nassau County, New York. It was built in 1909 and is a -story, Italian Renaissance–style residence with a stucco exterior and a clay tile hipped roof...
, - Granada TowersGranada TowersGranada Towers is a historic apartment building / hotel located at Long Beach in Nassau County, New York. It was designed in 1929 in the Spanish Revival style. It consists of three tower, seven stories tall. It is built of orange-brown brick with terra cotta and stucco trim...
, - House at 226 West Penn StreetHouse at 226 West Penn StreetHouse at 226 West Penn Street, also known as Long Beach Historical Museum, is a historic home located at Long Beach in Nassau County, New York. It was built in 1909 and is a two story, American Craftsman / bungalow style residence with a stucco exterior and a clay tile hipped roof. It features a...
, - US Post Office-Long BeachUnited States Post Office (Long Beach, New York)US Post Office-Long Beach is a historic post office building located at Long Beach in Nassau County, New York, United States. It was built in 1936 and designed by the Office of the Supervising Architect under the direction of Louis A. Simon. It is a one story, symmetrically massed building faced...
, and - the Samuel Vaisberg HouseSamuel Vaisberg HouseSamuel Vaisberg House is a historic home located at Long Beach in Nassau County, New York. It was built in 1927 in the boom years before the Great Depression. It is a rectangular, -story, Spanish Revival-style residence with a stucco exterior and a clay tile, hipped roof. It features decorative...
.
Transportation
All public transportation in Long Beach converges at the city's intermodal railway stationLong Beach (LIRR station)
Long Beach is the terminus of the Long Beach Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It is located at Park Place and Park Avenue in the City of Long Beach, New York...
.
Long Island Rail Road
- The Long Island Rail RoadLong Island Rail RoadThe Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
operates a terminal station at Park Place and Park AvenueLong Beach (LIRR station)Long Beach is the terminus of the Long Beach Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It is located at Park Place and Park Avenue in the City of Long Beach, New York...
with service on the railroad's Long Beach BranchLong Beach BranchThe Long Beach Branch is an electrified rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch begins at Valley Interlocking, at Valley Stream station, where the Atlantic Branch tracks from the west are redesignated Long Beach Branch and the...
.
MTA Long Island Bus
- Long Island Bus has two bus routes that originate in Long Beach, the N15 and N33, and operate to Roosevelt Field and Far Rockaway via Rockville Centre and Atlantic Beach respectively. The N33 connects to the A train on the New York City SubwayNew York City SubwayThe New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
and to MTA Bus, and both routes connect to other Long Island Bus routes and LIRR stations.
Long Beach Bus
- Long Beach BusLong Beach BusLong Beach Bus is a public transportation system serving Greater Long Beach on the south shore of Long Island, New York. The service operates twenty-four hours a day, with five different routes connecting to one another and to MTA Long Island Bus and Long Island Rail Road at Long Beach Station in...
operates a twenty-four hour municipal bus service with five routes, with three routes serving the city, one overnight circulator route, and one route, the N69, extending service to Lido Beach and Point Lookout under contract to Nassau County. The base fare for City of Long Beach buses is US$1.50 (lower for students, seniors, and disabled travelers), while Long Island Bus and N69 cost $2.25.
Geography
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 2 square miles (5.2 km²).
The city is located on a barrier island
Barrier island
Barrier islands, a coastal landform and a type of barrier system, are relatively narrow strips of sand that parallel the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few islands to more than a dozen...
off the South Shore
South Shore (Long Island)
The South Shore of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York, is the area along Long Island's Atlantic Ocean shoreline. Though some consider the South Shore to include parts of Queens, particularly the beach communities in the Rockaways such as Belle Harbor, the term is generally used to refer to...
of Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. It shares the island with Atlantic Beach
Atlantic Beach, New York
Atlantic Beach is an affluent village off the South Shore of Long Island in the Town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York. It is located on Long Beach Barrier Island, one of the outer barrier islands which it shares with Long Beach, East Atlantic Beach, Atlantic Beach Estates, Lido Beach and Point...
to the west and Lido Beach and Point Lookout
Point Lookout, New York
Point Lookout is a hamlet located in the town Hempstead in Nassau County, New York. The population was 1,219 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
to the east. Within its section of the barrier island, the
city takes up the entire north-south span, fronting on both Reynolds Channel
Reynolds Channel
Reynolds Channel is a strait in Nassau County, New York which separates a barrier island that contains the City of Long Beach and the villages of Atlantic Beach and Lido Beach from Long Island and Barnum Island. The channel begins at the East Rockaway Inlet and ends at Point Lookout where it merges...
to the north and the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
to the south. A drawbridge
Drawbridge
A drawbridge is a type of movable bridge typically associated with the entrance of a castle surrounded by a moat. The term is often used to describe all different types of movable bridges, like bascule bridges and lift bridges.-Castle drawbridges:...
, the Long Beach Bridge
Long Beach Bridge
The Long Beach Bridge is a drawbridge crossing Reynolds Channel and connecting Long Beach and Island Park, New York. Crossing is free. The bridge starts in Long Beach as Long Beach Boulevard, and at Barnum Island, the main road continues north as Austin Boulevard, while Long Beach Road branches to...
, connects it to Island Park
Island Park, New York
Island Park is a village located in Nassau County, New York in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the village had a total population of 4,655.Island Park is located in the town of Hempstead.-Geography:...
on the mainland of Long Island. To the west, the Atlantic Beach Bridge
Atlantic Beach Bridge
The Atlantic Beach Bridge is a long toll drawbridge connecting Lawrence and Atlantic Beach , NY while passing over the west end of Reynolds Channel. The bridge also provides direct access to the Rockaway Peninsula via Seagirt Boulevard....
, connects the island to Lawrence
Lawrence, Nassau County, New York
Lawrence is a village in Nassau County, New York in the USA. As of the United States 2010 Census, the village population was 6,483.The Village of Lawrence is in the southwest corner of the Town of Hempstead, adjoining the border with the New York City borough of Queens to the west and near the...
on the mainland of Long Island. The Loop Parkway
Loop Parkway
The Loop Parkway is a spur off the Meadowbrook State Parkway on Long Island in the State of New York. After crossing over Reynolds Channel, the parkway ends at Lido Boulevard on the border of Lido Beach and Point Lookout...
, located to the east along the Lido Beach and Point Lookout
Point Lookout, New York
Point Lookout is a hamlet located in the town Hempstead in Nassau County, New York. The population was 1,219 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
borders connects the island to Jones Beach
Jones Beach
Jones Beach may refer to:* A barrier island off the coast of Long Island, New York:**Jones Beach State Park in Nassau County, New York in the United States**Jones Beach Island**Nikon at Jones Beach Theater...
.
Layout
Unlike most suburbs, Long Beach is a high-density community. Fewer than 40% of the homes are detached houses, and the city ranks as the 24th densest community in the United States.The city is less than a mile wide from ocean to bay and about three and a half miles long. The city is divided into the West End, home to many small bungalow
Bungalow
A bungalow is a type of house, with varying meanings across the world. Common features to many of these definitions include being detached, low-rise , and the use of verandahs...
s, and the East End. West of New York Avenue, the barrier island is less than a half mile wide and West Beech Street is the main east/west commercial street.
East of New York Avenue, the island is wider between the bay and ocean and is home to larger more expansive family houses. There is the city's boardwalk, which begins at New York Avenue and ends at Neptune Boulevard. Along the boardwalk are many apartment buildings and condos. The main commercial strip is Park Avenue, which narrows into a small residential strip west of New York Avenue.
Neighborhoods
- The Walks - There is a neighborhood known as "The Walks", consisting of extremely narrow sidewalks between houses. Each "Walk" is named after a month.
- The West End - The West End is home to small bungalows and houses located very close to each other along small narrow streets. These streets run from the beach to the bay, and are named after US States until it meets East Atlantic BeachEast Atlantic Beach, New YorkEast Atlantic Beach is a hamlet and census-designated place in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 2,049 at the 2010 census. The unincorporated hamlet is governed by the Town of Hempstead, one of three towns in Nassau County....
at Nevada Avenue.
- Westholme - The West End between National Boulevard and New York Avenue has become known as Westholme.
- The East End - The area east of the Long Island Rail Road station is known as the East End.
- The Canals - In the East End there is a neighborhood on the north side of Park Avenue referred to as "The Canals" that consists of several streets running north to south with parallel canals originating in Reynold's Channel. The canals begin on Forrester Street and end on Curley Street.
- North Park - The area north of Park Avenue, between National Boulevard and Long Beach Boulevard.
- Central District - The area between National Boulevard and Long Beach Boulevard has become known as the Central district.
- President Streets - An area across from the Canals on the south side of Park Avenue is an area called "the President streets", because each street is named after a former President, with the exception of Atlantic and Pacific, the latter of which connect directly from Park Avenue to Broadway, a parallel road to the south.
Parks and recreation
- Clark Street Park
- The Long Beach Tennis Center
- Lindell Park
- Long Beach Ice Arena - home of the New York ApplecoreNew York ApplecoreThe New York Apple Core is a Junior A ice hockey team from Long Beach, New York playing in the Eastern Junior Hockey League. The team plays home games at The City of Long Beach Arena....
Hockey Team - Magnolia Playground
- Ocean Beach Park (2.2 Mile long boardwalk)
- The Recreation Center
- Skate Park
- Veteran's Memorial Park (fishing pier and boat ramp)
- West End's Georgia Avenue Splash Park
Landmarks and historic districts
- 9/11 Memorial
- Holocaust Memorial at Kennedy Plaza
- John F. Kennedy Memorial
- Red Brick District
Museums and community centers
- House at 226 West Penn StreetHouse at 226 West Penn StreetHouse at 226 West Penn Street, also known as Long Beach Historical Museum, is a historic home located at Long Beach in Nassau County, New York. It was built in 1909 and is a two story, American Craftsman / bungalow style residence with a stucco exterior and a clay tile hipped roof. It features a...
(also known as Long Beach Historical & Preservation Society Museum) - Martin Luther King Community Center
Demographics
- White 79.8%
- BlackBlackBlack is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
or African AmericanAfrican AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
9.7% - HispanicHispanicHispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
or LatinoLatinoThe demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
8.7% - AsianAsian peopleAsian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
4.0% - Native AmericanNative Americans in the United StatesNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
0.3% - Some other race 5.4%
- two or more races 0.9%
As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 35,462 people, 14,923 households, and 8,103 families residing in the City. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 16,594.9 people per square mile (6,398.1/km²). There were 16,128 housing units at an average density of 7,547.3 per square mile (2,909.8/km²). The racial makeup of the City was 77.1% White, 6.2% African American, 0.5% Native American, 2.32% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 4.75% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 2.26% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.80% of the population.
There were 14,923 households out of which 21.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.0% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.7% were non-families. 36.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 3.02.
In the City the population was spread out with 18.5% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 34.4% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.6 males.
The median income for a household in the City was $56,289, and the median income for a family was $68,222. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the City was $31,069. About 6.3% of families and 9.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.2% of those under age 18 and 10.7% of those age 65 or over.
City Manager
- Charles T. Theofan is the current city manager, a position which is appointed by the City Council.
City Council
Five Members serve the City Council, currently:- Michael Fagen (D)
- Mona Goodman (R)
- John McLaughlin Jr. (R)
- Thomas Sofield Jr. (R) - City Council President
- Lenny Torres (D)
Emergency services
The city's two emergency services are the Long Beach PoliceLong Beach Police Department (New York)
Long Beach Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency for the City of Long Beach on the South Shore of Long Island. Established in 1911, it currently has approximately 78 sworn members....
and Fire Departments
Long Beach Fire Department (New York)
The Long Beach Fire Department is a fire department providing fire prevention, fire suppression, rescue and emergency ambulance services in the following communities on Long Beach Barrier Island, in Nassau County, New York:*Atlantic Beach, NY...
Public schools
The Long Beach City School DistrictLong Beach City School District
The Long Beach City School District is a public school district that provides education to The City of Long Beach, Lido Beach, Point Lookout and East Atlantic Beach on the South Shore of Long Island, New York. It currently houses a total of 4,355 students in all grades.The school board is composed...
serves the city of Long Beach and parts of the Town of Hempstead with one primary high school
Long Beach High School
Long Beach High School may refer to:*Long Beach Polytechnic High School, serving Long Beach, California.*Long Beach High School , serving Long Beach, New York, and the surrounding school district....
, one middle school, and four elementary schools. They also operate an "alternative" high school at the NIKE missile site on a campus shared with the district's transportation services.
Private schools
- Hebrew Academy of Long BeachHebrew Academy of Long BeachHebrew Academy of Long Beach is a Modern Orthodox Jewish day school located in Long Beach, in southwestern Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island in New York.It contains four schools:...
(HALB) - Long Beach Catholic Regional School (LBCRS)
- Mesivta of Long Beach
Post-secondary education
- Long Beach Medical CenterLong Beach Medical CenterLong Beach Medical Center is a 403-bed teaching and community hospital located in Long Beach, New York....
is affiliated with the New York College of Osteopathic MedicineNew York College of Osteopathic MedicineNew York College of Osteopathic Medicine is the osteopathic medical college of the New York Institute of Technology located in Old Westbury, Long Island, NY. Established in 1977, NYCOM is one of only two accredited medical institutions in Nassau County, New York...
and the New York College of Podiatric MedicineNew York College of Podiatric MedicineThe New York College of Podiatric Medicine is a private specialized college located at 53 East 124th Street, Harlem, in New York City. Founded in 1911, NYCPM was the first Podiatric Medical school established in the United States. NYCPM was founded by Dr. Maurice J. Lewi, a physician who decided a...
, and offers internships, residencies and clinic clerkships. - Rabbinical College of Long Island
Public libraries
The Long Beach Public LibraryLong Beach, NY Public Library
The Long Beach Public Library is the public library of Long Beach, New York, serving the civic, cultural, educational and recreational needs of the community.-History :...
serves Greater Long Beach with a main library downtown and two branch libraries at Point Lookout and the West End.
Annual events
- Annual arts & crafts show on the boardwalk
- Annual fine arts show at Kennedy Plaza
- Beach tennisBeach tennisFor another sport called "beach paddleball", see Matkot. For other sports called "paddleball", see Paddleball .Beach Tennis USA takes the fun and fast-paced sport of tennis and combines it with the sun, sea and sand of the beach....
tournaments - Beach Tennis USA - Fall festival at Kennedy Plaza
- Farmers market at Kennedy Plaza
- Free summer concerts series on the beach
- Historical Society Arts & Crafts show on the boardwalk
- Long Beach Polar Bear Swim - World Record holder for largest polar bear swim
- Wounded Warrior ProjectWounded Warrior ProjectThe Wounded Warrior Project is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to "honor and empower wounded warriors" of the United States Armed Forces...
In films and television
- The movie City by the SeaCity by the SeaCity by the Sea is a 2002 film starring Robert De Niro, James Franco, Eliza Dushku, Frances McDormand and William Forsythe. It deals with a family problems of wayward youth and set against a man trying to break free of his past. It was directed by Michael Caton-Jones...
(20022002 in filmThe year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of...
), starring Robert De NiroRobert De NiroRobert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
, James FrancoJames FrancoJames Edward Franco is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author, painter, performance artist and instructor at New York University. He left college in order to pursue acting and started off his career by making guest appearances on television series in the 1990s...
, and Frances McDormandFrances McDormandFrances Louise McDormand is an American film and stage actress. She has starred in a number of films, including her Academy Award-winning performance as Marge Gunderson in Fargo, in 1996...
, was inspired by a true story about a murderer from Long Beach (who committed a murder in Far Rockaway, a few miles west). The film was based on a fictional interpretation of Long Beach and was filmed in Asbury Park, New JerseyAsbury Park, New JerseyAsbury Park is a city in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, located on the Jersey Shore and part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 16,116. The city is known for its rich musical history, including its association with...
; residents of both cities objected to the negative imagery portrayed of their towns.
- The novel and film, The GodfatherThe GodfatherThe Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
, were set partly in Long Beach, where the Corleone compoundCompound (enclosure)Compound when applied to a human habitat refers to a cluster of buildings in an enclosure, having a shared or associated purpose, such as the houses of an extended family...
was said to be located, and nearby Atlantic BeachAtlantic BeachAtlantic Beach is the name of some places in the United States of America:*Atlantic Beach, Florida*Atlantic Beach, North Carolina*Atlantic Beach, New York*Atlantic Beach, South Carolina...
, where the character, Sonny CorleoneSonny CorleoneSantino "Sonny" Corleone is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather and its 1972 film adaptation. He also appears as an infant, as a young boy, and an adult in The Godfather Part II....
, lived. Sonny was murdered at the toll booths of the Jones Beach Causeway (also known as the Loop Parkway). (MafiaMafiaThe Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
members were widely known to live in Long Beach and neighboring Atlantic BeachAtlantic Beach, New YorkAtlantic Beach is an affluent village off the South Shore of Long Island in the Town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York. It is located on Long Beach Barrier Island, one of the outer barrier islands which it shares with Long Beach, East Atlantic Beach, Atlantic Beach Estates, Lido Beach and Point...
throughout the mid-20th century.)
- In the film Taxi DriverTaxi DriverTaxi Driver is a 1976 American drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. The film is set in New York City, soon after the Vietnam War. The film stars Robert De Niro and features Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, and Cybill Shepherd. The film was nominated for four Academy...
(1976), a driver says he made a big tip for taking a customer to Long Beach from Manhattan.
In literature
- In his memoir, 700 Sundays700 Sundays700 Sundays is an autobiography written by Billy Crystal. It is all about the people who made Billy the man he is. The book also serves as a memoir to his father, Jack Crystal, who died of a heart attack when Billy was only 15 years old. The title refers to the number of Sundays that Billy and his...
, the comedian Billy CrystalBilly CrystalWilliam Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...
describes growing up in Long Beach.
- John Dos PassosJohn Dos PassosJohn Roderigo Dos Passos was an American novelist and artist.-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Dos Passos was the illegitimate son of John Randolph Dos Passos , a distinguished lawyer of Madeiran Portuguese descent, and Lucy Addison Sprigg Madison of Petersburg, Virginia. The elder Dos Passos...
' book, The Big MoneyThe Big Money"The Big Money" is a song by progressive rock group Rush from their album Power Windows. It charted at #45 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on album-oriented rock charts, and has been featured on many "Best-Of" compilations, such as Retrospective II and The Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits...
, mentions weekends spent in Long Beach in the 1920s.
- Boardwalk Stories (2009), is Roslyn Bernstein's collection of 14 linked stories set in Long Beach. Each story is paired with a black-and-white vintageVintageVintage, in wine-making, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product . A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certain wines, it can denote quality, as in Port wine, where Port houses make and...
photo of the Long Beach boardwalk, taken by photographer Dr. Kenneth Tydings, a long-time resident. Bernstein grew up in the West End of Long Beach.
- Images of America: Long Beach, NY (2010), is a collection of photos and stories of Long Beach, NY. }
In music
- In their album Roaming Through Chaos, metal band Unstable refers to the city numerous times, namely on the track "15", about growing up in Long Beach.
Notable natives and residents
- Vinny Accardi - guitarist of the band Brand NewBrand NewBrand New is an American rock band from Long Island, New York. Formed in 2000, the band currently consists of vocalist/guitarist/lyricist Jesse Lacey, guitarist/vocalist/lyricist Vincent Accardi, bassist Garrett Tierney, drummer Brian Lane, and guitarist/keyboardist Derrick Sherman.In the late...
- Cab CallowayCab CallowayCabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
- band leader and singer, lived on the Long Beach/Lido divide during the late 1940s, and his daughter Chris attended Mrs. Borzillieri's nursery school - Vernon and Irene CastleVernon and Irene CastleVernon and Irene Castle were a husband-and-wife team of ballroom dancers of the early 20th century. They are credited with invigorating the popularity of modern dancing. Vernon Castle was born William Vernon Blyth in Norwich, Norfolk, England...
- Dance pioneers who introduced dances such as tango and foxtrot to the US in 1910s lived in Long Beach and operated a fomous nightclub their "Castles By the Sea." Their lives were dramatized in the 1939 Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers film The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle. - Alan ColmesAlan ColmesAlan Samuel Colmes is an American radio/television host, liberal political commentator for the Fox News Channel, and blogger. He is the host of The Alan Colmes Show, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show distributed by Fox News Radio that also airs throughout the United States on Fox News Talk...
- political analyst formerly on Hannity & ColmesHannity & ColmesHannity & Colmes was a live television show on Fox News Channel in the United States, hosted by Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes, who respectively presented a conservative and liberal perspective. The series premiered on October 6, 1996, and the final episode aired on January 9, 2009. It was the...
, resides in Long Beach - Billy CrystalBilly CrystalWilliam Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...
- film and television superstar who was born and raised in Long Beach - MF DoomMF DoomDaniel Dumile is a hip hop artist who has taken on several stage names in his career, most notably MF DOOM, where the "MF" stands for metal face, and for tracks he has produced, metal fingers...
- underground hip-hop artist - Jason Eubanks, Phillip Eubanks, and Jonathan Armak of the metal band Unstable - all grew up and currently reside in Long Beach
- Mike FrancesaMike FrancesaMichael Patrick "Mike" Francesa, Jr. is an American radio talk show host and television commentator. He is primarily known in his former role co-hosting the popular Mike and the Mad Dog show on WFAN in New York City...
- WFAN 660AM New York City radio host, was born and raised in Long Beach - James "Scottie" GrahamScottie GrahamJames Otis Graham, better known as "Scottie", is a former professional football player who played running back for six seasons in the NFL; New York Jets , Minnesota Vikings and the Cincinnati Bengals .Graham was a high school All-American in three sports: football, wrestling and lacrosse...
- former Ohio State and NFL player, grew up in Long Beach and graduated from the high school - Rocky GrazianoRocky GrazianoRocky Graziano, born Thomas Rocco Barbella in New York City , was an Italian American boxer. Graziano was considered one of the greatest knockout artists in boxing history, often displaying the capacity to take his opponent out with a single punch...
- boxer, lived in Long Beach for many years; his daughters both went to school there, and the Graziano family were regular Sunday night clients of Lenny's Steak House in the West End - Richard JaeckelRichard JaeckelRichard Hanley Jaeckel was an American actor of film and television.-Life and career:Jaeckel was born in Long Beach, New York. A short, but tough guy, he played a variety of characters during his fifty years in movies & television and became one of Hollywood's best known character actors...
- television and film actor, who starred in The Dirty DozenThe Dirty DozenThe Dirty Dozen is a 1967 film directed by Robert Aldrich and released by MGM. It was filmed in England and features an ensemble cast, including Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Telly Savalas, and Robert Webber. The film is based on E. M...
, was born in Long Beach - Derek JeterDerek JeterDerek Sanderson Jeter is an American baseball shortstop who has played 17 years in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees. A twelve-time All-Star and five-time World Series champion, Jeter's clubhouse presence, on-field leadership, hitting ability, and baserunning have made him a central...
- New York Yankees shortstop and team captain since 2003, lived in Long Beach - Joan JettJoan JettJoan Jett is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and actress.She is best known for her work with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts including their hit cover "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", which was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 from March 20 to May 1, 1982, as well as for their other popular...
- rock star, lived in Long Beach and filmed a music video here - Billy JoelBilly JoelWilliam Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
- singer/musician, lived in Long Beach - Pete JohnsonPete Johnson (American football)Pete Johnson is a former college and professional American football running back. He spent 8 seasons in the NFL, primarily with the Cincinnati Bengals. Before his NFL career, Johnson played for the Ohio State Buckeyes.-College career:Johnson played fullback for Ohio State from 1973 through 1976...
- former Ohio State and NFL player graduated from Long Beach High School - John LannanJohn LannanJohn Edward Lannan is a left-handed starting pitcher in the Washington Nationals organization....
- pitcher for the Washington NationalsWashington NationalsThe Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of the National League of Major League Baseball . The team moved into the newly built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium...
, was born here - Mitchell "Goretex" Manzanilla - hip hopHip hopHip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
artist - Allard K. LowensteinAllard K. LowensteinAllard Kenneth Lowenstein, , was a liberal Democratic politician, a one-term congressman representing the 5th District in Nassau County, New York from 1969 until 1971. His work on civil rights and the antiwar movement has been cited as an inspiration by public figures including Congressmen, John...
- Congressman, Anti-Vietnam War leader and Liberal activist lived in Long Beach and represented it in Congress in the late 1960s. - Jim McMullanJim McMullanJim McMullan, born October 13, 1936, is an American actor from Long Island, New York best known for his role as Dr. Terry McDaniel on the 1960s series Ben Casey and as Senator Andrew Dowling on the CBS Primetime Soap Opera Dallas.-Career:...
- television and film actor, born in Long Beach - Mark O'Connell - drummer of the band Taking Back SundayTaking Back SundayTaking Back Sunday is a rock band from Long Island, NY, formed in 1999 by guitarist Eddie Reyes. Current members of the band are Adam Lazzara , John Nolan , Eddie Reyes , Shaun Cooper and Mark O'Connell ....
- Mike PortnoyMike PortnoyMichael Stephen "Mike" Portnoy is an American drummer primarily known as the former drummer, backing vocalist, and a co-founder of the progressive metal band Dream Theater, as well as the temporary drummer for the hard rock band Avenged Sevenfold. Known for his drumming prowess and technical...
- drummer for metal band, Dream TheaterDream TheaterDream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would... - Lillian RothLillian RothLillian Roth was an American singer and actress.-Early life:Roth was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She was only 6 years old when her mother took her to Educational Pictures, where she became the company's trademark, symbolized by a living statue holding a lamp of knowledge...
- actress, lived in Long Beach as per the Long Beach historical Society - Arnold RothsteinArnold RothsteinArnold Rothstein , nicknamed "The Brain", was a New York businessman and gambler who became a famous kingpin of the Jewish mafia. Rothstein was also widely reputed to have been behind baseball's Black Sox Scandal, in which the 1919 World Series was fixed...
- gangster; during ProhibitionProhibitionProhibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
, he maintained a weekend/summer house on the west side of Franklin Boulevard, at the boardwalk - Frederick Jay "Rick" RubinRick RubinFrederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings...
- music producer and record executive who attended Long Beach High School - Zack RyderZack RyderMatthew Joseph Cardona, Jr. better known by his ring name Zack Ryder, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE and works on the Raw brand as a wrestler and the SmackDown brand as an assistant to SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long.Cardona wrestled mostly with his tag...
(Matthew Cardona) - professional wrestler, currently signed to the RawWWE RAWWWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
brand of World Wrestling EntertainmentWorld Wrestling EntertainmentWorld Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
, resides in Long Beach - Edgar J. ScherickEdgar J. ScherickEdgar J. Scherick was one of the most prolific producers of television miniseries, made-for-television films, and theatrical motion pictures.-Life and career:...
- film and television producer, ABC network executive, and creator of ABC's Wide World of Sports; was born and raised in Long Beach, and graduated from Long Beach High School - Christopher Tuffin - producer of such films as Tell-TaleTell-Tale (film)Tell-Tale is a 2009 thriller film inspired by the Edgar Allan Poe short story The Tell-Tale Heart. It is directed by Michael Cuesta and stars Josh Lucas, Lena Headey, and Brian Cox and is produced by Tony Scott and Ridley Scott.-Plot:...
and 2001 Maniacs2001 Maniacs2001 Maniacs is a 2005 American comedy horror film directed by Tim Sullivan, starring Robert Englund, Jay Gillespie, Dylan Edrington, and Matthew Carey. It is a remake of the 1964 film Two Thousand Maniacs! written and directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis. The film is distributed by Lions Gate...
; was born and raised in Long Beach and graduated from Long Beach High School in 1989 - Ruth UnderwoodRuth UnderwoodRuth Underwood is a retired professional musician, best known for playing xylophone, marimba, vibraphone and other percussion instruments in Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention from 1967 to 1977....
- marimbist with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention - Chaim Weiss - murdered student at the Mesivta of Long Beach in 1986
- Mary WeissMary WeissMary Weiss, born on December 28 in Queens, New York, found fame in the 1960s as the lead singer of The Shangri-Las. She then vanished from the music scene for decades, returning in 2007 to record her first solo album with Norton Records....
- the Shangri-Las - Raphael Weiss - Emmy Award-winning NBC Sound Engineer - 1992 Olympics (Barcelona)
Aerial view
The right section is Long Beach: