Long Island, having an area of 3567 sq km and jutting out about 132 km from the NY Harbor, is the largest such land mass in the Continental United States. It is divided into the counties - Brooklyn, Queens, and Nassau and Suffolk – and has a combined population of over 7.5 million people, making it rank 17th in the list of the most populated islands in the world. But, given the large influx of people into Long Island, which has been continuing for many years, contours that divide NY City and its suburbs are obliterating faster than ever; these days, Brooklyn and Queens are considered parts of an expanding NY City, and only Nassau and Suffolk Counties have a conventional county government in place.
The flow of immigrants into Long Island started began at the dawn of the last century, when people came in large numbers to settle in Long Island boroughs, mainly owing to its proximity with NY and also for business purposes, and as the commerce grew, the place also gradually evolved into one of the richest dwellings in the NY suburbs. If to take into account its current demographics, Long Island has a long list of some of the richest Americans as its residents, a feat virtually unmatched by any other city in the whole US. For a new comer to NY or its suburbs, keep in mind, Long Island is one of the most expensive residential locations in the whole NY area.
For tourists, Long Island and its neighbor - NY City - have enough places to fill the vacation schedules of anybody for more than a week. Starting from its western end, Brooklyn, it is home to some of the hottest tourist destinations in NY, some of them being the Coney Islands Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Old Stone House, Brooklyn Bridge, and Prospect Park. P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, Socrates Sculpture Park, The International Express, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, New York Hall of Science, Queens Botanical Garden, and Queens County Farm Museum are the gems of Queens County.
Suffolk County is home to renowned museums such as Vanderbilt Museum, Walt Whitman Historic Site, and the Museum of Long Island Natural Sciences and also some of the most alluring seashores in the region. But a visit to Suffolk is never complete unless one spends some time feeling the diverse world presented by Long Island’s two forks – the laid back North Fork and the more uptown South Fork. North Fork’s farm stands, vineyards and the many charming villages, and South Fork’s upscale shopping destinations are not to be missed in any case.
Nassau County is relatively closer to NY City than Suffolk, but still it is a world away. Eisenhower Park, Belmont Racetrack, South Shore beach, Cradle of Aviation – the aviation museum - Garvies Point Museum, Old Bethpage Village Restoration, Nassau Coliseum, and Planting Fields Arboretum some of the tourist places worth paying a visit in the region.
Long Island has two major air connection points by JFK Airport and La Guardia Airport (both in Queens County) and the smaller MacArthur Airport (Islip Airport) in Suffolk.
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