Long Beach, New York

Long Beach is a city located in Nassau County, New York. It was incorporated in 1922, and is nicknamed The City By the Sea (as seen, in Latin, on its official seal). As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 35,462.

History

The community became an incorporated village in 1918 and a city in 1922.

Related Topics:
Incorporated village - 1918 - 1922

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Early History

Long Beach's first inhabitants were the Rockaway Indians, who sold the area to 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, until Congress established a lifesaving station in 1849. A dozen years before, 62 people died when the barque Mexico carrying Irish immigrants to New York ran ashore on New Year's Day.

Related Topics:
Rockaway Indians - Colonists - Baymen - Salt hay - Barque

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The first attempt to develop the island as a resort was organized by Austin Corbin, a builder from Brooklyn. He formed a partnership with the Long Island Rail Road to finance the New York and Long Beach Railroad Co which laid track from Lynbrook to Long Beach in 1880. The company also opened the 1,100-foot-long Long Beach Hotel, at the time the largest in the world. The railroad brought 300,000 visitors the first season. By the next spring, tracks had been laid the length of the island, but after repeated winter washouts they were removed in 1894.

Related Topics:
Resort - Brooklyn - Long Island Rail Road - New York and Long Beach Railroad Co - Lynbrook - Long Beach Hotel

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"The Riviera of the East"

Corbin's development scheme ultimately failed, as did two successive efforts. 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, who also owned a theater and produced plays, gathered investors and acquired the oceanfront from its private owners and the rest of the island from the Town of Hempstead in 1907 so he could build a boardwalk, homes and hotels.

Related Topics:
William Reynolds - Bedford-Stuyvesant - Borough Park - Bensonhurst - South Brownsville - Coney Island - Dreamland - Town of Hempstead - Boardwalk

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Reynolds had a herd of elephants march in from Dreamland, ostensibly to help build the boardwalk, but in reality it was just a publicity stunt. Dredges created a channel 1,000 feet wide on the north side of the island so Reynolds could bring in large steamboats and even seaplanes to carry more visitors. The new waterway was named, naturally, Reynolds Channel.

Related Topics:
Elephants - Publicity stunt - Reynolds Channel

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

To ensure that Long Beach lived up to Reynolds' billing as 'The Riviera of the East', he required every building to be constructed in an "eclectic Mediterranean style" with white stucco walls and red tile roofs. And they could be occupied only by white Anglo-Saxon Protestants. After Reynolds' corporation went bankrupt in 1918, these restrictions were lifted and Long Beach became a melting pot filled by immigrants from overseas.

Related Topics:
Riviera - Mediterranean

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The new town attracted wealthy businessmen and entertainers. Before Reynolds' bankruptcy, he built a theater called Castles by the Sea with the largest dance floor in the world for dancers Vernon and Irene Castle. In the '40s, Jose Ferrer, Zero Mostel, Mae West and other famous actors performed at local theaters. And Jack Dempsey, Cab Calloway, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney and John Barrymore lived in Long Beach decades before anyone heard of Long Beach's most famous modern-day native, Billy Crystal.

Related Topics:
Vernon and Irene Castle - Jose Ferrer - Zero Mostel - Mae West - Jack Dempsey - Cab Calloway - Humphrey Bogart - James Cagney - John Barrymore - Billy Crystal

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Corruption and Scandal

In 1923 the world-famous Prohibition agents known simply as Izzy and Moe raided the Nassau Hotel and arrested three men for bootlegging. In 1930, five city police officers were charged with offering a bribe to a 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 beautiful young woman named Starr Faithfull. She had left behind a suicide note, but others believed she had been murdered.

Related Topics:
Prohibition - Izzy and Moe - Coast Guard - Beachcomber - Starr Faithfull

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Official corruption had become almost a regular feature of life in Long Beach. In 1922, the state Legislature designated Long Beach a city and Reynolds was elected the first mayor. He was promptly 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.

Related Topics:
Misappropriating funds - Appeal

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.

Related Topics:
1939 - Louis F. Edwards - PBA

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After the murder, the city turned to a mayorless city manager system, which still exists to this day.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Urban Renewal

By the 1940s and 1950s, with the advent of cheap air travel and air-conditioning, Long Beach had become a primarily bedroom community for New York City, although there was a significant summer population increase into the 1970s. The rundown boardwalk hotels became old-age homes, until a scandal around 1970 led to many of the homes losing licenses. At that time, patients released from mental hospitals were "warehoused" in the hotels.

Related Topics:
1940s - 1950s - Bedroom community - 1970s

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The boardwalk had a small amusement park until the mid 70s. In the late 1960s, the boardwalk and amusement park area were a magnet for youth from around Long Island, until a police crack down on drug trafficking ended that. Today, while there are few businesses left, the boardwalk is full of bikers, joggers, walkers and people-watchers.

Related Topics:
Amusement park - 1960s - Long Island

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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, attracted by the quiet beach atmosphere and the easy, 40-minute train commute.

Related Topics:
1980s - 1990s

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~