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and to the west are New York City and New Jersey .]] Long Island is an Island in Southeast New York , USA . It has an area of 3,567 square miles (10,377 km&2) and a population of 7,448,618 as of the 2000 Census , with the population estimated at 7,559,372 as of July 1 , 2006 , making it the largest island in the 48 Contiguous U.S. States and the Most Populated in any U.S. state or territory. It is the 17th Most Populous Island in the world, ahead of Ireland , Jamaica and the Japan ese island of Hokkaidō . Its population density is 5,470 people per square mile (2,110 per km&2). True to its name, the island is much longer than it is wide, jutting out some 118 miles (190 km) from New York Harbor , with only from 12 to 20 miles (32 km) between the southern Atlantic coast and Long Island Sound . The Native American name for Long Island is Paumanok, meaning "The Island that Pays Tribute" —more warlike tribes in the surrounding areas forced the relatively peaceful Long Islanders to give tributes and payment to avoid attacks. The westernmost end of Long Island contains the New York City Boroughs of Brooklyn (Kings County) and Queens (Queens County), and the central and eastern portions contain Nassau and Suffolk counties. However, colloquial usage of the term "Long Island" or "the Island" refers only to the Suburb an Nassau and Suffolk counties; the more Urban Brooklyn and Queens are not always thought of as being part of Long Island, as they are politically part of New York City, though geographically they are on the island. Nassau County tends to be the more urbanized and congested county, with pockets of rural affluence in the cliffs of the Gold Coast of the North Shore overlooking the Long Island Sound . Nassau County, owing to the vast suburbanization that occurred in America after World War II , was the fastest growing county in the United States from the 1950s to the 1970s. Suffolk County remains less congested despite substantial growth in high technology and light manufacturing sectors since 1990. Suffolk remains rural in the far east sections, such as The Hamptons and Greenport . Long Island is known for its affluence and high quality of life. According to the 2000 Census , Nassau County is the Second Richest County Per Capita In New York State (behind New York County , which is coterminous with the New York City borough of Manhattan) and the Fifth Richest In The United States . Suffolk County is known for beach towns, including the world-renowned Hamptons, and for the most eastern part of the Island, Montauk Point, home of Montauk Lighthouse. Long Island has a large Italian-American population.
Ebbets Field , which stood in Brooklyn from 1913-1957, was the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers , who decamped to California after the 1957 season to become the Los Angeles Dodgers . The Dodgers won several National League penants in the 1940s and 1950s, losing several times in the World Series — often called '' Subway Series '' — to their Bronx rivals, the New York Yankees . The Dodgers won their lone championship in Brooklyn in the 1955 World Series versus the Yankees. The Brooklyn Nets Arena is a proposed sports arena, business and residential complex to be built partly on a platform over the Atlantic Yards at Atlantic Avenue , and is intended to serve as a new home for the New Jersey Nets . The New York Mets play at Shea Stadium in Flushing in Queens. Plans have been announced for a new stadium, Citi Field in Willets Point in the parking lot of the current stadium, to be completed for the 2009 baseball season. The new stadium is designed with an exterior facade and main entry rotunda inspired by Ebbets Field. The Brooklyn Cyclones are a Minor League Baseball team, affiliated with the New York Mets. The Cyclones play at KeySpan Park just off the boardwalk on Coney Island . Nassau County is home to the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League and the New York Dragons of the Arena Football League , who both play at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale . Long Island has been a hot spot for outdoor lacrosse at the youth and college level, which made way for a Major League Lacrosse team in 2001, the Long Island Lizards . The Lizards play at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Uniondale . The longest dirt Thoroughbred racecourse in the world is located in the Nassau County community of Elmont at Belmont Park . Long Island is also home to the Long Island Ducks Minor League Baseball team of the Atlantic League . Their stadium, Citibank Park , is located in Central Islip . The American Basketball Association's Strong Island Sound play home games at Suffolk County Community College . The two main rugby teams are the Long Island RFC in East Meadow and the Suffolk Bull Moose in Stony Brook . It also has a professional soccer club, the Long Island Rough Riders , who play at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Uniondale. The Rough Riders have won two national championships, in 1995 and 2002. Another category of sporting events popular in this region are Firematic Racing events, involving many local Volunteer Fire Department s. MUSIC Modern music has a long history on Long Island, as the island has long been part of US history and is near the most populous city in North America , yet is located in the Suburb s and as such is strongly influenced by Youth Culture . Psychedelic Rock was widely popular in the 1960s as flocks of disaffected youth travelled to NYC to participate in protest and the culture of the time. R & B also has a history in Long Island, especially in Nassau County, where population is denser and more closely influenced by New York City (Queens and Brooklyn). Famous musical artists have roots in Long Island. For example, superstar diva Mariah Carey was born and raised in Huntington in Suffolk County. R&B singer Ashanti grew up in Glen Cove , Paris-based Singer-songwriter Elliott Murphy was raised in Garden City (the song "Garden City" describing his teenage years is included in the album '' Murph The Surf '') and Billy Joel is from Hicksville in Nassau County. Billy Joel's debut solo album, '' Cold Spring Harbor '', was a reference to the Long Island Town of the same name. Many compositions by Billy Joel pertain to life on Long Island, particularly his youth. Examples include the songs "Keepin' The Faith", " Captain Jack ", "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" and most notably " Scenes From An Italian Restaurant ", which names local eateries and hangouts. The restaurant itself is believed to be Christiano's in Syosset, New York . Also, the song " Movin' Out " is a highly identifiable song for Long Islanders. Its commiseration of the increasing cost for living on Long Island has its protagonists working too hard just to "move up", all too familiar to this island's inhabitants. The songs "No Man's Land" and " Downeaster Alexa " lament the increasing development of the island, the latter song specifically referring to the eastern island and its effect on the fishing industry. The pioneering Heavy Metal / Psychedelic Rock group Blue Öyster Cult came together around Stony Brook University , releasing hits such as " (Don't Fear) The Reaper ", "Astronomy", and "Godzilla". Eddie Money was a graduate of Island Trees High School in Levittown . In addition, the Progressive Metal band Dream Theater has most of its members stemming from Long Island, including John Petrucci , John Myung , and Mike Portnoy . World-known drummer John Miceli , who plays with Meat Loaf , and formerly with Blue Oyster Cult, is from Port Jefferson . He currently resides in St. James , which is the hometown of singer/songwriter Axella Johannesson . Television and film composer Roy Harter currently resides in Manhasset . Leslie Wunderman of Baldwin , better known as the Diva Taylor Dayne , had an abundance of hits in the late 1980s and in the early 1990s. Some of the members of The Good Rats hail from Baldwin. Four-time Grammy Award winner, Pat Benatar , grew up in Lindenhurst . Brian Setzer ( Stray Cats , The Brian Setzer Orchestra ), Lee Rocker (Stray Cats) and Dee Snider , the lead singer of Twisted Sister , all hail from Massapequa , where Stanley Drucker (principal clarinetist, New York Philharmonic ) resides with his wife, clarinetist Naomi Drucker . Long Island is known for producing some of the most popular acts in hip-hop and rap music. Grammy winning rap group De La Soul came from Amityville , Public Enemy and Flava Flav from Roosevelt , Busta Rhymes from Uniondale , underground rapper Aesop Rock from Northport, Bad Boy -associated acts Black Rob and Craig Mack grew up in Brentwood , and Rakim from the Eric B. & Rakim rap duo hails from Wyandanch . Modern music in Long Island includes Indie Music , which has rapidly grown in popularity, particularly in Suffolk County where the local Emo and Hardcore Punk scene continues to grow. It has been felt nationally by the moderate success of local bands such as Glassjaw , Head Automatica , Quinn , Taking Back Sunday , Brand New , Straylight Run , The Movielife , I Am The Avalanche and From Autumn To Ashes selling Gold albums nationwide. Many churches and synagogues, as well as VFW Halls and community centers constantly house underground shows, affording cheap entertainment and an underlying sense of "scene community". Ska and pop punk bands also have an impressive following, with bands like Patent Pending , Jeff Orlick's Ex-Planets, High School Football Heroes , the long-since disbanded Edna's Goldfish , SGT and Arrogant Sons Of Bitches topping the list of crowd pleasers. It is a self-serving "business", so to speak, and most bands that are known on the island spill over into adjoining regions such as New Jersey and Connecticut . Rising bands Envy On The Coast , Pristine Cadre , The Adventures Of... , As Tall As Lions , WD-39 , Greyscale , and Bayside also hail from Long Island. Pioneering Technical Death Metal band Suffocation come from the Farmingdale area in Nassau County. Jones Beach State Park is a popular place to view summer concerts, with new as well as classic artists performing there during the summer months at its outdoor venue. It hosts a large Fourth Of July fireworks show every year, and the stands are filled. People park cars along the highway leading to the show, and others watch from the nearby beaches. In 2003, a group of local business people/music lovers, led by Rich L'Hommedieu, the publisher of a paper called ''Long Island Entertainment'', began meeting to create a Long Island Music Hall Of Fame . The organization was incorporated as a Not For Profit corporation in July of 2005. It held its first inauguration ceremony in October of 2006, inducting prominent musical Long Islanders from various genres and eras. Plans for the future include the creation of a physical space for a museum of Long Island music history that will also serve as a multimedia resource center, an educational facility and outreach program, and a venue for musical performance. Long Island is also known for its schools' music programs. Many schools in Suffolk County have distinguished music programs, with high numbers of students who are accepted into the state-wide All-State music groups, or even the National All-Eastern Coast music groups. Both the Suffolk County and Nassau County Music Educator's Associations are both recognized by MENC, and host numerous events, competitions, and other music-related activities. Many colleges are also well-recognized for their rich music programs, such as Stonybrook University and C.W. Post. TOURISM OF LONG ISLAND TOWNS AND VILLAGES Tourism is a good part of the Long Island economy in certain regions. Tourism thrives primarily in the summer because of the natural beauty, parks and beaches in Long Island along with the warmer weather of summer. Regions of Long Island that are large tourist attractions are the North fork on the east end of Suffolk County, which is known for fishing villages, quaint towns, ferries across to Connecticut or other northern states, and for the world famous wineries. The South fork is primarily known for similar features including golf, equestrian, boating, surfing, and fine dining in the Hamptons and Montauk. The village of Patchogue is also host to one of the finest archaic theatres of its class, the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts, which is also the official home theatre of the Atlantic Wind Symphony . Villages are significant additional source of tourism for the Island. Some of the tourism is from local Long Islander's simply visiting nearby friendly villages. Examples of well developed villages that attract surrounding communities are Huntington Village, Northport Village, Islip Hamlet, Port Jefferson Village, Sayville, & Cold Spring Harbor in Suffolk County. Roslyn Village, Great Neck, The City of Long Beach, The City of Glen Cove, Massapequa Park and Rockville Centre, Garden City are popular Nassau County Villages. TRIVIA
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