Suffolk Closeup: How and why Long Island developed

Lawrence R. Samuel has written a book about Long Island which, as the invitation to his presentation last month at the Hampton Bays Public Library said, “charts how the island evolved over the decades and largely detached itself from New York City to become a self-sustaining entity with its own challenges, exclusions and triumphs.”

It’s titled “Making Long Island: A History of Growth and the American Dream,” and indeed provides an insightful examination of the island’s problems, prejudices and achievements.

The East End is a special focus.

Samuel is a Long Island native (from Lawrence in Nassau County) and has spent time in Suffolk in East Hampton. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. His book, just published by the History Press, is breezy and includes much that is not widely known.

“Like a cool breeze on a hot summer day in the Hamptons, ‘Making Long Island’ is a much welcomed, refreshing account of the vibrant and complicated history of Long Island,” says a blurb as the book begins from Jennifer J. Thompson Burns, a lecturer at SUNY’s University at Albany. “Not only does the book illuminate the island’s development and shifting population over time and space, but it also reminds us that by shining light on the underbelly of the American dream, we are better equipped to reconsider and re-imagine it.”

Samuel started his book and talk (his first presentation on it) by addressing historical tidbits such as how the Long Island Rail Road “goes all the way back to 1834” and is the “oldest continually operating railroad system in the United States.” It also was involved in the “very first train-car collision” in the U.S.  He relates how 43-mile long Vanderbilt Motor Parkway was “the world’s first limited-access concrete highway” — cars only — and privately built by William Vanderbilt II. Opened in 1908, it was taken over by the state in 1938. Parts still survive as sections of other roads.

He points to how, “Despite cold winters, Native Americans found the island a place to live for centuries” and notes: “The Shinnecock occupied part of the eastern end of what would be called Long Island, although by the 20th century their land had been taken over.”

He tells of how Long Island became known as the “Cradle of Aviation,” with large tracts of flat land “ideal for airfields” and available at low cost. The “original Roosevelt Field” is from where Charles Lindbergh took off for his famous flight to Paris in 1927. The airfield “stopped operating” in 1951, however, “and Roosevelt Field Mall was built on the site.”

Also in the 20th century “Long Island became a playground for the … wealthy elite of New York City” and “the Hamptons remain a paradise for those who can afford to be there.”

Development — specifically between 1920 and 1980 — is central, and he also zeroes in on bias. “Alongside the much-flaunted beauty and festivity of suburban bedroom communities and country clubs was the decidedly darker side of Long Island,” he writes. “As in many other parts of the country, the Ku Klux Klan had quite a presence on the island in the 1920s and were not afraid to show it … There were real fears that the KKK would go further by becoming a recognized political party … for those who hated people of color, Jews and Catholics.”

Samuel tells the story of Levittown and its infamous “Clause 25” that, “No dwelling should be used or occupied except by members of the Caucasian race.” “In addition to serving as an opportunity for racism to foment, the development of Long Island … came at another significant cost.” So, “The early 1970s were a golden age of environmentalism, and the effects of the massive changes to the ecosystem of the island were, deservedly, getting increasing attention.”

He quotes Wainscott resident Shana Alexander, a Newsweek columnist, in 1972 “offering her thoughts on what was taking place on the island’s East End: ‘This basically agricultural area is now deeply, perhaps suicidally threatened by massive development.’”

He relates the push by a New York State public works commissioner, Charles Sells, to extend to Orient Point the then “in progress” Long Island Expressway, and for a “twenty-five mile series of causeways and bridges from Orient Point” to Rhode Island. “Sells had the structure jump across various islands in the Sound to break it into smaller segments; Plum Island, Great Gull Island and Fishers Island served as ideal ‘stepping stones,’” in Sells’ view. But “the proposed span across Long Island Sound was never built, deemed literally a bridge too far.”

He writes about how Lee Koppelman, long-time Suffolk County planning director, sought to tackle growth in 1970 with a Nassau-Suffolk Comprehensive Development plan with “the first priority … to preserve open space” and “to use vacant land for agricultural, recreational or conservation purposes.”

Samuel says: “Today, rather happily, the cultural ecosystem of Long Island and its built environment are being reexamined in light of concepts such as … smart growth, the green movement and sustainable neighborhoods.” “All in all,” he says, “much of the island’s natural beauty and original appeal remain, offering hope that a new and improved American dream can and will emerge in the years ahead.”