OT: Long Island

JayDogSmooth

All-Conference
Aug 18, 2006
8,096
3,789
0
I'm here for work, I don't get this place. Traffic all over. More highways than anywhere I've ever been. One minute I'm in an urban area (Hempstead), I cross over railroad tracks and it's like "Boom!!!" an oasis of trees and beautiful neighborhoods. In NJ there's usually a buffer zone (I'm going route 9 south in Howell, once I pass Home Depot and 195, it gets noticeably different). Here, the neighborhoods just flow into one another.

Property taxes are insane. I tell people I'm from NJ, they look at me like I have 6 heads, like NJ is on another planet. For some reason, there's a large disdain for Staten Island. Has anyone else encountered the same thing?
 

rurichdog

Heisman
Sep 30, 2006
116,807
14,389
0
I grew up near there. The Hempstead - Garden City border is very shocking that way. Hempstead is like Asbury Park and Garden City like Loch Arbor. Instant change. Traffic is horrendous because everyone works in NYC and there's only a few ways to get there (remember, its an island 100 miles long 20 miles wide at its widest). And yes, "Jersey" is some far-away, scary place to them. Mainly because if they ever go anywhere west of NYC, it is by plane.
 

RutHut_rivals

All-Conference
Aug 11, 2017
4,483
4,903
0
Knew a girl from Long Island
she talked kindof funny
In her own world
But she did have some money
It was a long ride
Down the LI E
Two hour tunnel merge
And I've got to pee
Now when I cross over
For a quick bang
It's for my Staten honey
And her cheap trashy twang
 

RUnTeX

All-Conference
Dec 21, 2001
7,097
4,264
113
Thanks to Brooklyn and Queens, it's the third most populated island in the western hemisphere behind (1) DR/Haiti and (2) Cuba, but above (4) Ireland.

* the above excludes Great Britain which straddles both western & eastern hemispheres
 

ManasquanMike

Sophomore
Feb 5, 2011
339
186
23
Born in Manhattan grew up in Bergen county relatives in 4 of the 5 boroughs (no Bronx). Im talking Manhattan here (I know my geography and yes you CAN drive to other boroughs of NYC). Woman from LI, at the Gansevoort pool “sigh, the bridge & tunnel crowd from Jersey is here”...
I don’t know how she thinks she got there?
Sense of Longuyland being so much better.
 

T2Kplus10

Heisman
Feb 24, 2010
28,180
17,566
0
I'm here for work, I don't get this place. Traffic all over. More highways than anywhere I've ever been. One minute I'm in an urban area (Hempstead), I cross over railroad tracks and it's like "Boom!!!" an oasis of trees and beautiful neighborhoods. In NJ there's usually a buffer zone (I'm going route 9 south in Howell, once I pass Home Depot and 195, it gets noticeably different). Here, the neighborhoods just flow into one another.

Property taxes are insane. I tell people I'm from NJ, they look at me like I have 6 heads, like NJ is on another planet. For some reason, there's a large disdain for Staten Island. Has anyone else encountered the same thing?
Long Island is a glorified prison for millions, easy access to nothing.
 
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rurichdog

Heisman
Sep 30, 2006
116,807
14,389
0
The weird part about LI's sky-high property taxes is they have volunteer fire departments and county police. I can't imagine how worse the taxes would be if they had to pay local police & fire taxes. Then again, those costs are just shifted to county level government, which is much more prevalent in LI versus State or muni government.
 

RUbacker

Heisman
Dec 5, 2014
16,034
22,700
108
I'm here for work, I don't get this place. Traffic all over. More highways than anywhere I've ever been. One minute I'm in an urban area (Hempstead), I cross over railroad tracks and it's like "Boom!!!" an oasis of trees and beautiful neighborhoods. In NJ there's usually a buffer zone (I'm going route 9 south in Howell, once I pass Home Depot and 195, it gets noticeably different). Here, the neighborhoods just flow into one another.

Property taxes are insane. I tell people I'm from NJ, they look at me like I have 6 heads, like NJ is on another planet. For some reason, there's a large disdain for Staten Island. Has anyone else encountered the same thing?
Everyone has disdain for Staten Island it’s just the way it is and has been.
 

batts

All-Conference
Jun 6, 2001
6,941
1,360
113
I'm a life long North Jersey resident. My wife is from the South Shore of Long Island in Suffolk County. Local real estate taxes are high for the same reasons in NJ, that being teacher and police salaries, pensions and health benefits are ridiculously generous. L.I. is a narrow island with few major roadways travelling from east to west and vice versa which causes major traffic nightmares. L.I. is over crowded and the suburban area roadways are cluttered with endless amounts of strip malls. My wife is much happier living NJ.

L.I. does have three advantages over NJ, that being: (1) easy access to scenic beaches that are not overdeveloped; (2) easy access to NYC by train; and (3) no highway tolls. With regard to the L.I. beaches, they are not cluttered with boardwalks, amusement piers and miniature golf courses. They are also not as restrictive as NJ beaches and are less prone to indirect ways by townships to discourage non-residents from enjoying the beaches like NJ towns which restrict parking, food coolers, etc.
 

asgot

All-Conference
Aug 8, 2017
2,130
2,361
0
I'm here for work, I don't get this place. Traffic all over. More highways than anywhere I've ever been. One minute I'm in an urban area (Hempstead), I cross over railroad tracks and it's like "Boom!!!" an oasis of trees and beautiful neighborhoods. In NJ there's usually a buffer zone (I'm going route 9 south in Howell, once I pass Home Depot and 195, it gets noticeably different). Here, the neighborhoods just flow into one another.

Property taxes are insane. I tell people I'm from NJ, they look at me like I have 6 heads, like NJ is on another planet. For some reason, there's a large disdain for Staten Island. Has anyone else encountered the same thing?
NJ is actually another planet, or better yet Long Island is another planet
 
Oct 17, 2007
69,704
47,622
0
The weird part about LI's sky-high property taxes is they have volunteer fire departments and county police. I can't imagine how worse the taxes would be if they had to pay local police & fire taxes. Then again, those costs are just shifted to county level government, which is much more prevalent in LI versus State or muni government.

Their teachers and cops (somehow) get paid more. Also they may be even more crooked, like the Suffolk County police chief who beat a prisoner who outed his own crimes.

There are fewer cheap areas on LI than in NJ. You can also live in PA or deep into areas further from the city to save money- but if you work on LI you mostly have to live there. So the salaries are commensurate with that.
 

RUBigFrank

All-Conference
Jun 9, 2003
2,867
1,789
113
I disdain business travel to LI - I rather fly somewhere else. Episodes of getting to Lake Success in about an hour and return trip of 3.5 hours - ugh.
 

ashokan

Heisman
May 3, 2011
25,325
19,689
0
LI = horrid traffic but best looking girls.

I lived in Southampton for a year and it was bad May-Sept. The bumper to bumper traffic in Hamptons was constant during the day (lots of jokes about not being able to make a left turn on LI) but even worse was that you cant park once you get to a destination. You have to drive around for a half hour hoping to get lucky when someone is pulling out. Many locals shop on Thursday and dont come out again until Mon or Tues. At night Rt 27 is dead - just you and cops lurking to catch you DUI. North Fork (Greenport etc) was a lot more chill - felt like upstate NY.
 
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R1766U_rivals

All-Conference
Jan 17, 2014
1,290
1,495
113
I was born in Riverhead, my grandmother still lives in Moriches. She is in her 80's. Takes me 3 hours on average to get out there to see her. It is a nightmare.
 

CrazyfoRU

Sophomore
Feb 23, 2017
326
186
0
My wife was grew up on LI further out east off exit 66 of the expressway. I hate driving there but once we are out there I kind of enjoy it. Good deli's and food. Like to go to Port Jeff and further out east esp. on the north shore. Culturally it is a different world compared to just 10 miles east. Lots of good ol boys still around in eastern Suffolk and yes they rarely leave the Island except to go upstate where someone has a house or cabin..
 
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RUbacker

Heisman
Dec 5, 2014
16,034
22,700
108
My wife was grew up on LI further out east off exit 66 of the expressway. I hate driving there but once we are out there I kind of enjoy it. Good deli's and food. Like to go to Port Jeff and further out east esp. on the north shore. Culturally it is a different world compared to just 10 miles east. Lots of good ol boys still around in eastern Suffolk.
What do you mean by good old boys ? Sounds racist.
 

RUfanSinceAnderson

All-Conference
Jan 31, 2006
7,869
3,996
85
I have to go to Melville for a meeting next week from Morris county. Best times of day to travel to and fro? (Other than 2am)
 

patk89

All-Conference
Jul 25, 2001
6,327
2,453
78
When I say I'm from NJ, they look like they are sorry for me. Just like NJ residents look when someone tells them that they are from LI. Kind of funny that way. Some of the most expensive towns in the country due to Manhattan access (Manhasset, Oyster Bay Cove) with huge houses and great schools. Taxes in my village are outrageous due to rich contracts for police and teachers. But services are top notch. Great access to the beach. All things considered, a nice place to live and raise a family. Worst thing is getting back to NJ (I see the Belt Parkway in my nightmares) and traffic in general. Too many people living in a confined area.
 

chase07470

All-American
Oct 16, 2010
10,118
8,378
113
Long Island has maybe the best collection of golf courses, anywhere. I've had a lot of good experiences, whether it's in the Hamptons or Long Beach...a lot of characters, especially the girls. I always think of LI and NJ as cousins. Different but the same genetics.
 

RUboston

All-American
Sep 13, 2002
6,297
9,649
78
We used to go with my son's travel baseball team to Baseball Heaven in Yaphank every summer. We always hated it and referred to it as "Baseball Hell." Hard to get to via ferry or driving the whole way, bad traffic all day, in the middle of nowhere, hard to get to NYC.
 

daveo13

All-Conference
Jul 24, 2013
1,082
1,659
88
I have to go to Melville for a meeting next week from Morris county. Best times of day to travel to and fro? (Other than 2am)
If you can leave around 9:30-10:00 am you should be good. I am out there once a week but go over the Gothels, Verrazono, Bely Parkway, to the Southern State Parkway. Most of the time I have no problem getting out there but coming home is a nightmare before Coney Island and especially Staten Island Expressway which is an absolute joke.
 
May 5, 2016
73
30
0
I have to go to Melville for a meeting next week from Morris county. Best times of day to travel to and fro? (Other than 2am)

Good luck. You can never beat the belt parkway. Always backed up. Best bet is after 10 am and leave before 1:45. From like 3 to 8pm don't bother. If you are in Melville best to go to Huntington for dinner rather than try to leave. Good restaurants and bars.
 

ru66

All-American
Jul 28, 2001
12,175
6,257
0
some posters have no real idea about LI--guess what, it's not all that different from NJ--and you are just showing your local bias
 
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e5fdny

Heisman
Nov 11, 2002
114,561
53,746
102
Mere child's play compared to the Belt Parkway. Friday evening in the summer, or Christmas Eve...world's longest parking lot.
There are ways...just like the secret exit out of the Purple Lot, there are ways. ;)