LATFOR’s Suffolk County hearing will take place at Farmingdale State College, located right on the border with Nassau, on Wednesday October 5th.
As a starting point in analyzing Suffolk County demographics, it’s important to first point out the basic differences between West Suffolk and East Suffolk.
West Suffolk—the towns of Huntington, Smithtown, Babylon, Islip, and the west half of Brookhaven—is what can be described as “dense suburbia. Nearly the entire area is developed and covered with housing subdivisions, shopping centers, and office/industrial parks. Babylon and Islip are significantly denser than Huntington and Smithtown, with less open space and smaller lot sizes.
Once one goes further east than central Brookhaven (about an hour and fifteen minutes from New York City), Suffolk County becomes more rural than suburban. Much farmland remains in Eastern Suffolk County despite continued development. The seasonal summer population of the Hamptons is not captured by any of the Census numbers. This is important to remember when looking at the socio-economic data.
Looking at median household incomes, it appears that there are no concentrated areas of poverty in Suffolk County.
But there is a clear contrast between the North Shore towns of Huntington and Smithtown, where most households make over $75,000 and many over $125,000, and most of Babylon and Islip where the population is more middle and working-class. Central and South Brookhaven is also more middle and working-class when compared to the North Shore. And again, the summer wealth of the Hamptons does not show up in the Census Bureau’s surveys of permanent residents.
Differences in homeownership also follow this North-South divide. Since Suffolk County is a suburban-rural environment, a majority of households throughout the county are clearly homeowners. But parts of Babylon, Islip, and southern Brookhaven have significant numbers of renter households.
The socio-economic contrast between Huntington and Smithtown and most of Babylon and Islip can again be seen in looking at education. While a majority of Huntington and Smithtown residents have college degrees, most residents of Babylon and Islip do not. In some areas of Babylon and Islip, less than 20% of residents have finished college.
As we’ve seen in regions throughout New York, differences in education have a direct relationship with differences in work. Most residents in the north half of Suffolk work in “white collar” job in business, management, or professions (e.g. architects, designers, teachers). Residents in the south half, particularly in Babylon, Central Islip, and the Mastic-Shirley area in Brookhaven are more likely to work in “blue collar” jobs or the service sector.
Overall, the above maps indicate a demographic contrast between Huntington-Smithtown and Babylon-Islip, and to a lesser extent, between the north and south halves of Brookhaven.
Looking closer, central Babylon and Islip are particularly distinct, with higher population densities as well as the clearest concentrations of working-class socio-economic characteristics.
The above area of Babylon and Islip highlighted in red is clearly demographically distinct from the rest of Suffolk County.
In Suffolk, this dense working-class concentration is also where the county’s black and Hispanic populations are concentrated.
Within the area of central Babylon and Islip highlighted above (the villages of Amityville, Copiague, North Amityville, Lindenhurst, North Lindenhurst, West Babylon, Wyandanch, Wheatley Heights, Deer Park, Baywood, Brentwood, North Bay Shore, Central Islip, North Great River, Islandia, and the north halves of Bay Shore, Islip, and East Islip), the voting age population is now majority-minority.
In contrast, the rest of Suffolk’s voting-age population outside of this area is over 81% non-Hispanic white. More than half of the Hispanic and Black population of Suffolk County lives within this small area of Babylon and Islip.
Overall, as we’ve seen in other regions of New York, the population of Suffolk County would have fallen if not for growth in the minority communities.
While the non-Hispanic white voting-age population of Suffolk fell by 0.7% since the year 2000, the non-Hispanic black voting age population grew by 18.4% and the Hispanic population by 67.7%. Asians account for only 3.4% of Suffolk’s population but are also increasing at a rapid pace.
Suffolk is now almost 22% Black and Hispanic, up from just 16% ten years ago. With this minority population concentrated in a geographically compact area that also shares many other demographic commonalities, one might expect central Babylon and Islip to be joined in a political district whenever possible.
Unfortunately Suffolk County is one of the areas of New York where LATFOR’s habit of political gerrymandering is best exemplified.
At first glance, the State Senate districts in Suffolk County look like fairly compact, common-sense districts. District 1 (LaValle-R) occupies the eastern, rural half of the county and the other districts are all separated between North Shore and South Shore as they should be.
Only a close look at the lines in Babylon and Islip reveals the partisan gerrymandering at play here.
In Islip, Districts 3 (Zeldin-R) and 4 (Johnson-R) crack the Hispanic community almost directly in half.
In Babylon, District 4 and District 8 (Fuschillo Jr.-R) divide the black communities in North Amityville and Wyandanch.
The Senate lines in Suffolk are clearly drawn to divide minority voters into three districts to prevent a minority candidate from challenging the incumbent.
It’s not just about race though – remember that these areas put together are also a clear socio-economic community of interest that should be kept together if good government redistricting criteria were being followed.
This political gerrymander also violates the principle that villages and school districts – very important units of local governance in suburban areas like Suffolk – should not be unnecessarily divided.
Senate Districts 3 and 4 cut six school districts (Brentwood, Islip, East Islip, Connetquot, Sayville, Sachem) and seven villages (Islip, East Islip, Oakdale, West Sayville, Sayville, Holbrook, Bohemia) as they gerrymander the town of Islip.
The lines of District 4 and District 8 in the Town of Babylon slice and dice through five school districts (Wyandanch, West Babylon, Lindenhurst, Copiague, Amityville) and five villages (the same as the school districts). In some cases, the senate lines divide school districts into 20/80, 30/70, and 40/60 proportions.
In contrast, the Senate lines elsewhere in Suffolk County keep school districts mostly whole. Principles that are disregarded in Babylon and Islip are much more closely followed in other parts of Suffolk, for blatantly partisan reasons.
Rather than continue this partisan gerrymandering, a different Senate district can be drawn in Suffolk that closely follows the “demographically distinct” area of Babylon and Islip highlighted above. This would avoid the unnecessary division of this community of interest and also more closely follow the village and school district lines that are important political divisions in Suffolk.
Looking at the Suffolk Congressional Districts, the line between District 2 (Israel-D) and District 3 (King-R) in Babylon and Islip may be a good model for drawing Senate districts in this area.
Assembly Districts in many areas of New York are often gerrymandered to the advantage of the Democratic Party. In Suffolk, however, there don’t appear to be any blatant Assembly gerrymanders. The central Babylon and central Islip areas are each kept together in their own Assembly districts as they should be according to principles of communities of interest.
Where the Suffolk Assembly districts could stand to improve is in their following of village and school district lines.
Since the October 5th LATFOR hearing is right on the border with Nassau, we’ll be publishing our Nassau analysis tomorrow rather than later in the month at LATFOR’s second Long Island hearing in Nassau.
