Seaford, New York

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 2.6 sqmi, of which 2.6 sqmi is land and 0.38% is water.

History

The original settlers of Seaford were the Marsapeaques, a Native American Indian tribe. They called the area "Great Water Land."

European settlement began with the arrival of Captain John Seaman, a native of Seaford, East Sussex, in England. After obtaining the patent for the area, Seaman oversaw the creation of Jerusalem South, the first European name given to the community which was to become Seaford. It was also widely referred to as Seaman's Neck.

During the 19th century, as villages across Long Island started to grow (due to the creation of the Long Island Rail Road), Jerusalem South seemed to be unaffected. In 1868 the community was renamed to "Seaford", in honor of Captain Seaman's hometown in England. During this time, Seaford remained an agricultural area. Over time, Seaford gained a post office, a church, and a one-room school, established in what would many years later become the first fire house and, as of 1976, the Seaford Historical Museum.

With the creation of Sunrise Highway in 1929, Seaford started to see a large influx of inhabitants. Before 1929, Seaford had approximately 1,200 citizens. Within 25 years, this number would triple.

Economy

Cash crops such as corn and wheat were some of the earliest farmed within the Seaford area. Due to easy access to various waterfronts, the attempts to fish and recover oysters were widely seen. At first, this was a hard task considering the layers of land beneath the water. In the mid-19th century, baymen from the Seaford area created a type of small, round-bottomed boat called the "Seaford skiff" that was used for fishing and market gunning (commercial waterfowl hunting).

With the popularity of hunting and fishing came the development of two hotels along Merrick Road: the Sportsman's Hotel, where Verity Van Lines is now located near Route 135, and the Powell Hotel at Jackson Avenue. Many celebrities came to these hotels to go duck hunting in South Oyster Bay, including New York Yankees Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, as well as brewery and longtime Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 15,791 people, 5,257 households, and 4,200 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 6,072.9 PD/sqmi. There were 5,358 housing units at an average density of 2,060.6 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the CDP was 99.8% white, .15% African American, .06% Native American, .68% Asian, .02% Pacific Islander, .54% from other races, and .59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 1.71% of the population.

There were 5,257 households, out of which 37.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.4% were married couples living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.1% were non-families. 16.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.00 and the average family size was 3.38.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 25.2% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 13.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and older, there were 93 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $78,572, and the median income for a family was $85,751. Males had a median income of $60,092 versus $39,083 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $29,244. About 2.8% of families and 3.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.9% of those under age 18 and 3.9% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The Seaford Union Free School District is the public school district that encompasses the Seaford Harbor Elementary School (K-5), Seaford Manor Elementary School (K-5), Seaford Middle School (6-8), and Seaford High School (9–12). Seaford is home to two Catholic schools: Saint William the Abbot Catholic School (nursery-8th), founded by the Ursuline Sisters in 1954, and Maria Regina School.

The Seaford Free Union School District contains a board of education and a central administration that oversee the entire school district and are charged with decision making. The board is headed by President Lisa Herbert, and Vice President Angela Parisi. The central administration deals with education matters and budgeting, led by Superintendent Dr. Adele Pecora and assistant superintendents Dr. Sheena Jacob, Amanda Barney, and Richard Cunningham.

Seaford High School's subjects include art, business, computer sciences, English, health, French, Spanish, American Sign Language, mathematics, music & choral studies, physical education & health, science, and social studies. Within most of these subjects, AP courses are available.

As of 2010, there were 3,296 students attending all public schools in Seaford, and 984 in private schools.

The school has a total enrollment of 786 students and is equipped with 62 full-time teachers. The current principal of Seaford High School is Scott Bersin. Vice principals are Anthony Alison and Jessica Sventeroitis.

The Manor and Harbor elementary schools do not offer school-affiliated sports, but do have some clubs and an after-school SCOPE program for students. Seaford Middle School offers many school-sponsored sports, including wrestling, volleyball, softball, baseball, lacrosse, and basketball. The middle school also offers a drama program that produces a musical once a year for the community. Seaford High School offers many of the same sports as middle school, but at the varsity and junior varsity levels. The high school offers clubs such as Students Against Destructive Decisions and Gay Straight Alliance.

Parts of Seaford are also covered by the Island Trees, Plainedge, and Levittown school districts where all students north of Jerusalem Ave attend school.

Seaford Public Library

The Seaford Public Library is run by a board of trustees that oversees how the library is interacting with the community. The board is headed by President John Scaparro, and Vice President Mary Westermann.

The library requires a membership to be able to use the library's resources. Membership is free and valid for up to three years. Members can take out books any day of the week except for Sunday. The library also has movies, documentaries, and magazines available for borrowing.

In addition, the library creates many events for both adults and children. Events for children include crafts, scavenger hunts, and book clubs. One event that takes place in the library is reading to dogs. The library is able to bring in reading/therapy dogs for the kids to read to them. Another program of the library is to rent out items to the children. The library has a telescope program that allows members to borrow a telescope from the library for a week and then return it. The adults have opportunities to be a part of book discussions over Zoom.

Cedar Creek Park

Cedar Creek Park, located on the south end of Seaford on Merrick Road, east of Wantagh Avenue, contains playgrounds, dunes and athletic fields, and offers a variety of community-based activities. The Cedar Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant is directly to the south, and is accessed via a gate inside the park.

During several months following Hurricane Sandy (October 2012), Cedar Creek Park was the site of a relief and assistance center, providing services of the American Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and a central location for property insurance companies to advise customers regarding the filing of claims for property damage.

Sports

Seaford is home to the Long Island Broncos. Established in 1966, the Long Island Broncos is one of the oldest Youth Football and Cheer organizations on Long Island.

Seaford also has Police Athletic Leagues for several sports, and the local Roman Catholic parish, St. William the Abbot, offers Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) basketball and swimming. Maria Regina also offers a wide variety of CYO sports and the Seaford Little League offers both baseball and softball.

Transportation

Seaford has a station on the Babylon Branch of the Long Island Rail Road.

Nassau Inter-County Express service in Seaford is provided by the n54 (which serves Jerusalem and Washington Avenues, and the train station) and the n19 (which runs along Merrick Road, south of the station).

Notable people

• Karol J. Bobko, NASA astronaut and the first person to fly on 3 different Space Shuttle missions. Bobko was pilot of the maiden voyage of the Challenger (mission STS-6) in April 1983, commander of the 4th voyage of the Discovery (mission STS-51-D) in April 1985, and commander of the maiden voyage of the Atlantis (mission STS-51-J) in October 1985. Moved to Seaford at age 13.
• Liberty DeVitto, best known as the drummer for Billy Joel; has also played with the NYC Hit Squad
• Courtney Henggeler, actress, Cobra Kai
• Al Iaquinta, real-estate agent and UFC fighter
• Jesse Kinch, singer, songwriter, musician
• Peter T. King, representative for New York's 2nd Congressional District
• Matthew Koma, singer, songwriter, musician
• Sean Nolin, Washington Nationals pitcher
• Eric Tuchman, Emmy Award-winning producer and screenwriter, The Handmaid's Tale
• Jim Valvano, head men's basketball coach at North Carolina State University, winners of the 1983 NCAA tournament

References

References

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3. (2011-02-12). "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". [[United States Census Bureau]].
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8. "Long Island Index: Interactive Map".
9. "District Administration".
10. "Seaford High School Course Handbook, 2015-2016".
11. "Seaford, New York (NY 11783) profile".
12. "Cedar Creek Park". Nassau County Department of Parks, Recreation & Museums.
13. (November 12, 2012). "Nassau County Sets Up Sandy Recovery Center In Seaford". CBS New York.
14. Sandomir, Richard. (2023-08-24). "Karol Bobko, First to Pilot the Challenger Into Space, Dies at 85". The New York Times.
15. Prato, Greg. (1950-08-08). "Liberty DeVitto".
16. (January 8, 2021). "Meet Courtney Henggeler, the other star of LI's 'Cobra Kai'". ExBulletin.
17. "Seaford (SHS) Class of 1997 Alumni List". seafordhighschool.org.
18. Howard, Jamie Valvano. "Jim Valvano 1946-1993". The V Foundation for Cancer Research.