New York State Environmental Conservation Police Officers (ECOs) responded to several wildlife rescue incidents recently, including exotic snakes on the Coney Island boardwalk, a rattlesnake in Ulster County, and a mother Turkey hen and her poults on Long Island. [Read more…] about Wildlife Rescues: Burmese Python, Rattlesnake, and Turkey Poults
Suffolk County
Exploring the Revolution at the Long Island Museum
The latest Long Island History Project podcast takes listeners on a private tour of the exhibit “The Seat of Action: Long Island in the American Revolution and Beyond” at the Long Island Museum in Stony Brook, New York.
Running through October 18th, the exhibit tells the stories of the lives of people affected by the conflict at all levels of society. Joshua Ruff, Co-Executive Director, Collections and Programming, is our guide. [Read more…] about Exploring the Revolution at the Long Island Museum
Recent Wildlife Rescues Around New York State
New York State Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs) recently rescued six baby opossums on Long Island, and a whitetail fawn that fell down an abandoned well in Dutchess County.
They also released a previously rescued Bald Eagle along the Mohawk River in Montgomery County. [Read more…] about Recent Wildlife Rescues Around New York State
Food History: Long Island’s Pickle Kings
Consider the pickle. Whether sour or sweet, sliced or speared, it’s a seasoned veteran vegetable with a story to tell. New York City plays a big part in that tale, as does Long Island.
The latest Long Island History Project podcast reaches deep into the barrel of food history and talks with Paul van Ravestein, co-author along with Monique Mulder of The Pickled City: The Story of New York Pickles (Princeton Architectural Press, 2026). [Read more…] about Food History: Long Island’s Pickle Kings
19 NY Places Recommended for State and National Registers
The Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) has announced recommendations by the New York State Board for Historic Preservation to add 19 properties and districts to the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
The nominations include a nineteenth-century church in Jefferson County that developed and promoted Universalism in Upstate New York, a pre-Revolutionary War house owned by seven generations of the Hulse family on Long Island’s North Shore, and additional documentation for New York City’s Hotel Chelsea recognizing its significance as a center of LGBTQ cultural and creative life. [Read more…] about 19 NY Places Recommended for State and National Registers
New York’s Revolutionary Committee Records: Correspondence, Safety & Conspiracies
For a century and a half prior to the American Revolution the people of New York had been accustomed to act through representative committees in order to win one concession after another for self-government.
During the Dutch period the Twelve Men (a committee chosen in 1641 by the residents to advise Willem Kieft on relations with Native Americans), the Eight Men (Remonstrance of the Eight Men, 1644), the Nine Men (Remonstrance of the Commonality, 1649, led by Adriaen van der Donck), and other groups, wrested rights for the people from autocratic New Netherland governors and the West India Company. [Read more…] about New York’s Revolutionary Committee Records: Correspondence, Safety & Conspiracies
Wildlife & History: Target Rock National Wildlife Refuge
A highly popular shore fishing destination, Target Rock is just one of five properties that form the Long Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex. It also has an interesting history.
Located on Lloyd’s Neck in Long Island Sound 25 miles east of New York City, the land was originally maintained as a garden estate by the Eberstadt family who donated it in 1967 to establish a sanctuary for migratory birds. [Read more…] about Wildlife & History: Target Rock National Wildlife Refuge
Sag Harbor Whaling Songs
Long Island played a major role in the development of whaling in the Americas, starting with Native Americans along the south shore. This developed into chartered whaling companies and established whale fisheries that sent ships around the world in pursuit of financial gain.
Sag Harbor was the home of one such port, playing host to ships funded and, for Long Island played a major role in the development of whaling in the Americas, starting with Native Americans along the south shore. [Read more…] about Sag Harbor Whaling Songs
Recent Wildlife Rescues Around New York State
New York State Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs) made several wildlife rescues recently including a Red-Tailed Hawk on Long Island, two rabbits in Erie County, and an Red-Necked Grebe in Columbia County. [Read more…] about Recent Wildlife Rescues Around New York State
The Carnegie Library of Patchogue
The story of the Carnegie Library in Patchogue in Brookhaven on the South Shore of Long Island is a great case study in library history. The village started with an association library in the late 1800s, a subscription-based collection of books that floated between stores and offices and languished for lack of funds.
Then the women’s suffragist organization Sorosis spearheaded the effort to turn the neglected collection into a New York State chartered public library by 1900. [Read more…] about The Carnegie Library of Patchogue
Suffolk County Honors former Slaveholder William Floyd
Suffolk County, New York, declared December 17th William Floyd Day. According to Suffolk County Executive Edward Romaine, William Floyd was the only Long Islander to sign the Declaration of Independence and his birthday should be commemorated every year.
He was also the largest slaveholder in Brookhaven. Floyd’s estate was at Old Mystic near present day Mystic Beach is operated by the National Park Service. There is also a contested seven-foot-tall statue of William Floyd at the intersection of William Floyd Parkway and Montauk Highway in nearby Shirley, NY. [Read more…] about Suffolk County Honors former Slaveholder William Floyd
1775 Articles of Association: One Long Island Community’s Experience
The residents of Huntington, on Long Island, were quick to react to the first battle of the American Revolution when the local militia in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts successfully repulsed a British attempt to seize their arms on April 19, 1775.
A week later in the city of New York, the Committee of Sixty, which had been created the previous November, expressed its opinion “That at the present alarming Juncture, it is highly adviseable [sic] that a Provincial Congress be immediately summoned.” [Read more…] about 1775 Articles of Association: One Long Island Community’s Experience
State Parks Outlines New Investments Hoped for 2026
In support of the goals outlined in Governor Kathy Hochul’s State of the State and executive budget, New York State Parks has announced support for several initiatives they say are designed to create jobs, enhance state park experiences, improve access to outdoor recreation and preserve state history. [Read more…] about State Parks Outlines New Investments Hoped for 2026
Occupied Long Island: Voices from the American Revolution
The latest episode of the Long Island History Project podcast is a recording of a panel discussion hosted on January 15, 2026 by the Long Island Library Resources Council.
The panelists, all notable historians who have researched the Revolutionary War period on Long Island, give their insights into what life was like in the area from 1776-1783. [Read more…] about Occupied Long Island: Voices from the American Revolution
Culper Spy Ring: A History and Tour Guide
The Revolutionary War Culper Spy Ring has been the subject of numerous books and the television series, Turn!: Washington’s Spies. Using cipher, codes, and invisible ink, the Culper Spy Ring exposed the British plans to attack the Patriots’ French allies at Newport, Rhode Island, and their plot to counterfeit colonial currency. Many of the Culper Spy Ring sites can be visited today.
Bill Bleyer, former Newsday reporter, and the author of George Washington’s Long Island Spy Ring: A History and Tour Guide, (History Press, 2023) will speak in person and online on Sunday, February 1st at 2 pm. [Read more…] about Culper Spy Ring: A History and Tour Guide
White Supremacist George Wallace & New York State
On January 14, 1963, after being overwhelmingly elected by white Alabama voters, George Wallace (1919-1998), the infamous segregationist and white supremacist, delivered his inaugural address and called for “Segregation now! Segregation tomorrow! Segregation forever!” Throughout his speech he condemned integration and criticized federal intervention in state affairs.
Running for office almost a decade after Brown v. Board of Education, Wallace’s 1962 campaign used the slogan “Stand up for Alabama,” and he vowed to fight integration at the University of Alabama. [Read more…] about White Supremacist George Wallace & New York State
Historic Schoolhouses of Long Island
Humble in appearance, one-room schoolhouses might be easy to overlook, but their existence hints at a broader social, cultural, and educational history.
Hundreds of one-room school houses were built across Long Island and many still survive, either adapted to new uses or restored and open for public access. [Read more…] about Historic Schoolhouses of Long Island
Rangers Make Lake Champlain Ice Rescue; Recover Body of Missing Man
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents throughout New York State locating and extracting lost, injured or distressed people and policing state lands.
This report of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers was prepared by DEC: [Read more…] about Rangers Make Lake Champlain Ice Rescue; Recover Body of Missing Man
Cooper’s Hawk Rescued on Long Island
On November 22, New York State Environmental Conservation Officer (ECO) Tara Francis responded to a call from dispatch about an injured bird at a residence in North Babylon, Suffolk County, on Long Island.
The homeowner had managed to contain the raptor in a structure. The ECO Francis identified the bird as a juvenile Cooper’s hawk based on its yellow-orange eyes, brownish head, and long-banded, squared-off tail. [Read more…] about Cooper’s Hawk Rescued on Long Island
‘This Platoon Can Lick its Weight in Wild Cats’: Tompkins County Men in World War One
In March of 1918 several U.S. military units were sent to the Western Front of World War One.
The quota of 120 men from Tompkins County, NY assembled at two o’clock to receive their credentials and instructions. From the courthouse in Ithaca they marched to the Lehigh Valley Railroad Station and left at 10:50 en route to Camp Upton in Yaphank on Long Island. Special cars were attached to the regular train that brought men from Buffalo and Waterloo. [Read more…] about ‘This Platoon Can Lick its Weight in Wild Cats’: Tompkins County Men in World War One