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I voted for Oyster Bay in this poll. I greatly prefer it to Massapequa, or where I live for that matter, though I could never live there because the commute would kill me.
However - and I'll admit I'm probably in the minority on this - if you switched Oyster Bay for Syosset, Jericho or Woodbury I definitely would have gone with 'pequa instead. IMO, all of those places are overrated and overpriced. I don't have kids or own a home, so the schools truly do not matter to me... but I'd probably feel the same way even if they did.
I think the illegal immigrant "problem" in Oyster Bay is a much bigger issue in City-Data.com posts than it is in real life. It doesn't really seem to affect most people up there in the profound way it upsets people on the internet.
I agree... they are very overpriced but superior by most folks definition.
Despite the Brooklynese "charm" of the area, I really do think Massapequa Parks a very good value play for Nassau. Great schools too.
Oyster Bay all the way! They are not comparable in any way. I don't think that they look or feel the same. Massapequa is a suburb and Oyster Bay in a village. A pretty, historic village, with notable architecture, and a quaint ambiance, beautiful churches (one or two in the National Historic Registry), a well used and attractive library, original Victorian architecture and a real sense of place.
Oyster Bay has always been diverse. When I was growing up there in the 1960s and 70s, most of my friends were upper middle class, but there has always been a contingent of moderate to lower income people who live in certain areas. I think the online hysteria comes from the fact that today, most of those lower income people are Hispanic, not white. Oyster Bay has always had a healthy and stable African American population.
There is no one ethnic group that moves to Oyster Bay to be with "their own kind." In fact, many people purposely choose Oyster Bay because of its ethnic and religious diversity.
Unlike much of Long Island, there is no "dominant ethnic group" in O.B.
We had Irish, English, Scottish, Italian, Dutch, Swedish, Russian, French and people who have been here so long that they sort of forgot. In a good way.
In terms of Religions, I had friends who were ALL of the following religions - Methodist, Jewish, Presbyterian, Quaker, Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Episcopalian, Baptist and Unitarian. I knew families who were the original founders of two of those churches and the of the Temple.
A North Shore Beach is a North Shore Beach. I like them, and I spent my summers playing on one.
Is Oyster Bay a bit out of the way? Yes, and as most North Shore people will agree, that's a plus!
In many ways, Oyster Bay is different from many places on Long Island, in that it is not a "true suburb" that sprouted up over night. It is a Village, that existed for over 300 years before the post war suburban boom. There are about three post war developments, but there are also beautiful neighborhoods with older homes. My personal favorite is Florence Park, comprised of a mixture of homes mostly built in the late 1800s through 1920s. It can be found North of the Public Library and Christ Church, across from the stately High School, which was built in 1929.
Besides Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay boasts of Raynham Hall, the home of the Townsend family, and a pivotal place in Revolutionary War History. I remember thinking that the Bird Sanctuary was almost mystical in it's remote beauty and tranquility.
I liked knowing people of different backgrounds. My father and his wife still live there and they have never mentioned any issues with "illegal aliens" There were always enclaves of lower class people in Oyster bay and the surrounding towns of Locust Valley and Glen Cove, as well as nearby Huntington Village. There has historically been a need for skilled and semi-skilled labor. I knew people whose parents owned estates and lived on them. And yes, many of the former did attend public school.
Yes it's a quirky place. Many people believe that Raynham Hall is haunted and have a story to tell about Sally Townsend, and yes, Typhoid Mary was a summer cook for a family for one summer and everyone knew the house. Italian Ices are sold at a place once called "Chinks" a corruption of the last name of the owner, and back in the late 1960s there was rumored to be a "house of ill repute" on Hamilton Avenue. It was called Belton's and it was a big bright blue turn of the century house. Oyster Bay is not a sterile place.
Rich, middle class, black, or white, Christian or Jewish, we all got along. My guess is that those complaining are new to Oyster Bay, and new to money.
And Typhoid Mary? Better than Amy Fisher and Joey Buttafuoco!
In many ways, Oyster Bay is different from many places on Long Island, in that it is not a "true suburb" that sprouted up over night. It is a Village, that existed for over 300 years before the post war suburban boom.
Colloquial village, yes; a municipal corporation, no.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sheena12
Besides Sagamore Hill ...
Sagamore Hill is in the Village of Cove Neck ("Oyster Bay, NY 11771" mailing address).
Colloquial village, yes; a municipal corporation, no.
Sagamore Hill is in the Village of Cove Neck ("Oyster Bay, NY 11771" mailing address).
Walter, yes I mean "village" in the colloquial sense, and as I wrote this, I thought that you might take issue with my calling it such. But people in and from Oyster Bay have and always will call the business district "The Village" As in "Do you want to walk down to the Village?" (irrespective of the direction from whence you were walking) or "I'm driving to The Village - does anyone need anything?" or spoken by two teenagers when The Bus still ran to the Mid Island Mall on Saturdays (now The Broadway Mall) "Let's meet at Snouder's Corners in The Village to take the Bus to the Mall" And speaking of Malls, Mall Culture, and the consumerism associated with it, was not such a huge part of our lives. It still is not. I did not try fast food until I went away to college! And for years, there was a strong effort to block all fast food restaurants from Oyster Bay. People felt they were ugly, and added nothing to the culture or ambiance.There were local small business where one could purchase a burger. My late mother was among those people who were very much against the impact of such establishments on the health of both local residents and businesses
Oyster Bay has always been idiocyncratic and quirky. I like that too.
As far as Sagamore Hill is concerned, we who grew up there, called the whole shebang "Oyster Bay" - including and especially TR's summer home. Oyster Bay was always a low key place where people tended to down play wealth and look for commonalities, rather than involve them selves in the conspicuous consumption that is the hallmark of much of suburbia. Not only Long Island.
I grew up equally comfortable in the home of a classmate who had a gate house in front of her home, and "came out" at The New York Cotillion, as I was in the modest kitchen of a friend who lived in The Village whose Italian American mother made the most amazing food, and the home of a girl, a fellow cheerleader, whose mildly dilapidated home contained a chicken coop and a couch on the front porch,yet whose family was one of the original founders and their name can be seen on local, and "ancient tomb" stones located in the various "woods" that still dot the area, and baby sitting for Orthodox Jewish neighbors (also a founding family) who had two sinks one for milk and one for meat, and knowing the reason why I should mind, but not extinguish, the candle that glowed and flickered on the kitchen table on Friday nights. We were ALL "11771 -ish"
To this day, few people will "admit" to living in "The Cove", and the ones who do and did, tend to have "just come into money." People don't brag about boats, cars, swimming pools or any of that. It's gauche.
In terms of place designation, Theodore Roosevelt himself called the location of his Summer home House "Oyster Bay." (The Summer White house was located in The Village on the corner of South St and W.Main.) That is good enough for me.
For those of you interested in learning more about Oyster Bay, there are a series of video taped walking tours which depict beautifully my former hometown, produced by the historical society. Is available on Youtube. I will attempt to provide a link for anyone who is interested.
Walter, yes I mean "village" in the colloquial sense. [...] But people in and from Oyster Bay have and always will call the business district "The Village" As in "Do you want to walk down to the Village?" (irrespective of the direction from whence you were walking) or "I'm driving to The Village - does anyone need anything?...
Sheena12, please don't feel you are using the word "village" incorrectly or colloquially. I wouldn't say "colloquial sense," I'd say "dictionary sense" or "formal linguistic sense" Incorporated villages are a legal concept limited to New York State law - a very limited definition. The more universal definition of "village" relates to what you are describing. This definition is not a colloquialism limited to the North Shore of Long Island.
From the Oxford English Dictionary (with definitions relevant to this discussion highlighted):
Quote:
village, n.
truetrue Pronunciation:/ˈvɪlɪdʒ/
Forms:ME– village, ME vylage, villach, ME–15 vyllage, ME–16 vilage, 15 wylage, Sc. willage, willaige, welage; also pl.15 vyllagies, Sc. willagies.... (Show Less)
Etymology: < Old French village, vilage (modern French village ), = Provençal vilatge , Spanish village , Portuguese villagem (feminine), Italian villaggio < Latin villāticum , neuter singular of villāticus of or pertaining to a villa, < villa villa n. : see -age suffix. Compare late Latin villagium, vilatgium....
a. A collection of dwelling-houses and other buildings, forming a centre of habitation in a country district; an inhabited place larger than a hamlet and smaller than a town, or having a simpler organization and administration than the latter. (Cf. the note to town n. 4.)
b. Applied jocularly to a large town or city, esp. London.
c. Cambridge Univ. slang. (See quot. 1864.)
d. U.S. A minor municipality with limited corporate powers (see quots.).
e. A small self-contained district or community within a city or town; spec. ******** †(a) see sense 1c; ******** (b) (with capital initial) = Greenwich Village adj. (or "Oyster Bay Village," Huntington Village," etc.)
In my (local) opinion, it's also completely acceptable to say that Sagamore Hill is in Oyster Bay.
In terms of place designation, Theodore Roosevelt himself called the location of his Summer home House "Oyster Bay." (The Summer White house was located in The Village on the corner of South St and W.Main.) That is good enough for me. :)
sheena12, back then TR was right: Sagamore Hill was in Oyster Bay because it wasn't until 1927 that the Village of Cove Neck incorporated.
Walter, they are both 11771. People from there call it all "Oyster Bay."
Back on topic, with all due respect to the OP, I am not sure that Massapequa and Oyster Bay are even comparable places.
I pretty much think that if you like one, odds are you will not like the other.
More than counties, municipalities or any thing else, Long Island is divided by Shores.
The comparison of Shirley to Rocky Point, although on opposite shores is more apt because, with no disrespect to either place, they are lower in price than much of Long Island. They are also fairly far out on Long Island. There in a lot of over lap when people purchasing their first home think of both areas as starter areas. Their character is secondary to their price point. I know. I actually lived in one, because of a better train line, while preferring the other. But we were limited 20 years ago, due to down payment.
However I am not quite sure if ANYONE, has actually said this - "Honey, I don't know where we should live - Oyster Bay or Masspequa."
I'll bet that comes close to a sentence that has never been uttered as you can get.
No offense to anyone but I don't understand this seemingly pandemic opinion that massapequa is some sort of paradise.
Without writing a biased, one sided, 12-paragraph op-ed piece on either area (like previous poster did who most likely has NEVER stepped foot in the Massapequas in their lifetime ), I will say that both are good places to live.
Massapequa may be a little more well-rounded, more convenient, and has more to offer. Oyster Bay has more unique and older housing stock/building architecture, hillier topography in comparison, more diversity.
Massapequa has several neighborhoods (waterfront, Old Harbour Green, Bar Harbor, Biltmore, Nassau shores, even much of the Park) that will rival, or trump most of OB in niceness. North Shore beaches are decent. South Shore beaches are some of the best in the country. We could go on and on...It really all comes down to personal preference, needs, familiarity, etc.
It looks like the vote is 50-50. Where are you getting the "pandemic opinion" on either side?
Last edited by Pequaman; 04-18-2012 at 10:39 PM..
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. But people in and from Oyster Bay have and always will call the business district "The Village" As in "Do you want to walk down to the Village?" (irrespective of the direction from whence you were walking) or "I'm driving to The Village - does anyone need anything?" or spoken by two teenagers when The Bus still ran to the Mid Island Mall on Saturdays (now The Broadway Mall) "Let's meet at Snouder's Corners in The Village to take the Bus to the Mall" And speaking of Malls, Mall Culture, and the consumerism associated with it, was not such a huge part of our lives. It still is not. I did not try fast food until I went away to college! And for years, there was a strong effort to block all fast food restaurants from Oyster Bay. People felt they were ugly, and added nothing to the culture or ambiance.
There were local small business where one could purchase a burger. My late mother was among those people who were very much against the impact of such establishments on the health of both local residents and businesses
