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Old 11-23-2010, 12:55 PM
 
Location: Massapequa Park
3,172 posts, read 6,719,648 times
Reputation: 1374

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This discussion was deleted (LESSON Learned=keep a backup copy of your posts) from another thread involving residents residing in hamlets in the Town of Huntington referring to "Huntington" as where they live. The OP of the thread was referring to Huntington Village as an Incorporated Village. I thought I'd repost this to help clear any confusion on the issue. Walter G. put up maps and explained the "Huntingtons (Town of, Hamlet) that are real tangible entities/places (plz repost this WG):

Quote:
First off, I don't pay my taxes to the Hamlet of West Hills. I pay them to the Town of Huntington. I understand that these taxes are divided up amongst a school district, water district, fire district, library district, etc... all of which have absolutely nothing to do with the Hamlet of West Hills. * In fact...the hamlet serves no practical point of existence beyond being a nice piece if trivia* (more than just trivia)

Huntington Village is called Huntington Village. It's what we call it. It's not a big ploy by Frank Patrone to keep my taxes high.
I think the biggest issues here are:
1. Most LI'ers don't really know where they live. We've made it the norm to go by zip code (and in this case the Town of Huntington ) when stating where we live. It's a mistake and it needs to be corrected. If someone living in Massapequa Park said they lived in "Oyster Bay", wouldn't you find that to be absurd ? (they're on opposite shores of the island). It's as silly as someone from West Hills saying they live in Huntington. And the Huntington Village term that was developed is equally as confusing to someone that doesn't understand that it's really just a "colloquial" village as was mentioned by WG. What if some poor schlep moves there thinking he's really in a village?

Read below to see why it may matter to some people and is becoming increasingly important to understand which Village/Hamlet or City you live in.

2. Village vs Hamlet vs Town - There is no such thing as the Village of Huntington. Maybe the difference btwn village vs hamlet didn't matter decades ago when everyone in the Town of Huntington adopted the "Town" name as their general area. It all boils down to the Sovereignty a village offers vs a hamlet (which is basically just a community at the whim of the Town that hamlet is located in).

As you know, a village has the authority to provide its own services. A village is also free from a lot of the crap the County/respective Town is trying to push on it (Such as Section 8, slumlords, red light cams$, wasteful spending etc etc...).

Take a look at the Mastic Beach situation to see how important it's becoming. Maybe 20 years ago, when deficits were under control, Unions/Pensions less exploitative and the County/Town less draconian, it really didn't matter whether you were in a village or hamlet. But considering the financial mess we are in (mainly due to excessive spending/abuse of apathetic taxpayers), it is becoming increasingly more beneficial to live in a village rather than hamlet. I doubt most people on or outside of LI know that Huntington Village is not a village at all.

Another thing, comparing the colloquial "Huntington Village" to "Nu Yawk" City communities of Queens Village/Greenwich Village (argument) doesn't apply to Nassau/Suffolk County (as noted above).


Quote:
BTW, You seem to have spelling errors in your posts. It's spelled "Long Island," not "Lawn Guyland."
A bit of irony here to close it out (considering your position against WG). Easy on the troll remarks about WG, I've learned more from him than anyone else on C-D.

End of Post
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Quote from an Official Village Budget (http://www.masspk.com/budget_10-11/budget_2010-2011.pdf - broken link)


"Village Government is closest to the people, and dollar for dollar, is a cost-effective and most effecient vehicle for providing the basic services that residents want and expect. Village residents know where their tax dollars are being spent because the money remains in the community.

The economic crisis that we are experiencing and the continuing budget crisis at the state level has created a significant challenge to the development of a balanced budget. Utilizing a strict cost-cutting strategy and conservative fiscal policies, the village board is pleased to announce that we will maintain our current tax rate and use a portion of our surplus."

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Last edited by Pequaman; 11-23-2010 at 01:25 PM..
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Old 11-23-2010, 01:08 PM
 
9,341 posts, read 29,559,825 times
Reputation: 4572
Default A map of the Hamlet of Huntington in the Town of Huntington, Suffolk County

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pequaman View Post
Walter G. put up maps and explained the "Huntingtons (Town of, Hamlet) that are real tangible entities/places (plz repost this WG).

It is important to know that there are 3 "Huntingtons" (from smallest to largest, in order of acreage):

1. There is the Hamlet of Huntington (whose "downtown" commercial district is colloquially referred to as Huntington Village);

2. There is the "Huntington, NY 11743" ZIP Code postal zone, and it includes the Hamlet of Huntington and parts of 2 villages (municipal corporations) and 6 other hamlets (unincorporated areas) within its service area; and,

3. There is the Town of Huntington, and it includes 4 villages and 15 hamlets as well as the "Huntington, NY 11743" ZIP Code postal zone and all or parts of 11 other ZIP Code postal zones, within its borders.


A map of the Hamlet of Huntington in the Town of Huntington, Suffolk County:


The Hamlet of Huntington has a different border than does the "Huntington, NY 11743" ZIP Code postal zone (i.e., a place can have a "Huntington, NY 11743" mailing address and not be in the Hamlet of Huntington and a place can have other than a "Huntington, NY 11743" mailing address and be in the Hamlet of Huntington): places that have a "Huntington, NY 11743" mailing address that are not in the Hamlet of Huntington are in the Hamlet of West Hills, the Hamlet of Halesite, the Village of Huntington Bay, the Village of Lloyd Harbor, the Hamlet of Cold Spring Harbor, the Hamlet of Centerport, the Hamlet of Greenlawn, the Hamlet of Elwood and the Hamlet of Huntington Station; and, at the same time, there are places in the Hamlet of Huntington with a "Huntington Station, NY 11746", a "Greenlawn, NY 11740" and a "Centerport, NY 11721" mailing address.
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Old 11-23-2010, 03:41 PM
 
228 posts, read 807,532 times
Reputation: 133
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pequaman View Post



If someone living in Massapequa Park said they lived in "Oyster Bay", wouldn't you find that to be absurd ? (they're on opposite shores of the island). It's as silly as someone from West Hills saying they live in Huntington.
------------
I think the hamlet of west hills and the hamlet of huntington are a little closer together than Oyster Bay and Massapequa... Someone from Plainedge or East Massapequa saying they are from Massapequa might be a better example... Or someone from Oyster Bay Cove, East Norwhich, Bayville, Mill neck, cove neck just saying Oyster Bay...
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Old 11-23-2010, 04:26 PM
 
2 posts, read 9,008 times
Reputation: 10
This is my first post after years of lurking.

You're greatly underestimating the intelligence of people from Huntington and Long Islanders in general. I grew up in Huntington Bay, which is an incorporated village, and we still say Huntington Village (we say Northport Village too). People get the difference between a municipality and the term village as a way to describe a downtown area. It's really not that confusing.
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Old 11-23-2010, 04:29 PM
 
Location: under the beautiful Carolina blue
22,615 posts, read 36,521,804 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Buscape View Post
I think the hamlet of west hills and the hamlet of huntington are a little closer together than Oyster Bay and Massapequa... Someone from Plainedge or East Massapequa saying they are from Massapequa might be a better example... Or someone from Oyster Bay Cove, East Norwhich, Bayville, Mill neck, cove neck just saying Oyster Bay...
I agree with this. However, it is often true that will people will casually say they are from Huntington when they are from as far away as Northport. I often had this conversation in college

Where are you from?
Long Island.
Me too! Where are you from?
Huntington
Me too! Which high school did you go to?
Ummm, Huntingon. How about you?
Well, I'm really from Northport. I went to Northport High School. BUt I always hang out in Huntington!
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Old 11-23-2010, 04:38 PM
 
9,341 posts, read 29,559,825 times
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Since all villages, whether they were incorporated by individual charter or incorporated under Village Law, are municipal corporations, it is not necessary to refer to a village as an "incorporated village", which would mean an incorporated corporation (yes, I know that some villages refer to themselves in this manner).

Secondly, referring to a village as an "incorporated village" implies that there are "unincorporated villages", usually areas within a ZIP Code postal zone that shares the village's name but are outside the village's borders. An "unincorporated village" would mean an unincorporated corporation: an oxymoron.

Unincorporated areas are hamlets.

NYS Geographic Glossary may be of some help in understanding the geography of Long Island.
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Old 11-23-2010, 04:58 PM
 
Location: Huntington
1,214 posts, read 3,628,210 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by twingles View Post
it is often true that will people will casually say they are from Huntington when they are from as far away as Northport.

I've had people tell me they're from Huntington when in fact they're really from East Northport, or Melville, or Elwood, or Huntington Station, etc. You get the picture. Granted, those areas are in the Township of Huntington, but aren't near Huntington, 25A/Main Street area. Everyone wants you to think they're from the Huntington "village" area.
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Old 11-23-2010, 05:38 PM
 
2 posts, read 9,008 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Walter Greenspan View Post
Since all villages, whether they were incorporated by individual charter or incorporated under Village Law, are municipal corporations, it is not necessary to refer to a village as an "incorporated village", which would mean an incorporated corporation (yes, I know that some villages refer to themselves in this manner).

Secondly, referring to a village as an "incorporated village" implies that there are "unincorporated villages", usually areas within a ZIP Code postal zone that shares the village's name but are outside the village's borders. An "unincorporated village" would mean an unincorporated corporation: an oxymoron.

Unincorporated areas are hamlets.

NYS Geographic Glossary may be of some help in understanding the geography of Long Island.
It's called The Incorporated Village of Huntington Bay. It doesn't matter if you like it or not. That's it's name.
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Old 11-23-2010, 06:12 PM
 
Location: Massapequa Park
3,172 posts, read 6,719,648 times
Reputation: 1374
Quote:
Originally Posted by Buscape View Post
I think the hamlet of west hills and the hamlet of huntington are a little closer together than Oyster Bay and Massapequa... Someone from Plainedge or East Massapequa saying they are from Massapequa might be a better example... Or someone from Oyster Bay Cove, East Norwhich, Bayville, Mill neck, cove neck just saying Oyster Bay...
I really don't see how distance between Hamlet (in this case 5 long miles) is relevant here. So when people say "I'm from Huntington", are they referring to the Town of Huntington or the hamlet?

Quote:
Originally Posted by centerport79 View Post
This is my first post after years of lurking.

You're greatly underestimating the intelligence of people from Huntington and Long Islanders in general. I grew up in Huntington Bay, which is an incorporated village, and we still say Huntington Village (we say Northport Village too). People get the difference between a municipality and the term village as a way to describe a downtown area. It's really not that confusing.
You'd be surprised how clueless some people are. Not only that, people outside of NY (where village takes on a different meaning) and people outside of the US will really have a tough time understanding all of this. I think a major trend we'll be seeing over the next 10 years is hamlets incorporating (like Mastic Beach) and even possibly reverting back to "micro-communities" (depending on severity of the financial mess). Heck we may start seeing lots of people from the EU coming from across the pond to move here.
Ireland essentially declared insolvency/Bankruptcy yesterday and is requesting 100-150 Billion Euro from the EU & IMF. Greece is close to completely shutting down some parts of its government. The EU members are falling like dominoes (Portugal, Italy, Spain look vulnerable) and I bet we'll be seeing muni's failing allover the US.
Times are changing and this pet-peeve of poor geography among LI residents (I am no exception) should really be corrected.
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Old 11-23-2010, 06:23 PM
 
9,341 posts, read 29,559,825 times
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Because folks call hamlets, "towns", they then oftentimes refer to towns as "townships".

There are no townships in Suffolk County (yes, I know that there is a Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce) because there are no townships in New York State.
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