Babylon
Town, with its over 210,000 residents, is the sixth largest township in the
State of New York. Just 53 square miles in size, Babylon is the most densely
populated town in Suffolk County; it is the western most town in the state's
eastern most county. Centrally located on Long Island's south shore, Babylon
is less than one hour from downtown New York City to the west...and one hour
to one of the world's premier summer playgrounds, the Hamptons, to the east.
Like most of Long Island, Babylon's economy is service oriented, with an emphasis
on high tech service companies, retail, banking, and manufacturing. Construction
and transportation also play a major role in Babylon's economy. The state-operated,
527-acre Republic Airport is located in the Town of Babylon. The airport employs
over 500 workers, has two runways of 6,827 feet and 5,516 feet, and embarks
and disembarks over 25,000 passengers annually.
The State University of New York at Farmingdale, with 11,000+ undergraduates,
is located within the town. New Horizons Business Center in Amityville (1.12
million square feet), Price Parkway in Farmingdale (1.36 million square feet),
and Marcus Industrial Park in Deer Park (800,000 square feet) are among the
region's top 20 industrial centers. Brunswick Hospital in Amityville, with a
staff of over 1,300 and 474 beds, is one of the largest and most respected medical
centers on Long Island.
The Great South Bay, which separates the mainland from the barrier beaches,
serves as a source of income for hundreds of baymen and fishermen. Babylon is
the only Long Island municipality with three town ocean beaches (Overlook, Gilgo
and Cedar) and several town-operated marinas.
Babylon is one of 15 town and city municipalities located in Long Island, the
largest island in the continental United States. The New York City boroughs
of Queens and Brooklyn are physically part of Long Island, but as a political
and economic entity, Long Island refers to the counties of Nassau and Suffolk.
Long Island ranks first nationally in: percentage of households with effective
buying incomes (EBI) over $50,000 and $150,000; average EBI ($64,818) and median
EBI ($54,334) of the twenty largest US markets; and retail sales per household.
There are 1.2 cars for every two people on Long Island, and the region boasts
the highest percentage of single-family, owner-occupied homes in the nation
(76%).
The region as a whole is characterized by small businesses - of the more than
92,000 companies located in Nassau and Suffolk counties, only 1.5% employ more
than 100 people. Over 80% of the people who live on Long Island also work on
Long Island.
