Long Island, battle of, Aug. 27, 1776, American defeat in the American Revolution. To protect New York City and the lower Hudson valley from the British forces massed on Staten Island, George Washington sent part of his small army to defend Brooklyn Heights, on Long Island. After several unsuccessful peace overtures, Sir William Howe landed at Gravesend while the British fleet under his brother, Richard Howe, shelled New York. After Sir William's troops defeated an American force under John Sullivan and William Alexander (Lord Stirling), Israel Putnam, the corps commander, prepared for the main attack. Sir William, not wanting another Bunker Hill, decided to lay siege instead of storming Brooklyn Heights. Washington saw the position was hopeless and evacuated (night of Aug. 29-30) his army back to Manhattan. Shortly afterward, the Americans began the retreat northward in which delaying actions were fought at Harlem Heights, White Plains, and Fort Washington. Washington managed to extricate most of his troops, and he regrouped them before striking at Trenton.

Long Island University, main campus at Brooklyn, N.Y.; coeducational; chartered 1926, opened 1927. It also includes C. W. Post College (est. 1954) at Brookville, Long Island, a campus at Southampton, Long Island (1963), and the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (chartered 1886) at Brooklyn. Research facilities include the Center for Business Research at C. W. Post and the Marine Station at Southampton. The Southampton campus is also the headquarters of Friends World Program (1965), with eight campuses around the world.

Long Island Sound, arm of the Atlantic Ocean, c.90 mi (145 km) long and 3-20 mi (5-32 km) wide, separating Long Island, N.Y., from the SE New York mainland and Connecticut. On the W the East River joins it with New York Bay. The sound is fed from the north by the Housatonic, Connecticut, and Thames rivers. The Long Island Sound is a popular leisure-boating center. New Haven, New London, and Bridgeport, Conn., are the largest port cities; many residential communities line the sound. Federal and state environmental studies in the mid-1990s identified serious problems in the sound and recommended a massive cleanup.

Long Island City, area of New York City, in SW Queens co., SE N.Y., on Long Island. An industrial and residential district, it has a waterfront on the East River and is connected with Manhattan by the Queensboro Bridge. Manufactures include food products, machinery, furniture, and footwear. Office growth has occurred there since 1980. The Isamu Noguchi sculpture museum is there.

Long Island: see Bahamas.

Long Island (1990 pop. 6,861,454), 1,723 sq mi (4,463 sq km), 118 mi (190 km) long, and from 12 to 20 mi (19-32 km) wide, SE N.Y.; fourth largest island of the United States and the largest outside Alaska and Hawaii. It is separated from Staten Island by the Narrows, from Manhattan and the Bronx by the East River, and from Connecticut by the Long Island Sound; on the south is the Atlantic Ocean. Long Island comprises four counties—Kings, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk; Kings (coextensive with Brooklyn) and Queens are part of New York City.

Eastern Long Island has two flukelike peninsulas that are separated by Peconic Bay. The northern fluke, terminating in Orient Point, follows part of the Harbor Hill moraine, a hilly ridge that extends west along N Long Island to the Narrows and was deposited by melting ice during the last stage of the Pleistocene period. The southern fluke, terminating in Montauk Point, follows the Ronkonkoma moraine, a somewhat older morainal ridge that extends west to join the Harbor Hill moraine at Lake Success. Low, wooded hills, capped by glacial deposits lie north of the moraines and contrast with a broad, low-lying outwash plain to the south; the highest point on the island is c.400 ft (120 m) above sea level. Long beaches, backed by dunes and shallow lagoons, fringe the south shore; the north shore has low cliffs and is deeply indented by bays.

With no large streams, water supply is limited and is obtained from groundwater or from reservoirs on the mainland. Large recharge basins catch surplus rainwater to replenish underground supplies, and strict conservation measures have been imposed to prevent further contamination of groundwater from sewage disposal and detergents and from encroachment by seawater.

Both the Dutch and the English established farming, whaling, and fishing settlements on Long Island, but it remained sparsely settled until railroads, bridges, and highways provided easy access to New York City. The Long Island Expressway is particularly high-trafficked. Industrial and residential growth occurred rapidly after World War II, and in the 1970s and 80s development further intensified. Farming has declined in importance and changed in nature over time in E Long Island; fields of potatoes have been replaced in part by housing developments and by wine grapes and other more lucrative crops. Sand and gravel are quarried from the island's glacial deposits. Sport and commercial fishing is important on the south and east coasts. The south shore, a popular recreational area, includes Fire Island National Seashore, Robert Moses and Jones Beach state parks, Coney Island, and parts of Gateway National Recreation Area. The Hamptons are an affluent residential and beach community.

La Guardia and John F. Kennedy International airports are on W Long Island; the Brookhaven National Laboratory is in the east. Among the many higher-education institutions are the State Univ. of New York campuses at Stony Brook and Westbury, Long Island Univ., Adelphi Univ., Hofstra Univ., and branches of New York City universities.

In 1995 a state law was signed resolving the highly contentious issue of development of the 100,000-acre (40,500-hectare) Pine Barrens on E Long Island. A forest preserve was established, with a core of 52,500 acres (21,260 hectares) in which development would cease or be severely limited and a surrounding area in which development would be regulated and assisted. In 1997 an agreement was reached to preserve the remains of a 400-year-old fort built by Cutchogue Indians.

Body of water between the southern shore of Connecticut and the northern shore of Long Island, New York, U.S. It connects with the East River and with Block Island Sound. Covering 1,180 sq mi (3,056 sq km), it is 90 mi (145 km) long and 3–20 mi (5–32 km) wide. Its shores have many residential communities and summer resorts.

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Island (pop., 2000: 7,448,618), southeastern New York, U.S., lying between Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. It has four counties: Kings, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk. Kings County (the borough of Brooklyn) and Queens County (the borough of Queens) form part of New York City. At its western end it is separated from the Bronx and Manhattan by the East River and from Staten Island by the Narrows. It is 118 mi (190 km) long, 12–23 mi (19–37 km) wide, and has an area of 1,401 sq mi (3,629 sq km). Its eastern portion has many beaches; it serves as a recreation area for New York City. Its southern shore, lined by sand spits (see Fire Island), shelters several bays, including Jamaica Bay. Originally inhabited by Indians (mostly Delaware), it was included in a grant to the Plymouth Co. It was settled by Dutch and English, but the whole island became part of the British colony of New York in 1664. It was the site of the Battle of Long Island (Aug. 27, 1776), an American defeat in the American Revolution.

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