| Norman Levy Park and Preserve | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Public |
| Location | Merrick, New York, United States |
| Operated by | Town of Hempstead |
| Website | hempsteadny |
Norman Levy Park and Preserve is a man-made park on the South Shore of Long Island in Merrick, New York. The park is situated on a hill formerly part of a landfill and has excellent views of the Manhattan skyline and Long Island.
Norman Levy Park and Preserve was once a landfill but was transformed to a park space in 2000. [1] The park is the highest point on Long Island's South Shore, and has an average altitude of around 120 feet. From this highest point, the New York City Skyline, Jones Beach, and the Oceanside landfill can be seen, along with other locations. [2]
The park has many groomed trails which take visitors to the top of the hill. Along the trails, there are many exercise stations for the more active visitors. For a more leisurely visit, one can take a tour around the park with one of the park rangers. This tour includes trip to the pier which extends into the bay, a view of Long Island's horizon, and a clear view of Manhattan Island. Other amenities include fishing, bird spotting, kayaking (June–August), and hiking. Dogs and pets are not allowed in the Park and Preserve.
The park has Nigerian dwarf goats that are walked around the trails multiple times a day by one of the park rangers. The goats keep the overgrowth of the grass, bushes, and weeds at bay. The park also has guinea fowl to control the tick population as an alternative to insecticides. [3]
The park is known as a peaceful mini getaway. It is great for families of all sizes who wish to spend a day walking trails or seeing animals. The preserve is home to a variety of animals such as goats, birds, foxes, etc. Foxes are rare to find, but more sightings have occurred in recent years.
A music school is on course to be built at the park by the end of 2020, in homage to Levy’s time as a music teacher at a school in south-east London. [4]
The park is operated by the Town of Hempstead. [5]
The park is named after Norman J. Levy, who was a New York State Senator and a champion for the environment. He sponsored the first mandatory seat belt law in the United States. There are signs on the Meadowbrook Parkway to honor his role in seat belt legislation. [6]
Nassau County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. At the 2010 U.S. census, Nassau County's population was 1,339,532, estimated to have increased to 1,356,924 in 2019. The county seat is Mineola and the largest town is Hempstead.
East Meadow is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, New York, United States. East Meadow is an unincorporated area in the Town of Hempstead.
Flower Hill is a village in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The eastern half is considered part of the Greater Roslyn area, which is anchored by the Village of Roslyn. Western and northern parts are more closely associated with Manhasset and Port Washington. The population was 4,665 at the 2010 census.
Roslyn Estates is a village in the town of North Hempstead, Nassau County, New York, United States. It is considered part of the Greater Roslyn area, which is anchored by the Incorporated Village of Roslyn. The population was 1,251 at the 2010 census.
Hempstead is a village located in the Town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 53,891 at the 2010 census, but by 2019 had reached 55,113 according to the U.S. Census Bureau estimate. It is the most densely populated village in New York. Hempstead Village is the site of the seventeenth-century "town spot" from which English and Dutch settlers developed the Town of Hempstead, the Town of North Hempstead, and ultimately Nassau County. It is the largest community by population in both the Town of Hempstead and Nassau County.
The Town of Hempstead is one of the three towns in Nassau County in the U.S. state of New York. It occupies the southwestern part of the county, on the western half of Long Island. Twenty-two incorporated villages are completely or partially within the town. The town's combined population was 759,757 at the 2010 census, which is the majority of the population of the county and by far the largest of any town in New York. In 2019, its combined population increased to an estimated 759,793 according to the American Community Survey.
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Merrick Road is an east–west urban arterial in Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties in New York, United States. It is known as Merrick Boulevard or Floyd H. Flake Boulevard in Queens, within New York City.
The Meadowbrook State Parkway is a 12.52-mile (20.15 km) parkway in Nassau County, New York, in the United States. Its southern terminus is at a full cloverleaf interchange with the Bay and Ocean parkways in Jones Beach State Park. The parkway heads north, crossing South Oyster Bay and intersecting Loop Parkway before crossing onto the mainland and connecting to the Southern State Parkway in North Merrick. It continues north to the village of Carle Place, where the Meadowbrook Parkway ends at exit 31A of the Northern State Parkway. The Meadowbrook Parkway is designated New York State Route 908E (NY 908E), an unsigned reference route. Most of the road is limited to non-commercial traffic, like most parkways in the state of New York; however, the portion south of Merrick Road is open to commercial traffic.
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The Southern State Parkway is a 25.53-mile (41.09 km) limited-access highway on Long Island, New York, in the United States. The parkway begins at an interchange with the Belt and Cross Island parkways in Elmont, in Nassau County, and travels east to an interchange with the Sagtikos State Parkway in West Islip, Suffolk County, where it becomes the Heckscher State Parkway. The Southern State Parkway comprises the western portion of unsigned New York State Route 908M (NY 908M), with the Heckscher Parkway occupying the eastern section.
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Kate Murray is an American politician and attorney, and the former Supervisor of the Town of Hempstead, New York, United States. Murray was the first woman to be elected supervisor since the position was created in 1918.
New York State Route 102 (NY 102) is an east–west state highway in Nassau County, New York, in the United States. It is little more than an alternate route of NY 24 through the town of Hempstead. NY 102 leaves NY 24 in West Hempstead and follows Front Street through the village of Hempstead and Uniondale before rejoining NY 24 in East Meadow. The portion of NY 102 west of William Street is maintained by Nassau County and is unsigned while the remainder of the highway is maintained by the New York State Department of Transportation and signed. NY 102 goes under the Meadowbrook State Parkway, but has no connecting ramps to or from the parkway. It does, however have a right-of-way for a formerly proposed eastbound lane.
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Nassau University Medical Center (NUMC) is a public teaching hospital affiliated with the Health Sciences Center of Stony Brook University and with Northwell Health. The 19 story, 631 bed Level I Trauma Center is located at 2201 Hempstead Turnpike, East Meadow, NY.
Roosevelt Raceway was a race track located just outside the village of Westbury on Long Island, New York. Initially created as a venue for motor racing, it was converted to a ½-mile harness racing facility. The harness racing facility operated from September 2, 1940 until July 15, 1988. It was the original home of the Messenger Stakes, part of the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers. The raceway hosted the event until it closed. It was also the first track to use the now universal "mobile starting gate". The operation was sold in 1984 on the condition it was to remain an operating racetrack, but the facilities deteriorated, attendance dropped off, and the plant was no longer profitable.
Central Railroad of Long Island was built on Long Island, New York, by Alexander Turney Stewart, who was also the founder of Garden City. The railroad was established in 1871, then merged with the Flushing and North Side Railroad in 1874 to form the Flushing, North Shore and Central Railroad. It was finally acquired by the Long Island Rail Road in 1876 and divided into separate branches. Despite its short existence, the CRRLI had a major impact on railroading and development on Long Island.
Norman J. Levy was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He served in the New York State Senate for 27 years, and was the sponsor of the first legislation in the United States mandating seat belt usage.
The former landfill that sat on the Merrick property collected residential garbage from the early 1960s until it closed in 1984. The question that remained was what to do with the vacant land. The state Department of Environmental Conservation was planning a traditional capping, at a projected cost of $60 million, that would have entombed the landfill and made it inaccessible to the public... We realized that because of the steep slope, traditional capping would have endangered the adjacent golf course and the Meadowbrook Parkway, he said. We had to find a better solution.... The project, as designed and engineered by professionals hired by the town, capped the top eight acres of the plateau, planted 50,000 seedlings and left the side slopes in their natural state.
Norman J. Levy, a Republican State Senator from Nassau County who sponsored the nation's first mandatory seat belt law and championed the New York metropolitan region's mass transit system, died on Saturday night at his home in Albany. He was 67 and also lived in Merrick, N.Y.