Massapequa Park

Massapequa Park is an incorporated village in the Town of Oyster Bay. Located on Nassau County’s South Shore, its schools, parks, and community atmosphere have made it a highly desirable place for young families to put down roots. It occupies 2.2 square miles, some of it waterfront, and is home to 17,000 residents.

Students attend the Massapequa Public Schools, which is one of Nassau County’s largest with 8,000 students who also hail from the unincorporated area of Massapequa. Three of the district’s six elementary schools are in Massapequa Park. Over the years the growing population has led to changes in the district’s organization to better educate the students. A former middle school is now an elementary school, and the district developed another innovative idea for its high school students. Ninth graders are housed separately at Massapequa High School’s Ames campus. The goal of the arrangement is to help ease students into the transition from middle school to high school. Ninety-four percent of recent Massapequa High School graduates continued their education at two-year or four-year colleges. A small percentage of students in the north part of the village attend school in the Farmingdale district, which is generally well-regarded.

Parkland is abundant in Massapequa Park. Tobay Beach, which is east of Jones Beach State Park, is a residents-only beach. Burns Park, which is also run by the Town of Oyster Bay, has 52 acres on the water, with athletic facilities, trails and a boat launch. Massapequa Preserve is long, narrow 423-acre parcel of mostly undeveloped land separating Massapequa and Massapequa Park. Its wetlands provide a habitat for a large variety of wildlife. The village oversees additional parks and playgrounds.

Westfield Sunrise, formerly known as the Sunrise Mall, has been a popular shopping destination for people from all over the south shore since it opened in the 1970s. Today, it’s anchored by Wal-Mart, Macys’, and JC Penney and Sears and has over 100 other stores and eateries. Sunrise Highway, the main road through Massapequa Park, is lined with shopping centers and restaurants, as is Merrick Road. Smaller, locally-based shops, restaurants and bars are located along Front Street and Park Boulevard, contributing to the small-town feel that gets lost on the village’s major roads.

Several bus routes pass through the village, and train commuters can catch the LIRR at the Massapequa Park station. Travel time is just under an hour. Parking requires a resident permit.

Home prices have come down substantially from 2008, making the area more accessible to buyers. Current prices start in the mid-$200,000s and up, with several homes in the $300,000 range. Prices range up to $1,000,000 for homes located in the waterfront neighborhood of Bar Harbour, where many homes have views of the Great South Bay. Property taxes are typical for Long Island.

Massapequa Park is a beautiful neighborhood with beautiful, well-kept houses, friendly people and a good school district. Most homes are either split levels, colonials or ranch style houses. It has a population of roughly 18,000 people and boasts more Italian American residents, per capita, than any other town in Long Island. It is in the heart of Long Island and has easy access to Route 110 and Sunrise Highway where there is a plethora of shopping and dining options such as the Sunrise Mall (now know as Westfield Sunrise) on Sunrise Hwy. and a number of popular chain restaurants located along Rte. 110 and Sunrise Hwy.

The night life for adults leaves a little to be desired. However there a few bars and night clubs in the surrounding towns which are worth mentioning. There is the Nutty Irishman in Farmingdale which has live music and events along with reasonable drinks. And the Crazy Donkey on Rte. 110 in Farmingdale that also has live music and cool promotional events but caters to a younger crowd on the weekends.

The town itself offers many amenities to families with children. There is the Marjorie R. Post Community Park & Pool, Tobay Beach in Massapequa and numerous festivals and programs available throughout the year to residents of Massapequa Park. The amenities help out weigh cost of the ridiculously high taxes.

We are new residents to Massapequa park and have only lived there for a year and a half but we are so pleased with the quality of life and all that our new home town has to offer.