Nassau County New York incorporated and unincorporated areas Five Towns highlighted

The Five Towns is an informal grouping of

villages A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

and

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...

in Nassau County, United States on the South Shore of western Long Island adjoining the border with Queens County in New York City. Although there is no official Five Towns designation, "the basic five are Lawrence, Cedarhurst, Woodmere, Hewlett and Inwood." Barron, James
"If You're Thinking Of Living In: Five Towns"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', July 10, 1983. Accessed March 24, 2022. "The basic five are Lawrence, Cedarhurst, Woodmere, Hewlett and Inwood. But the area also includes some unincorporated communities and two tiny villages, Hewlett Bay Park and Woodsburgh, that are not added to the final total." Each of these "towns" has a consecutive stop on the

Far Rockaway Branch The Far Rockaway Branch is an electrified rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch begins at Valley Interlocking, just east of Valley Stream station. From Valley Stream, ...

of the Long Island Rail Road. All five communities are part of the

Town of Hempstead The Town of Hempstead (also known historically as South Hempstead) is the largest of the three towns in Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead and Oyster Bay) in the U.S. state of New York. It occupies the southwestern part of the county, on t ...

. Woodmere is the largest and most populous community in the Five Towns, while Inwood is the second largest community in the Five Towns. The area also includes some unincorporated communities and two tiny villages, Hewlett Bay Park and Woodsburgh, that are not added to the final total. Despite the name, none of these communities is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

. The Five Towns is usually said to comprise the villages of

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

and Cedarhurst, the hamlets of Woodmere and Inwood, and "The Hewletts,” which consist of the villages of Hewlett Bay Park, Hewlett Harbor, and Hewlett Neck, and the hamlet of Hewlett, along with Woodsburgh. North Woodmere is technically one of the "Five Towns" as it is served by the Five Towns' two local high schools and its constituents use the "Five Towns" many public services. Others do not consider it to be part of the "Five Towns," as it is a section of

Valley Stream Valley Stream is a village in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population in the Village of Valley Stream was 37,511 at the 2010 census. The incorporated Village of Valley Stream is within the Town of Hempstead, ...

, separated from the rest of the Five Towns by Motts Creek. Atlantic Beach, which is located across a drawbridge from Lawrence on a

barrier island Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from ...

it shares with

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, Lido Beach and Point Lookout, is culturally linked to the Five Towns, with its students attending Five Towns public schools, but it is usually — though not always — excluded from the designation.

History

The name "Five Towns" dates back to 1931, when individual Community Chest groups in the area banded together to form the "Five Towns Community Chest", consisting of Inwood, Lawrence, Cedarhurst, Woodmere, and Hewlett. The organization still exists (as of 2018) as a local charity, but the "Five Towns" moniker caught on as a designation for the entire area. A 1933 article in ''

'' references a Girl Scouts of the USA encampment by the "Five Towns Council, embracing the villages of Inwood, Lawrence, Cedarhurst, Woodmere and Hewlett", listed in order by

LIRR The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County on Long Island. With an average week ...

station. One notable characteristic of the Five Towns is that despite the reputation of the South Shore of Nassau County being more urbanized than the North Shore, the Five Towns retains hamlets that resemble areas along Long Island's

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

on the North Shore with enormous mansions and exclusive private communities along the water. ''

'' used the term "affluent" in describing the area. Inwood, however, is much less affluent than the other "towns," with a more urban character and a significantly more ethnically diverse population.

Education

There are two school districts in the Five Towns, the Lawrence Public Schools (District 15) and the Hewlett-Woodmere School District (District 14). Roughly speaking, the Lawrence school district contains all of Lawrence, Cedarhurst and Inwood, and parts of Woodmere, North Woodmere, and Woodsburgh, while the Hewlett-Woodmere district contains all of Hewlett and part of Woodmere and extends partly into the neighboring villages of Lynbrook and

(North Woodmere and Gibson in particular). In addition there are many private schools in the Five Towns, some of these are: HAFTR, HALB, the Lawrence Woodmere Academy, Yeshiva of South Shore and many others.

Five Towns College

Although Lawrence was planned to be the location for

Five Towns College Five Towns College is a private college in Dix Hills, New York. The college's degree programs focus on music, media, and the performing arts. History Founded in 1972, Five Towns College holds an Absolute Charter issued by the New York State ...

, the original site was no longer available by the time the school received its charter in 1972. The college is currently located in

Dix Hills Dix Hills is an affluent hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on Long Island in the town of Huntington in Suffolk County, New York. The population was 26,892 at the 2010 census. In the past, Dix Hills and some of its neighbors have proposed ...

, Suffolk County. Other than the proposed original site, the school never had a physical connection to the Five Towns.

Publications

As of February 2019, the Five Towns has a weekly local publication: The '' Nassau Herald''

In popular culture

* The

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

movie ''

Amongst Friends ''Amongst Friends'' is a 1993 film written and directed by Rob Weiss and starring Patrick McGaw, JosephLindsey, Steve Parlavecchio, and Mira Sorvino. Plot Andy, Trevor, and Billy are childhood friends. As young adults, Billy sells drugs and A ...

'', by Rob Weiss, was filmed and set in the Five Towns. *The television show ''

Entourage An entourage () is an informal group or band of people who are closely associated with a (usually) famous, notorious, or otherwise notable individual. The word can also refer to: Arts and entertainment * L'entourage, French hip hop / rap collecti ...

'' features a fictional show titled ''Five Towns'', in which Johnny Drama stars as a character. The producer of the show was supposed to be actor-director Edward Burns, who in real life grew up in Valley Stream but attended Hewlett High School. When shown on ''Entourage'' the Five Towns is oddly portrayed as a gritty industrial area. *In

Thomas Pynchon Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, scie ...

's 1963 debut novel '' V.'', he mentions the Five Towns; however, he includes Malverne as being part of the group. * In the film ''

Goodfellas ''Goodfellas'' (stylized ''GoodFellas'') is a 1990 American biographical crime film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Nicholas Pileggi and Scorsese, and produced by Irwin Winkler. It is a film adaptation of the 1985 nonfiction book '' W ...

'', when trying to get Henry to come along on a double date, Tommy mentions that his date lives in the Five Towns. * Opening scene to ''

Married to the Mob ''Married to the Mob'' is a 1988 American crime comedy film directed by Jonathan Demme, and starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew Modine, Dean Stockwell, Mercedes Ruehl, and Alec Baldwin. Pfeiffer plays Angela de Marco, a gangster's widow from B ...

'' was filmed at the Cedarhurst train station (but with the trains going in the reverse direction per the director's decision).

Notable people

Notable current and former residents of the Five Towns include: *

Henry Abramson Henry Abramson (born 1963) is the dean of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences in Flatbush, New York. Before that, he served as the Dean for Academic Affairs and Student Services at Touro College's Miami branch (Touro College South). He is no ...

(born 1963), dean of the

Lander College of Arts and Sciences Lander may refer to: Media and entertainment * ''Lander'' (computer game), computer game published by Psygnosis in 1999 * ''Lander'' (game demo), the 3D game demo provided with the Acorn Archimedes computer * Lander (Transformers), a fiction ...

Lyle Alzado Lyle Martin Alzado (April 3, 1949 – May 14, 1992) was an American professional All Pro football defensive end of the National Football League (NFL), famous for his intense and intimidating style of play. Alzado played 15 seasons, splitting hi ...

(1949–1992), former NFL football player. *

Bruce Blakeman Bruce Arthur Blakeman (born October 2, 1955) is an American attorney and politician currently serving as the 10th County Executive of Nassau County, New York. He was elected in the 2021 election, defeating Democratic incumbent Laura Curran. He ...

, Politician, Member of the Board of Commissioners of the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorize ...

. *

Lil Tecca Tyler-Justin Anthony Sharpe (born August 26, 2002), known professionally as Lil Tecca, is an American rapper and singer. He rose to mainstream fame with the release of his 2019 single "Ransom", which peaked at number 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot ...

(born 2002), rapper. * Ross Bleckner (born 1949), artist. *

Jake Burton Carpenter Jake Burton Carpenter (April 29, 1954 – November 20, 2019), occasionally also known as Jake Burton or Jakie, was an American snowboarder founder of Burton Snowboards and one of the inventors of the modern day snowboard. A native of New York ...

(1954–2019), / founder and owner of Burton Snowboards. * Michael Cohen (born 1966), former attorney and former lawyer for President Trump. *

Howard Deutch Howard Deutch (born September 14, 1950) is an American film and television director who worked in collaboration with filmmaker John Hughes, directing two of Hughes's best-known screenplays, ''Pretty in Pink'' and '' Some Kind of Wonderful''. Sinc ...

(born 1950), movie director *

John DiResta John DiResta is an American former New York Transit police officer turned comedian, and actor. Career He was the title star of a short-lived UPN sitcom called '' DiResta'' from 1998-1999. He has appeared in several films, including '' Miss Con ...

, actor / comedian *

Debra Drimmer Debra Drimmer, more commonly known as Debbie Drimmer, (born ca. 1963, New York City, New York) was formerly Vice President of Talent at Comedy Central from March 1996 until March 2004. Early life and education Drimmer is a 1981 graduate of George ...

, VP of Talent,

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...

Gordon Edelstein Gordon Edelstein is an American theatre director. He was Artistic Director of the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut from 2002 until January 2018, when he was fired following allegations of sexual misconduct. Biography He received a Bach ...

, Artistic Director of the

Long Wharf Theatre Long Wharf Theatre is a nonprofit institution in New Haven, Connecticut, a pioneer in the not-for-profit regional theatre movement, the originator of several prominent plays, and a venue where many internationally known actors have appeared. Fou ...

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* David Friedman (born 1958), former US Ambassador to Israel *

Jane Friedman Jane Friedman is the Co-Founder of Open Road Integrated Media, which sells and markets ebooks. She was the President and Chief Executive Officer of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide, one of the world's leading English-language publishers, from 19 ...

, President and CEO,

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

* Jeffrey M. Friedman (born 1954), molecular geneticist and discoverer of leptin. * James E. Gaffney, owner of the Boston Braves baseball team, winners of the 1914 World Series * Lisa Glasberg (born 1956), NYC radio DJ * Barbara Gaines, Producer, '' Late Show with David Letterman'', Emmy Award Winner *

Rande Gerber Rande Gerber (born April 27, 1962) is an American businessman and former model. He founded tequila brand Casamigos alongside actor George Clooney and real estate businessman Mike Meldman, as well as nightlife companies Midnight Oil, Caliche ...

, nightclub owner married to Cindy Crawford * Brent Glass, director of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History *

Louise Glück Louise Elisabeth Glück ( ; born April 22, 1943) is an American poet and essayist. She won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature, whose judges praised "her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal". H ...

, Poet, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1993,

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2003-04, Nobel Laureate in Literature 2020 * Carolyn Gusoff, WNBC news anchor *

Joan Hamburg Joan Hamburg (born August 12, 1935) is a radio personality in New York City. In the early 1970s Hamburg started her radio career with small consumer (bargain shopping) segments on the long-running ''Rambling with Gambling'' morning show, eventual ...

, radio personality * Mickey Hart, drummer of

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Karen Friedman Hill Karen Friedman Hill (born January 16, 1946) is an American woman known for her involvement in the American Mafia through her husband Henry Hill, who was an associate of the Lucchese crime family. The events of their lives were chronicled in the 1 ...

, who married Mobster

Henry Hill Henry Hill Jr. (June 11, 1943 – June 12, 2012) was an American mobster who was associated with the Lucchese crime family of New York City from 1955 until 1980, when he was arrested on narcotics charges and became an FBI informant. Hill testi ...

– whose life was immortalized by

Nicholas Pileggi Nicholas Pileggi (, ; born February 22, 1933) is an American author, producer and screenwriter. He wrote the non-fiction book '' Wiseguy'' and co-wrote the screenplay for ''Goodfellas'', its 1990 film adaptation, for which he received a nominati ...

's book ''Wiseguy'' and

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, inclu ...

's 1990 film ''

'' – hailed from Five Towns, and the newlyweds initially lived there with Karen's parents. *

Red Holzman William "Red" Holzman (August 10, 1920 – November 13, 1998) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He is best known as the head coach of the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1967 to ...

(1920–1998), New York Knicks head coach. * David M. Israel, TV producer/writer *

Donna Karan Donna Karan (, born Donna Ivy Faske), also known as "DK", is an American fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels. Early life Karan was born Donna Ivy Faske to mother Helen "Queenie" Faske (née Rabin ...

(born 1948), fashion designer. *

Aline Kominsky-Crumb Aline Kominsky-Crumb (née Goldsmith; August 1, 1948 – November 29, 2022) was an American underground comics artist. Kominsky-Crumb's work, which is almost exclusively autobiographical, is known for its unvarnished, confessional nature. In 20 ...

, comics artist * Stan Lee, Marvel comics writer, co-creator of Spider-Man and other comic characters, actor *

Peggy Lipton Margaret Ann Lipton (August 30, 1946 – May 11, 2019) was an American actress, model, and singer. She made appearances in many of the most popular television shows of the 1960s before she landed her defining role as flower child Julie Barnes i ...

(born 1946), actress *

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(born 1958), shoe designer. *

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, professional tennis player. *

Harvey Milk Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk was born and raised in ...

(1930–1978), first openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

man to be elected to public office in the United States, as a city supervisor in San Francisco. * Bruce Murray, host '' Murray in the Morning'' radio show *

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investment banker/entrepreneur * Evan Roberts (born 1983),

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host. *

Seth Rudetsky Seth Dennis Rudetsky (born February 28, 1967) is an American musician, actor, writer and radio host. He currently is the host of ''Seth's Big Fat Broadway'' and ''Seth Speaks'' on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio's '' On Broadway''. The show focuses on R ...

(born 1967), composer, musical director and talk show host. *

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(1947–2021), music producer and composer, best known for working with

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and

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. * Rob Weiss, director/producer ''

'', ''

''. * Stuart Weitzman (born 1941), shoe designer *

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(born 1945), musician of the hard rock group

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. *

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(born 1950), writer / producer.Capuzzo, Jill P
"From 'Saturday Night Live' to '700 Sundays'"
''

'', December 12, 2004. Accessed September 17, 2008. "As the funny kid in the neighborhood, Mr. Zweibel — born in Brooklyn and reared in Woodmere, on Long Island — first tried his hand at writing jokes while at the University of Buffalo, mailing them to Johnny Carson and Dick Cavett"

References

External links

{{Wikivoyage
Archive.org: History of the Rockaways from 1685 to 1917
— ''free download; includes the Five Towns history''. Hempstead, New York Hamlets in Nassau County, New York Villages in Nassau County, New York Jewish communities in the United States