Norman Levy Park and Preserve is a man-made park on the South Shore of Long Island in

Merrick, New York Merrick is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. , the population was 20,130. Geography According to the United States Census Bu ...

. The park is situated on a hill formerly part of a landfill and has excellent views of the

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

skyline and Long Island.

Description

Norman Levy Park and Preserve was once a landfill but was transformed to a park space in 2000. 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. 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 Guineafowl (; sometimes called "pet speckled hens" or "original fowl") are birds of the family Numididae in the order Galliformes. They are endemic to Africa and rank among the oldest of the gallinaceous birds. Phylogenetically, they branched o ...

to control the tick population as an alternative to insecticides. 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. The park is operated by the Town of Hempstead.

Name

The park is named after

Norman J. Levy Norman J. Levy (January 24, 1931 – February 7, 1998) 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 sea ...

, who was a

New York State Senator The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan compo ...

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 The Meadowbrook State Parkway (also known as the Meadowbrook, the Meadowbrook Parkway or the MSP) is a parkway in Nassau County, New York, in the United States. Its southern terminus is at a full cloverleaf interchange with the Bay and Ocean par ...

to honor his role in seat belt legislation.

References

External links

* {{Parks in Nassau County, New York Parks in Nassau County, New York Hempstead, New York