Peconic County () is a proposed new

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

on Long Island in the U.S. state of New York that would secede the five easternmost

towns 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 ...

of Suffolk County: East Hampton, Riverhead, Shelter Island,

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and Southold, plus the Shinnecock Indian Reservation. It derives its name from

Peconic Bay The Peconic Bay is the parent name for two bays between the North Fork and South Fork of Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. It is separated from Gardiners Bay by Shelter Island. Peconic Bay is divided by Robins Island into the Gr ...

which is the dividing body of water separating the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

and South forks of Long Island. Peconic County has been discussed for more than 50 years – ever since Suffolk County moved its offices from the official county seat in Riverhead 32 miles west to

Hauppauge, New York Hauppauge ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the towns of Islip and Smithtown in Suffolk County, New York on Long Island. The population was 20,882 at the time of the 2010 census. Geography Hauppauge is located at (40.818205, ...

, in more densely populated western Suffolk County. The big drive for the county was a difference in character between western Suffolk County which is predominantly a New York City bedroom community while the east end (or " East End") is dominated by home owners who want to preserve the area's more rural and upscale character. In 1997, 71 percent of the east end voters approved a nonbinding resolution to secede. However, the New York State Assembly has never approved the enabling legislation. East End newspapers speculated that the Assembly was afraid that it would encourage a wave of secessions in the state including Staten Island seceding from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and perhaps even causing the division of upstate and downstate New York. The secession movement has not been active in recent years.

Area and population

At the 2020 census, the five towns and the Shinnecock Reservation had a land area of 900.581 km² (347.72 mi²), or about 38.12 percent of Suffolk County's land area. Its total population was 161,127 inhabitants, or about 10.56 percent of the county's population. Its average

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 178.91/km² (463.38/mi²). If the proposed secession were to occur, the surviving Suffolk County would have a land area of 1,462.001 km² (564.482 mi²) and an adjusted 2020 census population of 1,356,575 inhabitants. It would be left with a population density of 933.51/km² (2,417.78/mi²). As can be seen, the western part of Suffolk has more than five times the population density of its eastern neighbor.

Places within the proposed county

References

{{coord, 40.9655331, -72.4598745, display=title Politics of New York (state) Proposed counties of the United States ~Proposed Suffolk County, New York

Area and population

Places within the proposed county

See also

References