Peconic County, New York

Peconic County is a proposed new county in New York that would secede the five easternmost towns of Suffolk County: East Hampton, Riverhead, Shelter Island, Southampton and Southold, plus the Shinnecock Indian Reservation.

It derives its name from Peconic Bay which is the dividing body of water separating the 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, in more densely populated western Suffolk County. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE7DF123AF932A25751C0A9629C8B63 Growth Pains And Clout Heading East In Suffolk - New York Times - February 11, 2004] ]

The big drive for the county was a difference in character between western Suffolk County which is predominately a New York City bedroom community while the east end is dominated by second home owners who want to preserve the area's more rural character.

71 percent of the east end voters in 1997 approved a nonbinding resolution to secede. However the New York State Assembly has never approved the enabling legislation. East End newspapers speculate the Assembly is afraid it would encourage a tidal wave of secessions in the state including Staten Island seceding from New York City [ [http://archive.easthamptonstar.com/ehquery/980305/edit1.htm Voters Vs. Politicians On Peconic County - East Hampton Star - March 5, 1998] ] and perhaps even causing the division of upstate and downstate New York.

The current move to secede has not been active since 1998.

Area and population

At the 2000 census, the five towns and the Shinnecock Reservation had a land area of 900.581 km² (347.72 sq mi), or about 38.12 percent of Suffolk County's land area. Its total population was 125,442 inhabitants, or about 8.84 percent of the county's population. Its average population density was 139.29/km² (360.76/sq mi). [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-context=dt&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-CONTEXT=dt&-mt_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_P001&-tree_id=4001&-transpose=N&-redoLog=false&-all_geo_types=N&-geo_id=05000US36103&-geo_id=06000US3610322194&-geo_id=06000US3610361984&-geo_id=06000US3610366839&-geo_id=06000US3610367059&-geo_id=06000US3610368473&-geo_id=06000US3610369463&-search_results=06000US3610367059&-_showChild=Y&-format=&-_lang=en&-show_geoid=Y] If the proposed secession were to occur, the surviving Suffolk County would have a land area of 1,462.001 km² (564.482 sq mi) and an adjusted 2000 census population of 1,293,927 inhabitants. It would be left with a population density of 885.04/km² (2,292.24/sq mi). As can be seen, the western part of Suffolk has more than six times the population density of its eastern neighbor.

See also

* Adirondack County - another proposed county in New York

References