Amityville Still Reads Like a Friendly Bay Village

Amityville’s own description points toward the bay. The village was settled in the 1600s, incorporated on March 3, 1894, and became known as The Friendly Bay Village. That phrase fits the public-space list better than a quick outsider impression would.

The village has little green and waterfront places threaded through it: the Village Triangle and Gazebo on Broadway, Avon Lake, Delano Nature Trail, Pearsall Park, Peterkin Park, Nautical Park at Merrick Road and Ocean Avenue, Maxine Postal Memorial Park on the Great South Bay, and the Amityville Beach Complex at the southern end of Bayview Avenue. Caples Park adds a playground, lighted softball fields, and a boat ramp.

There is a museum piece too. The Lauder Museum is home to the Amityville Historical Society, giving the village a place to hold its older story while downtown keeps changing.

For a South Shore reader, Amityville is not just a train stop about an hour from New York City. It is a bay village with small parks, civic corners, fishing and boating edges, and a local history that still has a front door.