Our History
Four Decades of Action.
Since 1982, Action Long Island has been a strong voice for the region — keeping an airport open, widening the roads we drive, lowering energy costs, and bringing business and government to the same table. Here’s some of what we’ve done.
40+
Years of advocacy
$10M
Won for Brookhaven’s Heavy Ion Project
38
Organizations in the LI Economic Initiative
100s
Volunteers on issue Task Forces
How It Started
From One Runway to a Whole Island.
In the early 1980s a small group of aircraft owners, business people, and aviation companies came together as “Republic Airport Action” with a single goal: keep Republic Airport from closing. They won — and the model plan they wrote was later adopted nationally by the F.A.A.
Rather than disband, they took on the next challenge, and the next. As the issues grew Island-wide, so did the name: Route 110 Republic Airport Action, then 110 Action, and finally Action Long Island.
The Timeline
Long Island’s Story, and Our Place in It.
Scroll sideways to travel from Long Island’s first peoples to today — zoom in for more milestones, and select any point to read the story behind it. Solid markers are Action Long Island’s own work; outlined markers are the wider Long Island story it unfolds against.
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Republic Airport Action forms
Aircraft owners and businesses unite to stop Republic Airport from closing.
In the early 1980s a group of aircraft owners, business people, and aviation companies came together as “Republic Airport Action” with one goal: keep Republic Airport from closing. They won — and the model plan they wrote was later adopted nationally by the F.A.A.
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Route 110 widened
Lobbied Albany and won the widening of the corridor’s commercial spine.
Action lobbied in Albany and won the widening of Route 110 — the commercial spine of the region — easing traffic and opening the corridor to decades of growth.
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$10M for Brookhaven’s Heavy Ion Project
Won major federal funding to secure the lab’s research future.
Lobbied Washington and won $10 million for the Heavy Ion Project at Brookhaven National Laboratory, helping keep world-class research — and jobs — on Long Island.
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Saved the T-46A contract
Fought and won in Washington to keep the contract at Fairchild-Republic.
Fought and won in Washington to keep the T-46A trainer contract at Fairchild-Republic — defending local aerospace jobs at a pivotal moment.
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NYS Transportation Bond Issue
A leading Long Island supporter of the 1988 statewide bond.
Gave major support to passage of the 1988 New York State Transportation Bond Issue, unlocking funding for the roads and transit Long Island depends on.
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First business Recycling Forum
Launched the first recycling forum for businesses across four Towns.
With the Towns of Babylon, Huntington, Islip, and Smithtown, created the first Recycling Forum for the business community — and later started a recycling program for companies along Route 110.
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Long Island Energy Cooperative
Founded a cooperative to lower business energy costs.
Created the Long Island Energy Cooperative to pool demand and lower energy costs for local businesses — part of a decades-long push for affordable Long Island energy.
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110 Transportation Management Association
Built a corridor transit program with the MTA, LIRR, and LI Bus.
Formed the 110 Transportation Management Association and, with the M.T.A., L.I.R.R., and Long Island Bus, created a transportation program for the Route 110 corridor.
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Day care comes to Route 110
Brought the first day-care program to the corridor.
Implemented a program to bring day care to the Route 110 corridor, supporting the corridor’s growing workforce.
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HOV lane opened off-peak
Won the opening of the LIE HOV lane to all drivers during off-peak hours.
Successfully petitioned the NYS Department of Transportation to open the Long Island Expressway HOV lane to all drivers during non-peak hours.
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Project Asphalt
Backed an experiment reusing incinerator ash in road building.
Provided funding and assistance to Project Asphalt, an experimental program using ash from municipal incinerators in road building — saving taxpayer dollars otherwise spent shipping ash out of state.
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Goodwill Games come to Long Island
Helped bring the 1998 Goodwill Games to the region.
Helped introduce and bring the 1998 Goodwill Games to Long Island, putting the region on an international stage.
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A better deal on LIPA & LILCO
Pressed Albany and LIPA for fairer rates for ratepayers.
Continued a long campaign pressing the Governor and LIPA over the LILCO takeover — fighting for a better deal, and lower rates, for Long Island ratepayers.
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LI Museum of Science & Technology
Helped organize a new home for STEM on the Island.
Helped organize the Long Island Museum of Science and Technology, advancing science education and tourism across the region.
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LIE–HOV Lane Task Force
Created a task force with NYS DOT to guide the HOV lane.
Joined with the New York State Department of Transportation to create the L.I.E.–H.O.V. Lane Task Force, shaping how the lane serves commuters.
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LIE service roads & 4th lanes
Won completion of service roads and added travel lanes.
Lobbied for and won completion of Long Island Expressway service roads and 4th lanes, easing one of the region’s worst bottlenecks.
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Public forums on the big issues
Convened forums on healthcare, water quality, and higher education.
Hosted public forums — with civic and government leaders — on healthcare reform, the safety of Long Island’s water supply, and the future of the Island’s institutions of higher learning.
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Long Island Economic Initiative
United 38 organizations behind a common economic agenda.
Formed the Long Island Economic Initiative — bringing 38 organizations together to confront the downturn in Long Island’s economy with one shared agenda.
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Annual County Executive Update
Decades of briefing members on the state of the region.
For more than two decades Action Long Island has convened its Annual County Executive Update, bringing Nassau and Suffolk leaders before the business community.
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Still a strong voice
Hundreds of volunteers carry the work forward on today’s issues.
More than forty years on, hundreds of volunteer members serve on issue-oriented Task Forces — keeping Action Long Island at the table on energy, infrastructure, and the quality of life across the region.
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Brookhaven National Laboratory founded
A world-class federal research lab opens on a former Army base in Upton.
Brookhaven National Laboratory opened in 1947 on the grounds of the former Camp Upton, bringing federal science, Nobel-winning physics, and thousands of research jobs to central Suffolk County.
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Levittown breaks ground
Mass-produced homes turn potato fields into the model American suburb.
Beginning in 1947 the Levitt family built thousands of affordable, mass-produced homes on former Long Island potato fields — creating Levittown, widely called the birthplace of the modern American suburb.
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Stony Brook University founded
New York’s flagship research campus on Long Island gets its start.
Founded in 1957 in Oyster Bay and moved to its Stony Brook campus in 1962, the university grew into one of the State University of New York’s flagship research institutions.
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State takes over Republic Airport
The MTA acquires the Farmingdale airfield, securing its future.
In March 1969 the Metropolitan Transportation Authority acquired Republic Airport in East Farmingdale, putting the historic aviation field — later the subject of one of Action’s earliest fights — under public stewardship.
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Grumman’s Lunar Module lands on the Moon
The Bethpage-built Eagle carries Apollo 11 to the lunar surface.
The Apollo 11 Lunar Module “Eagle” — designed and built by Grumman in Bethpage — touched down on the Moon in July 1969, a defining achievement for Long Island’s aerospace workforce.
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Expressway reaches Riverhead
Decades of construction push the LIE out to eastern Suffolk.
In 1972 the Long Island Expressway was extended to Riverhead, completing the spine that reshaped commuting, development, and daily life across Nassau and Suffolk.
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Hurricane Gloria strikes
A powerful storm knocks out power across the Island for days.
Hurricane Gloria made landfall on Long Island in September 1985, downing trees and power lines and leaving large areas without electricity for more than a week.
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Shoreham nuclear plant abandoned
A finished reactor is shut down before ever producing power.
After years of safety and evacuation disputes, the completed Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant was abandoned in 1989 without ever operating commercially — leaving ratepayers with billions in costs.
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Pine Barrens Protection Act
New York shields 100,000+ acres of Suffolk’s drinking-water heartland.
The Long Island Pine Barrens Protection Act of 1993 placed more than 100,000 acres over Suffolk’s deep aquifer under protection, balancing growth with the region’s drinking water.
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Grumman merges into Northrop
The Island’s signature aerospace employer joins a national giant.
In 1994 Grumman — for decades Long Island’s largest private employer — merged with Northrop to form Northrop Grumman, accelerating the decline of local aerospace manufacturing.
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Superstorm Sandy
Record flooding devastates the South Shore and barrier beaches.
In October 2012 Superstorm Sandy drove record storm surge into Long Island’s South Shore, destroying homes, flooding communities, and reshaping coastal resilience planning for years.
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South Fork Wind powers up
The first US utility-scale offshore wind farm comes online off Montauk.
In 2024 South Fork Wind became the first commercial, utility-scale offshore wind farm in the United States, sending power from twelve turbines east of Montauk into the Long Island grid.
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Long Island’s first peoples
Algonquian-speaking nations live, farm, and fish across the Island for thousands of years.
Long before European contact, Algonquian-speaking peoples — among them the Montaukett, Shinnecock, Unkechaug, Matinecock, and Massapequa — lived across Long Island and gave many of its places their names. The Shinnecock and Unkechaug nations remain on Long Island today.
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Southold and Southampton founded
English settlers establish Long Island’s first towns; Dutch settlers spread from the west.
In 1640 English colonists founded Southold and Southampton — the first English towns on Long Island — while Dutch settlers expanded from the western end, beginning two centuries of farming, whaling, and maritime life.
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The Battle of Long Island
The Revolution’s largest battle; Washington’s night retreat saves his army.
In August 1776 the Battle of Long Island — the largest battle of the American Revolution — ended in British victory and a daring overnight retreat by George Washington’s army. Long Island then spent seven years under British occupation.
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The Culper Spy Ring
Washington’s Setauket-based spies report from British-held Long Island.
Operating from Setauket beginning in 1778, the Culper Spy Ring fed George Washington intelligence out of British-occupied Long Island and New York City — one of the most important espionage networks of the Revolution.
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Montauk Point Lighthouse lit
Commissioned under President Washington, New York’s oldest lighthouse begins its watch.
Authorized by Congress under President George Washington and completed in 1796, the Montauk Point Lighthouse is New York State’s oldest — still guiding ships at Long Island’s eastern tip.
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Walt Whitman born in Huntington
America’s poet is born at West Hills; Long Island runs through his work.
Walt Whitman was born in 1819 at West Hills in the Town of Huntington. He called Long Island by its Lenape name, “Paumanok,” and it shaped the landscape of his poetry.
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The Long Island Rail Road is chartered
Chartered in 1834, it becomes the busiest commuter railroad in North America.
Chartered in 1834, the Long Island Rail Road is the oldest US railroad still operating under its original name — and today the busiest commuter railroad in North America, carrying the workforce that built modern Long Island.
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Fire Island Lighthouse
The 168-foot tower is lit — long the first US landmark seen by arriving ships.
The present Fire Island Lighthouse was first lit in 1858. Standing 168 feet over the barrier beach, it was for generations the first sight of America for ships and immigrants approaching New York Harbor.
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Theodore Roosevelt builds Sagamore Hill
The Oyster Bay home becomes the Summer White House during his presidency.
Theodore Roosevelt completed Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay in 1885. As president from 1901 to 1909 he ran the nation from the estate each summer, making Long Island the “Summer White House.”
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Belmont Park opens
Elmont’s racetrack becomes home to the Belmont Stakes, a Triple Crown jewel.
Belmont Park opened in Elmont in 1905 and became home to the Belmont Stakes — the third jewel of thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown and one of Long Island’s enduring sporting traditions.
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The Cradle of Aviation takes flight
After the Wright brothers, Hempstead Plains becomes America’s busiest airfield — and launches the first US airmail.
In the decade after the Wright brothers’ first flight, the flat expanse of the Hempstead Plains became the nation’s busiest proving ground for aviation. Pioneers like Glenn Curtiss flew here, and in 1911 the first officially sanctioned US airmail took off from the Nassau Boulevard aerodrome in Garden City — earning Long Island its name as the “Cradle of Aviation.”
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Camp Upton built in Yaphank
A WWI Army training camp rises on land that later becomes Brookhaven Lab.
In 1917 the US Army built Camp Upton in Yaphank to train soldiers for World War I — Irving Berlin wrote “Yip Yip Yaphank” there. The grounds later became Brookhaven National Laboratory.
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Lindbergh takes off from Roosevelt Field
The Spirit of St. Louis lifts off Long Island for Paris, May 20, 1927.
On May 20, 1927, Charles Lindbergh lifted off from Roosevelt Field in the Spirit of St. Louis and flew nonstop across the Atlantic to Paris — the flight that made him world-famous began on Long Island.
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Jones Beach State Park opens
Robert Moses opens the landmark ocean park that still draws millions each summer.
Jones Beach State Park opened in 1929, the signature project of Robert Moses. Its boardwalk, bathhouses, and iconic water tower made public ocean recreation a Long Island birthright for millions.
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Moses’s parkways open the Island
The Southern State, Northern State, and Wantagh parkways bring the automobile age.
Through the late 1920s and 1930s, Robert Moses laid out the Southern State, Northern State, Wantagh, and Meadowbrook parkways — landscaped roads that opened Long Island to the automobile, the suburbs, and the beaches, and shaped the region for a century to come.
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Hofstra opens its doors
Founded in Hempstead in 1935, it grows into Long Island’s largest private university.
Hofstra was founded in Hempstead in 1935 and grew into Long Island’s largest private university — joining Adelphi (1896), the Merchant Marine Academy, Stony Brook, LIU, and others as anchors of the region’s education and research economy.
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The Great Hurricane of 1938
The “Long Island Express” slams the South Shore, reshaping the barrier beaches.
On September 21, 1938, the hurricane known as the “Long Island Express” struck the South Shore without warning, killing dozens, leveling beach communities, and permanently reshaping the barrier islands.
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Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point
The federal service academy is dedicated on Long Island’s North Shore.
The United States Merchant Marine Academy was dedicated at Kings Point in 1943, training officers for the nation’s commercial fleet and armed forces — one of five US federal service academies, and the only one on Long Island.
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Fire Island National Seashore
Congress protects 26 miles of barrier-island beaches, dunes, and communities.
In 1964 Congress established the Fire Island National Seashore, protecting roughly 26 miles of barrier-island beaches, dunes, the Sunken Forest, and summer communities from overdevelopment.
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Nassau Coliseum opens
Uniondale’s new arena is home to the Islanders and the ABA’s New York Nets.
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum opened in Uniondale in 1972, immediately becoming home to the expansion New York Islanders and the ABA’s New York Nets — and giving Long Island a major-league stage of its own.
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The Cosmos sign Pelé
The team that launched at Hofstra Stadium brings the world’s biggest star to America.
The New York Cosmos — who played their early seasons at Hofstra Stadium — signed Pelé in 1975, igniting America’s first great wave of soccer enthusiasm and the North American Soccer League boom.
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The Islanders’ dynasty begins
The New York Islanders win the first of four straight Stanley Cups (1980–1983).
In 1980 the New York Islanders won the first of four consecutive Stanley Cups — a 1980–1983 dynasty, with a then-record 19 straight playoff series wins, that remains one of the greatest runs in North American sports.
The Next Chapter Needs You.
Every milestone here started with members who showed up. Add your voice to the next one.