Editing Long Beach, New York (section)

==History==
=== Pre-settlement ===
The city of Long Beach's first inhabitants were the [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]]-speaking [[Lenape]], who sold the area to English [[Settler|colonists]] in 1643. From that time, while the barrier island was used by [[fisherman|baymen]] and farmers for fishing and harvesting [[salt hay]], no one lived there year-round for more than two centuries. The [[Wreck of the Mexico (1837)|barque ''Mexico'']], carrying Irish immigrants to New York, ran aground on a sandbar 200 yards off of Long Beach on January 2, 1837; 115 of its passengers would freeze to death on the deck of the ship.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Howland |first=Southworth Allen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LW_XAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA3 |title=Steamboat Disasters and Railroad Accidents in the United States: To which is Appended Accounts of Recent Shipwrecks, Fires at Sea, Thrilling Incidents, Etc. |publisher=Dorr, Howland & Company |year=1840 |pages=267–275 |access-date=May 26, 2020 |archive-date=September 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916224324/https://books.google.com/books?id=LW_XAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA3 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Austin Corbin]], a builder from [[Brooklyn]], was the first to attempt to develop the island as a [[resort]]. He formed a partnership with the [[Long Island Rail Road]] (LIRR) to finance the [[Long Beach Branch|New York and Long Beach Railroad Co]]., which laid track from [[Lynbrook, New York|Lynbrook]] to Long Beach in 1880. That same year, Corbin opened Long Beach Hotel, a row of 27 cottages along a {{convert|1100|ft|adj=on}} strip of beach, which he claimed was the world's largest hotel.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Long Beach Hotel: 1880–1907 |url=http://www.homestead.com/captfxco/LongBeachHotel.html |website=ILoveLongBeachNewYork.com |access-date=September 3, 2007 |archive-date=August 30, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070830202704/http://www.homestead.com/captfxco/LongBeachHotel.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History & Mission {{!}} The Long Beach Chamber |url=https://thelongbeachchamber.com/our-history-and-mission |access-date=February 9, 2021 |website=thelongbeachchamber.com |archive-date=February 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209054417/https://thelongbeachchamber.com/our-history-and-mission |url-status=live }}</ref> In its first season, the railroad brought 300,000 visitors to Long Island. By the next spring, tracks had been laid the length of the island, but they were removed in 1894 after repeated washouts from winter storms.
[[File: Long Beach Hotel (Long Island), Long Beach, N. Y (NYPL b12647398-66805).tiff|thumb|left|Long Beach Hotel]]
[[File:longbeach 1911.jpg|left|thumb|220px|Long Beach boardwalk, {{circa|1911}}]][[File:longbeach 1923.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Crowded beach, {{circa|1923}}]]

===20th century===
In 1906, [[William H. Reynolds (New York politician)|William H. Reynolds]], a 39-year-old real estate developer and former state senator, became involved in the area. Reynolds had already developed four Brooklyn neighborhoods ([[Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn|Bedford–Stuyvesant]], [[Borough Park, Brooklyn|Borough Park]], [[Bensonhurst, Brooklyn|Bensonhurst]], and [[Brownsville, Brooklyn|South Brownsville]]), as well as [[Coney Island]]'s [[Dreamland (Coney Island, 1904)|Dreamland]], the world's largest amusement park at the time. Reynolds also owned a theatre and produced plays.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Long Beach New York - I Love LBNY.Com - William H. Reynolds |url=http://www.ilovelbny.com/WilliamHReynolds.html |access-date=August 15, 2020 |website=www.ilovelbny.com |archive-date=January 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200117172040/http://www.ilovelbny.com/WilliamHReynolds.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=October 14, 1931 |title=W.H. REYNOLDS, BUILDER, DEAD AT 63; Was Founder of Long Beach, L.I., Which He Afterward Served as Mayor. A STATE SENATOR AT 24 Opened Office as Realty Broker at 18--Had Managed Theatres, Race Track, and Coney Island Show. Successful as Realty Man. Built Jamaica Race Track. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/10/14/archives/wh-reynolds-builder-dead-at-63-was-founder-of-long-beach-li-which.html |access-date=August 15, 2020 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503141240/https://www.nytimes.com/1931/10/14/archives/wh-reynolds-builder-dead-at-63-was-founder-of-long-beach-li-which.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

He gathered investors, and acquired the oceanfront from private owners and the rest of the island from the [[Hempstead, New York|Town of Hempstead]] in 1907; he planned to build a [[boardwalk (entertainment district)|boardwalk]], homes, and hotels. Reynolds had a herd of [[elephant]]s marched in from Dreamland, ostensibly to help build the [[List of boardwalks in the United States#Long Beach|Long Beach Boardwalk]]; he had created an effective [[publicity stunt]]. Dredges created a channel {{convert|1000|ft|m}} wide on the north side of the island to provide access by large steamboats and seaplanes to transport more visitors; the new waterway was named [[Reynolds Channel]]. To ensure that Long Beach lived up to his billing it "The [[French Riviera|Riviera]] of the East", he required each building to be constructed in an "eclectic [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] style", with white [[stucco]] walls and red-clay tile roofs. He built a theatre called Castles by the Sea, with the largest dance floor in the world, for dancers [[Vernon and Irene Castle]].

After Reynolds' corporation went bankrupt in 1918, the restrictions were lifted. The new town attracted wealthy business people and entertainers from New York and Hollywood.

On July 29, 1907, a fire broke out at the Long Beach Hotel and burned it to the ground. Of the 800 guests, eight were injured by jumping from windows, and one woman died. The fire was blamed on defective electric wiring. A church, several cottages, and the bathing pavilion were also destroyed. Trunks belonging to the guests, which had been piled on the sand to form "dressing rooms", were looted by thieves. A dozen waiters and others were apprehended by the police, who recovered $20,000 worth of jewelry and other stolen property.<ref>"1907: Fire Destroys Hotel", In Our Pages, ''International Herald Tribune'', accessed July 29, 2007</ref>

The community became an [[Political subdivisions of New York State#Village|incorporated village]] in 1913 and a city in 1922.<ref name=":1" />

In 1923, the [[prohibition]] agents known simply as [[Izzy Einstein and Moe Smith|Izzy and Moe]] raided the Nassau Hotel and arrested three men for bootlegging. In 1930, five [[Long Beach Police Department (New York)|Long Beach Police]] officers were charged with offering a bribe to a [[United States Coast Guard]] officer to allow liquor to be landed. The police had another problem a year later in the summer of 1931, when a [[beachcombing|beachcomber]] found the body of a young woman named [[Death of Starr Faithfull|Starr Faithfull]], who had drowned. She had left behind a suicide note, but others believed she had been murdered, and the circumstances of her death were never resolved. Corruption became rampant in Long Beach by then; in 1922, the state Legislature designated Long Beach a city, and William H. Reynolds was elected the first mayor. Soon afterward, Reynolds was indicted on charges of misappropriating funds. When he was found guilty, the clock in the tower at city hall was stopped in protest. When a judge released Reynolds from jail later that year on appeal, almost the entire population turned out to greet him, and the clock was turned back on.

On November 15, 1939, Mayor [[Louis F. Edwards]] was fatally shot by a police officer in front of his home.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 16, 1939 |title=Policeman Kills Long Beach Mayor, Shoots Bodyguard |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1939/11/16/archives/policeman-kills-long-beach-mayor-shoots-bodyguard-patrolman-who.html |access-date=April 2, 2018 |archive-date=April 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180403061640/https://www.nytimes.com/1939/11/16/archives/policeman-kills-long-beach-mayor-shoots-bodyguard-patrolman-who.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Officer Alvin Dooley, a member of the police motorcycle squad and the mayor's own security detail, killed Edwards after losing his bid for [[Patrolmen's Benevolent Association|PBA]] president to a candidate the mayor supported. Jackson Boulevard was later renamed Edwards Boulevard in honor of the late mayor. After the murder, the city residents passed legislation to adopt a city manager system, which still exists to this day. The city manager is hired by and reports to the City Council.

In the 1940s, [[José Ferrer]], [[Zero Mostel]], [[Mae West]], and other famous actors performed at local theaters.{{citation needed|date=July 2016}} [[John Barrymore]], [[Humphrey Bogart]], [[Clara Bow]], [[James Cagney]], [[Cab Calloway]], [[Jack Dempsey]], [[Lillian Roth]], [[Rudolph Valentino]], and [[Florenz Ziegfeld]] lived in Long Beach for decades.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cusack |first=Liam |title=The City by the Sea - Long Beach |url=https://cooperator.com/article/long-beach/full |website=cooperator.com |publisher=Yale Robbins |access-date=September 24, 2017 |archive-date=September 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925035408/https://cooperator.com/article/long-beach/full |url-status=live }}</ref>

By the 1940s and 1950s, with the advent of cheap air travel attracting tourists to more distant places, and air-conditioning to provide year-round comfort, Long Beach had become primarily a [[bedroom community]] for commuters to New York City. It still attracted many summer visitors into the 1970s. The rundown boardwalk hotels were used for temporary housing for welfare recipients and the elderly until a scandal around 1970 led to many of the homes losing their licenses. At that time, government agencies were also "warehousing" in such hotels many patients released from larger mental hospitals. They were supposed to be cared for in small-scale community centers. The {{convert|2.2|mi|km|adj=on}} boardwalk had a small [[amusement park]] at the foot of Edwards Boulevard until the 1980s. In the late 1960s, the boardwalk and amusement park area was a magnet for youth from around [[Long Island]], until a police crackdown on drug trafficking ended that. A few businesses remained on the boardwalk, attracting bicyclists, joggers, walkers, and people-watchers.

[[File: Post Sandy Boardwalk In Long Beach NY.jpg|thumb|left|The newly rebuilt boardwalk in November 2013.]]

Beginning in the 1980s and accelerating in the 1990s, Long Beach began an urban renewal, with new housing, new businesses, and other improvements.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Winerip |first=Michael |date=March 13, 1983 |title=In Long Beach, the Tide Seems to Be Turning |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/13/nyregion/in-long-beach-the-tide-seems-to-be-turning.html |access-date=August 15, 2020 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502050726/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/13/nyregion/in-long-beach-the-tide-seems-to-be-turning.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Today, the city is again a popular bedroom community, for people working in New York who want the quiet beach atmosphere. With summer come local youths and college students and young adults who rent [[bungalow]]s on the West End; they frequent the local bars and clubs along West Beech Street. Just behind the boardwalk near the center of the city, however, vacant lots now occupy several blocks that once housed hotels, bathhouses, and the amusement park. Because attempts to attract development (including, at one time, [[Atlantic City, New Jersey|Atlantic City]]-style [[casino]]s) to this potential "[[City block|superblock]]" have not yet borne fruit, the lots constitute the city's largest portion of unused land.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=January 22, 2014 |title=New Development Proposed for Superblock |url=https://patch.com/new-york/longbeach/new-development-proposed-for-superblock |access-date=August 15, 2020 |website=Long Beach, NY Patch |language=en |archive-date=May 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503141540/https://patch.com/new-york/longbeach/new-development-proposed-for-superblock |url-status=live }}</ref>

===21st century===
On October 29, 2012, [[Hurricane Sandy]] struck Long Beach. As a result of flooding, hundreds of vehicles were destroyed and houses suffered various levels of damage. The estimated cost of all the damage was over $250 million. The city was without power and running water for two weeks after the storm. The boardwalk was also destroyed during the storm. The city began rebuilding the boardwalk with grants from [[Federal Emergency Management Agency|FEMA]] and the State of New York. The first two-block section of the new Long Beach boardwalk reopened on July 26, 2013,<ref>{{Cite web |title=1st section of Long Beach boardwalk reopens after Superstorm Sandy |url=https://abc7ny.com/archive/9185607/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730014125/http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news%2Flocal%2Flong_island&id=9185607 |archive-date=July 30, 2013 |access-date=July 26, 2013 |publisher=WABC TV}}</ref> and the entire boardwalk opened on October 25, 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Long Beach boardwalk to fully reopen after Superstorm Sandy |url=https://abc7ny.com/archive/9300780/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131028161200/http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news%2Flocal%2Flong_island&id=9300780 |archive-date=October 28, 2013 |access-date=October 25, 2013 |publisher=WABC TV}}</ref> The final costs of rebuilding the boardwalk were $44 million, of which ca. $39 million were FEMA grants and the final $4.4 million were reimbursed by the state.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Long Beach gets $4.4 million for boardwalk |url=https://www.liherald.com/stories/long-beach-gets-44-million-for-boardwalk,105786 |access-date=September 10, 2020 |archive-date=January 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123104540/https://www.liherald.com/stories/long-beach-gets-44-million-for-boardwalk,105786 |url-status=live }}</ref>