Long Island was a burgeoning suburb in the 1970s. By 1976 people were rocking out at Nassau Coliseum to both David Bowie and Gerald Ford, yet the Long Island Expressway still didn’t have any streetlights. It was a funky year on Long Island so let’s get right to some of those wild and crazy facts from 1976.
- The population of Long Island in 1976 was 2,757,677
- Suffolk had 1,297,256 residents
- Nassau had 1,460,421
- Brookhaven was the fastest-growing town on Long Island in 1976 with 327,031 people
- 58% of the population gain on Long Island came from Brookhaven Town in 1976, according to The New York Times
- In August, Hurricane Belle made landfall on Long Island causing over $8 million in damages with over 100 mph winds, forcing about 15,000 people to flee to shelters
- It was the largest evacuation in Long Island history, according to Newsday
- In 1976, Grumman Aerospace received its first report concerning a toxic plume below its Bethpage facility and possible contamination of employee drinking water
- In November, Newsday reported on the contaminants in the water
- To celebrate the Bicentennial in 1976, parades and celebrations were held throughout Long Island, including this great Super 8 video that captured a parade in Syosset
- The Bicentennial train exhibits toured the Island. The New York Times listed it in their things to do on Long Island column. There were two sets of cars, one for Nassau County and one for Suffolk
- A “Bicentennial Beach Party,” show with water ballet routines, synchronized swimming and diving exhibitions was held at Oceanside Park
- On Halloween, President Gerald Ford spoke at Nassau Coliseum on the campaign trail. He lost the election that November to Jimmy Carter
- In 1976, the New York Times asked, “Is the Island ready for the chic Manhattan type nightspot?” in feature about discos including the newly opened Chaz in Huntington and Decameron in Levittown
- They even published a list of Long Island discotheques including dress codes, soe of which specify, “no dungarees”
- In 1976, a Supreme Court case ruled that a Suffolk policeman’s claim that the department’s guidelines on hair and beards did not violate his Constitutional rights
- The policeman brought the case individually and as president of the Suffolk County Patrolmen's Benevolent Association
- “Frampton Comes Alive” double rock album was released in January selling for $7.98. It became one of the best-selling live records of all time and was partly recorded at a concert Frampton played at Long Island Arena in Commack
- In 1976, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Doobie Brothers, Poco, Yes, and David Bowie all played at Nassau Coliseum
- David Bowie’s concert on his tour to promote the album Station to Station was included as part of the special editions of the Station to Station rereleases in 2010
- In 2017, the performance was released separately as Live Nassau Coliseum '76
- In the summer of 1976, Jones Beach Marine Theater featured “Show Boat” for the whole season
- The production cost $1 million
- Tickets cost from $3.50 to $7.50 and included dancing under a striped tent after the show
- In 1976, Suffolk County passed its Farmland Preservation Program allowing the county to buy development rights from farmers to preserve the land for growing food
- At the time, former Suffolk County Executive John Klein called it “the most significant long-range planning decision in the history of Suffolk”
- After Suffolk County buys development rights through the program, land can only be used for agriculture as well as lowering property taxes
- It is said to be the first of its kind
- The program has since preserved 11,000 acres of protected farmland, according to reports
- In 1976, the Long Island Expressway was still not illuminated by any streetlights in Nassau or Suffolk Counties