Central Islip, NY real estate market

Central Islip sits in the Town of Islip in Suffolk County, and the name itself comes from the railroad. The Long Island Rail Road reached the area in 1842 and opened the Suffolk County Station, which grew into the commercial center for housing nearby. When a new station went up further east in 1873, it took the name Central Islip, and the station has moved locations more than once since. That railroad history is still the backbone of the place today, with Central Islip Station now on the Ronkonkoma Branch.

The other big chapter here is the old Central Islip Psychiatric Center, which opened in 1889 and by 1955 housed more than 10,000 patients before closing in 1996. That closure left a huge piece of land, 788 acres, sitting in the middle of town. Starting in the mid 1990s that land became the engine for a real turnaround, with new housing developments, commercial building, and a federal courthouse complex that was said to be the second largest of its kind in the country. In 2000 the Long Island Ducks opened their baseball stadium nearby too, so the old hospital grounds turned into stadiums, courts, and neighborhoods like College Woods, Park Row, Islip Landing, and Courthouse Commons.

Getting around is straightforward. Suffolk Avenue, County Road 100, is the main road running west to east through the hamlet, while Carleton Avenue and Wheeler's Road, County Road 17, run north to south and connect up toward Hauppauge near the Long Island Expressway. The old Long Island Motor Parkway traces the northern edge of town. The CDP covers 7.1 square miles, all land, so it is a compact area to know your way around.