{ "name": "Bellmore, New York", "url": "https://longislandtraffic.com/towns/nassau/bellmore/", "updated": "2026-09-17", "publisher": "Long Island Traffic (https://longislandtraffic.com)", "methodology": "https://longislandtraffic.com/towns/methodology/", "reuse": "Quote with credit and a link to the page URL above. Underlying federal and state datasets are public records.", "geography": { "slug": "bellmore", "county": "nassau", "censusName": "Bellmore CDP", "geoType": "census-designated place", "legalStatus": "hamlet (unincorporated)", "geoid": "3605738", "gnisId": "2389199", "pop2020": 16297, "housingUnits2020": 5776, "landSqMi": 2.36, "waterSqMi": 0.61, "densityPerSqMi": 6908, "internalPoint": [ 40.66024, -73.5266 ], "parentTown": "Hempstead town", "parentTownGeoid": "3605934000", "townShares": [ { "name": "Hempstead town", "share": 1 } ] }, "fatalCrashes2010to2024": { "period": "2010–2024", "crashes": 13, "deaths": 13, "pedestrianDeaths": 4, "bicyclistDeaths": 2, "motorcyclistDeaths": 4, "crashesWithDriverBac08": 1, "multiFatalityCrashes": 0, "onLimitedAccessHighways": { "crashes": 0, "deaths": 0 }, "deathsPer100kResidentsPerYear": 5.3, "byYear": [ { "year": 2010, "crashes": 1, "deaths": 1 }, { "year": 2011, "crashes": 2, "deaths": 2 }, { "year": 2012, "crashes": 2, "deaths": 2 }, { "year": 2013, "crashes": 2, "deaths": 2 }, { "year": 2014, "crashes": 1, "deaths": 1 }, { "year": 2015, "crashes": 0, "deaths": 0 }, { "year": 2016, "crashes": 2, "deaths": 2 }, { "year": 2017, "crashes": 0, "deaths": 0 }, { "year": 2018, "crashes": 1, "deaths": 1 }, { "year": 2019, "crashes": 0, "deaths": 0 }, { "year": 2020, "crashes": 1, "deaths": 1 }, { "year": 2021, "crashes": 0, "deaths": 0 }, { "year": 2022, "crashes": 0, "deaths": 0 }, { "year": 2023, "crashes": 0, "deaths": 0 }, { "year": 2024, "crashes": 1, "deaths": 1 } ], "byTimeOfDay": { "known": 13, "morning6to10": 2, "midday10to16": 4, "evening16to20": 2, "night20to6": 5 }, "darkShare": 0.385, "topRoads": [ { "name": "Sunrise Highway (NY 27)", "slug": "sunrise-highway", "crashes": 6, "deaths": 6 }, { "name": "Merrick Road", "slug": null, "crashes": 4, "deaths": 4 }, { "name": "Newbridge Rd", "slug": null, "crashes": 2, "deaths": 2 }, { "name": "Bedford Ave", "slug": null, "crashes": 1, "deaths": 1 } ], "roadOwnership": { "period": "2015–2024", "crashes": 5, "owners": [ { "owner": "State Highway Agency", "crashes": 3 }, { "owner": "Town or Township Highway Agency", "crashes": 2 } ] } }, "allReportedCrashes": { "years": [ "2021", "2022", "2023", "2024" ], "scope": "parent-town", "municipalityCode": "HEMPSTEAD", "label": "Town of Hempstead", "total": 68511, "fatal": 142, "injury": 18712, "propertyDamageOnly": 49657, "byYear": { "2021": 15884, "2022": 17747, "2023": 17500, "2024": 17380 }, "pedestrian": 1410, "bicyclist": 742, "deer": 5, "otherAnimal": 37 }, "commute": { "workers16plus": 8408, "commutersNotWorkingFromHome": 6848, "meanTravelMinutes": { "value": 34.1, "moe": 4.6, "lowReliability": false }, "pct60MinPlus": { "value": 19, "moe": 4.2, "lowReliability": false }, "pct90MinPlus": { "value": 5, "moe": 1.8, "lowReliability": false }, "pctUnder15Min": { "value": 14.4, "moe": 3.4, "lowReliability": false }, "pctDroveAlone": { "value": 68.1, "moe": 2.6, "lowReliability": false }, "pctCarpooled": { "value": 4.2, "moe": 2, "lowReliability": false }, "pctPublicTransit": { "value": 8.6, "moe": 2.6, "lowReliability": false }, "pctCommuterRail": { "value": 6.3, "moe": 2.3, "lowReliability": false }, "pctBus": { "value": 0.2, "moe": 0.2, "lowReliability": true }, "pctWalked": { "value": 0.6, "moe": 0.5, "lowReliability": true }, "pctBicycle": { "value": 0, "moe": 0.2, "lowReliability": true }, "pctWorkedFromHome": { "value": 18.6, "moe": 5.5, "lowReliability": false }, "pctLeaveBefore6am": { "value": 10, "moe": 3.4, "lowReliability": false }, "pctLeaveBefore7am": { "value": 29.4, "moe": 5.9, "lowReliability": false }, "households": 5320, "pctNoVehicle": { "value": 4.7, "moe": 2.3, "lowReliability": true }, "pctThreePlusVehicles": { "value": 28.3, "moe": 5.3, "lowReliability": false }, "medianHouseholdIncome": { "value": 161674, "moe": 8076 }, "medianAge": { "value": 42.3, "moe": 1.8 } }, "benchmarks": { "county": { "workers16plus": 679059, "commutersNotWorkingFromHome": 573233, "meanTravelMinutes": { "value": 36, "moe": 0.5, "lowReliability": false }, "pct60MinPlus": { "value": 22.3, "moe": 0.5, "lowReliability": false }, "pct90MinPlus": { "value": 7.6, "moe": 0.3, "lowReliability": false }, "pctUnder15Min": { "value": 17.9, "moe": 0.5, "lowReliability": false }, "pctDroveAlone": { "value": 60.7, "moe": 0.5, "lowReliability": false }, "pctCarpooled": { "value": 7.3, "moe": 0.3, "lowReliability": false }, "pctPublicTransit": { "value": 12.5, "moe": 0.4, "lowReliability": false }, "pctCommuterRail": { "value": 7.1, "moe": 0.3, "lowReliability": false }, "pctBus": { "value": 2.2, "moe": 0.2, "lowReliability": false }, "pctWalked": { "value": 2, "moe": 0.2, "lowReliability": false }, "pctBicycle": { "value": 0.2, "moe": 0.1, "lowReliability": false }, "pctWorkedFromHome": { "value": 15.6, "moe": 0.4, "lowReliability": false }, "pctLeaveBefore6am": { "value": 10.8, "moe": 0.4, "lowReliability": false }, "pctLeaveBefore7am": { "value": 26.6, "moe": 0.6, "lowReliability": false }, "households": 458166, "pctNoVehicle": { "value": 6.8, "moe": 0.3, "lowReliability": false }, "pctThreePlusVehicles": { "value": 23.3, "moe": 0.5, "lowReliability": false }, "medianHouseholdIncome": { "value": 146202, "moe": 1472 }, "medianAge": { "value": 42, "moe": 0.2 } }, "state": { "workers16plus": 9306567, "commutersNotWorkingFromHome": 7916632, "meanTravelMinutes": { "value": 32.6, "moe": 0.1, "lowReliability": false }, "pct60MinPlus": { "value": 16.8, "moe": 0.1, "lowReliability": false }, "pct90MinPlus": { "value": 5.3, "moe": 0.1, "lowReliability": false }, "pctUnder15Min": { "value": 20.5, "moe": 0.2, "lowReliability": false }, "pctDroveAlone": { "value": 48.8, "moe": 0.1, "lowReliability": false }, "pctCarpooled": { "value": 6.3, "moe": 0.1, "lowReliability": false }, "pctPublicTransit": { "value": 21.6, "moe": 0.1, "lowReliability": false }, "pctCommuterRail": { "value": 1.8, "moe": 0, "lowReliability": false }, "pctBus": { "value": 5.1, "moe": 0.1, "lowReliability": false }, "pctWalked": { "value": 5.6, "moe": 0.1, "lowReliability": false }, "pctBicycle": { "value": 0.8, "moe": 0, "lowReliability": false }, "pctWorkedFromHome": { "value": 14.9, "moe": 0.1, "lowReliability": false }, "pctLeaveBefore6am": { "value": 10.6, "moe": 0.1, "lowReliability": false }, "pctLeaveBefore7am": { "value": 26.3, "moe": 0.2, "lowReliability": false }, "households": 7722646, "pctNoVehicle": { "value": 29.2, "moe": 0.1, "lowReliability": false }, "pctThreePlusVehicles": { "value": 11.8, "moe": 0.1, "lowReliability": false }, "medianHouseholdIncome": { "value": 85974, "moe": 402 }, "medianAge": { "value": 39.8, "moe": 0.1 } }, "nation": { "workers16plus": 159114094, "commutersNotWorkingFromHome": 135071605, "meanTravelMinutes": { "value": 26.4, "moe": 0, "lowReliability": false }, "pct60MinPlus": { "value": 8.6, "moe": 0, "lowReliability": false }, "pct90MinPlus": { "value": 2.7, "moe": 0, "lowReliability": false }, "pctUnder15Min": { "value": 26, "moe": 0, "lowReliability": false }, "pctDroveAlone": { "value": 68.8, "moe": 0.1, "lowReliability": false }, "pctCarpooled": { "value": 8.5, "moe": 0, "lowReliability": false }, "pctPublicTransit": { "value": 3.2, "moe": 0, "lowReliability": false }, "pctCommuterRail": { "value": 0.3, "moe": 0, "lowReliability": false }, "pctBus": { "value": 1.5, "moe": 0, "lowReliability": false }, "pctWalked": { "value": 2.4, "moe": 0, "lowReliability": false }, "pctBicycle": { "value": 0.4, "moe": 0, "lowReliability": false }, "pctWorkedFromHome": { "value": 15.1, "moe": 0, "lowReliability": false }, "pctLeaveBefore6am": { "value": 14.4, "moe": 0, "lowReliability": false }, "pctLeaveBefore7am": { "value": 32.5, "moe": 0, "lowReliability": false }, "households": 129227496, "pctNoVehicle": { "value": 8.4, "moe": 0, "lowReliability": false }, "pctThreePlusVehicles": { "value": 21.9, "moe": 0, "lowReliability": false }, "medianHouseholdIncome": { "value": 80734, "moe": 166 }, "medianAge": { "value": 38.9, "moe": 0.1 } } }, "research": { "researchedAt": "2026-09-17", "identity": { "officialName": "Bellmore", "placeType": "unincorporated hamlet and census-designated place", "parentTown": "Town of Hempstead", "alsoIn": [], "formerNames": [ { "name": "Smithville (later Smithville South)", "note": "one of two settlements that grew into Bellmore, named for the Smith families in the area", "src": [ 1 ] }, { "name": "New Bridge", "note": "the other settlement that grew into Bellmore, named for a peninsula along Merrick Road", "src": [ 1 ] } ], "nameOrigin": { "text": "When the Long Island Rail Road came through the area in 1867, the railroad \"arbitrarily named their station, Bellmore\" — a name that was, per the local historical society, both a man's first name and the name of a whisky brand popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.", "src": [ 1 ] }, "founded": null, "incorporated": null, "gnisId": null, "wikidataId": null }, "quickFacts": [ { "label": "Legal status", "value": "Unincorporated hamlet in the Town of Hempstead, Nassau County", "src": [ 2 ] }, { "label": "Police", "value": "Nassau County Police Department, Seventh Precinct", "src": [ 4, 5 ] }, { "label": "Main roads", "value": "Sunrise Highway (NY 27); Merrick Road; Newbridge Road (NY 106, at least at the North Bellmore end)", "src": [ 3 ] }, { "label": "1920 population", "value": "About 3,000, with stores along Bedford Avenue and 455 daily rail commuters", "src": [ 1 ] } ], "timeline": [ { "date": "1655", "label": "Southard farm", "text": "Thomas Southard purchased a 214-acre farm in what is now North Bellmore.", "src": [ 1 ] }, { "date": "1676", "label": "Smith land deed", "text": "John Smith deeded 100 acres near the bay to his son Jeremiah.", "src": [ 1 ] }, { "date": "1689", "label": "Bedell home on Merrick Road", "text": "John Bedell married Sarah Southard and moved into a new home on Merrick Road.", "src": [ 1 ] }, { "date": "1867", "label": "Railroad station named", "text": "The Long Island Rail Road built a station through the area and named it Bellmore.", "src": [ 1 ] }, { "date": "1920", "label": "Population and commuting", "text": "The community had about 3,000 residents, stores along Bedford Avenue, and 455 people commuting daily to New York City, paying $11.94 for a monthly rail ticket.", "src": [ 1 ] }, { "date": "1965", "label": "Sam Ginsberg's sale", "text": "The proprietor of Sam's Stationery and Luncheonette in Bellmore sold adult magazines to a 16-year-old on two occasions in October, leading to his prosecution.", "src": [ 6 ] }, { "date": "1968-04-22", "label": "Ginsberg v. New York", "text": "The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Ginsberg's conviction and the New York statute restricting minors' access to sexual material.", "src": [ 6 ] } ], "sections": [ { "id": "history", "heading": "History", "paragraphs": [ "Bellmore lies within the Town of Hempstead, whose founding deed was negotiated on December 13, 1643 between English emissaries Robert Fordham and John Carman and Native representatives the town's own archives name as the Reuckowacky, the Merockes, Matinecock and Massapequas.[2] According to a history compiled by the president of the Historical Society of the Bellmores, the area was \"settled primarily by Englishmen who crossed the Sound from Connecticut in the middle of the Seventeenth Century\": Thomas Southard bought a 214-acre farm in what is now North Bellmore in 1655, and further south near the bay John Smith deeded 100 acres to his son Jeremiah in 1676.[1] Two communities grew from these beginnings — Smithville, later Smithville South, named for the Smith families, and New Bridge, named for a peninsula along Merrick Road, where John Bedell and his wife Sarah Southard settled around 1689.[1]", "When the railroad reached the area in 1867, the company \"arbitrarily named their station Bellmore,\" a name the historical society's account notes was both a man's given name and the name of a whisky brand popular at the turn of the century; both communities grew toward the depot and adopted the name.[1] By 1920 the community had about 3,000 residents, stores along Bedford Avenue and 455 people commuting daily into New York City by rail, at a monthly fare of $11.94.[1]" ] }, { "id": "roads", "heading": "How the roads got here", "paragraphs": [ "Sunrise Highway, signed as New York State Route 27, runs through Bellmore's commercial district as part of NYSDOT's continuous South Shore touring route \"to Valley Stream, Lynbrook, Rockville Centre, Freeport, Massapequa Park.\"[3] Merrick Road, the area's original South Shore road, was already the site of the Bedell family's home by about 1689.[1]", "Newbridge Road, at least at its North Bellmore end, is New York State Route 106: NYSDOT's official touring-route description reads \"(NY 105) North Bellmore, on Newbridge Road, Hicksville, Jericho, Oyster Bay (Bay Avenue) – Nassau County,\" meaning the state carries a signed route number up Newbridge Road from North Bellmore to Oyster Bay.[3] Jerusalem Avenue, which meets it, is separately numbered NY 105, described as running \"(NY 106) North Bellmore, on Jerusalem Avenue (NY 107) – Nassau County.\"[3]" ] }, { "id": "law", "heading": "Law and legal history", "paragraphs": [ "Bellmore is the site of a landmark First Amendment ruling. Sam Ginsberg and his wife ran Sam's Stationery and Luncheonette in Bellmore; in October 1965 Ginsberg sold \"girlie\" magazines to a 16-year-old boy on two occasions, leading to his conviction under section 484-h of the New York Penal Law, which barred knowingly selling material \"harmful to minors\" — material that need not be obscene for adults — to anyone under 17.[6] In Ginsberg v. New York, 390 U.S. 629, decided April 22, 1968, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, holding that the statute \"does not invade the area of freedom of expression constitutionally secured to minors\" and that a state may vary its obscenity standard for material sold to minors even when the same material could lawfully be sold to adults.[6] Ginsberg remains a foundational precedent for the constitutional doctrine of \"variable obscenity\" governing minors' access to sexual material.[6]", "As elsewhere in the Town of Hempstead's unincorporated area, claims over defects in town-maintained streets and sidewalks in Bellmore require prior written notice under section 6-1 or 6-3 of the Code of the Town of Hempstead, while Nassau County roads (such as Merrick Road) carry a parallel notice requirement under section 12-4.0(e) of the Nassau County Administrative Code.[7][8]" ] }, { "id": "government", "heading": "Government, courts and policing", "paragraphs": [ "Bellmore is unincorporated and has no village government. The Nassau County Police Department's Seventh Precinct, headquartered at 3636 Merrick Road in Seaford, states that it \"serves the communities of Merrick, Bellmore, Wantagh, North Wantagh, Seaford, Massapequa, North Massapequa, Massapequa Park and East Massapequa.\"[4][5]", "Misdemeanors, lesser offenses, felony arraignments and civil claims up to $15,000 from Bellmore go to the Nassau County District Court at 99 Main Street, Hempstead; larger civil matters go to Nassau County Supreme Court in Mineola; non-criminal traffic and parking tickets go to the county's Traffic & Parking Violations Agency in Garden City.[9][10][11]" ] } ], "legalCases": [ { "name": "Ginsberg v. New York", "citation": "390 U.S. 629 (1968)", "court": "U.S. Supreme Court", "year": 1968, "connection": "Arose from the 1965 sale of adult magazines to a minor at Sam's Stationery and Luncheonette in Bellmore.", "holding": "The Court upheld New York's law restricting the sale to minors of material \"harmful to minors,\" establishing that a state may apply a different, more restrictive obscenity standard to sales made to minors than the standard applicable to adults.", "src": [ 6 ] } ], "landmarks": [], "notableFacts": [ { "text": "Bellmore's railroad station, built in 1867, was \"arbitrarily\" named by the Long Island Rail Road — a name that also happened to be a popular whisky brand of the era.", "src": [ 1 ] }, { "text": "In 1920, Bellmore's roughly 3,000 residents included 455 daily rail commuters to New York City, who paid $11.94 for a monthly ticket.", "src": [ 1 ] }, { "text": "A First Amendment landmark, Ginsberg v. New York (1968), arose from the sale of adult magazines to a 16-year-old at a Bellmore stationery store and luncheonette.", "src": [ 6 ] }, { "text": "Newbridge Road, at its North Bellmore end, carries the state touring-route number NY 106 all the way north to Oyster Bay.", "src": [ 3 ] } ], "sources": [ { "id": 1, "title": "History of the Bellmores (Bellmore Chamber of Commerce, \"Community\" page, archived 2005)", "publisher": "Chamber of Commerce of the Bellmores / Historical Society of the Bellmores (Clarence G. Anspake, Jr., president)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20051126030657/http://www.bellmorechamber.com/community.mgi", "year": "2005", "type": "archive" }, { "id": 2, "title": "History of the Town", "publisher": "Town of Hempstead (Town Clerk Archives)", "url": "https://hempsteadny.gov/475/History-of-the-Town", "year": "n.d.", "type": "government" }, { "id": 3, "title": "Official Description of Highway Touring Routes, Bicycle Touring Routes, Scenic Byways, & Commemorative/Memorial Designations in New York State", "publisher": "New York State Department of Transportation, Office of Traffic Safety & Mobility", "url": "https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/operating/oom/transportation-systems/repository/2017%20tour-bk.pdf", "year": "2017", "type": "government" }, { "id": 4, "title": "About Precinct (Seventh Precinct)", "publisher": "Nassau County Police Department", "url": "https://www.pdcn.org/282/About-Precinct", "year": "n.d.", "type": "government" }, { "id": 5, "title": "Nassau County Police Department Precincts (addresses and telephone numbers)", "publisher": "Nassau County Police Department", "url": "https://www.pdcn.org/383/NCPD-Precincts", "year": "n.d.", "type": "government" }, { "id": 6, "title": "Ginsberg v. New York, 390 U.S. 629 (1968)", "publisher": "Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School", "url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/390/629", "year": "1968", "type": "court" }, { "id": 7, "title": "Cuzzo v. Town of Hempstead, 61 A.D.3d 921 (2009)", "publisher": "Caselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School Library", "url": "https://static.case.law/ad3d/61/html/0921-01.html", "year": "2009", "type": "court" }, { "id": 8, "title": "Cimino v. County of Nassau, 105 A.D.3d 883 (2013)", "publisher": "Caselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School Library", "url": "https://static.case.law/ad3d/105/html/0883-01.html", "year": "2013", "type": "court" }, { "id": 9, "title": "Nassau County District Court", "publisher": "New York State Unified Court System", "url": "https://www.nycourts.gov/courts/10th-jd-nassau/nassau-county-district-court", "year": "2026", "type": "court" }, { "id": 10, "title": "Nassau County Supreme Court", "publisher": "New York State Unified Court System", "url": "https://www.nycourts.gov/courts/10th-jd-nassau/nassau-county-supreme-court", "year": "2026", "type": "court" }, { "id": 11, "title": "Traffic & Parking Violations Agency", "publisher": "Nassau County", "url": "https://www.nassaucountyny.gov/1928/Traffic-Parking-Violations-Agency", "year": "2026", "type": "government" }, { "id": 13, "title": "New York State Trauma Centers", "publisher": "New York State Department of Health", "url": "https://www.health.ny.gov/professionals/ems/state_trauma/trauma2.htm", "year": "n.d.", "type": "government" } ] }, "dataSources": { "census2020": { "name": "U.S. Census Bureau, TIGERweb — 2020 Census tabulation geography (POP100, HU100, AREALAND)", "url": "https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/tigerWMS_Census2020/MapServer", "retrieved": "2026-09-17" }, "acs": { "name": "U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-Year Estimates, tables B08303, B08013, B08301, B08302, B08201, B19013, B01002", "url": "https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/", "period": "2020–2024", "retrieved": "2026-09-17", "note": "Survey estimates with 90% margins of error. lowReliability = coefficient of variation above 30%." }, "fars": { "name": "National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2010–2024 national files", "url": "https://www.nhtsa.gov/file-downloads?p=nhtsa/downloads/FARS/", "retrieved": "2026-09-17", "preliminaryYears": [ 2024 ], "note": "Crashes on public trafficways in which a person died within 30 days. No personal identifiers. Placed by reported coordinates into 2020 Census boundaries." }, "nys": { "name": "New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, Motor Vehicle Crashes — Case Information: Four Year Window", "url": "https://data.ny.gov/Transportation/Motor-Vehicle-Crashes-Case-Information-Four-Year-W/e8ky-4vqe", "period": "2021–2024", "retrieved": "2026-09-17", "note": "Police-reported crashes coded to a town, city or village by the reporting agency. Hamlets are not coded; hamlet pages show the parent town." } } }