Bohemia, NY — Crash Data, Roads, History & Law

History

Bohemia appears in the record as a cluster of immigrant households on the plains south of the railroad. The 1874 county history places it in one sentence: "About two miles south of Lakeland is a collection of a dozen houses or more called Bohemia, occupied by German settlers many of whom are engaged in segar making." The 1874 writer's label — German settlers — reflects how mid-century Long Islanders described people arriving from Austrian-ruled Central Europe; the 1882 county history, writing about the same period, separates them out: "In 1875 there were several hundred inhabitants of Dutch descent, and large numbers of Bohemians and others of European" nationality in the Town of Islip.^[3]

The hamlet's oldest buildings are catalogued street by street. The Town of Islip Historic Building-Structure Inventory, held and published by the Connetquot Public Library, files its Bohemia records under Church Street, Hubal Street, Karshick Street, Lakeland Avenue, Locust Avenue, Smithtown Avenue and Union Street; the library describes the inventories as surveys begun about 1972 and mostly completed in the 1980s, recording "construction date, architect, previous owners, current condition, and its historic significance" for buildings that might be threatened by development.^[18] The library itself is at "760 Ocean Avenue, Bohemia NY 11716."^[4]

How the roads got here

Bohemia sits in the angle between two state highways. NY 27 runs along the south; the New York State Department of Transportation's touring-route book describes it running "on Sunrise Highway to Valley Stream, Lynbrook, Rockville Centre, Freeport, Massapequa Park, North Babylon, Great River, North Patchogue."^[7] NY 454, signed Veterans Memorial Highway, is described in the same book as running "(NY 25) Commack, Hauppauge, west of Patchogue (NY 27)" — that is, it ends at Sunrise Highway at the eastern edge of this area.^[8] NYSDOT's list of memorial bridges names that junction structure: under "POW-MIA Bridge" it records "NY 454/Veterans' Memorial Highway: crosses NY 27 (Sunrise Highway) at Bayport – Suffolk" County.^[9]

The county road through the hamlet is CR 93, listed by Suffolk County's Department of Public Works as "Lakeland Avenue / Ocean Avenue / Rosevale Avenue," running from the Sunrise Highway eastbound service road north to Portion Road.^[6] Lakeland Avenue is the airport road: the Town of Islip's directions tell drivers coming east on "Sunrise Highway (27), travel to Exit 49, go to second light on service road (Johnson Avenue), turn left on Johnson Avenue, travel north (approximately one (1) mile) to the Airport," and drivers coming west to use Exit 50A.^[10]

Long Island MacArthur Airport lies immediately north of the hamlet. The Town of Islip states that it "owns and operates MacArthur Airport (ISP)" and that the field "covers an area of 1,311 acres (531 ha) containing 3 runways and two helipads"; a 2016 Federal Register notice gives the airport's address as "100 Arrival Avenue, Suite 100, Ronkonkoma, New York 11779."^[10][11] Bohemia's road pattern — Lakeland Avenue, Smithtown Avenue and the Sunrise Highway service roads — is shaped by that neighbour more than by anything in the hamlet itself.^[6][10]

Law and legal history

A road-defect claim in Bohemia runs through Town of Islip Code § 47A-3, "Liability of Town." The section bars any civil action against the Town or its employees over a defective, out-of-repair, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed highway, street, bridge, culvert, sidewalk, crosswalk, street marking, traffic sign, signal, tree or other town-owned property unless written notice of the condition "was actually given to the Town Clerk or Commissioner of Public Works and there was a failure or neglect within a reasonable time" to repair it, with a separate written-notice requirement for injuries caused solely by snow or ice.^[12] Islip's designated recipient is the Commissioner of Public Works rather than a highway superintendent, because the town runs its roads through a Department of Public Works.^[12]

Cases from Bohemia are heard by the Suffolk County District Court. The Unified Court System's own history records that the court "became operational in January 1964," replacing the town justice courts of Babylon, Huntington, Smithtown, Islip and Brookhaven under the Uniform District Court Act, and that "Fifth District Court encompasses the town of Islip."^[13] Islip civil, small-claims, landlord-tenant and town-ordinance matters are called at the Ronkonkoma courthouse, "3105 Veteran's Memorial Highway," (631) 381-6000, about four miles north of the hamlet; criminal cases go to the District Court building at the Cohalan Court Complex in Central Islip.^[14][19]

Government, courts and policing

Bohemia is governed by the Town of Islip and Suffolk County, with a separate elected fire district for fire and ambulance service.^[12] Policing is by the Suffolk County Police Department. The Third Precinct lists the Islip-town hamlets it covers — "Bay Shore, Baywood, Brentwood, Brightwaters, Islip, Central Islip, East Islip, West Islip" and Islip Terrace — and the Fifth Precinct describes itself as covering "the southern portion of Brookhaven Town, the eastern portion of Islip Town, and the incorporated villages of Patchogue and Bellport."^[15][16] Neither names Bohemia; the department's front-desk listing gives the Third Precinct at "3rd Precinct 1630 5th Ave, Bay Shore" and the Fifth at "5th Precinct 125 Waverly Ave, Patchogue."^[17]

The Connetquot Public Library at 760 Ocean Avenue serves the hamlet and holds the local-history collections for it, including the Town of Islip Historic Building-Structure Inventory, a genealogy blog, an obituary index and the Memory Lane Oral History Project.^[4][18]