Central Islip, NY — Crash Data, Roads, History & Law

Central Islip is an unincorporated hamlet in the Town of Islip, Suffolk County, New York, with 36,714 residents at the 2020 Census. Federal crash records show 46 fatal crashes that killed 48 people within its boundaries from 2010 through 2024 — 27 of them on foot. Suffolk Ave (CR 100) accounted for more of those deaths (8) than any other road. Residents who commute travel an average of 27.3 minutes each way.

Long Island Town Fact Book · Updated · Sources & method

Central Islip at a glance

Status
Hamlet (unincorporated; census-designated place)
Town
Islip
County
Suffolk County
Population (2020 Census)
36,714[C]
Housing units (2020)
10,344
Land area
7.15 sq mi
Density
5,131 people per sq mi
Average commute
27.3 minutes[B]
Traffic deaths, 2010–2024
48[A]
ZIP Code
11722
Founded / settled
No separate founding date; the area grew after the Long Island Rail Road reached it on July 14, 1842, on land within the manor William Nicoll purchased on November 28, 1683.[1][2]
Former names
Suffolk Station[2]
Legal status
Unincorporated hamlet of the Town of Islip, Suffolk County[1]
Police
Suffolk County Police Department, Third Precinct (Bay Shore)[10][11]
Courts
Suffolk County District Administrative Judge's Office, 400 Carleton Avenue, Central Islip — the county court complex Suffolk residents commonly call the Cohalan Court Complex[9][6]
School district
Central Islip Union Free School District[19]
Main local roads and owners
Carleton Avenue / Wheeler Road (Suffolk County Road 17); Suffolk Avenue (Suffolk County Road 100)[12][13]
Census geography
Central Islip CDP · GEOID 3613552 · GNIS 2389298
Coordinates
40.7836°N, 73.1945°W

Hamlets in New York have no legal boundary or government of their own. Figures here use the Census Bureau's census-designated place, the standard statistical outline for the community; local usage of the name can be wider or narrower.

Name:The community grew up around a Long Island Rail Road stop called Suffolk Station; the Central Islip Public Library's history says the name Central Islip was given to the spot because it was where stage and rail met, and the name is now understood to mean it sits centrally within the Town of Islip.[2]

Fatal crashes in Central Islip, 2010–2024

From January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2024, 48 people died in 46 crashes on public roads inside Central Islip, according to the federal Fatality Analysis Reporting System.[A] Pedestrians account for 27 of those deaths (56%). The deadliest year was 2024, with 7 deaths.

Fatal crashes
46
People killed
48
Pedestrians
27
Bicyclists
4
Motorcyclists
2
Vehicle occupants
15
Traffic deaths in Central Islip by year, 2010–2024
4 ’10 4 ’11 4 ’12 3 ’13 3 ’14 2 ’15 5 ’16 4 ’17 0 ’18 5 ’19 3 ’20 2 ’21 1 ’22 1 ’23 7 ’24

2024 figures come from NHTSA's Annual Report File and may be revised.

View the chart as a table
YearFatal crashesDeaths
201034
201144
201244
201333
201433
201522
201655
201744
201800
201955
202033
202122
202211
202311
202467

Roads where people died

RoadCrashesDeaths
Suffolk Ave (CR 100) 7 8
Lowell Ave 7 7
Route 111 6 6
Carleton Ave 5 5
County Route 100 5 5
E Suffolk Ave (CR 100) 3 3
W Suffolk Ave (CR 100) 2 2
Hawthorne Ave 2 2

Road names as recorded by police and normalised to common Long Island names.

When and where

  • Of the 46 crashes with a recorded time, 29 happened between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., 5 between 4 and 8 p.m., 6 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and 6 between 6 and 10 a.m.
  • 76% happened in darkness.
  • 0 of the 48 deaths were on expressways or parkways; 48 were on arterials and local streets.
  • 2 crashes killed more than one person.
  • In at least 4 crashes, a driver had a reported blood-alcohol concentration of .08 or higher. This counts known test results only; NHTSA's official alcohol estimates, which impute untested drivers, are higher.

Who owns the roads where they happened (2015–2024)

FARS has recorded the owner of the roadway since 2015. Of the 29 fatal crashes in Central Islip since then:

  • County roads 15 (52%)
  • Town roads 13 (45%)
  • State highways 1 (3%)

Ownership matters in New York because claims against a county, town, city or village generally require a notice of claim within 90 days (General Municipal Law § 50-e), while claims against the State are brought in the Court of Claims under Court of Claims Act § 10. This is general information, not legal advice.

Rate: 8.7 traffic deaths per 100,000 residents per year, against 9.1 for Suffolk County. This is a resident-based rate, not a measure of how risky the roads are to drive: crashes are counted where they happen, not where the people involved live, so a small community crossed by a major highway shows a high rate.

The 15 most recent fatal crashes

DateTimeRoadDeathsWho diedLight
* 7 p.m. Joshuas Path (CR 111) at Vanderbilt Ave (CR 67) 1 Bicyclist dark
* 10 p.m. E Suffolk Ave (CR 100) at Carleton Ave (CR 17) 1 Vehicle occupant dark
* 2 a.m. E Suffolk Ave (CR 100) 1 Pedestrian dark
* 9 p.m. Carleton Ave 1 Pedestrian dark
* 10 p.m. Suffolk Ave (CR 100) at William St 2 2 vehicle occupants dark
* 6 a.m. Connetquot Ave 1 Pedestrian daylight
6 a.m. Suffolk Ave (CR 100) at Lowell Ave 1 Bicyclist daylight
2 a.m. W Suffolk Ave (CR 100) 1 Vehicle occupant dark
1 a.m. Lowell Ave 1 Vehicle occupant dark
4 a.m. Suffolk Ave (CR 100) at Carleton Ave (CR 17) 1 Pedestrian dark
11 a.m. County Route 100 1 Vehicle occupant daylight
6 p.m. Hawthorne Ave 1 Pedestrian dark
5 a.m. E Suffolk Ave (CR 100) 1 Pedestrian dawn
8 a.m. County Route 67 1 Vehicle occupant daylight
6 a.m. Suffolk Ave (CR 100) 1 Pedestrian dark

FARS contains no names or personal identifiers. * 2024 records are preliminary. Download all 46 records (CSV) · How this was compiled

Recent Central Islip Incident Reports

Updated continuously from 511NY, NYSP, NCPD, and SCPD feeds — all Long Island reports.

All reported crashes in the Town of Islip, 2021–2024

New York's crash file codes each crash to a town, city or village — never to a hamlet — so the finest official count that covers Central Islip is for the Town of Islip, which contains it. Police reported 35,004 crashes there from 2021 through 2024 — about 24 a day. 10,222 (29.2%) injured someone and 128 were fatal. [D]

Police-reported crashes, Town of Islip
2021202220232024Total
8,6548,2928,8819,17735,004
Injury crashes
10,222
Fatal crashes
128
Struck a pedestrian
422
Struck a bicyclist
335
Struck a deer
91

Counts are crashes, not people. The municipality is entered by the reporting police agency, and coding is less consistent for small villages, so compare places with care.

How Central Islip gets to work

Central Islip commuters travel an average of 27.3 minutes each way, 3.8 minutes shorter than the Suffolk County average (the national average is 26.4 minutes). About 71.1% of workers drive alone, and 2.1% ride the railroad. [B]

Commuting and vehicle access, 2020–2024 (American Community Survey 5-year estimates)
Measure Central Islip Suffolk County New York State United States
Average one-way commute 27.3 min ±3.2 31.1 min 32.6 min 26.4 min
Commute 60 minutes or longer 7.5% ±1.6 14.1% 16.8% 8.6%
Commute under 15 minutes 15.5% ±2.5 22.8% 20.5% 26%
Drive alone 71.1% ±4.2 72.1% 48.8% 68.8%
Carpool 13.9% ±2.9 7.5% 6.3% 8.5%
Commuter rail (LIRR) 2.1% ±0.8 3.2% 1.8% 0.3%
Bus 0.6% ±0.5 † 0.6% 5.1% 1.5%
Walk 0.4% ±0.3 † 1.4% 5.6% 2.4%
Work from home 6.7% ±1.9 12% 14.9% 15.1%
Leave home before 6 a.m. 12.3% ±2 12% 10.6% 14.4%
Households with no vehicle 11% ±3.1 5.1% 29.2% 8.4%
Households with three or more vehicles 31.5% ±3.8 28.8% 11.8% 21.9%

Survey estimates for 17,517 workers aged 16 and over; ± values are 90% margins of error. † Small sample — the margin of error is large relative to the estimate, so treat the figure as indicative only. Travel-time rows exclude people who work from home.

Notable facts about Central Islip

  • Central Islip takes its name from Suffolk Station, a Long Island Rail Road stop that became, in the Central Islip Public Library's words, "the spot where stage and rail met" after the railroad arrived on July 14, 1842.[2]
  • The manor that became the Town of Islip traces to William Nicoll's purchase of an eight-by-ten-mile tract on November 28, 1683, which he named after his English hometown of Islipe.[1]
  • Wheeler Road in Central Islip is named for Ruth Wheeler, wife of 19th-century landowner and postmaster George Kasson Hubbs.[3]
  • A New York State mental hospital that opened in Central Islip in 1887 became the hamlet's main employer for decades.[5]
  • In Matter of Lublin v. Central Islip Psychiatric Center, decided December 19, 1977, New York's Court of Appeals ruled that a person committed after an insanity acquittal bears the burden of proving he can safely be released.[7]
  • Under Town of Islip Code § 47A-3, added in 1978, the Town cannot be sued over a defective street or sidewalk unless it was actually given written notice of the defect beforehand.[8]
  • Fairfield Properties Ballpark, the Suffolk County-owned home of the Long Island Ducks in Central Islip, opened on April 28, 2000 to a past-capacity crowd.[16]
  • Suffolk County's Third Precinct, headquartered in Bay Shore, patrols nine hamlets including Central Islip, Brentwood and Islip itself.[10]

History

Central Islip is an unincorporated hamlet of the Town of Islip, in central Suffolk County. Its land lies within the manor William Nicoll bought on November 28, 1683 from Sachem Winnequaheagh of Connetquot, an eight-by-ten-mile tract that the Central Islip Public Library calls the largest manor on Long Island; Nicoll named it Islip after his hometown of Islipe, England.[1] The Long Island Rail Road reached the area on July 14, 1842, and the Suffolk Station was established at what is now the Islip Avenue crossing.[2] For three decades Suffolk Station served as the commercial center for the surrounding farms before the community took the name Central Islip, the spot where stage and rail met.[2]

Dr. Edgar Peck of Smithtown was among the first to assess the local soil as suitable farmland, and in 1848 George Kasson Hubbs bought 939 acres of land from a later William Nicoll; Hubbs became postmaster, railroad stationmaster and school inspector, and named Wheeler Road for his wife, Ruth Wheeler.[3] The Episcopal Church of Central Islip and the First Methodist Church were both built in 1869, and the cornerstone for St. John of God Church was laid in 1903.[4]

A New York State mental hospital opened in Central Islip in 1887 and became the area's main employer, drawing doctors, attendants and other workers, including many Irish immigrant families.[5]

How the roads got here

Two of Central Islip's principal streets are Suffolk County roads. Carleton Avenue, which continues north as Wheeler Road, is County Road 17, running from NY 27A (Montauk Highway) north to NY 111.[12] Suffolk Avenue is County Road 100, running from County Road 13 (Fifth Avenue) north to NY 454 (Veterans Memorial Highway).[13] Sunrise Highway (NY 27) is a state highway that NYSDOT's own touring-route description traces east from New York City through Nassau County and on through the Town of Islip toward eastern Suffolk; that description does not name Central Islip specifically among the places along the route, so its exact relationship to the hamlet's boundary is not confirmed here.[14]

Law and legal history

New York's Court of Appeals took up a case arising from Central Islip's state hospital in Matter of Lublin v. Central Islip Psychiatric Center, 43 N.Y.2d 341 (1977). The petitioner had been found not guilty, by reason of mental disease or defect, of a charge arising from his wife's death, and was committed to the custody of the Commissioner of Mental Hygiene under CPL 330.20; he was later transferred to Central Islip Psychiatric Center and petitioned for release on the ground that he was no longer dangerous.[7] Reversing the Appellate Division, the Court of Appeals held that a person committed after such an acquittal, who later seeks release, bears the burden of proving by a fair preponderance of the evidence that he can be released without danger to himself or others.[7]

The Town of Islip's prior-written-notice law, Town Code § 47A-3 ("Liability of Town"), added October 3, 1978 and amended August 21, 1984 and December 17, 1985, bars a civil action against the Town over a defective, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed highway, street, bridge, culvert, sidewalk, crosswalk, sign, signal or tree unless written notice of the condition was actually given to the Town Clerk or the Commissioner of Public Works and the Town failed to repair it within a reasonable time; the same notice requirement applies to snow and ice conditions.[8] By its own terms the section supersedes Town Law § 65-a as applied to the Town of Islip, and it governs claims over Central Islip's town-maintained local streets and sidewalks the same as elsewhere in the town.[8]

Cases of record

Matter of Lublin v. Central Islip Psychiatric Center, 43 N.Y.2d 341 (1977)[7]
New York Court of Appeals, 1977. The petitioner, committed after being found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, was held and later sought release from Central Islip Psychiatric Center.A person committed to psychiatric custody after being acquitted of a crime by reason of mental disease or defect, who later petitions for release on the ground that he is no longer dangerous, bears the burden of proving by a fair preponderance of the evidence that he may safely be released; the Court reversed an Appellate Division ruling that would have placed that burden on the State.

Each summary describes the cited decision only. Later appellate history is noted where we found it, but it has not been checked systematically — confirm a case's current status with a citator before relying on it. General information, not legal advice.

Government, courts and policing

Central Islip has no government of its own; it is administered as an unincorporated hamlet of the Town of Islip.[1] The Suffolk County Police Department's Third Precinct, headquartered at 1630 5th Avenue in Bay Shore, patrols Central Islip along with Bay Shore, Baywood, Brentwood, Brightwaters, Islip, East Islip, West Islip and Islip Terrace.[10][11]

400 Carleton Avenue in Central Islip is the seat of the Suffolk County District Administrative Judge's Office for the Tenth Judicial District, reachable at (631) 208-5600; the Central Islip Public Library's history of the hamlet refers to the county's court complex there as the Cohalan County Court Complex.[9][6]

Carleton Avenue and Suffolk Avenue are Suffolk County roads (County Roads 17 and 100) maintained by the County Department of Public Works; other local streets are Town of Islip roads subject to the prior-written-notice law above.[8][12][13] Central Islip Union Free School District operates the hamlet's public schools,[19] and the Central Islip Fire Department, headquartered at 397 Carleton Avenue, provides fire protection under a non-emergency number of (631) 234-9145.

Landmarks and listed places

  • Suffolk County court complex, 400 Carleton Avenue (popularly the "Cohalan County Court Complex") — No National Register listing verified; seat of the Suffolk County District Administrative Judge's Office for the Tenth Judicial District[9][6]
  • Fairfield Properties Ballpark — Suffolk County-owned ballpark, opened April 28, 2000; home of the Long Island Ducks[15][16]
  • Former Central Islip Psychiatric Center site — State mental hospital opened 1887; grounds later redeveloped for education, county/court and recreational uses per the Central Islip Public Library[5][6]

Central Islip timeline

  1. Nicoll purchase. William Nicoll bought an eight-by-ten-mile tract of land from Sachem Winnequaheagh of Connetquot and named the resulting manor Islip, after his hometown of Islipe, England.[1]
  2. Railroad arrives. The Long Island Rail Road reached the area and the Suffolk Station was established at the present-day Islip Avenue crossing.[2]
  3. Hubbs purchase. George Kasson Hubbs bought 939 acres of land and later named Wheeler Road for his wife, Ruth Wheeler.[3]
  4. First churches. The Episcopal Church of Central Islip and the First Methodist Church were both built.[4]
  5. State hospital opens. A New York State mental hospital opened in Central Islip and became the area's main employer.[5]
  6. St. John of God Church. The cornerstone for St. John of God Church was laid.[2]
  7. Matter of Lublin decided. The New York Court of Appeals decided Matter of Lublin v. Central Islip Psychiatric Center, 43 N.Y.2d 341.[7]
  8. Prior-written-notice law added. The Town of Islip added § 47A-3 ("Liability of Town") to its code, the prior-written-notice provision governing suits over defective town streets and sidewalks.[8]
  9. Ballpark opens. The Suffolk County-owned ballpark that is home to the Long Island Ducks opened in Central Islip on former hospital-site land.[16][15]

Major roads in Central Islip

RoadRouteMaintained byIn Central Islip
Carleton Avenue (continues north as Wheeler Road) [12] Suffolk County Road 17 Suffolk County runs through
Suffolk Avenue [13] Suffolk County Road 100 Suffolk County runs through
Sunrise Highway [14] NY 27 New York State —

Emergency Resources

Hospitals

  • South Shore University Hospital (Northwell Health; formerly Southside Hospital) — 301 East Main Street, Bay Shore, NY 11706 — (631) 968-3000 (Nearest full-service hospital to Central Islip.)
  • Stony Brook University Hospital — 101 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook, NY 11794 — (631) 689-8333 (Regional Level I trauma center.)

Police

  • Suffolk County Police Department, Third Precinct — 1630 5th Avenue, Bay Shore, NY — (631) 854-8300

Courts

  • Suffolk County District Administrative Judge's Office (Tenth Judicial District) / county court complex — 400 Carleton Avenue, Central Islip, NY 11722 — (631) 208-5600 (Popularly called the Cohalan County Court Complex per the Central Islip Public Library. Which individual trial courts sit at this address was not itemized from an official source in the time available.)

Local Driver Services in Central Islip

Practical resources for Central Islip drivers — tire shops, gas prices, and live traffic conditions.

Safety Resources

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I do after a car accident in Central Islip, NY?

Move to safety and call 911 immediately, then document the scene with photos and exchange insurance and contact information with everyone involved. File a police report with SCPD and notify your insurer promptly. New York is a no-fault state, so your own PIP coverage pays initial medical costs regardless of fault, and you have just 30 days to file the NF-2 application.

Which roads are most dangerous in Central Islip?

Sunrise Highway and Carleton Avenue carry the heaviest traffic through Central Islip and account for most of the reported crashes we track. Carleton Avenue at Suffolk Avenue — a high-volume signalized commercial junction. Commercial driveways, signalized intersections, and turning movements along these corridors drive the local crash mix.

How current are these Central Islip accident reports?

Long Island Traffic adds new reports every 2–4 hours from 511NY, NYS Police Troop L, SCPD, and verified local news. Scroll up for the latest Central Islip and Suffolk County incidents, and check the "Dangerous Roads" section for corridor-level breakdowns.

Do I need a lawyer after a Central Islip accident?

If you suffered serious injuries, significant property damage, or the other driver was uninsured, consulting a Suffolk County personal injury attorney is strongly recommended. Many firms offer free consultations and work on contingency. See our free guides at /know-your-rights/car-accidents/ and /know-your-rights/insurance-claims/.

Cite or reuse this page

You are welcome to quote the figures and facts on this page with credit and a link to Long Island Traffic. The underlying federal and state datasets are public records; our contribution is placing each record in the right community and documenting the method. Last updated . Spotted an error? Email corrections@longislandtraffic.com — corrections are logged and dated.

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Data: machine-readable fact sheet (JSON) · fatal-crash records (CSV) · methodology and limits

References

Datasets

  1. [A] National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2010–2024 national files. Retrieved September 17, 2026.Crashes on public trafficways in which a person died within 30 days. No personal identifiers. Placed by reported coordinates into 2020 Census boundaries.
  2. [B] U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-Year Estimates, tables B08303, B08013, B08301, B08302, B08201, B19013, B01002. Retrieved September 17, 2026.Survey estimates with 90% margins of error. lowReliability = coefficient of variation above 30%.
  3. [C] U.S. Census Bureau, TIGERweb — 2020 Census tabulation geography (POP100, HU100, AREALAND). Retrieved September 17, 2026.
  4. [D] New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, Motor Vehicle Crashes — Case Information: Four Year Window. Retrieved September 17, 2026.Police-reported crashes coded to a town, city or village by the reporting agency. Hamlets are not coded; hamlet pages show the parent town.

Sources for history, roads and law

  1. [1] Central Islip Public Library. A Brief History of Central Islip (2009). Library.
  2. [2] Central Islip Public Library. A Brief History of Central Islip (railroad and naming) (2009). Library.
  3. [3] Central Islip Public Library. A Brief History of Central Islip (Hubbs and Wheeler Road) (2009). Library.
  4. [4] Central Islip Public Library. A Brief History of Central Islip (1869 churches) (2009). Library.
  5. [5] Central Islip Public Library. A Brief History of Central Islip (state hospital) (2009). Library.
  6. [6] Central Islip Public Library. A Brief History of Central Islip (later reuse of hospital grounds) (2009). Library.
  7. [7] Caselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School Library. Matter of Lublin v. Central Islip Psychiatric Center, 43 N.Y.2d 341 (1977) (1977). Court decision.
  8. [8] Town of Islip / General Code (ecode360.com). Code of the Town of Islip, Chapter 47A, Streets and Sidewalks, § 47A-3 (Liability of Town) (2026). Government record.
  9. [9] New York State Unified Court System (nycourts.gov). 10th JD Suffolk (2026). Court decision.
  10. [10] Suffolk County Police Department. Third Precinct (2026). Government record.
  11. [11] Suffolk County Police Department. Phone Directory (2026). Government record.
  12. [12] Suffolk County Department of Public Works. Suffolk County Roads List (Carleton Avenue / Wheeler Road, CR 17) (2026). Government record.
  13. [13] Suffolk County Department of Public Works. Suffolk County Roads List (Suffolk Avenue, CR 100) (2026). Government record.
  14. [14] New York State Department of Transportation, Office of Traffic Safety & Mobility. Official Description of Highway Touring Routes, Bicycle Touring Routes, Scenic Byways, & Commemorative/Memorial Designations in New York State (2017). Government record.
  15. [15] Long Island Ducks. Fairfield Properties Ballpark (2026). Institution.
  16. [16] Long Island Ducks. Fairfield Properties Ballpark: history and naming rights (2026). Institution.
  17. [17] Northwell Health. South Shore University Hospital (contact) (2026). Institution.
  18. [18] Stony Brook Medicine. Contact Us (2026). Academic.
  19. [19] Central Islip Union Free School District. Home - Central Islip Union Free School District (2026). Government record.

Sources opened and checked September 17, 2026.