West Babylon, NY — Crash Data, Roads, History & Law
West Babylon is an unincorporated hamlet in the Town of Babylon, Suffolk County, New York, with 43,213 residents at the 2020 Census. Federal crash records show 50 fatal crashes that killed 56 people within its boundaries from 2010 through 2024 — 12 of them on foot. Sunrise Highway (NY 27) accounted for more of those deaths (10) than any other road. Residents who commute travel an average of 31.2 minutes each way.
Long Island Town Fact Book · Updated · Sources & method
West Babylon at a glance
- Status
- Hamlet (unincorporated; census-designated place)
- Town
- Babylon
- County
- Suffolk County
- Population (2020 Census)
- 43,213[C]
- Housing units (2020)
- 15,139
- Land area
- 8.45 sq mi (plus 0.31 sq mi of water)
- Density
- 5,112 people per sq mi
- Average commute
- 31.2 minutes[B]
- Traffic deaths, 2010–2024
- 56[A]
- ZIP Code
- 11704
- Founded / settled
- A West Babylon school existed by the early 1800s; the hamlet's own school district was organized as Town of Huntington School District No. 20, renumbered Town of Babylon School District No. 2 after the 1872 separation from Huntington, and took the name West Babylon Union Free School District in the early 1900s.[4][5]
- Legal status
- Unincorporated hamlet of the Town of Babylon, Suffolk County; tabulated by the Census Bureau as the West Babylon CDP[4]
- School district
- West Babylon Union Free School District[4]
- Fire protection
- West Babylon Volunteer Fire Company, town-approved September 18, 1945[4]
- Main roads and owners
- NY 109 (state); Sunrise Highway/NY 27 (state); Montauk Highway/NY 27A (state); Route 109 and Little East Neck Road have historically marked the hamlet's boundaries[10][11][4]
- Census geography
- West Babylon CDP · GEOID 3679246 · GNIS 2390464
- Coordinates
- 40.7124°N, 73.3597°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 Town of Babylon Historian's office finds no single naming event on record; the name appears to have begun as a general reference to being the western end of, or the area west of, Babylon, and the broad area now split among West Babylon, North Babylon and the Village of Babylon was generally just called "Babylon" through the late 1800s.[4]
Fatal crashes in West Babylon, 2010–2024
From January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2024, 56 people died in 50 crashes on public roads inside West Babylon, according to the federal Fatality Analysis Reporting System.[A] Pedestrians account for 12 of those deaths (21%). The deadliest year was 2023, with 10 deaths.
- Fatal crashes
- 50
- People killed
- 56
- Pedestrians
- 12
- Bicyclists
- 2
- Motorcyclists
- 6
- Vehicle occupants
- 36
2024 figures come from NHTSA's Annual Report File and may be revised.
View the chart as a table
| Year | Fatal crashes | Deaths |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 4 | 5 |
| 2011 | 5 | 5 |
| 2012 | 5 | 5 |
| 2013 | 2 | 2 |
| 2014 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | 3 | 3 |
| 2016 | 3 | 3 |
| 2017 | 3 | 4 |
| 2018 | 2 | 2 |
| 2019 | 1 | 1 |
| 2020 | 4 | 4 |
| 2021 | 2 | 2 |
| 2022 | 2 | 2 |
| 2023 | 9 | 10 |
| 2024 | 5 | 8 |
Roads where people died
| Road | Crashes | Deaths |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise Highway (NY 27) | 10 | 10 |
| Straight Path | 8 | 9 |
| Route 109 (Farmingdale Road) | 7 | 8 |
| Southern State Parkway | 7 | 8 |
| Great E Neck Rd (CR 96) | 3 | 5 |
| Great East Neck Rd (CR 96) | 4 | 4 |
| Little East Neck Rd (CR 95) | 2 | 3 |
| County Route 2 | 2 | 2 |
Road names as recorded by police and normalised to common Long Island names.
When and where
- Of the 50 crashes with a recorded time, 25 happened between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., 10 between 4 and 8 p.m., 9 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and 6 between 6 and 10 a.m.
- 56% happened in darkness.
- 8 of the 56 deaths were on expressways or parkways; 48 were on arterials and local streets.
- 5 crashes killed more than one person.
- In at least 6 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 34 fatal crashes in West Babylon since then:
- State highways 17 (50%)
- County roads 11 (32%)
- Town roads 6 (18%)
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: 8.6 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
| Date | Time | Road | Deaths | Who died | Light |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| * | 6 a.m. | Route 109 (Farmingdale Road) at Farmingdale Rd | 1 | Pedestrian | dawn |
| * | 1 a.m. | Great E Neck Rd (CR 96) at Railroad Ave | 3 | 3 vehicle occupants | dark |
| * | 12 p.m. | Great E Neck Rd (CR 96) | 1 | Vehicle occupant | daylight |
| * | 1 p.m. | Southern State Parkway | 1 | Vehicle occupant | daylight |
| * | 5 a.m. | Southern State Parkway | 2 | 2 vehicle occupants | dark |
| 4 p.m. | Route 109 (Farmingdale Road) | 1 | Bicyclist | daylight | |
| 6 p.m. | Straight Path at 13th St | 1 | Motorcyclist | daylight | |
| 8 p.m. | Southern State Parkway | 1 | Motorcyclist | dark | |
| 3 a.m. | Straight Path | 1 | Vehicle occupant | dark | |
| 5 a.m. | Straight Path at Commander Ave | 1 | Vehicle occupant | dark | |
| 1 a.m. | Southern State Parkway | 1 | Vehicle occupant | dark | |
| 9 a.m. | Route 109 (Farmingdale Road) | 2 | 2 vehicle occupants | daylight | |
| 3 a.m. | Railroad Ave (CR 12) | 1 | Pedestrian | dark | |
| 6 p.m. | Great East Neck Rd (CR 96) at Evergreen St | 1 | Pedestrian | dark | |
| 2 p.m. | Southern State Parkway | 1 | Motorcyclist | daylight |
FARS contains no names or personal identifiers. * 2024 records are preliminary. Download all 50 records (CSV) · How this was compiled
Recent West Babylon Incident Reports
68-Year-Old Seriously Injured After 1966 Chevrolet Crosses Into Oncoming Traffic in West Babylon
A 68-year-old Babylon man suffered serious injuries Thursday afternoon after the 1966 Chevrolet he was driving crossed into oncoming traffic on Little East Neck Road in West Babylon and struck a 2011 Chrysler, Suffolk County Police said. Two other people in the Chrysler sustained non-life-threatening injuries and all three were taken to Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip.
Motorcyclist Seriously Injured After Being Struck by Turning Vehicle in West Babylon
A motorcyclist was seriously injured in a collision on Little East Neck Road in West Babylon after a car attempted a left turn into his path, according to Suffolk County Police. (Suffolk County PD)
Felix Pantaleon of Lindenhurst Pleads Guilty in 121 MPH Southern State Crash That Killed a West Babylon Man
Felix Pantaleon of Lindenhurst Pleads Guilty in 121 MPH Southern State Crash That Killed a West Babylon Man. on southern state parkway. September 4, 2026.
One Person Injured After Car Crash on Mount Avenue in West Babylon
A 46-year-old man from Wyandanch suffered minor injuries Sunday night after striking a parked trailer on Mount Avenue in West Babylon.
Gunshot Fired in West Babylon Backyard on Columbus Ave.; Three Masked Suspects Flee
DWI Arrest Reported on Sagtikos State Parkway, July 25, 2026
DWI Arrest Reported on Sagtikos State Parkway, July 25, 2026. on sagtikos stpkwy. July 25, 2026.
Updated continuously from 511NY, NYSP, NCPD, and SCPD feeds — all Long Island reports.
All reported crashes in the Town of Babylon, 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 West Babylon is for the Town of Babylon, which contains it. Police reported 20,245 crashes there from 2021 through 2024 — about 13.9 a day. 5,648 (27.9%) injured someone and 70 were fatal. [D]
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5,099 | 4,752 | 5,323 | 5,071 | 20,245 |
- Injury crashes
- 5,648
- Fatal crashes
- 70
- Struck a pedestrian
- 238
- Struck a bicyclist
- 194
- Struck a deer
- 9
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 West Babylon gets to work
West Babylon commuters travel an average of 31.2 minutes each way (the national average is 26.4 minutes). About 75.7% of workers drive alone, and 3.5% ride the railroad. [B]
| Measure | West Babylon | Suffolk County | New York State | United States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average one-way commute | 31.2 min ±2.7 | 31.1 min | 32.6 min | 26.4 min |
| Commute 60 minutes or longer | 16.3% ±1.6 | 14.1% | 16.8% | 8.6% |
| Commute under 15 minutes | 24.4% ±3.3 | 22.8% | 20.5% | 26% |
| Drive alone | 75.7% ±3.6 | 72.1% | 48.8% | 68.8% |
| Carpool | 5.4% ±1.2 | 7.5% | 6.3% | 8.5% |
| Commuter rail (LIRR) | 3.5% ±0.9 | 3.2% | 1.8% | 0.3% |
| Bus | 0.3% ±0.2 † | 0.6% | 5.1% | 1.5% |
| Walk | 1.6% ±0.9 † | 1.4% | 5.6% | 2.4% |
| Work from home | 11.2% ±1.3 | 12% | 14.9% | 15.1% |
| Leave home before 6 a.m. | 13.7% ±2.9 | 12% | 10.6% | 14.4% |
| Households with no vehicle | 4.9% ±1.4 | 5.1% | 29.2% | 8.4% |
| Households with three or more vehicles | 31.3% ±3.2 | 28.8% | 11.8% | 21.9% |
Survey estimates for 22,412 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 West Babylon
- Walt Whitman taught school in West Babylon during the winter of 1836, while his family farmed nearby land that later became the Great South Bay Shopping Center.[4]
- The NY 109 overpass of Sunrise Highway in West Babylon is officially the New York City Police Department Detective Peter Figoski Memorial Bridge.[10]
- West Babylon's Belmont Junction was a stop on a horse-and-later-electric trolley line between Amityville and Babylon from 1910 to 1920.[4]
- Bulk's Nursery marked its Montauk Highway garden center with a windmill in 1930; the windmill collapsed by the mid-1980s, but the image is still linked to the hamlet.[4]
- West Babylon's first lighted sports park, opened by actor James Barton in 1936, hosted baseball and wrestling for two seasons on the site now occupied by Santapogue Elementary School.[4]
- The Suffolk County Police Department's First Precinct, which patrols the entire Town of Babylon, is itself headquartered in West Babylon.[8][9]
History
West Babylon is an unincorporated hamlet of the Town of Babylon, Suffolk County, tabulated by the Census Bureau as a census-designated place.[4] The Town of Babylon Historian's office finds no clean naming story: "West Babylon" seems to have started simply as a reference to the area west of Babylon, since the broader area later split among West Babylon, North Babylon and the incorporated Village of Babylon was generally just called "Babylon" through the late 1800s.[4] A school stood on Montauk Highway near Great East Neck Road by the early 1800s, and Walt Whitman taught there during the winter of 1836 while his family lived on a nearby farm; that farm site later became the Great South Bay Shopping Center, which opened in 1956 with an Abraham & Straus department store, a Grand Union grocery and a Pergament home store.[4] The hamlet's school district was organized as Town of Huntington School District No. 20 before the 1872 separation, renumbered Town of Babylon School District No. 2 afterward, and took the name West Babylon Union Free School District in the early 1900s.[4]
Starting around 1874 a branch of the Central Railroad of Long Island joined the Long Island Rail Road near Great East Neck Road and Railroad Avenue, creating a freight and telegraph stop called Belmont Junction that operated until 1888 and later served, from 1910 to 1920, as a stop on the Babylon Railroad trolley line between Amityville and Babylon.[4] Long Island's nursery and flower-growing trade left its own local landmark: in 1930 Bulk's Nursery built a windmill along Montauk Highway to mark its garden center, and although the windmill collapsed by the mid-1980s the image is still associated with the hamlet.[4] In 1936 the actor James Barton opened Suffolk County's first lighted sports park, hosting baseball games and wrestling matches for the 1936 and 1937 seasons on ground that is now Santapogue Elementary School.[4] The hamlet's population stayed relatively small until after World War II, after which West Babylon became the most populous hamlet in the Town of Babylon.[4] The West Babylon Volunteer Fire Company was approved by the Town on September 18, 1945, holding its first official meeting on November 8, 1945.[4]
How the roads got here
NY 109 is described by NYSDOT as running "west of Babylon, northwest to Farmingdale (NY 24)" across Nassau and Suffolk Counties, carrying the co-signing of NY 27A along part of its length.[10] Where NY 109 crosses Sunrise Highway in West Babylon, the overpass is dedicated as the New York City Police Department Detective Peter Figoski Memorial Bridge, per NYSDOT's official bridge-naming register.[10] Historically, Route 109 has marked the boundary between West Babylon and the Village of Lindenhurst/North Lindenhurst, and Little East Neck Road, north of Sunrise Highway, has marked the boundary between West Babylon and North Babylon.[4] NY 27A (Montauk Highway) is routed by NYSDOT along "Merrick Road and Montauk Highway to Babylon, Bay Shore, Islip, East Islip, Great River," tying West Babylon into the historic south-shore highway corridor.[11] Sunrise Highway (NY 27) runs along the hamlet's northern edge as the boundary with North Babylon.[4]
Government, courts and policing
West Babylon has no government of its own; it is an unincorporated hamlet under the jurisdiction of the Town of Babylon for municipal services such as garbage collection and building codes.[4] The Town of Babylon's own Adjudication Bureau, at the Municipal Building in North Amityville, hears Notices of Violation "issued for any violation of the Town Code relating to public health, safety or welfare," while a separate Parking Violations Bureau at the same address processes parking tickets.[6][7] The Suffolk County Traffic and Parking Violations Agency (SCTPVA) describes itself as adjudicating "parking summonses, red light camera citations and moving violations in the five western towns of Suffolk County"; Suffolk County's own department listing does not name the five towns, so it is not confirmed here whether the Town of Babylon is among them.[12]
The nearest hospital with a trauma designation is Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center, 1000 Montauk Highway, West Islip, listed by the New York State Department of Health as a Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center.[13]
Landmarks and listed places
West Babylon timeline
- Walt Whitman teaches locally. Poet Walt Whitman taught at the West Babylon school during the winter of 1836 while his family lived on a nearby farm, later the site of the Great South Bay Shopping Center.[4]
- Belmont Junction established. A branch of the Central Railroad of Long Island joined the Long Island Rail Road near Great East Neck Road and Railroad Avenue, forming a freight and telegraph stop called Belmont Junction that operated until 1888.[4]
- Bulk's Nursery windmill. Bulk's Nursery built a windmill along Montauk Highway to mark its garden center, giving West Babylon an emblem that outlasted the windmill's collapse in the mid-1980s.[4]
- Barton's Stadium. Actor James Barton opened Suffolk County's first lighted sports park, hosting baseball and wrestling for the 1936 and 1937 seasons on what is now the site of Santapogue Elementary School.[4]
- Fire company approved. The Town of Babylon approved the West Babylon Volunteer Fire Company on September 18, 1945; its first official meeting followed on November 8, 1945.[4]
- Great South Bay Shopping Center. The Great South Bay Shopping Center, anchored by an Abraham & Straus department store, a Grand Union and a Pergament home store, opened on the former Whitman-era farm site.[4]
- ZIP code assigned. The U.S. Postal Service's national rollout of 5-digit ZIP codes assigned the West Babylon Post Office 11704.[4]
Major roads in West Babylon
| Road | Route | Maintained by | In West Babylon |
|---|---|---|---|
| NY 109 [10] | NY 109 | New York State | runs through, crossing Sunrise Highway at the Detective Peter Figoski Memorial Bridge |
| Sunrise Highway [4] | NY 27 | New York State | forms the hamlet's historic northern boundary with North Babylon |
| Montauk Highway [11] | NY 27A | New York State | runs through |
Emergency Resources
Hospitals
- Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center — 1000 Montauk Highway, West Islip, NY 11795 (Level I adult / Level II pediatric trauma center per NYS Department of Health.)
- South Shore University Hospital (Northwell Health) — 301 East Main Street, Bay Shore, NY 11706 (Level I adult trauma center per NYS Department of Health.)
Police
- Suffolk County Police Department, First Precinct — 555 Babylon Farmingdale Road, West Babylon, NY 11704 — (631) 854-8149 (Precinct covers the entire Town of Babylon, including all unincorporated hamlets. Emergencies: 911.)
Local Driver Services in West Babylon
Practical resources for West Babylon drivers — tire shops, gas prices, and live traffic conditions.
Safety Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do after a car accident in West Babylon, 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 West Babylon?
Sunrise Highway and Route 109 carry the heaviest traffic through West Babylon and account for most of the reported crashes we track. Route 109 at Great East Neck Road — 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 West Babylon 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 West Babylon and Suffolk County incidents, and check the "Dangerous Roads" section for corridor-level breakdowns.
Do I need a lawyer after a West Babylon 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/.
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Data: machine-readable fact sheet (JSON) · fatal-crash records (CSV) · methodology and limits
References
Datasets
- [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.
- [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%.
- [C] U.S. Census Bureau, TIGERweb — 2020 Census tabulation geography (POP100, HU100, AREALAND). Retrieved September 17, 2026.
- [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] Town of Babylon (Office of the Town Historian). Huntington South: The 19th Century (n.d.). Government record.
- [2] Town of Babylon (Office of the Town Historian). Birth of the Town of Babylon: 1872 (n.d.). Government record.
- [4] Town of Babylon (Office of the Town Historian). Hamlet of West Babylon (Town of Babylon History Book) (n.d.). Government record.
- [5] Town of Babylon (Office of the Town Historian). Birth of the Town of Babylon: 1872 (n.d.). Government record.
- [6] Town of Babylon. Adjudication Bureau (n.d.). Government record.
- [7] Town of Babylon. Contact Us (Townwide Directory) (n.d.). Government record.
- [8] Suffolk County Police Department. Precincts (n.d.). Government record.
- [9] Suffolk County Police Department. First Precinct (n.d.). Government record.
- [10] New York State Department of Transportation. Official Description of Highway Touring Routes, Bicycle Touring Routes, Scenic Byways, & Commemorative/Memorial Designations in New York State (2017). Government record.
- [11] New York State Department of Transportation. Official Description of Highway Touring Routes... in New York State (2017). Government record.
- [12] Suffolk County Government. Departments (2026). Government record.
- [13] New York State Department of Health. New York State Trauma Centers (n.d.). Government record.
Sources opened and checked September 17, 2026.