Franklin Square, New York

U.S. Census map

Franklin Square is located at 40°42′6″N 73°40′36″W (40.701722, -73.676549).[1]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 2.9 square miles (7.5 km²), all land. Franklin Square is bordered on the north by Stewart Manor, northeast by Garden City and Garden City South, southwest by North Valley Stream, east by West Hempstead, and west by Elmont.[2]

What is now Franklin Square was near the center of the Hempstead Plains, and used as grazing land, and later farmland, by the first white settlers. The southern portion included oak and dogwood forests.

In late 1643, Robert Fordham and John Carman made a treaty with members of the Massapequak, Mericoke, Matinecock and Rockaway tribes to buy roughly 100 square miles upon which they intended to start a new settlement. They purchased this tract, including much of what are now the towns of Hempstead and North Hempstead. The source of the name "Franklin Square" is unclear. It has been speculated that the name honors Benjamin Franklin, but he had no historical connection to the area. It has been suggested that it was named for some now-forgotten local settler or notable.

In 1790, George Washington passed through the town while touring Long Island. He wrote in his diary that the area was "entirely treeless except for a few scraggly fruit trees." Walt Whitman spent three months in the spring of 1840 as the schoolmaster of the Trimming Square school district, in the area where Franklin Square, Garden City South and West Hempstead intersect.

In 1852, one Louis Schroerer built a hotel near a tollgate (by what is now Arden Boulevard) of the Hempstead-Jamaica Turnpike (toll road). The hotel attracted an increasing number of visitors and immigrants (the latter often German) from New York City to the formerly rural hamlet. Population grew steadily until the sudden intensified surge of suburbanization into post-World War II Long Island reached the village. By 1952, the farms were all gone, replaced by newly built houses full of emigrants from nearby New York City.[8]

As part of the Town of Hempstead, Franklin Square is represented by 3rd District Councilman Bruce Blakeman. As part of New York's 4th congressional district, the hamlet is represented by Kathleen Rice.

Franklin Square is served by three school districts 13, 16 and 17. The Valley Stream Union Free School District 13[11] covers the four public elementary schools in Franklin Square (Willow Road School is located in Franklin Square under Valley Stream District) and two public high schools (North Valley Stream H.S. is located in Franklin Square under Valley Stream District). The Franklin Square Union Free District 17 covers Washington Street School, John Street Elementary School, H. Frank Carey High School, and Polk Street School.[12] District 16 (Elmont School district), covers the western part, with most students attending Covert Ave School and Sewanhaka High School.

The private St. Catherine of Sienna elementary school closed in June 2012.[13]

Below are the schools in Franklin Square, and their respective grade levels and districts.

Franklin Square has a volunteer fire department[14] and is served by the Nassau County Police Department's Fifth Precinct.[15]

Franklin Square residents are served by two public libraries, the Elmont Public Library[16] and the Franklin Square Public Library.[17] Sanitation and recycling services are provided by Town of Hempstead District 6.[18] The Town of Hempstead department of Parks and Recreation operates and maintains Rath Park, which includes Rath Park Pool, basketball, handball, and tennis courts, football and baseball fields, and a playground. There is a snack commissary and recreational equipment rental facility that operate during the summer, while the pool is operational.[19]

There is an active Chamber of Commerce[20] and a historical society. The Community League of Garden City South, Inc. Established in 1929 is the oldest acting Civic Association that serves the entire Franklin Square School District #17. The Community League of Garden City South, Inc. Is a direct liaison between the residents/merchants and the State and Local Government as well as other Organizations. It is their honor to act on behalf of the people to maintain and preserve the quality of life within the district. Franklin Square Civic Association,[21] established in 2016 by a group of residents within the community, serves to maintain and improve the quality of life within the community. The organization sponsors several events to bring the community together.[22] Franklin Square has the Franklin Square Warriors youth football program,[23] Franklin Square Raiders youth soccer program,[24] the Franklin Square Little League,[25] and Franklin Square Seminoles II baseball and softball club.[26]

The Plattdeutsche Volksfest Vereen was established in Franklin Square in the early 1900s. One was designated for an "old folks' home" and the other for a building and beer garden for the society. These are currently the Plattdeutsche Home and Renken Apartments, operated independently by the Plattdeutsche Home Society. The Vereen holds an annual fundraising festival called the Volksfest each July and the Plattdeutsche has many clubs, sports leagues and a brass band, the Foehrer Musik Freunde.

Franklin Square has a print weekly newspaper, the Franklin Square Bulletin,[27] and is covered by another local print and online newspaper, the Three Village Times.[28]

• Bruce Arena, United States men's national soccer team coach.
• Nikki Blonsky, an American actress, singer, and dancer, best known for her role as Tracy Turnblad in the 2007 film Hairspray and as Maggie Baker in the 2008 film Queen Sized.
• Rich Davis, radio personality of the Covino and Rich show on Sirius XM Radio and a graduate of the H. Frank Carey Junior-Senior High School.[29]
• Joseph Duszak (born July 22, 1997), American professional ice hockey player
• Jenni "JWoww" Farley (born Feb. 27, 1986), actress, producer, writer, MTV's Jersey Shore cast member.
• Randy Gordon (March 11, 1949 in Brooklyn,N.Y), New York State Boxing Commissioner, ESPN Boxing Commentator, New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame Inductee, Sirius XM radio Host.
• Sean Hannity, an American radio and television host, author and political commentator.
• Ray Heatherton (of The Merry Mailman television show) and daughter Joey Heatherton lived on James Street.
• Alice Hoffman (born March 16, 1952), novelist and young-adult and children's writer, best known for her 1996 novel Practical Magic, which was adapted for a 1998 film of the same name.
• Michael J. Massimino, NASA Astronaut, a graduate of H. Frank Carey Junior-Senior High School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
• Lisa Matassa, country singer.[30]
• Barbara Rosenthal, the New York avant-garde artist who wrote a weekly column ("A Crack in the Sidewalk") for The Franklin Square Bulletin in 1959–1961, when she was only eleven.[31]
• Jeff Tamarkin, a music journalist and award-winning author of the Jefferson Airplane biography Got a Revolution.
• Michael Tucci (born April 15, 1946), an American film, TV and stage actor, played Sonny in the 1978 version of "Grease" with John Travolta.
• Al Weis, former Major League Baseball player with the Chicago White Sox and New York Mets.