The year 2024 is ending on an unusual note – Christmas and the first night of Hanukkah – holidays of two of the major religions of Nassau County residents are being celebrated on the same day. The last time this took place was eight years ago in 2016.
We would like to believe that this will usher in a year in which residents of this increasingly diverse county recognize how they have more in common than not with their neighbors.
Earlier this year, Schneps Media purchased two competing newspaper companies – Anton Media Newspapers and then Blank Slate Media.
The two former rival groups were brought together by Schneps with 10 weekly newspapers serving Nassau County communities stretching from Great Neck on the North Shore to Massapequa on the South Shore and dozens of neighborhoods in between.
The combined group then joined the Long Island Press, a publication dating back to 1821 that has had multiple incarnations over the years, including a daily newspaper, a free monthly news journal, and its current iteration – a monthly newspaper that is delivered to shops and restaurants:
The combined newspaper group known as Schneps Media Long Island is dedicated to being an integral part of the communities and people we serve, highlighting the best in us and connecting communities.
The newspapers invite readers to help us in that effort by letting us know about community events and people who are making a difference from school teachers to Chambers of Commerce to hospital nurses.
Nassau residents were united in 2024 in support of a suburban lifestyle characterized by single-family homes, high-performing schools and safe neighborhoods.
Nassau once again earned the title of safest county in the United States by U.S. News & World Report.
It might also have earned the unofficial title of most active in defending what it saw as efforts that would undermine the county’s suburban lifestyle with officials of both parties banding together to oppose efforts seen as impinging on local control of zoning decisions.
Nassau residents showed similar unity in efforts they saw as threatening local control of schools and funding that helped produce some of the top districts in New York State—a particular point of pride among residents and a magnet for new residents.
But perhaps the greatest show of unit came in times of adversity.
Residents and elected officials were unified in their calls for the return of Plainview resident Omer Neutra, who had joined the Israeli army, when he was believed to be among the hostages taken after Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023. The residents then rallied again in support of his family after Israel announced that he had died during the attack.
County residents also rallied in support of the family of Jonathan Diller, a NYPD officer who lived in Massapequa Park when he was shot and killed during a traffic stop in Queens, leaving behind a wife and a one-year-old son.
Likewise they rallied when Massapequa High School hockey player Connor Kasin died in a fund-raising game in honor of a Syosset native who died the year before while attending college.
In each case, support for the families of those who had died tragically was universal.
All this took place at a time when Nassau was growing and becoming more demographically diverse.
The white (non-Hispanic) population decreased from 65.6% in 2010 to 55.8% in 2022, while the Asian (non-Hispanic) population increased the most, from 4.9 percentage points to 12.7%.
Nassau County’s population grew by 12.34% from 2020 to 2023, making it the 46th fastest-growing county in the United States.
The county has seen similar growth in recent years in commercial and residential developments.
This includes the opening of UBS Arena, the new home of the New York Islanders that doubles as an entertainment venue which has attracted adjacent retail shopping, and the $1.3 billion mixed-use community rising above the once severely polluted waterfront property in Glen Cove being developed by RXR Realty.
Not to mention the $4 billion casino and resort planned by the Las Vegas Sands for the HUB in Uniondale
Political differences sometimes obscure some of these successes, but they are no match for the many things Nassau residents have in common.
We hope this holiday season serves as a reminder and an inspiration.
