About Jericho Turnpike
Jericho Turnpike — signed as New York State Route 25 — is one of Long Island’s oldest and most heavily used surface roads, a commercial spine that has functioned as the island’s east–west “Main Street” since the colonial era. Where the Long Island Expressway moves traffic over Long Island at highway speed, Jericho Turnpike moves it through the heart of every community it touches: an at-grade arterial lined with retail plazas, car dealerships, diners, and downtowns, punctuated by hundreds of traffic signals and driveway cuts. That character makes it indispensable to local life and, simultaneously, one of the highest crash-per-mile non-highway roads in both Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
History
The corridor follows one of Long Island’s original colonial-era post routes. In the early 19th century it was formalized as a privately operated toll turnpike, taking its name from Jericho, the historic Quaker hamlet in central Nassau County that anchored the route. After the turnpike era ended and the road passed into public ownership, it was folded into the state highway system and designated NY 25. The “Jericho Turnpike” name survives on the western portion of that designation, from the Queens border east to roughly Smithtown.
Route geometry (west to east)
The Jericho Turnpike name begins at the Queens–Nassau border in Floral Park, where Queens’ Hillside Avenue becomes NY 25. From there the road runs roughly west-to-east through the dense inner-Nassau suburbs: New Hyde Park, Garden City Park (junction with Nassau Boulevard), and Mineola, where NY 25A splits off to follow the North Shore. Continuing east, it passes through the Williston Park / Albertson area, Roslyn Heights, and into Jericho itself near the Route 106/107 junction and the Route 135 (Seaford–Oyster Bay Expressway) corridor. It then runs through Syosset and Woodbury before crossing into Suffolk County.
In Suffolk, the road threads through Cold Spring Harbor and into the Huntington area, where it crosses NY 110 — one of the busiest signalized junctions on the entire corridor. It continues east through Elwood (along the Dix Hills border), Commack, and into Smithtown, where the Jericho Turnpike name gives way to Middle Country Road. The NY 25 designation itself does not stop there: it carries on east through central Suffolk and out along the North Fork as Main Road, ultimately terminating at Orient Point more than 100 miles from where it started — but only the western ~30-mile segment is what Long Islanders mean when they say “Jericho Turnpike.”
Jurisdiction and patrol
Jericho Turnpike is a state highway maintained by NYSDOT Region 10, but because it is a surface arterial rather than a limited-access highway, day-to-day enforcement falls to local police rather than New York State Police. The Nassau County Police Department (NCPD) patrols the Nassau sections and the Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD) patrols the Suffolk sections, while incorporated-village police departments — including Floral Park and Mineola — enforce traffic within their own boundaries. This patchwork of jurisdictions is one reason crash reporting on the corridor is spread across multiple agencies.
Speed limits and commercial character
Posted speed limits range from 30 mph through village business districts (Floral Park, Mineola, downtown Huntington) to 40–45 mph in less developed stretches. Because the road is an at-grade arterial with frequent signals, crosswalks, and commercial entrances, the posted limit changes repeatedly along the route, and real-world travel speeds during peak periods are far lower. The intense commercial development — strip retail, big-box plazas, auto dealerships, and restaurants — generates a steady stream of turning movements and pedestrian activity that defines both the road’s economic importance and its crash profile.
Recent Editorial Coverage
Recent Jericho Turnpike (NY-25) incidents documented by the Long Island Traffic data desk:
- Man, 56, Fatally Struck by SUV on Jericho Turnpike in Garden City Park — a fatal pedestrian crash at the Nassau Boulevard crossing
- Jericho Turnpike in Commack closed as police investigate serious crash — a two-vehicle collision at East Deer Park Road requiring extrication
- Nesconset man charged with DWI in crash that shut down Jericho Turnpike in Elwood — an impaired-driving crash on the eastern Suffolk corridor
For the complete NY 25 accident archive, see /accidents/ and filter by road.