Wantagh, NY — Crash Data, Roads, History & Law
Wantagh is an unincorporated hamlet in the Town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York, with 18,613 residents at the 2020 Census. Federal crash records show 16 fatal crashes that killed 16 people within its boundaries from 2010 through 2024 — 3 of them on foot. Wantagh State Parkway accounted for more of those deaths (7) than any other road. Residents who commute travel an average of 34 minutes each way.
Long Island Town Fact Book · Updated · Sources & method
Wantagh at a glance
- Status
- Hamlet (unincorporated; census-designated place)
- Town
- Hempstead
- County
- Nassau County
- Population (2020 Census)
- 18,613[C]
- Housing units (2020)
- 6,228
- Land area
- 3.83 sq mi (plus 0.3 sq mi of water)
- Density
- 4,860 people per sq mi
- Average commute
- 34 minutes[B]
- Traffic deaths, 2010–2024
- 16[A]
- ZIP Code
- 11793
- Legal status
- Unincorporated hamlet in the Town of Hempstead, Nassau County[2]
- Main state roads
- NY 27 (Sunrise Highway); Wantagh State Parkway (NY 908T)[3]
- Historic LIRR station
- Built 1885; preserved as the Wantagh Railroad Museum since 1982[4]
- Census geography
- Wantagh CDP · GEOID 3678146 · GNIS 2390451
- Coordinates
- 40.6679°N, 73.5105°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:William M. Beauchamp's 1907 New York State Museum survey of Algonquian place names records "Wan-tagh" as the name of "an Indian village in Hempstead."[1]
Fatal crashes in Wantagh, 2010–2024
From January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2024, 16 people died in 16 crashes on public roads inside Wantagh, according to the federal Fatality Analysis Reporting System.[A] Pedestrians account for 3 of those deaths (19%). The deadliest year was 2018, with 3 deaths.
- Fatal crashes
- 16
- People killed
- 16
- Pedestrians
- 3
- Bicyclists
- 2
- Motorcyclists
- 2
- Vehicle occupants
- 9
2024 figures come from NHTSA's Annual Report File and may be revised.
View the chart as a table
| Year | Fatal crashes | Deaths |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 2 | 2 |
| 2011 | 1 | 1 |
| 2012 | 0 | 0 |
| 2013 | 1 | 1 |
| 2014 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | 1 | 1 |
| 2016 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 2 | 2 |
| 2018 | 3 | 3 |
| 2019 | 1 | 1 |
| 2020 | 3 | 3 |
| 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 1 | 1 |
| 2024 | 1 | 1 |
Roads where people died
| Road | Crashes | Deaths |
|---|---|---|
| Wantagh State Parkway | 7 | 7 |
| Sunrise Highway (NY 27) | 4 | 4 |
| Brooklyn Ave | 1 | 1 |
| Bunker Ave | 1 | 1 |
| Jerusalem Ave | 1 | 1 |
| Briard St | 1 | 1 |
| Wantagh Ave | 1 | 1 |
Road names as recorded by police and normalised to common Long Island names.
When and where
- Of the 16 crashes with a recorded time, 7 happened between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., 3 between 4 and 8 p.m., 5 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and 1 between 6 and 10 a.m.
- 50% happened in darkness.
- 7 of the 16 deaths were on expressways or parkways; 9 were on arterials and local streets.
- In at least 2 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 12 fatal crashes in Wantagh since then:
- State highways 9 (75%)
- Town roads 3 (25%)
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: 5.7 traffic deaths per 100,000 residents per year, against 5.8 for Nassau 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| * | 4 a.m. | Brooklyn Ave at Beech St | 1 | Vehicle occupant | dark |
| 5 p.m. | Wantagh State Parkway | 1 | Motorcyclist | daylight | |
| 5 a.m. | Wantagh State Parkway | 1 | Vehicle occupant | dark | |
| 2 p.m. | Wantagh State Parkway | 1 | Vehicle occupant | daylight | |
| 2 p.m. | Wantagh State Parkway | 1 | Vehicle occupant | daylight | |
| 11 p.m. | Sunrise Highway (NY 27) at Wantagh Ave | 1 | Pedestrian | dark | |
| 10 p.m. | Wantagh State Parkway | 1 | Vehicle occupant | dark | |
| 1 p.m. | Bunker Ave | 1 | Pedestrian | daylight | |
| 4 p.m. | Wantagh State Parkway | 1 | Motorcyclist | daylight | |
| 3 p.m. | Jerusalem Ave | 1 | Vehicle occupant | daylight | |
| 7 p.m. | Sunrise Highway (NY 27) | 1 | Vehicle occupant | dark | |
| 9 p.m. | Sunrise Highway (NY 27) | 1 | Bicyclist | dark | |
| 2 p.m. | Briard St at Carrolton St | 1 | Bicyclist | daylight | |
| 8 p.m. | Wantagh Ave at Railroad Ave | 1 | Vehicle occupant | dark | |
| 6 a.m. | Sunrise Highway (NY 27) at Wantagh Ave | 1 | Pedestrian | dawn |
FARS contains no names or personal identifiers. * 2024 records are preliminary. Download all 16 records (CSV) · How this was compiled
Recent Wantagh Incident Reports
NYSDOT: Two Westbound Sunrise Highway Lanes Close Nightly Sept. 8 from Babylon to Wantagh
NYSDOT: Two Westbound Sunrise Highway Lanes Close Nightly Sept. 8 from Babylon t. Nassau County. September 3, 2026.
DWI Arrest at Exit 27S of Westbound Southern State Parkway in Wantagh — August 30
DWI Arrest on Wantagh State Parkway Shuts Down Traffic, Aug. 28
DWI Arrest on Wantagh State Parkway Shuts Down Traffic, Aug. 28. on wantagh stpkwy. August 28, 2026.
Two-Vehicle Hit-and-Run on Wantagh State Parkway, Aug. 28, 2026
Two-Vehicle Hit-and-Run on Wantagh State Parkway, Aug. 28, 2026. 2 vehicles. on wantagh stpkwy. August 28, 2026.
A 19-year-old UAlbany Student Killed in Motorcycle Crash on Wantagh State Parkway
A 19-year-old UAlbany student was killed in a motorcycle crash on the Wantagh State Parkway. August 25, 2026.
Two-Vehicle Hit-and-Run on Wantagh State Parkway, August 15, 2026
Two-Vehicle Hit-and-Run on Wantagh State Parkway, August 15, 2026. 2 vehicles. on wantagh stpkwy. August 15, 2026.
Updated continuously from 511NY, NYSP, NCPD, and SCPD feeds — all Long Island reports.
Dangerous Roads in Wantagh
Roads running through Wantagh where we've tracked three or more incidents. Each link opens a dedicated road × town breakout with a full incident timeline.
All reported crashes in the Town of Hempstead, 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 Wantagh is for the Town of Hempstead, which contains it. Police reported 68,511 crashes there from 2021 through 2024 — about 46.9 a day. 18,712 (27.3%) injured someone and 142 were fatal. [D]
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15,884 | 17,747 | 17,500 | 17,380 | 68,511 |
- Injury crashes
- 18,712
- Fatal crashes
- 142
- Struck a pedestrian
- 1,410
- Struck a bicyclist
- 742
- Struck a deer
- 5
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 Wantagh gets to work
Wantagh commuters travel an average of 34 minutes each way, 2 minutes shorter than the Nassau County average (the national average is 26.4 minutes). About 64.9% of workers drive alone, and 8.8% ride the railroad. [B]
| Measure | Wantagh | Nassau County | New York State | United States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average one-way commute | 34 min ±5.2 | 36 min | 32.6 min | 26.4 min |
| Commute 60 minutes or longer | 19.6% ±3.1 | 22.3% | 16.8% | 8.6% |
| Commute under 15 minutes | 17.6% ±3.6 | 17.9% | 20.5% | 26% |
| Drive alone | 64.9% ±6.9 | 60.7% | 48.8% | 68.8% |
| Carpool | 3.3% ±1.7 † | 7.3% | 6.3% | 8.5% |
| Commuter rail (LIRR) | 8.8% ±2.5 | 7.1% | 1.8% | 0.3% |
| Bus | 0.3% ±0.4 † | 2.2% | 5.1% | 1.5% |
| Walk | 0.6% ±0.8 † | 2% | 5.6% | 2.4% |
| Work from home | 17.5% ±4.4 | 15.6% | 14.9% | 15.1% |
| Leave home before 6 a.m. | 7.7% ±2.8 | 10.8% | 10.6% | 14.4% |
| Households with no vehicle | 2.8% ±1.7 † | 6.8% | 29.2% | 8.4% |
| Households with three or more vehicles | 28.1% ±4.8 | 23.3% | 11.8% | 21.9% |
Survey estimates for 9,026 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 Wantagh
- A 1907 New York State Museum survey lists "Wan-tagh" as the name of an Indian village that stood within the Town of Hempstead.[1]
- The Wantagh Railroad Museum occupies an 1885 LIRR depot that was moved to save it from demolition in 1966 and restored to its 1904 appearance.[4]
- Jones Beach State Park, at the south end of the Wantagh State Parkway, opened to the public on August 4, 1929.[9]
- Wantagh Park's swimming complex includes an Olympic-sized pool, a diving pool and two water slides on 111 acres the county has owned since 1961.[8]
- In 1986 an Appellate Division panel upheld a finding that the Wantagh school district discriminated against a female job applicant on the basis of sex and age.[10]
History
Wantagh sits inside the Town of Hempstead, whose founding deed was negotiated on December 13, 1643 between English emissaries Robert Fordham and John Carman and Native representatives the town's own archives name as the Reuckowacky, the Merockes, Matinecock and Massapequas; the deed set no boundaries or compensation, a Dutch patent followed in November 1644, and the deed itself was not confirmed until July 4, 1657.[2] The name Wantagh itself is old: William Beauchamp's 1907 New York State Museum inventory of New York's Algonquian place names lists "Wan-tagh" as the name of an Indian village within the town of Hempstead, without further description.[1]
The hamlet's Long Island Rail Road station, built in 1885 on Railroad Avenue east of Wantagh Avenue, was moved a few blocks to its present site in 1966 to save it from demolition when railroad service in the area was expanded; the Wantagh Preservation Society restored it to its 1904 appearance and opened it to the public as the Wantagh Railroad Museum in 1982.[4]
Jones Beach State Park, at the south end of the Wantagh State Parkway, opened to the public on August 4, 1929, under Robert Moses.[9] Nassau County brought 111 acres at 1 King Road, just south of Merrick Road, into its park system as Wantagh Park in 1961; the park includes an Olympic-size pool complex, ballfields, a marina and fishing pier, and a South Shore Blueway Trail launch.[8]
How the roads got here
Sunrise Highway, the hamlet's principal east-west commercial corridor, is New York State Route 27; NYSDOT's official touring-route description carries NY 27 continuously along the South Shore "to Valley Stream, Lynbrook, Rockville Centre, Freeport, Massapequa Park" and on toward Montauk Point, passing through the unincorporated hamlets — including Wantagh — that lie along that stretch between the named villages.[3]
The Wantagh State Parkway (NY 908T) is a state parkway that NYSDOT lists under the jurisdiction of the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, maintained and signed by NYSDOT.[3] Its bridge over Sloop Channel, part of the route to Jones Beach, was the site of construction work at issue in a 2010 Appellate Division ruling on a dock builder's injury claim against the state and its contractor (see Law and legal history).[11]
Law and legal history
In Wantagh Union Free School District v. New York State Division of Human Rights, 122 A.D.2d 846, decided August 11, 1986, the Appellate Division reviewed a state Division of Human Rights finding that the district and an administrator had discriminated against a 47-year-old female applicant for the position of director of pupil personnel services.[10] The court found the complainant "was qualified to fill the position" and that her "educational background and experience entitled her to have her application seriously considered," upheld the finding of sex and age discrimination and the resulting back-pay and emotional-distress awards, while striking one individual respondent from the order as a typographical error.[10]
In Aragona v. State of New York, 74 A.D.3d 1260 (2010), a dock builder injured while working on a state contract to rebuild the Wantagh Parkway Bridge over Sloop Channel sued the state under the Labor Law; the Appellate Division reinstated his Labor Law § 200 and common-law negligence claims and part of his Labor Law § 241(6) claim, holding the state had not shown it lacked notice of the hazardous condition that caused his fall.[11]
As in the rest of the Town of Hempstead, a plaintiff suing over a defect in a town-maintained street or sidewalk in Wantagh must first show the town had prior written notice of that specific defect under section 6-1 (or 6-3) of the Code of the Town of Hempstead, as applied in cases such as Cuzzo v. Town of Hempstead, 61 A.D.3d 921 (2009).[12]
Cases of record
- Wantagh Union Free School District v. New York State Division of Human Rights, 122 A.D.2d 846 (1986)[10]
- Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Second Department, 1986. Review of a state finding that the Wantagh school district discriminated against a job applicant.The court upheld the finding of sex and age discrimination in hiring for a director of pupil personnel services position and the associated damages, removing one individual respondent as included in the order by typographical error.
- Aragona v. State of New York, 74 A.D.3d 1260 (2010)[11]
- Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Third Department, 2010. Injury to a dock builder during state-contracted construction on the Wantagh Parkway Bridge over Sloop Channel.The court reinstated the plaintiff's Labor Law §200, common-law negligence, and part of his Labor Law §241(6) claims, finding the state had not established it lacked notice of the hazardous condition.
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
Wantagh is unincorporated and has no village government. The Nassau County Police Department's Seventh Precinct, headquartered a short distance away at 3636 Merrick Road in Seaford, states that it "serves the communities of Merrick, Bellmore, Wantagh, North Wantagh, Seaford, Massapequa, North Massapequa, Massapequa Park and East Massapequa."[5][6]
Misdemeanors, lesser offenses, felony arraignments and civil claims up to $15,000 from Wantagh go to the Nassau County District Court at 99 Main Street, Hempstead; larger civil matters go to Nassau County Supreme Court in Mineola; non-criminal traffic and parking tickets go to the county's Traffic & Parking Violations Agency in Garden City.[14][15][16]
Railroad and transit
The Long Island Rail Road station built in Wantagh in 1885 was moved and restored rather than demolished when service in the corridor was expanded in the 1960s, and has operated as a museum of the Wantagh Preservation Society since 1982.[4]
Landmarks and listed places
Wantagh timeline
- Hempstead deed. Robert Fordham and John Carman negotiated the founding land deed for the Town of Hempstead, confirmed only in 1657.[2]
- Railroad station built. The Long Island Rail Road station later preserved as the Wantagh Railroad Museum was built on Railroad Avenue, east of Wantagh Avenue.[4]
- Jones Beach opens. Robert Moses opened Jones Beach State Park to the public; the Wantagh State Parkway is the park's main access road from the north.[9]
- Wantagh Park. The 111-acre Wantagh Park, at 1 King Road, became part of the Nassau County park system.[8]
- Station moved. The 1885 depot was moved a few blocks to save it from demolition when railroad service was expanded, and restored to its 1904 appearance.[4]
- Museum opens. The Wantagh Preservation Society opened the restored depot to the public as a museum.[4]
- Human rights ruling. The Appellate Division largely upheld a finding that the Wantagh Union Free School District discriminated on the basis of sex and age against a candidate for a director of pupil personnel services position.[10]
Major roads in Wantagh
| Road | Route | Maintained by | In Wantagh |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunrise Highway [3] | NY 27 | New York State | runs through the hamlet's commercial core |
| Wantagh State Parkway [3] | NY 908T | New York State (Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; maintained and signed by NYSDOT) | runs north-south through the hamlet to Jones Beach State Park |
Emergency Resources
Hospitals
- Mount Sinai South Nassau — One Healthy Way, Oceanside, NY 11572 — (516) 632-3000 (Level II trauma center per the New York State Department of Health trauma-center list; address per the hospital's own site.)
- Nassau University Medical Center — 2201 Hempstead Turnpike, East Meadow, NY 11554 — (516) 572-0123 (Nassau County's only Level I adult trauma center.)
Police
- Nassau County Police Department, Seventh Precinct — 3636 Merrick Road, Seaford, NY 11783 — (516) 573-6700 (Precinct's own page names Wantagh and North Wantagh among the communities it serves.)
Courts
- Nassau County District Court — 99 Main Street, Hempstead, NY 11550 — (516) 493-4200 (Civil claims up to $15,000, misdemeanors, felony arraignments. Chief Clerk: (516) 493-4159.)
- Nassau County Supreme Court — 100 Supreme Court Drive, Mineola, NY 11501 — (516) 493-3400 (Civil matters, including personal-injury actions.)
- Nassau County Traffic & Parking Violations Agency — 801 Axinn Avenue, Garden City, NY 11530 — (516) 572-2700 (Adjudicates traffic, parking and photo-enforcement tickets.)
Local Driver Services in Wantagh
Practical resources for Wantagh drivers — tire shops, gas prices, and live traffic conditions.
Safety Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do after a car accident in Wantagh, NY?
Call 911 immediately. Document the scene thoroughly with photos of all vehicles, road conditions, and injuries. Exchange insurance information and collect witness contact details. File a report with NCPD's 7th Precinct and notify your own insurance company. New York's no-fault insurance law requires timely reporting.
Which roads are most dangerous in Wantagh?
Wantagh Parkway through the hamlet is the primary high-speed corridor, with merge and speed-related crashes at the Southern State Parkway interchange. Sunrise Highway through the commercial district sees frequent rear-end and turning-related collisions. Wantagh Avenue between Sunrise Highway and the Southern State carries heavy commuter volumes.
Where is the nearest hospital to Wantagh?
Mount Sinai South Nassau in Oceanside is the closest major emergency facility, approximately fifteen minutes west via Sunrise Highway. Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, the county's Level I trauma center, is accessible northbound via Wantagh Parkway to Hempstead Turnpike.
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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] New York State Museum / University of the State of New York. Aboriginal Place Names of New York (New York State Museum Bulletin 108) (1907). Book.
- [2] Town of Hempstead (Town Clerk Archives). History of the Town (n.d.). Government record.
- [3] 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.
- [4] Wantagh Preservation Society. The Museum (n.d.). Institution.
- [5] Nassau County Police Department. About Precinct (Seventh Precinct) (n.d.). Government record.
- [6] Nassau County Police Department. Nassau County Police Department Precincts (addresses and telephone numbers) (n.d.). Government record.
- [7] Mount Sinai Health System. Mount Sinai South Nassau (n.d.). Institution.
- [8] Nassau County. Wantagh Park (n.d.). Government record.
- [9] Long Island Press (Schneps Media). Jones Beach: Long Island's Jewel (2019). News report.
- [10] Caselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School Library. Wantagh Union Free School District v. New York State Division of Human Rights, 122 A.D.2d 846 (1986) (1986). Court decision.
- [11] Caselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School Library. Aragona v. State, 74 A.D.3d 1260 (2010) (2010). Court decision.
- [12] Caselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School Library. Cuzzo v. Town of Hempstead, 61 A.D.3d 921 (2009) (2009). Court decision.
- [14] New York State Unified Court System. Nassau County District Court (2026). Court decision.
- [15] New York State Unified Court System. Nassau County Supreme Court (2026). Court decision.
- [16] Nassau County. Traffic & Parking Violations Agency (2026). Government record.
- [17] New York State Department of Health. New York State Trauma Centers (n.d.). Government record.
Sources opened and checked September 17, 2026.