In 1910, Woodmere considered incorporating as a village.[5] These plans, however, were unsuccessful, and Woodmere remains an unincorporated hamlet governed by the Town of Hempstead to this day.[5][6] Another attempt to incorporate Woodmere as a village was made in 1978; this proposal was also unsuccessful.[7]
Geography
U.S. Census map of Woodmere.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 2.7 square miles (7.0 km2), of which 2.6 square miles (6.6 km2) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.4 km2) (5.19%) is water.[8]
Climate
Woodmere has a wet and cold winter, with a warm and moderately dry summer.[citation needed] The average high is 83 in July and 39 in January. The average low in January is 24 and in July 67. The record high is 104 °F (40 °C) in July 1966, and the record low is −12 °F (−24 °C) in 1985 and 1994.
The rainiest month is May, and the driest month is August. Woodmere is prone to droughts from late July until mid-September. Woodmere receives around 22 inches (559 mm) of snow a year in an average winter. Woodmere can get strong to severe thunderstorms, and it is prone to flooding in the early fall and late spring. It has been hit by a tornado three times, in 1985, 1998, and 2021.
As of the census of 2010, there were 17,121 people. The population density was 6,700 people per square mile. The percentage of family households is 86%. The racial makeup of the CDP was 84% White, 5.0% Black, 2.0% Asian, 0% Pacific Islander, 1.0% from other races, and 7% Hispanic.[9]
Woodmere has become home to many Modern Orthodox Jewish families who have established a number of synagogues in Woodmere and throughout much of the Five Towns.
There were 5,349 households, out of which 38.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 76.5% were married couples living together, 5.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.4% were non-families. Of all households 13.7% were made up of individuals, and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.01 and the average family size was 3.32.
In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 28.0% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 23.2% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 17.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.6 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $93,212, and the median income for a family was $119,402. Males had a median income of $76,266 versus $41,393 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $41,699. About 3.5% of families and 4.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.1% of those under age 18 and 4.0% of those age 65 or over.
Woodmere is served by the Woodmere Volunteer Fire Department.[6] It provides Fire, Rescue, and Advanced Life Support to Woodmere. It has approximately 75 volunteer members.
Jeff Beacher (born 1973), producer, entrepreneur, and master of ceremonies who created, produced, and hosted the long-running live theater series, Beacher's Madhouse[15]
Perry Farrell (born 1959), singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the frontman for the alternative rock band Jane's Addiction and creator of the touring festival Lollapalooza[20]
Carolyn Goodman (1915–2007), clinical psychologist who became a prominent civil rights advocate after her son, Andrew Goodman, and two other civil rights workers were murdered in Mississippi in 1964[25]
^Barron, James. "If You're Thinking Of Living In: Five Towns", The New York Times, July 10, 1983. Accessed July 7, 2019. "The basic five are Lawrence, Cedarhurst, Woodmere, Hewlett and Inwood. But the area also includes some unincorporated communities and two tiny villages, Hewlett Bay Park and Woodsburgh, that are not added to the final total."
^LaGorce, Tammy. "Neighborhood Storytelling", The New York Times, July 13, 2008. Accessed July 29, 2008. "On Long Island, David A. Adler, 61, the author of the 'Cam Jansen' series of young-detective chapter books for Penguin since 1971, draws on his experience as a former middle-school math teacher and on visits to schools around his Woodmere home to inform his plucky heroine’s adventures."
^Fauci, Jennifer. "Her Italy, Her Way; Childhood summers in Italy strengthened chef Donatella Arpaia’s love for the culinary world, Long Island Weekly, October 24, 2017. Accessed September 4, 2019. "If you ask any chef how they came into their craft, most of the time the answer is simple: they were born into it. Such is the case for chef Donatella Arpaia. The Woodmere native grew up in the restaurant business, spending summers in Italy where her mother’s family made their own olive oil."
^Ridley, Jane. "I got so fat, I lost my penis", New York Post, March 24, 2016. Accessed September 4, 2019. "My weight issues date back to my childhood in Woodmere, Long Island, when I would comfort-eat to feel better."
^Dovere, Maxine. "Educating the Generations: PAS Community Dedicates the Eli M. Black Learning Center", New York Jewish Life, October 25, 2017. "Reading from a 1942 sermon presented by Eli Black, then a young Orthodox rabbi in Woodmere, New York, Leon Black conveyed the gratitude his father felt toward America and the important responsibility he believed the American Jewish community has for the continuity of Judaism."
^Peter A. Diamond Biographical, Nobel Prize. Accessed September 4, 2019. "I started public school in the Bronx, and switched to suburban public schools in second grade when the family moved to Woodmere, on Long Island. Our house faced the Long Island Rail Road and was so close to the tracks that the family thought the first train at 5 AM was coming through the bedrooms."
^Shin, Laura. "Where He Belongs Finally, Jordan Gelber gets it: he's an actor.", Stanford Magazine, November / December 2005. Accessed September 4, 2019. "The easygoing actor—'Jordan Gelber is not an edgy man,' Gelber observes—grew up in Woodmere, N.Y., and took part in numerous school plays before apprenticing at the Berkshire Theater Festival."
^"Alice Glaser". The Future is Female! A Celebration of Women Who Made Science Fiction Their Own, From Pulp Pioneers to Ursula K. Le Guin. Library of America. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
^Bessen, Jeff. "Building a lifelong comedy laugh track; Harrison Greenbaum performs stand-up comedy", Long Island Herald, August 18, 2010. Accessed January 15, 2017. "A funny thing really did happen to Woodmere native Harrison Greenroom on his way to a mainstream profession, the Lawrence High School valedictorian and Harvard summa cum laude graduate detoured into stand-up comedy."
^Kamping-Carder, Leigh. "Jeffrey Gural", The Real Deal (magazine), October 1, 2012. Accessed September 4, 2019. "[Q] Where did you grow up? [A] On Long Island, in a town called Woodmere."
^Bessen, Jeff. "Gusoff to speak at Pink Aid" , Long Island Herald, October 11, 2018. Accessed September 4, 2019. "Woodmere native and Hewlett High School graduate Carolyn Gusoff, an award-winning television journalist, will be the guest speaker at Pink Aid Long Island’s fifth annual event, this year 'Celebration of Life Fashion Show' on Oct. 17."
^Goldstein, Richard. "Sonny Hertzberg, 82, a Knick From the Very Beginning, Dies", July 29, 2005. Accessed September 7, 2019. "Sonny Hertzberg, the scoring leader for the Knicks in their inaugural 1946-47 season, when the set shot reigned and the new franchise seemed an extension of the New York City college basketball scene, died Monday at his home in Woodmere, N.Y."
^Van Gelder, Lawrence. "Interview; Her Winning Way With Fashion", The New York Times, October 16, 1977. Accessed September 15, 2008. "And suddenly, at the age of 29, Donna Karan, who grew up in Woodmere, Who lied about her age to begin selling women's clothes at 14 in Cedarhurst, and who now lives in Lawrence, was at the top of her fashion world."
^Kominsky-Crumb, Aline. (2007). Need More Love. New York: MQ Publications. ISBN1-84601-133-7
^Chute, Hillary. "An Interview with Aline Kominsky-Crumb", The Believer (magazine), November 1, 2009. Accessed September 7, 2019. "The Believer: What was it like growing up in Woodmere, Long Island? Aline Kominsky-Crumb: Horrible. When I was growing up, my elementary-school was 95 percent Jewish. [Kominsky-Crumb is Jewish.]"
^Lewine, Edward. "Housing History; Sketching Out His Past", The New York Times, September 9, 2007. Accessed September 7, 2019. "1084 West Broadway, Woodmere, N.Y. Three-bedroom house (1949-1952) I was a city kid; my dream was a bigger apartment. But my wife wanted a suburban house for our daughter, Joan Celia, who was born in 1950."
^Miller, Stephen. "Cy Leslie, 85, Home Video Pioneer", The New York Sun, January 10, 2008. Accessed September 14, 2019. "Seymour Leslie - Born December 16, 1922, in Brooklyn; died of heart failure at his home in Woodmere, N.Y."
^"LI native is attorney by day, world-traveling rock star at night", News 12 Networks, October 29, 2018. Accessed September 7, 2019. "Woodmere - He's an attorney by day, a world-traveling rock star at night, and he grew up right here on Long Island. Jon Levin is a member of the metal band Dokken. He grew up in the Five Towns and was a member of the group Warlock before he joined Dokken in the 90s."
^Cavanaugh, Jack. "A Tennis Tournament Serves Some Aces", The New York Times, August 23, 1987. Accessed September 4, 2019. "Most of what rooting interest developed focused on the closest thing to a homegrown product in the competition, Gene Mayer of Woodmere."
^Sackett, Shmuel. "Hooray for High Tuitions!", Manhigut Yehudit, Sivan 5765 / June 2005. Accessed April 11, 2007. "It is a solution my wife and I did back in 1990 when we lived in Woodmere, NY (one of the "Five Towns") and had just 3 school aged children... and every one of them thanked us for it. We moved to Israel!"
^Berkow, Ira. "Tanenbaum, Man and Player, Gets His Due", The New York Times, September 21, 1993. Accessed September 7, 2019. "In time, two police officers arrived at the Tannebaums' house in Woodmere, L.I. A rabbi accompanied them. Her worst fears had been realized. Sid Tanenbaum was dead, at age 60."
^Capuzzo, Jill L. "From 'Saturday Night Live' to '700 Sundays'", The New York Times, December 12, 2004. Accessed July 31, 2007. "As the funny kid in the neighborhood, Mr. Zweibel – born in Brooklyn and reared in Woodmere, on Long Island – first tried his hand at writing jokes while at the University of Buffalo, mailing them to Johnny Carson and Dick Cavett."
