This article is about the hamlet mostly in the Town of Islip. For the lake, see Lake Ronkonkoma (lake). For the community on the northern and eastern side of the lake, see Lake Ronkonkoma, New York.
Hamlet and census-designated place in New York, United States
The name "Ronkonkoma" comes from the nearby Lake Ronkonkoma, which in turn comes from an Algonquian expression meaning "boundary fishing-lake", also earlier written as "Raconkumake" and "Raconkamuck."[3]
Since 1988, Ronkonkoma has been the end of electrification along the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line.[4] The track between Hicksville and Ronkonkoma is known as the Ronkonkoma Branch. In 2017, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the groundbreaking of a new $650 million development to create a Ronkonkoma Hub near the LIRR Line, similar to the hub in neighboring Brookhaven.[5]
Ronkonkoma was the terminus of the first road in the United States designed exclusively for automobiles, the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, constructed by a consortium of investors called the Long Island Motor Parkway, Inc. led by William Kissam Vanderbilt II.[6]
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 8.1 square miles (21.1 km2), of which 0.35 square miles (0.9 km2), or 4.07%, is covered by water.[2]
As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 18,955 people and 6,150 households residing in the CDP. The racial makeup of the CDP was 77.7% White, 4.5% African American, 7.7% Asian, 5.1% from other races, and 5.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 20.9% of the population.
In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 20.1% under the age of 18, 6.1% under the age of five, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $114,216, while the per capita income for the CDP was $41,792. About 3.5% of the population were below the poverty line.[9]
Neighborhoods
Lake Hills is north of the Long Island Expressway and south of Long Island Motor Parkway, roughly bounded by Rosevale Avenue and Ocean Avenue to the east, and Terry Road to the west.[7][10]
Lakeland is south of the Long Island Expressway and north of Veterans Memorial Highway, bounded on the west by Lakeland County Park and Connetquot River State Park, and on the east by Ronkonkoma Avenue and Lakeland Avenue.[7][11]
Prior to 1960, the Connetquot School District portion of the area belonged to the Ronkonkoma School District.[16] After a vote, the district merged with the Oakdale-Bohemia School District in the neighboring communities of Oakdale and Bohemia, New York, to create the Connetquot School District.[16]
In The Oh, Hello Show, John Mulaney's character George St. Geegland wrote a book called Next Stop: Ronkonkoma. The book is the story of 100 people on a train on Long Island. The book is written from 100 different perspectives, and is more than 1,000 pages long.
Ronkonkoma is referenced in Law and Order Special Victims Unit, (Season 16xE11: "Agent Provocateur"), where a character states she lives in Ronkonkoma.
Ronkonkoma is referenced in two songs by singer/songwriter Mike Doughty: "Busting Up a Starbucks" and "Like a Luminous Girl."
Ronkonkoma was referenced by Artie Lange during the March 3, 2009, taping of the Late Show with David Letterman. The comic recounted a story of sitting in front of a fan at Yankees games who repeatedly cheered on Derek Jeter by shouting, "Do it for Ronkonkoma!" to which Lange replied "No one's doing anything for Ronkonkoma![21]"
Two characters in the movie 200 Cigarettes are visiting New York City from Ronkonkoma.
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