List of Municipalities On Long Island - Introduction

Introduction

Further information: Administrative divisions of New York

In New York State, each county is divided into cities and towns. Every point in New York is inside either a city or a town. Additionally, towns may optionally contain villages, which are smaller incorporated municipalites within the town. Villages may overlap multiple towns. Well-known unincorporated places within towns are referred to as hamlets.

A town or city is the major subdivision of each county. Towns provide or arrange for most municipal services for residents of hamlets and selected services for residents of villages. All residents of New York who do not live in a city or on an Indian reservation live in a town.

A village is an incorporated area which is usually, but not always, within a single town. A village is a clearly defined municipality that provides the services closest to the residents, such as garbage collection, street and highway maintenance, street lighting and building codes. Some villages provide their own police and other optional services. A hamlet is a populated area within a town that is not part of a village. The term "hamlet" is not defined under New York law (unlike cities, towns and villages), but is often used in the state's statutes to refer to well-known populated sections of towns that are not incorporated as villages.