FLANDERS, LONG ISLAND

Flanders, Long Island

Flanders is a hamlet and census-designated place located in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. It is home of the 20-foot concrete Big Duck, a duck-shaped Ferro cement building which was originally built by a farmer named Martin Maurer and also used as a shop to sell ducks and duck eggs. Flanders is on the south side of the Peconic River at its mouth in Peconic Bay. Riverhead is just across the river to the north. As of the 2000 census, there were 3,646 people, 1,260 households, and 889 families residing in the CDP. The median income for a household in the CDP was $46,711, and the median income for a family was $49,031. Males had a median income of $37,548 and only $23,897 for females. Flanders ZIP Code is 11901. Area Code is 631. The latitude of Flanders is 40.903N. The longitude is -72.618W. It is in the Eastern Standard time zone. Elevation is 7 feet.

The area was originally named after the region of the Netherlands. According to the famous researchers that are based in New York, Flanders is amongst of the safe places to live in New York with no registered sex offenders living in this place in early 2007. It is also a quite middle class neighborhood having an unemployment rate of only 3.50 percent compared to the 4.60 percent of the United States average. Recent job growth in Flanders is Negative. There jobs have decreased by 0.71 percent. Recently, about 75 percent of houses in Flanders are occupied by their owners. Renters are only make-up of 25.25 percent in their total population.

The racial-makeup of Flanders comprises of 71.23% White, 19.88% African American, 1.37% Native American, 0.71% Asian, 3.81% from other races, and 2.99% from two or more races. Most of its resident’s ancestries were Italian, German, Irish, Polish, English, Guatemalan, Mexican, and French. Flanders is partly served by Riverhead School District. The district offers reasonable programs meeting and exceeding all New York State Learning Standards and regulations in order to enhance the achievements in every student. It also provides high quality academic programs especially from Kindergarten to 12th Grade and graduates to College would reach as high as 85% of the student’s population. In fact, the Flanders public schools spend a total of $12,241 per student. The average school expenditure in the United States is $6,058. There are about 16 students per teacher in the area. The very famous Big Duck statue can be found only in Flanders along Route 24 at the entrance of Sears-Bellow County Park. During holiday seasons, the local school children traditionally sing “Duck” carols and warm refreshments including hot chocolate, cookies, and doughnuts are served. Visitors are freely joined and sing along the duck carols while awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus which transported by the Flanders Fire Department.