Kings Park, NY

Two state parks place Long Island Sound, the Nissequogue River, and miles of public open space at Kings Park’s northern edge. Nissequogue River State Park occupies 521 acres of the former Kings Park Psychiatric Center campus, an institution that opened in 1885 and closed in 1996. More than a mile of river shoreline now supports kayaking, fishing, birding, hiking, and seasonal marina use, while former hospital grounds also hold athletic fields and interpretive programs. The Long Island Greenbelt Trail connects this landscape with Sunken Meadow State Park. There, residents can use a Sound beach, launch canoes and kayaks, hike wooded hills and tidal flats, play on athletic fields, or visit a 27-hole public golf course; cross-country skiing and snowshoeing extend use into winter. Kings Park’s Long Island Rail Road station sits immediately southwest of Nissequogue River State Park on the Port Jefferson Branch, an unusual meeting of a commuter stop and a large waterfront park.

Away from the shoreline, Main Street and the surrounding blocks form the hamlet’s everyday service center. The Kings Park building of the Smithtown Library offers children’s activities, craft and technology programs, study space, and evening hours. A 2026 sewer project is extending infrastructure through portions of the downtown area, where Smithtown’s adopted plan recommends mixed-use redevelopment and better connections to the local hike-and-bike route; those recommendations are plans rather than completed changes. Kings Park had 17,085 people in 2020. The same five-year profile shows residents age 65 or older making up 24.5 percent of Kings Park, compared with 18.4 percent under 18.