Mastic Beach, NY

Mastic Beach is a South Shore Long Island census-designated place in Suffolk County, near wetlands, bays, and the barrier-island coast. Residents voted to incorporate it as a village in 2010, though it later returned to town governance, a history that reflects local debates over services and identity. The community is more modest and working-class than many Long Island waterfront places, with older beach cottages, residential streets, and access to the Great South Bay area. Mastic Beach feels coastal, local, and a little rough-edged in a real way.