Shopping, dining and nightlife in Farmingdale's vibrant downtown
For over a decade, Farmingdale has cultivated an atmosphere of small-town charm — all while helming explosive growth through the revitalization of its compact downtown. In the early 2000s, it was a dying factory village littered with empty storefronts and warehouses, but village officials didn’t give up. Today, the village, which straddles the border of Suffolk and Nassau counties and brushes against Bethpage State Park, serves as a focal point for surrounding hamlets. More than that, its community events and walkable downtown attract residents from across Oyster Bay, Babylon and beyond year-round. Long Islanders have voted it “Best Downtown” in the Bethpage Best of Long Island Awards from 2015 to 2024. “It’s a great little town,” says Philip Donnellan, an associate broker at Deans R E & Moving Homes with 19 years of experience selling here. “It has a great history, and it’s a great place to bring your kids up.” Much of its magnetism is thanks to its abundance of entertainment, from daytime shopping and nearby parks to what Donnellan calls a “vibrant nightlife.”
This active downtown provides a host of jobs in food service, entertainment, recreation and retail. The U.S. Census Bureau, 16.6% of residents work in these fields. Other fields are even more common, though. The census reports that 25.9% of residents work in educational services, health care or social assistance and 17.9% work in professional, scientific, administrative or waste management. St. Joseph Hospital is just 2 miles away, but there are two more hospitals within 5 miles of downtown. Telephonics, a radar technology and communication company, is headquartered in Farmingdale, and Alcott HR has a sizeable location here.
Stock up on groceries at Stop & Shop in Farmingdale.
The Main Event is a sport bar that locals can enjoy in Farmingdale.
Talluci's Pizzeria is next to SUNY Farmingdale and is a popular spot for pizza lovers.
Enjoy a cocktail and exquisite cuisine from 317 Main Street in Farmingdale.
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Bars restaurants and boutiques on Main Street
“The nightlife attracts younger people from all over the South Shore,” Donnellan says. “Main Street is loaded with bars and restaurants, and it always has been. You have Farmingdale State College nearby, so college-age kids come into the bars. But it also has a lot of higher-end restaurants, so older, more established people are coming in for the nightlife and the restaurants, too.” Charlotte’s Speakeasy is one of Farmingdale’s many bars. Once a genuine speakeasy in the 1920s, it’s located behind a “secret” entrance hidden by a bookcase in Charlotte’s Frozen Yogurt, and entry requires guessing the password — which is changed weekly — from a clue or by looking it up on the speakeasy’s website. According to one of the owners, Nick DeVito, he and his brother didn’t realize what the strange basement with 12-foot ceilings, an arched entryway and remnants of a tin-plated wall was when they bought and opened their yogurt shop. Once the mayor stopped by and explained the history, they spent four years thinking about restoring it to its former Prohibition-era glory. “We’ve now been operating for almost seven years, and we always have live jazz or swing or blues music being played down there every night that we’re open,” DeVito says.
According to Debbie Kopack, an associate real estate broker at Douglas Elliman who has lived in Farmingdale for 26 years, there are tons of cool spots like this in Farmingdale’s downtown. Restaurants abound, but independent shops and boutiques selling home goods, jewelry, bicycles and more are also dotted along Main Street and Front Street. Kopack says there’s so much packed into the little downtown that it’s easy to find something different to do every single weekend.
Enjoy some delicious food and craft cocktails at Whiskey Down Diner in Farmingdale.
Enjoy a cocktail and exquisite cuisine from 317 Main Street in Farmingdale.
Changing Times Pub in Farmingdale attracts patrons from college age to seniors citizens.
Check out the local restaurants, bars and retail shops within downtown Farmingdale.
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Live music, art crawls and movies on the Village Green
In addition to seasonal parades and holiday celebrations, there’s a weekly farmers market on the Village Green from June to November. Farmingdale Music on Main is held bi-weekly in July and August, Second Sundays is a regularly held art crawl and neighbors congregate on the Village Green for summertime movie nights. According to Donnellan, there are also free summertime concerts in nearby Allen Park.
Get your face painted or pick out fancy jewelry at the Craft and Gift Fair On The Village Green.
Patronize small businesses and entrepenuers at the Farmingdale Fair and parade.
Artwork in the Village Green enhances the beautiful gardens in the Farmingdale neighborhood.
Join neighbors and community members to support the neighborhood at the Farmingdale Fair .
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Older homes starting around $500,000
The median price of a home in Farmingdale is $630,000, higher than the national median of $416,700 reported by the National Association of Realtors. Condos and co-ops are abundant, but there are also plenty of single-family homes in Farmingdale. “It’s got a lot of old Victorian homes, and it’s got brand new modern homes,” Donnellan says. “There’s sections of old Farmingdale where the homes were built in the early 1900s. They’re beautiful homes, not cookie cutter.” Cape Cods, hi-ranches, colonials and new traditionals are also common here. Despite how compact and walkable the downtown area is, Farmingdale’s more residential streets still feel suburban. Yards do tend to be smaller; just under a quarter acre is considered oversized.
The Cape Cod home can be found throughout Farmingdale.
A mix of colonial and ranch style homes comprise the residential neighborhood of Farmingdale.
Colonial homes with ranch style elements are quite common in Farmingdale.
Ranch homes are one of signature home styles in Farmingdale.
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Recent upgrades to Farmingdale schools’ sports facilities
The Farmingdale Union Free School District has an A from Niche. The district has four elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. The Farmingdale School District Aquatic Center opened in 2022, providing the community with access to its two pools. “It’s just beautiful, it’s top of the line,” Kopack says. “It’s one of the nicer ones on Long Island, second probably to Chaminade, which is a private school.” The center was part of a $36 million project that included not only its construction but also rebuilding, installing or upgrading every stadium and field in the school district.
An aerial view of the playground and sports facilities at Saltzman Elementary School.
Graduation is held on the football field at the Howitt Middle School in Farmingdale, NY.
Farmingdale High School has an excellent football program available to its students.
The entrance to Woodward Elementary School is warm and inviting.
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Emil Gerngras Park, Bethpage State Park
Aside from the Village Green, the only other park within Farmingdale proper is Emil Gerngras Park, which offers a popular playground. Nearby, Ellsworth W. Allen Park’s athletic fields and courts host many of the village’s local games and practices. According to Donnellan, the Bethpage Bike Trail, which passes through Farmingdale on its way to Bethpage State Park is a popular spot for bicyclists, runners and walkers. Just to Farmingdale’s north, the 1,477-acre Bethpage State Park draws people in for its hiking trails, athletic fields and the world-renowned Bethpage Black Course. The 18-hole golf course has hosted professional tournaments like the US Open, PGA Championship and, coming up in 2025, the Ryder Cup. South Shore beaches like Amityville Beach are just 5 miles away.
Sit in the shade at the Emil Gerngras Park in Farmingdale.
Practice your putts on the Black course at Bethpage State Park, site of 2019 PGA Championship.
Swing for the skies on the swingset at
Emil Gerngras Park in Farmingdale.
Work on your corner kicks and blocks on the soccer fields at Ellsworth W. Allen Park.
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LIRR station, nearby highway access
Less than 40 miles from Midtown Manhattan, Farmingdale has its own LIRR station. It takes less than 60 minutes to commute to Penn Station, but it’s also useful for more localized travel. “If you didn’t want to drive and you live on the main line, you can just hop a train, go to bars, hop back in the train and go home,” Donnellan says. According to the USCB, 12% of residents rely on public transportation for their daily commutes, while 76.7% drive. No major highways pass through Farmingdale, but it takes just a couple of minutes to reach the Southern State Parkway, Bethpage State Parkway or state Route 110. Republic Airport is less than 3 miles away, but it doesn’t have any commercial flights. For those needing to fly, John F. Kennedy International Airport and Long Island MacArthur Airport are both about 23 miles away. JFK is the bigger airport, with flights leaving to nearly 200 destinations on six continents; MacArthur has nonstop flights to 13 domestic locations, but catching connecting flights opens up more travel destinations.
Hurricane season, overall decrease in crime
Hurricane season impacts Farmingdale, just like the rest of Long Island. Even though the village is a few miles inland, it has a moderate risk of flooding. There’s also a major wind factor risk.
Although it’s a village, Farmingdale doesn’t have its own police force. Instead, it belongs to Nassau County’s 8th Precinct. Crime rates across Nassau County are decreasing, and the 8th Precinct is no different. Comparing the first six months of 2023 to the same period of 2024, major crimes in the precinct dropped 33.76%. There were very small upticks in vehicle thefts — 29 in 2023 to 31 in 2024 — and noncommercial robberies, which rose from 12 to 13.
Disclaimer: Certain information contained herein is derived from information provided by parties other than Homes.com. Our sources include: Accuweather, Public Records and Neustar. All information provided is deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed to be accurate and should be independently verified.
