Green Island, New York
Encyclopedia
Green Island is a coterminous town and village in Albany County
Albany County, New York
Albany County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, and is part of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area. The name is from the title of the Duke of York and Albany, who became James II of England . As of the 2010 census, the population was 304,204...

, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, USA some 8 miles (13 km.) north of Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...

. Green Island is one of only five such town-village amalgams in New York. The population was 2,620 at the 2010 census. The postal code is 12183.

Green Island is also the smallest town, by area, in New York, covering 0.7 of a square mile (1.8 km²); by contrast, the largest town in the state by area, Webb
Webb, New York
Webb is a the northernmost town in Herkimer County, New York, United States. The town is named after William Seward Webb, President of the Raquette Lake Transportation Company, the Fulton Chain Railway Company, Fulton Navigation Company, and the Mohawk and Malone Railway; his railroads were...

, covers 483 square miles (1,251 km²).

History

Today's town and village of Green Island is connected to the mainland United States. However, it was once called Tibbett's Island, and is situated on land that was, in the past, an island. The First (or South) Branch
Sprouts of the Mohawk River
The Sprouts of the Mohawk River are the multiple channels of the Mohawk River as it flows into the Hudson River creating a delta in the US state of New York. Most of the sprouts lie within Albany County, with the northern ones in Saratoga County, and the sprouts enter the Hudson at the boundary...

 of the Mohawk River
Mohawk River
The Mohawk River is a river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk flows into the Hudson in the Capital District, a few miles north of the city of Albany. The river is named for the Mohawk Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy...

 delta once ran between the island and Watervliet, separating the island from mainland Albany County. The river branch was filled in during construction of Interstate 787
Interstate 787
Interstate 787 is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of New York. I-787 is the main highway for those traveling into and out of downtown Albany. The southern terminus is at the Interstate 87/New York State Thruway exit 23 toll plaza southwest of downtown Albany...

 in the 1960s.

Green Island was called by the Native Americans
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 Pachanhanit or Nehanenesick, and was owned by the natives Amenhanit, Aepjen, and Wanapet until they sold it in 1665. The island was part of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck begun by the Patroon
Patroon
In the United States, a patroon was a landholder with manorial rights to large tracts of land in the 17th century Dutch colony of New Netherland in North America...

 Kiliaen van Rensselaer, whose great-grandson (Colonel Kiliaen van Rensselaer) sold the island in 1708 to Colonel Pieter Schuyler. The island was sold a few years later in 1714 to Hendrick Oothout. In 1796 the northern part of the island was purchased by George Tibbits, after whom the island received its name of Tibbits Island; while the southern portion of the island was sold by the Oothout family in 1833 to Daniel Cady. The next year Cady sold the land to the Tibbits family.

Much like its larger neighboring cities; Troy, Watervliet, and Cohoes; Green Island was a major manufacturing and transportation center. In 1823 the Federal Dam
Federal Dam (Troy)
The Federal Dam is a manmade dam built across the Hudson River in the US state of New York from Troy on the east bank to Green Island on the west bank. The major function of the dam is to improve navigability. It is located at mile 153 of the Hudson River, measuring from the beginning of the Hudson...

 was built between Green Island and Troy allowing for year-round navigation north on the Hudson River to Waterford
Waterford (village), New York
Waterford is a village in Saratoga County, New York, USA. The population was 2,204 at the 2000 census. The name derives from the ford between the mainland and Peebles Island....

 and Lansingburgh
Lansingburgh, New York
Lansingburgh was the first chartered village in Rensselaer County, New York, USA and was settled around 1763. The name is from Abraham Lansing, an early settler, combined with the Scottish word burgh....

. In 1834 a terminal was built on the island by the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad
Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad
The Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad was chartered on April 14, 1832. It completed between Troy and Ballston Spa on March 19, 1836. The Delaware and Hudson Canal Company leased the line on May 1, 1871, and it was consolidated into the Delaware and Hudson Railroad effective January 30, 1945....

, which the following year built the first Green Island Bridge
Green Island Bridge
The Green Island Bridge crosses the Hudson River in New York, connecting Green Island with Troy. It opened September 12, 1981.-History:The original Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad bridge was a wood-truss covered bridge built in 1832. On May 10, 1862 it caught fire from the sparks of a passing...

 for railroad use from Green Island to Troy. The Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad built its locomotive and car shops in 1842 in Green Island. Even after the Delaware and Hudson Railroad (D&H) took over and consolidated operations to the Colonie Shops (just west of Watervliet), the Green Island Shops continued to be a repair shop and were frequently mentioned in trade magazines during the 1930s regarding their experiments with new methods and materials; such as light weight steel. Green Island, population 800, was incorporated in 1853 as a village in the town of Watervliet
Watervliet (town), New York
For the Shaker village, see Watervliet Shaker Historic District.The town of Watervliet was a town that at its height encompassed most of present-day Albany County and the majority of the current town of Niskayuna in neighboring Schenectady County, in the state of New York, United States...

. In that same year the Gilbert Car Company
Gilbert Car Company
Gilbert Car Company was a railroad car builder based in Troy, New York. It began manufacturing streetcars in the late 1880s.Founded by Orsamus Eaton and Uri Gilbert , the company changed names several times as the partnership changed:...

 had a railroad car
Railroad car
A railroad car or railway vehicle , also known as a bogie in Indian English, is a vehicle on a rail transport system that is used for the carrying of cargo or passengers. Cars can be coupled together into a train and hauled by one or more locomotives...

 factory built in Green Island after their Troy location burned, it too would experience a fire in 1862, and finally went out of business in 1895. The town of Green Island was formed in 1896 which also created the city of Watervliet
Watervliet, New York
Watervliet is a city in Albany County in the US state of New York. The population was 10,254 as of the 2010 census. Watervliet is north of Albany, the capital of the state, and is bordered on the north, west, and south by the town of Colonie. The city is also known as "the Arsenal City".- History...

, a year after the division of the original town of Watervliet
Watervliet (town), New York
For the Shaker village, see Watervliet Shaker Historic District.The town of Watervliet was a town that at its height encompassed most of present-day Albany County and the majority of the current town of Niskayuna in neighboring Schenectady County, in the state of New York, United States...

 that created the town of Colonie
Colonie (town), New York
Colonie is a town in Albany County, New York, United States. It is the most populous suburb of Albany, New York, and is the third largest town in area in Albany County, occupying about 11% of the county. Several hamlets exist within the town. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population...

.

It was automobile manufacturing, and not the railroads, that would soon become important to Green Island when Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...

; whose General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...

 was located in nearby Schenectady
Schenectady, New York
Schenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135...

 and who frequently fished off the northern end of Green Island; introduced his friend, Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...

, to the village. In 1919 Ford, Edison, John Burroughs
John Burroughs
John Burroughs was an American naturalist and essayist important in the evolution of the U.S. conservation movement. According to biographers at the American Memory project at the Library of Congress,...

, Harvey Firestone
Harvey Firestone
Harvey Samuel Firestone was an American businessman, and the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, one of the first global makers of automobile tires.-Family background:...

, Harvey Firestone, Jr., and the manager of Ford's Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Upper Peninsula of Michigan
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the northern of the two major land masses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan. It is commonly referred to as the Upper Peninsula, the U.P., or Upper Michigan. It is also known as the land "above the Bridge" linking the two peninsulas. The peninsula is bounded...

 operations camped and fished on land in Green Island, that would, in 1922, become The Ford Motor Company's plant manufacturing radiators and springs. At one point the plant employed close to 1,000. The location was convenient because of the Federal Dam which was used to provide hydroelectric power to operate the plant. Edison also considered building a factory at Green Island as well, which Ford believed would use electricity generated at his hydro power plant. The Ford plant served as Green Island’s largest employer until it was closed in 1989. Although the factory portion was demolished in 2004, the dam remains active and continues to produce electricity, now owned by the Green Island Power Authority (GIPA). The cheap electricity supplied by GIPA has lured many businesses to Green Island's north end, including Zak Incorporated, Honeywell
Honeywell
Honeywell International, Inc. is a major conglomerate company that produces a variety of consumer products, engineering services, and aerospace systems for a wide variety of customers, from private consumers to major corporations and governments....

 Friction Materials, Long Island Pipe Supply, Crystal IS, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance
The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance is a core agency of the US state of New York. It is headquartered in Building 8/8A at the W. Averell Harriman State Office Building Campus in Albany....

, Sealy Mattress Company, Reliable Brothers, and Case Window & Door Inc.

McNulty political dynasty

One of the Capital Region's most powerful political families first came to power in 1917 when John "Jack" McNulty Sr. was elected Green Island tax collector. He took over as head of the Green Island municipal Democratic Party in 1919, a position that he held until his death fifty years later in 1969. His son, John "Jack" McNulty Jr., was elected to the post as his immediate successor. He would be succeeded by his son Michael R. McNulty
Michael R. McNulty
Michael Robert "Mike" McNulty is a politician from the U.S. state of New York. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1989 to 2009, initially representing New York's 23rd congressional district and then, after redistricting, New York's 21st congressional district...

 in the 1970s, marking the sixth decade the post had been held by a McNulty. McNulty Jr. won his first election as town supervisor in 1949, a position his son Michael would also hold. Jack Jr., his son Michael and his daughter Ellen McNulty-Ryan have each served terms as Green Island's mayor. Michael was also elected to Congress, representing New York's 23rd congressional district
New York's 23rd congressional district
The 23rd Congressional District of New York is New York's northernmost congressional district for the United States House of Representatives. The district includes all or parts of Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Oswego and St. Lawrence counties. It...

 for two terms and (following redistricting) New York's 21st congressional district
New York's 21st congressional district
The 21st Congressional District of New York is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives that contains most of the Capital District of New York. It includes all or parts of Albany, Fulton, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, and Schoharie counties...

 for another eight terms.

Green Island Power Authority

The town/village has its own electric company in the form of the Green Island Power Authority (GIPA) which owns and operates a hydroelectric power in the Hudson River off the island. GIPA was created in 1986 by the state and used eminent domain
Eminent domain
Eminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition , or expropriation is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent...

 to seize the former Ford Plant hydroelectric dam in 2000, from then-owner Niagara Mohawk. GIPA sells the electricity to the state's wholesale market, and then buys from the New York Power Authority cheaper hydroelectric power generated at Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...

. This cheap power is credited with attracting manufacturers and high-tech industry to the island's historically industrial north end which now employ roughly 1000 people. The hydro plant on the Hudson River has four turbines and generates approximately six megawatts. GIPA's rates are about 40% cheaper for the residents and businesses in Green Island than the traditional utilities in neighboring communities. A plan currently under review as part of its relicensing, which expires in 2011, would include a $99 million project that would create 2000 jobs (300 of which would be construction). The project would replace the four current turbines with eight, each capable of generating six megawatts.

Geography

Green Island is located at 42°44′39"N 73°41′39"W (42.744178, -73.694219).

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the village has a total area of 0.9 square miles (2.3 km²), of which, 0.7 square miles (1.8 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square mile (0.517997622 km²) of it (23.91%) is water.

Green Island is located south of where the Mohawk River
Mohawk River
The Mohawk River is a river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk flows into the Hudson in the Capital District, a few miles north of the city of Albany. The river is named for the Mohawk Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy...

 joins into the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...

 in Albany County, New York. To the west is the hamlet of Maplewood within the town of Colonie, to the north is the city of Cohoes
Cohoes, New York
Cohoes is an incorporated city located at the northeast corner of Albany County in the US state of New York. It is called the "Spindle City" because of the importance of textile production to its growth. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 16,168...

, the city of Watervliet is to the south-west, and the city of Troy
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...

 in Rensselaer County
Rensselaer County, New York
Rensselaer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 159,429. Its name is in honor of the family of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the original Dutch owner of the land in the area. Its county seat is Troy...

 is to the east across the Hudson River.

The village of Green Island, in addition to the former island of the same name, has two other islands, Center and McGill. Center Island is crossed by the Green Island Bridge
Green Island Bridge
The Green Island Bridge crosses the Hudson River in New York, connecting Green Island with Troy. It opened September 12, 1981.-History:The original Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad bridge was a wood-truss covered bridge built in 1832. On May 10, 1862 it caught fire from the sparks of a passing...

 and is directly east of Green Island and west of Downtown Troy. McGill is a small unpopulated island north of Center, and is frequently flooded.

Location

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 2,278 people, 1,073 households, and 580 families residing in the village. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 3,262.1 people per square mile (1,256.5/km²). There were 1,188 housing units at an average density of 1,701.2 per square mile (655.3/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 96.88% White, 1.32% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.09% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 1.23% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.75% of the population.

There were 1,073 households out of which 24.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.9% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 14.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.9% were non-families. 38.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12 and the average family size was 2.83.

In the village the population was spread out with 21.2% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 32.1% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 93.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.9 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $32,500, and the median income for a family was $38,011. Males had a median income of $31,403 versus $27,422 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the village was $17,795. About 10.8% of families and 10.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.3% of those under age 18 and 5.2% of those age 65 or over.

External links

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