Long Island in the 1980s

Beachgoers on their way to Smith Point County Park on July 5, 1982, leave their cars on William Floyd Parkway and walk over to rhe beach when officials announced that the parking lot was full.

Singer Debbie Gibson, 16, practices in the studio in the basement of her home in Merrick on June 11, 1987.

Woodbury-Syosset Community Park in Syosset on July 18, 1983.

Eric Fabiano of Valley Stream, then 6, dressed up as Kermit the Frog for Halloween in 1982. He is pictured here getting a hug from his sister, Stacey, then 9, dressed up as Miss Piggy.

Susan Goldberg, an instructor at the Ivy League Day Camp in Smithtown, shows campers the fundamentals of tennis on Aug. 17, 1984. The children are, from left to right, Valerie Secor, 7, of Farmingville, Amy Spizuoco, 7, of Middle Island, Vanessa Trutt, 7, of Smithtown, Stacy Spizuoco, 7, of Middle Island and Karyn Melnick, 6, of Smithtown.

On Aug. 7, 1983, beachgoers and vacationers stroll down Cherry Grove's business district on Fire Island.

January 20, 1985: Youngsters sled downhill at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow.

Traffic was backed up for two miles on William Floyd Parkway in Shirley on Monday, July 5, 1982, when officials informed beachgoers en route to Smith Point County Park that the parking lot was full. Instead of turning around, many motorists were undeterred and decided to spend the last day of a long Fourth of July weekend as planned. They parked their vehicles on the parkway and walked across the Smith Point Bridge to the ocean on the other side.

Debbie Polizzi, 15, of Ronkonkoma, works on her tan at Peconic Beach County Park in Southold on May 24, 1986.

On April 5, 1985, walkers join the 10th Annual Good Friday Hunger Pilgrimage, which kicked off at Hofstra University. The 10 mile walkathon was sponsored by the Catholic Campus Ministries of Nassau and Suffolk, aided by Community Outreach, a division of Long Island Cares. Over 500 participants raised an estimated $6,000 for five soup kitchens and a homeless shelter on Long Island.

Sidney Fehner of Riverhead and Donald Allen of Mastic look at a plywood sign that was placed on the eastbound side of the Long Island Expressway on Dec. 2, 1982. The sign was in response to a New Yorker cartoon published on Nov. 15 with the caption: "Exit 66 Yaphank, if you have already been to Yaphank, please disregard this exit."

Stony Brook Univerity student Rosario Tantillo plays Santa Claus to children in the pediatric ward at Stony Brook University Hospital on Dec. 7,1988. Tantillo brings a teddy bear to Jason Helmett, 3, of Middle Island.

The windmill on Route 27 in East Hampton is aglow with holiday lights adorning its vanes on Dec. 10,1982.

Adam Havlicek, a kindergartner at Lido Elementary School in Lido Beach, demonstrates how to spin a traditional Hanukkah dreidel in this 1987 photo. His class is learning about religious holidays.

Elizabeth Cox, 5, watches Jason Harris, 5, light the Hanukkah menorah candles in this Nov. 12, 1987 photo. Kindergarten children at the Lido Elementary School in Lido Beach were learning about religious holidays.

Alexandra Caputo, then 3, and Julie Caputo, then 5, look at the work that residents of Nassau Avenue in Plainview did to help set up a Christmas display at the home of Gary Gitlin in 1988.

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, played by Rick McClancy, and Frosty the Snowman, played by James McClenanan, have a fun time with Tom Connelly and his two daughters, Megan, 5, and Shannon, 3, in this 1989 photo taken in Seaford.

Louise Sciaccia of Kings Park plays her bingo cards at the VFW Hall on Church Street in Kings Park on April 14, 1982. Although the popular game of bingo has been played on Long Island for years, it was technically illegal here until 1958.

The view along the Patchogue River near Argyle Road in Patchogue on Nov. 5, 1981.

Gas station attendant Rino Aprea, 16, beats the heat while waiting for customers at an Amityville gas station in this 1981 photo.

Titus Simeonao, Alfonzo Hilton and Sean Kay pose in front of comedian Eddie Murphy's home on Prince Avenue in Freeport on June 29, 1983, just a few months before Murphy would move to Alpine, New Jersey.

Susan Morhardt adorns a small ice cream sheet cake with a personalized message while Michael Cortese swirls up a cup of soft serve for the buy-one-get-one-free "Wednesday is Sundae" promotion at Carvel in Valley Stream on Aug. 25, 1982.

On July 11, 1981, all roads led to Jones Beach, as seen here, where the Meadowbrook Parkway is jammed with cars going southbound, and traffic going northbound is light enough that a pedestrian is able to cross the roadway.

A race begins at a swim meet at the Babylon Yacht Club on Aug. 8, 1989.

Students Tom Collins and Merrie Zahra are seen on Oct. 27, 1989, modeling T-shirts with Adelphi University's new slogan comparing the school to Harvard University.

The cheering squad for the Golden Bulls senior citizen softball team practices in Maple Avenue Park in Smithtown on June 4, 1981. Pictured are Kathleen Reichert, 69, of Smithtown; Mildred Torone, 66, of Hauppauge; Lillian McGee, 65, of St. James; Mary Uvari, 64, of Smithtown, and Eleanor Cafaliello, 62, of Kings Park.

Freshmen Robin Macklin, Richard Goldstein, Jerry Cook and Marc Zolotorofe on the first day in the dorm at SUNY Stony Brook on Aug. 26, 1987.

In 1973, Donald Green became the first black officer in the Riverhead Police Department. Green is seen here on Feb. 11, 1986, shortly after his promotion to sergeant, another first for the department. He retired from the force in 1995.

Swimmers play cards between races at the Babylon Yacht Club on Aug. 8, 1989.

Freddy Kuhner, 16, Jason Cavallo, 16, and Bobby Ludemann, 9, in front of Danny's Ride-a-Way bicycle shop in Levittown on Dec. 2, 1987.

Friday evening rush hour at the intersection of Glen Cove and Old Country roads on Aug. 13, 1982.

Designer jeans for sale at the Republic Flea Market in Farmingdale on June 22, 1980.

Tri-County Flea Market

Shoppers flock to the Tri-County Flea Market on Hempstead Turnpike in Levittown on April 19, 1986.

The Sherwood Diner on Rockaway Turnpike in Lawrence as seen on Feb. 17, 1985.

Aerial view of Robert Moses State Park as seen on Aug. 21, 1988.

Robert Shafran, left, and Eddy Galland of New Hyde Park met at Sullivan County Community College in 1980 and discovered they were twins, adopted at birth. Then David Kellman called, and the twins were triplets. The triplets are seen here on Sept. 26, 1980.

Volunteer Sam Sadove checks on the whale known as Physty when it beached off Oak Beach in 1981.

Nassau GOP boss Joseph Margiotta, seen on Jan. 21, 1982, gets a 2-year federal prison sentence for extortion and mail fraud from his use of municipal insurance commissions as patronage.

Richard Kasso, 17, at his arraignment in 1984 in the murder of Northport resident Gary Lauwers, who was killed in an argument over drugs. Two days after confessing, Kasso hanged himself in jail.

After a two-month separation because of his illness, John Suhr, 84, of Huntington tenderly greets Anna, 82, his wife of 60 years, at a Long Beach nursing home in 1984.

The Shoreham Nuclear Plant just before sunrise on Aug. 1, 1986.

A 3,450-pound great white shark nicknamed Big Guy was reeled in by Donnie Braddick, left, and Montauk's famous skipper, Frank Mundus, on Aug. 7, 1986. Mundus is said to be the inspiration for the character Quint in the movie and book "Jaws."

Al Shapiro, of Long Beach, and Marsha Miller, of the Bronx, share a slice of pizza on Sept. 13, 1980 during a San Gennaro festival in Island Park.

Evening falls on Montauk Lighthouse in 1986.

The Grant family prepares to serve their Thanksgiving meal at their home in Hempstead on Nov. 24, 1984, despite being without heat or hot water due to a fire in the building that morning.

Jim Szypula, of Lynbrook, a Chaminade High School student, prepares boxes of food to be distributed on Nov. 20, 1984, to needy families at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Wyandanch.

Zak Gordon, of Roslyn, checks a turkey cooked outside over a campfire on Nov. 18, 1989, for The Science Museum of Long Island's Colonial Thanksgiving dinner.

The parents of New York City Police Officer Edward Byrne, killed while guarding a witness in a drug case, are comforted by son Larry as they leave a Seaford church in 1988.

Walter Hudson, at 1,400 pounds, holds Chantel Whitehead, his niece's baby on Jan. 1, 1987. A recluse for 17 years, Hudson became a public figure when he got stuck in the doorway of his Hempstead home.

Dexter Bryant, 4, looks at photographs of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in a gallery at the Hempstead African-American Museum on Jan. 18, 1988.

Anna, Kathy, Tato, and Gino of the Flying Farfans aerial act perform for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at Nassau Coliseum on Dec. 4, 1981.