Route 25A is the main east-west road along most of Long Island’s North Shore. It traverses what came to be known as the Long Island “Gold Coast”. It runs about 73 miles, from the edge of the Queens-Midtown Tunnel at the juncture with I-495 (the Long Island Expressway) east to Calverton, where it meets NY 25. 25A is a northern alternate to the inland Jericho Turnpike (NY 25). The road runs along a more scenic route, full of bucolic stretches through Brookville, Fort Salonga, Centerport and the Roslyn Viaduct.
Along the way, you’ll see a lot of names for the road: Northern Boulevard in Queens, North Hempstead Turnpike, Fort Salonga Road and North Country Road. Follow 25A by watching for signs.
Start in Queens
Start in Queens. It begins at Long Island Expressway Exit 13 in Long Island City. The road widens to four lanes, and at Queens Boulevard it becomes Northern Boulevard. It runs through Woodside, Jackson Heights, Corona, Flushing, Bayside, Douglaston, and Little Neck. Those are some interesting neighborhoods, but some parts of the drive are packed with buildings. Some sections of 25A are really busy. Near Citi Field, 25A becomes a limited-access highway itself, for one mile between GCP and I-678. The road keeps changing its names, too; it was once called Broadway in Flushing, now it’s Northern Boulevard. After crossing the Cross Island Parkway in Alley Pond Park, 25A enters Nassau County.
In Nassau County, there’s a steep turn in Great Neck that takes you down into Manhasset’s Miracle Mile shopping area. At Roslyn, the road splits: Old Northern Boulevard continues through the village, while 25A crosses the Roslyn Viaduct and bypasses it. Some parts of the drive offer appealing history. The Roslyn Viaduct carries traffic over Hempstead Harbor, leaving the historic Roslyn village intact. After Roslyn, 25A travels through Greenvale and Brookville, where it passes New York Institute of Technology and LIU’s C.W. Post campus. After NY 106 near East Norwich, the four lanes end and it becomes a two-lane country road.
If you’re up for a detour, here’s one: in Oyster Bay, follow the signs for Sagamore Hill, the home of Theodore Roosevelt. The house is only open for guided tours, and you’ll need to book in advance on recreation.gov ($15 per adult). But you can explore the grounds, the parking lot, the trails, and the beach free all year.
Head east and Suffolk County is next. There’s a sharp turn north at NY 108. It has the appropriate name of Harbor Road when you arrive at the waterfront at Cold Spring Harbor. From there it heads into the bustling downtown of Huntington, where 25A runs through as Main Street. It’s four lanes there, and then two lanes again east to Centerport.
The route changes its name a few more times. In Centerport, Northport and Fort Salonga it’s called Fort Salonga Road. At the end of Kings Park, there’s a sharp turn south at San Remo onto St. Johnland Road. In Smithtown, 25A meets its parent route, NY 25, at the Smithtown Bull. For the next 1.5 miles or so, 25A shares Jericho Turnpike with NY 25 before splitting. After that, 25A heads east on Main Street and then North Country Road towards St. James and Stony Brook.
In Stony Brook, NY 25A passes the museum and the main campus of SUNY Stony Brook. It enters Port Jefferson as West Broadway, and turns onto Main Street at the harbor. The road turns sharply east at Port Jefferson Station, toward Mount Sinai. Miller Place is next. The route gets confusing at Rocky Point. The bypass splits to the south, while the old road runs through town. They rejoin east of town. It’s on to Shoreham and then William Floyd Parkway near Brookhaven State Park. At Calverton National Cemetery, the road forks. Sound Avenue continues east toward the North Fork. 25A turns southeast and ends at NY 25.
Several Bypasses Were Proposed
Did you know that in Queens and Nassau, this road began as an Indian trail to Flushing? In 1934 25A was extended across the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan. However, by 1952 25A was cut back to Queens. Why is 25A still a country road, far from a superhighway? Several bypasses were proposed. Residents in many areas fought for a variety of reasons: fear of lower property values, development and traffic jams. Only the Roslyn Viaduct and Rocky Point Bypass were built.
Picking up a Rental Car
Picking up a rental car in New York for the drive? If it’s for 30 days or less, and you decline the collision damage waiver, you can be charged the car’s full value if it’s damaged or lost. That can get pricey for higher-value cars. The waiver is capped at $12 a day, even for those.
There’s one last safety tip for those twisty two-lane stretches of the drive: keep the phone down. In New York a conviction for handheld phone use or texting while driving adds 5 points to your record. So just turn the thing off.
