Bay Shore is a large, historic hamlet popular for its waterfront amenities that attract boating and fishing enthusiasts as well as visitors who hop the ferry to Fire Island.

Major aesthetic improvements have revitalized its downtown.

The improvements include the addition of a bandshell at the Village Green, which features a summer concert series; the renovation of the train station; and the Boulton Center for the performing arts, owned by the Great South Bay YMCA. And the Old Mill Pond - the source of ice for seafood shipment during the 18th and 19th centuries - was re- created.

"It takes time, but we are getting there," Periconi says. "It's a community that lost its identity and is now flourishing again."

The economically and ethnically diverse hamlet offers housing styles such as ranches, capes, Colonials, split-levels, contemporaries, vintage Tudors, Victorians and Georgian Colonials.

Affordable housing choices include single-family homes and town houses for qualified first-time buyers.

Sagtikos Manor, which is open seasonally, was first owned in the late 1600s by Stephen Van Cortlandt, New York City's first native- born mayor.

- Lisa Doll Bruno (1/23/2004)