Poll: 60% on LI to spend $500-plus on holiday gifts

Six in 10 residents of Long Island and the suburbs north of New York City plan to spend $500 or more on holiday presents this year, according to a new poll.

The Siena College Research Institute found three in 10 suburbanites expect to spend between $500 and $999 on gifts, while an equal number said they would spend $1,000 or more.

Siena pollsters also reported that Long Islanders and residents of Westchester, Dutchess, Rockland, Orange, Ulster and Putnam counties were less likely to shop today than residents statewide.

Sixteen percent of suburbanites said they would go to the stores on Black Friday compared with 23 percent across New York State.

The poll of 631 adults, conducted Nov. 17-21, has a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.

Residents of Nassau and Suffolk counties, along with the other suburbs, oppose retailers opening on Thanksgiving, 77 percent to 20 percent. Statewide, 64 percent were against merchants operating on the holiday.

Siena pollster Donald Levy said, "New Yorkers are more excited about the upcoming holiday season than they have been over the last five years."