Islip Town Passes Protections On Oakdale's Vanderbuilt Mansion

OAKDALE, NY — A historic Oakdale building is once again under preservation, after its previous law expired.

The Town of Islip issued a Planned Landmark Preservation Overlay District (PLP) for the Vanderbuilt Idle Hour Mansion, located at the former Dowling College, at Tuesday's town board meeting.

The board voted 5-0.

The protection requires its property owners to get town approvals before the mansion can be altered.

The original protection expired when the property owners failed to file legal agreements with the county, Supervisor Angie Carpenter said. The property has been a popular site for recent vandalisms and break-ins.

In 2018, the town board also voted unanimously for the PLP, and have supported that "without question", she said.

"We thank the community for your advocacy," said Carpenter. "I've had many, many meetings, back to when we first adopted the PLP with the historical society and the Oakdale civic society," she said. "You guys have been tireless in your advocacy for the preservation of this incredible, historic property."

Built by Vanderbilt heir William K. Vanderbilt during the Gilded Age in the 1807s, it was purchased by Adelphi University in 1963, creating Dowling College.

The school announced its closure in 2016, in the midst of massive debt and declining enrollment.

Mercury International picked up the closed campus at auction for $26.1 million in 2017 and at one-time announced plans to redevelop the school as an educational center.

It went back on the market in 2021.