What's the cost of living on LI like these days? Can someone live within a reasonable distance of say, Oyster Bay, on $50,000 a year?
No. You'd live in subsidized housing in that case. Of course, the primary reason that the cost of living on LI is so high is because of the taxes. And most of the taxes go to pay town/county/school district/water district/library district/ police district employees and retirees.
So, this becomes a kind of cicular argument: the salaries have to be high because the taxes are high, which drives the taxes higher, which means the salaries must be increased.