 The parkway was originally built in 1929 as a connector between NY 27A and the newly opened Heckscher (formerly Deer Range) State Park. In 1959, bids were announced for a new Heckscher State Parkway, which would connect the original road to the Sagtikos State Parkway. This section was officially opened on November 3, 1962, with a ceremony featuring speeches by Robert Moses and Governor Nelson Rockefeller. The Long Island Transportation Plan 2000, a long-term study done in the late 1990s, called for the Heckscher Parkway to be widened west of NY 27 to accommodate a carpool and bus lane.
