Great Neck

Great Neck is actually a region, not a town, although the village of Great Neck (population almost 10,000) lies within it. It is on the North Shore of Long Island, bordering Queens, and is the epicenter of the famous “LawwnGuyland” accent. It is an area of endless upscale subdivisions, strip malls, and gas stations, but with a diverse and polyglot population.

The area of Great Neck is in the town of North Hempstead, home to about 40,000 people, spread over 9 villages and hamlets. An express train during peak hours can get you into Manhattan’s Penn Station in 24 minutes, making it a desirable commuter place. It’s on a peninsula, so beach and boating lovers don’t have to travel far.

Besides the Village of Great Neck, there are twelve hamlets or villages within the region of Great Neck, including King’s Point, home of the US Merchant Marine Academy. There is a large Jewish population – Ashkenazi, Iranian, and Orthodox – as well as many Asians and a growing Hispanic/Latino community. One need only to check the website of the Great Neck Union Free School District to see the diversity here, as it gives you the option of reading in Chinese, Korean, or Spanish, and tells you that the students come from over 40 different countries.

The public school system is highly rated (in 2010 US News rated Great Neck South High School as 21st in NY and 101st in the nation). There are three high schools, two middle schools, and four elementary schools. There are a number of private schools, including private Hebrew schools.

There are 21 parks in the Great Neck Park District. The big ones are the Parkwood Sports Complex, which contains an indoor tennis center, a pool, and an ice skating rink, and offers a summer camp for children. Steppingstone Park has a marina on the edge of the Long Island Sound, where you can moor a boat, attend sailing school, fish, go on a dinner cruise, use the extensive children’s playground and aqua park, or watch a performance at the Steppingstone Waterside Theatre. Memorial Field has baseball diamonds, handball/basketball/ tennis courts, and a playground; Allenwood Park has the same, plus an aqua park and a children’s play area. The 175-acre King’s Point Park has sports facilities and picnic areas, as well as more than five miles of hiking/cross-country skiing trails, plus a sledding hill. There are 16 smaller parks; three have no facilities, just trails for walking.

Head to the Great Neck Arts Center to view exhibitions of contemporary artists and collections, to watch performances by singers, dancers, comedians, actors, poets and magicians, to take classes in art, ceramics, dance, theatre, chess, fencing, and music, or to watch the Furman Film Series, which shows independent, art and foreign films.

The US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point has a museum filled with nautical treasures. If you’d rather be outdoors, you can take a historic walking tour of Great Neck Village, or play a round of golf at the Fresh Meadows Country Club in Lake Success.

Literary historians will know that F. Scott Fitzgerald lived in Great Neck Estates, and that Kings Point was the inspiration for “West Egg” in “The Great Gatsby.” Sands Point became “East Egg,” the home of old money and grand estates; if you’d like to see what Fitzgerald was writing about, go to the 216-acre Sands Point Preserve and tour Hempstead House, the former Gold Coast home of Daniel Guggenheim, and Falaise, the house built by his son Harry, founder of Newsday. The drive from Great Neck to Sands Point will take you about 25 minutes.

Great Neck restaurants well-rated by Zagat’s include the famous Peter Luger Steak House, Restaurant Lola, Morton’s, Burton & Doyle, and Simply Fondue.

North Shore Hospital is right in Great Neck.

Great Neck is the name given to an incorporated village as well as a small collection of villages and unincorporated areas located on a North Shore peninsula. Approximately 10,000 people reside in the village, with an additional 30,000 in the greater Great Neck area. Author F. Scott Fitzgerald called Great Neck home between 1922 and 1924. The fictional West Egg, the setting for his most famous novel, The Great Gatsby, was based on Great Neck.

The village left another small footprint in history. From 1947 to 1952, Great Neck served as the temporary home for the newly-formed United Nations, while its permanent headquarters underwent construction in Manhattan. In 1943, the United States Merchant Marine Academy was founded on the Chrysler estate in Kings Point, an incorporated village on the Great Neck Peninsula.

Parks and recreational activities in the greater area are overseen by a special parks district. The Parkwood Sports Complex includes tennis courts, a pool and an ice skating rink. Steppingstone Park, located on the waterfront, has a marina, a theater, a playground and a wading pool. Kings Point Park, also located along the water, offers five miles of walking trails across 175 acres, with facilities for picnicking. The Village Green is the home of the village’s Veterans’ Memorial, with a formal rose garden, gazebo, bandstand and playground. Great Neck House serves as the district’s cultural hub, providing a site for performances, concerts, art classes, exhibits and movies.

Great Neck’s public school district, highly regarded by the community, consists of ten schools and 6,500 students hailing from the entire Great Neck area. Schools include the Parkville Pre-K Center, four elementary schools, North and South Middle Schools, North and South High Schools, and Village School, an alternative program. Passing rates on state standardized exams are very high, with the vast majority of students meeting standards. Both high schools offer numerous Advanced Placement exams. Both Great Neck North and Great Neck South have been recognized in Newsweek’s annual America’s Best High Schools issue. In 2006 North was ranked 23rd; in 2011 South was ranked 49th.

Single-family homes dominate. A very limited number of homes are available under $500,000, for those who wish to gain a toehold in the area. In recent years, ripping down older homes in favor of new construction, an activity not all residents favor. Most of the housing stock dates back to the 1920s and 1930s, adding to the area’s charm. Condominiums and co-ops are available. Prices for co-ops are reasonable, beginning under $100,000 for studios. In luxury complexes, prices go close to $1 million.