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Great Neck, New York

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Great Neck is a village in Nassau County, New York, in the USA, on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the village population was 9,538.

The Village of Great Neck is in the Town of North Hempstead. The term Great Neck is also commonly applied to the entire peninsula on the north shore, comprising a residential community of some 40,000 people made up of nine villages as well as unincorporated portions of North Hempstead (and a few hamlets). There is no governing entity which encompasses this larger Great Neck, but it is unified as a postal zone, a water district or two, a school district, and a park district.

Great Neck is within easy commuting distance of Manhattan's Penn Station on the Port Washington Branch of the Long Island Rail Road via the Great Neck station, which offers round-the-clock service, and features frequent rush hour express service.

Villages of the Great Neck Park District

Geography (Village of Great Neck)

Great Neck is located at 40°48′10″N 73°43′53″W / 40.80278°N 73.73139°W / 40.80278; -73.73139Invalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (40.802671, -73.731255)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 3.5 km² (1.4 mi²). 3.5 km² (1.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (1.46%) is water.

Demographics (Village of Great Neck)

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 9,538 people, 3,346 households, and 2,552 families residing in the village. The population density was 2,727.9/km² (7,062.3/mi²). There were 3,441 housing units at an average density of 984.1/km² (2,547.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 85.33% White, 2.82% African American, 0.10% Native American, 4.94% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 3.28% from other races, and 3.48% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.17% of the population.

There were 3,346 households out of which 36.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.9% were married couples living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.7% were non-families. 20.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.85 and the average family size was 3.30.

In the village the population was spread out with 26.4% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 17.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 94.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.0 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $76,645, and the median income for a family was $89,733. Males had a median income of $52,445 versus $37,476 for females. The per capita income for the village was $38,790. About 5.5% of families and 7.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.5% of those under age 18 and 8.1% of those age 65 or over.

History

Great Neck, originally called "Madnan's Neck", was settled in the late 17th century, not long after settlers landed on Plymouth Rock. The area had previously been inhabited by the Mattinecock Native Americans, who were pushed back by the colonists' expansion.

In more recent days, Great Neck — in particular the incorporated village of Kings Point — provided a backdrop to F. Scott Fitzgerald's book The Great Gatsby. Thinly disguised as "West Egg," in counterpoint to Port Washington's more posh "East Egg," the next peninsula over on Long Island Sound, Great Neck symbolized the decadence of the Roaring Twenties as it extended out from New York City into the then-remote suburbs. The Great Gatsby's themes and characters reflected the real-world transformation that Great Neck was experiencing at the time, as show-business personalities like Sid Caesar and the Marx Brothers bought homes in the hamlet and eventually established it as a haven for newly rich Jews, formerly of Brooklyn and the Bronx.

The end of World War II saw a tremendous migration of Ashkenazi Jews from the cramped quarters and frequent discrimination of the city to the burgeoning suburb. They founded many synagogues and community groups and pushed for stringent educational policies in the town's public schools. Jay Cantor's novel, Great Neck, portrays the eponymous town of this era, with recently installed residents of various stripes all trying to secure the brightest futures for their children.

During the 1960s, many residents frequented the local pool and ice skating complex, Parkwood, but in the past fifteen years attendance has declined as homeowners built their own inground pools. (After the events of September 11, 2001, the ice skating rink was renamed in honor of Andrew Stergiopoulos, a local resident who was killed in the attack).

Things have changed in Great Neck since the Baby Boomer era. In the 1980s, an influx of affluent Iranian Jews who were expelled from their country following the 1979 Islamic Revolution settled in Great Neck. Though the majority of their children attended Great Neck schools, they did not integrate into the existing Ashkenazi temples, instead starting their own Iranian synagogues, where they could follow Sephardic traditions. The Persian community also established their own grocery shops.

From the late 1990s, the Great Neck peninsula has been home to another Jewish shift. During this time, more observant, Orthodox Jews have moved to the area. This is a similar trend to what has happened in the Five Towns area on the South Shore of Long Island.

It should also be noted that the general trend is that the "North" part of Great Neck (those students who are sent to Great Neck North Middle and High) is home to more Iranian families, while the "South" part has a larger East Asian population.

Culture and tourism

Currently, Great Neck, connected to New York City by the Long Island Rail Road, serves primarily as a bedroom community for New York City. As such, it contains few "touristy" attractions. Notable exceptions include:

Great Neck School District

File:GreatNeckVillageSchool.jpg
The Village School

Great Neck residents, typically well-educated, are concerned about education and have high expectations for their school system. However, the school system strongly supports social promotion which has faced criticisms. In theory, this is supposed to help the student but it remains a controversial topic.

The Great Neck School District is the school district of Great Neck, New York. About 6,000 students, grades K-12, attend the Great Neck Public Schools. There are three high schools (grades 9-12): North High School, with an alternative program, Community School; South High School; and The Village School, a small alternative high school. There are also two middle schools (grades 6-8) and four elementary schools (grades K-5).

Great Neck's two major high schools are rated among the top in the country. Its students have been frequent finalists in the Intel Science Talent Search. In Newsweek's annual list of the Top 1200 American High Schools, Great Neck's schools consistently rank in the top 50. As of 2005, Great Neck South is ranked 31st, and Great Neck North is ranked 23rd.

People associated with Great Neck

External links

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