I have lived in Great Neck for way over a half a century and seen many, many changes, the majority positive and I have found it to be quite an amazing town to call my home.
There are nine villages, including, Kings Point, The Village of Great Neck, Saddle Rock, Saddle Rock Estates (not a village and unincorporated) Harbor Hills (not a village and not incorporated), Great Neck Estates, Kensington, Thomaston, Russel Gardens, University Gardens, and Lake Success.
There are also specific areas and streets which are not incorporated (not part of an incorporated village) but are part of Great Neck and the Great Neck Park District, but are part of the Town of North Hempstead (get their refuse picked up by the town, but lower Real Estate taxes, due to no extra costs of mayors, trustees, employees and maintenance of buildings and grounds).
The villages of Kings Point, The Village of Great Neck, Kensington, Great Neck Plaza, Thomaston and Russell Gardens are included in the Great Neck Park District as well as those unincorporated areas.
There are so many things to keep you and the kids busy, such as, of course, the Parkwood Pool, the Ice Skating Rink and Tennis Complex as well as rock climbing wall, ping pong, bad mitten, volley ball, billiards, basketball and all sorts of games during the summer in the recreation center (ice rink in the winter).
Your children can also join the swim and diving club.
Having your Great Neck Park District photo ID, enables you and your family to enter Steppingstone Park and the use of all its facilities including the “over the top” summer concerts. There are also three park district-owned parking lot facilities: on North Station Plaza, Canterbury Road and Welwyn Road.
You need a photo ID card from the Great Neck Park District to use those facilities (daily/monthly fees to Park).
The areas in Great Neck that are not part of the Great Neck Park District are Lake Success, University Gardens, Harbor Hills, Saddle Rock and Saddle Rock Estates.
We are one of the few park districts in the State of New York and was the first to become one in 1916.
There are 21 active and passive parks in Great Neck, and from my research, more than any other towns that I can think of in the U.S.
I had done a study for Neil Marrin a former Great Neck Park District superintendent about the best most advantageous use of park land.
To make a long story short, keeping open space was the most economical and least costly and best use for a number of reasons.
First and foremost, was the fact, that if the land were to be developed, the school and local population would increase substantially, infrastructure e.g. sewers/cesspools would be very expensive to build and maintain, less open space to recharge our aquifers and local real estate taxes would increase.
So maintaining park land as open space for our area would have less of an impact on our quality of life than developing it; and in fact we have the best quality of life compared with a many, many other communities, due to the hundreds of acres of protected open space that our fantastic and dynamic current and past Great Neck Park District commissioners have secured since 1916, when it was created.
My hat is off to the current group , Robert Lincoln, Frank Cilluffo and Dan Nachmanoff for keeping our Park District what it is, “The jewel of Great Neck” and their efforts going forward, to have a new recreation center on Steamboat Road for all to enjoy!
As I mentioned we have top notch concerts in Ielpi Park (Grace Ave.) (free to all)and Steppingstone Park during the summer months(need a park district photo ID card).
You can also have picnics in Steppingstone Park for, I believe, up to 30 people with a permit (also free). You can moor your boat or sale boat there at a nominal cost as well as to learn how to sail (fee based).
There is a ramp in the Park to slide your boat or water craft into the water and enjoy the day!
There are nature walks, visits to the Light House, dinner cruises to Port Washington and the Crab Shack in City Island and history walks in the Village of Great Neck Plaza. Free movies at Great Neck House (with a park district card) during the weekends year round.
I did mention ice skating in the Parkwood rink, with hockey teams to join, rental skate area and concession stand when you get those hunger pangs satisfied!
We have an Autofest in the fall in the Village of Great Neck Plaza, where 1000s of people in and out of Great Neck enjoy the day and a second crafts Fair in the Village of Great Neck in May, around Memorial Day Weekend in the spring.
We have one movie theatre, as well as numerous and varied foods in a multitude of restaurants throughout Great Neck Plaza.
There are so many things to do in Great Neck for you and the kids, that it is like being on vacation, but I call it a staycation, since you don’t have to drive anywhere and it’s almost free!
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that our newly renovated high tech Library on Bayview Ave had its grand opening the other Sunday.
After a special meeting last week, we learned that the park district is in the beginning stages of potentially purchasing a tennis court on Steamboat Road to be turned into an amazing and much needed recreation center for the kids and adults, especially in the winter months, so everyone within the park district will have a place to enjoy and have fun.
Lastly, we have a multitude of adult classes to learn everything from stock picking to dancing and computer lessons, a cornucopia of choices!
Many move here after downsizing and realize what a special place it is with all its amenities, special events and also proximity to New York City.
All this absolutely contributes to the true value of our real estate and its inhabitants to enjoy a special place to call home. Over the many years that I have resided in Great Neck, I have come to the realization that, you are not purchasing or leasing a home, condo, co-op, but are gaining a unique lifestyle, whatever that may mean to you, your significant other and children.
Like a newly planted tree, you begin to grow roots and expand as you network and connect in a highly rated community of diverse cultures and demographics, and the truth is, “We all do Get along here, regardless of where we come from; with a minimum of crime and a maximum of safety.
The bottom line, none of us are really Americans, except those that have been born here (or the people that walked over the Asian Peninsula, when it was attached to Alaska, 10,000 years ago.
Lastly, our ancestors are from around the globe and got transplanted here either for opportunity or political reasons.
So, the bottom line is that we are all essential immigrants that were born and traveled here, most with not a dime in their pocket and a fortunate few with large sums of money; all seeking a new life of freedom and opportunity.
Since I am here for so long, and I know that I couldn’t find a more exciting place to live, so, I won’t be moving anytime or anywhere soon, just chillin’ and having as much fun as possible in Great Neck!
P.S. By the time you read this article, we will have already elected a new president and I surely hope whomever it is, that they live up to whatever course they plan to navigate our country through during the next four years and just do whatever they say they will do for the good of all of us in the USA.
Learning how to be and have much more non-partisan politics and more help and assistance from our senators and congresspeople in our government!
So, I just hope our freedoms and opportunities that are available today to those who are already here and those who come here legally, will continue to flourish and exist for our society and country into the foreseeable future and will not self-implode, as history has shown us time and again as happened with the Romans, Greeks and all other major and dominant civilizations that did themselves in, for no real logical or good reason except greed and partisan politics!
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Real Estate Watch: What makes Great Neck great
By Philip A. Raices
