Moving to Great Neck (Hempstead, Massapequa: best neighborhoods, lawyers, homes)

[JacquesPierre]

We are moving to Great Neck and will be getting with an agent to look at homes soon. I just have a few (maybe more) questions.

What are the best neighborhoods in this area?
And what are the differences between Great Neck North High School and Great Neck South?
My husband will be working in Manhattan. Is the commute as terrible as people keep telling us?
And what is the general impression people have of Great Neck residents?

Thanks!

[Walter Greenspan]

For those who may not be familiar with Great Neck:

Great Neck is a village (incorporated in 1921) in the northwest part of the Town of North Hempstead, in the northwest part of Nassau County.

Beginning on the north and moving in a clockwise direction, the Village of Great Neck in the Town of North Hempstead is bordered on the north by the Village of Kings Point; on the east by Manhasset Bay; on the south by the Hamlet of Great Neck Gardens, the Village of Great Neck Estates and the Village of Saddle Rock; and, on the west by the Hamlet of Saddle Rock Estates and the Village Kings Point.





Great Neck is one of those many villages and hamlets on Long Island where the majority of the places with the community name as part of their mailing address are not in the village: places that have a "Great Neck, NY 11020 through 11024" mailing address that are not in the Village of Great Neck are in the Village of Great Neck Estates, the Hamlet of Great Neck Gardens, the Village of Great Neck Plaza, the Hamlet of Harbor Hills, the Village of Kensington, the Village of Kings Point, the Village of Lake Success, the Village of Russell Gardens, the Village of Saddle Rock, the Hamlet of Saddle Rock Estates. the Village of Thomaston and the Hamlet of University Gardens.


For a good set of town-by-town maps showing all the villages and hamlets in each of LI's 13 towns (3 in Nassau County and 10 in Suffolk County): http://www.city-data.com/forum/long-...-resource.html

[AlexisT]

terrible commute?? Who have you been talking to?

Great Neck has the best commute to NYC you can get. Train service is fast and frequent. There aren't any bad areas AFAIK and it depends what you like. Just keep in mind where the station is, if walking to it (parking is terrible) is a big concern.

Impression of Great Neck residents... you may get some very heated opinions on this!! Very Jewish, especially north of 25A. Big Persian community, especially north and in Kings Point. Wealthy to upper middle class, people can be materialistic.

[Vinn]

I'm moving from Manhasset to Massapequa Park. Manhasset is the next town just east of Great Neck. Yes, the NYC commute on the LIRR can't be better. The entire area is materialistic, very snobby. It's like living in a bubble. I grew up in this town and I'm now in my 40's. I've seen it grow in size and the people who live here work in the market, lawyers, or doctors for the most part. I have great memories of the area and will miss certain aspects. Aside from schools, the area has the best doctors and other medical needs.

[Andysocks]

As Walter's picture proves, Great Neck is confusing as all hell. I know the area bordering Queens from Northern Blvd down to the LIE is called Great Neck, despite not being on the "neck" geographically... I'm actually curious now what it is officially. I live fairly close to Great Neck but I have no family or friend ties to it, so I'm not familiar with it at all.

[AlexisT]

Look at Walter's map link--there's maps there showing all the hamlets/villages.

Basically, the Great Neck postal area (11020, 11021, 11023, 11024) includes a group of villages and hamlets (about a dozen of them). All are colloquially referred to as "Great Neck" (aside from Kings Point, which is, IIRC, postally Great Neck but which people often specifically refer to as Kings Point).

[Walter Greenspan]

The Village of Great Neck has a different border than does the "Great Neck, NY 11020 to 11024" ZIP Code postal zones (i.e., a place can have a "Great Neck, NY 11020 to 11024" mailing address and not be in the Village of Great Neck).

.................................................. ............acres
....Village of Great Neck..............................866
....Great Neck, NY 11020 through 11024....6,022*


* This includes the 4 postal stations (branches) that are part of the Great Neck Post Office:
.........Great Neck, NY 11020...........1,405
.........Great Neck, NY 11021...........1,314
.........Great Neck, NY 11023...........1,098
.........Great Neck, NY 11024............2,205

Thus, more than 8 out of every 10 places with a "Great Neck, NY" mailing address are NOT in the Village of Great Neck.

Quickly eyeballing the map overlay of the "Great Neck, NY 11020 through 11024" ZIP Code postal zones versus village and hamlet borders, the following 13 communities (9 villages and 4 hamlets) are at least partially within the borders of the "Great Neck, NY" postal zone and places in these communities have a "Great Neck, NY" mailing address (if the community is a village, its year of incorporation is shown inside the parenthesis):

.................................................. ......acres
Village of Great Neck (1921).................866
Village of Great Neck Estates (1911).....489
Hamlet of Great Neck Gardens................*
Village of Great Neck Plaza (1930)........199
Hamlet of Harbor Hills.............................*
Village of Kensington (1921)..................156
Village of Kings Point (1924)...............2,125
Village of Lake Success (1927)...........1,205
Village of Russell Gardens (1931)..........109
Village of Saddle Rock (1911)................169
Hamlet of Saddle Rock Estates...............*
Village of Thomaston (1931)..................270
Hamlet of University Gardens...................*

* The Hamlet of Great Neck Gardens, the Hamlet of Harbor Hills, the Hamlet of Saddle Rock Estates and the Hamlet of University Gardens total 596 acres.