Garden City or Manhasset? (Hempstead, Oyster Bay: real estate, homes, neighborhoods)

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by NS4Ever

Garden City's borders are way too "iffy" for me.

The Village of Garden City has a very professional municipal police force that well defends the village's borders (beginning on the north and moving in a clockwise direction, the Village of Garden City is bordered on the north by the Village of New Hyde Park, the Hamlet of North New Hyde Park, the Village of Mineola and the Hamlet of Carle Place, all in the Town of North Hempstead (the North Hempstead/Hempstead town line); on the east by the Hamlet of East Garden City; on the south by the Village of Hempstead, the Hamlet of West Hempstead, the Hamlet of Garden City South and the Hamlet of Franklin Square; and, on the west by the Village of Stewart Manor and the Village of New Hyde Park).

Originally Posted by NS4Ever

On the other hand, Manhasset is bordered by Great Neck, Port Washington, and Roslyn -- all equally excellent towns.

On the other hand, not being a village, the Hamlet of Manhasset, as does the majority of Nassau County, relies on the Nassau County Police Department for its police protection.

And, while the "Manhasset, NY 11030" ZIP Code postal zone is bordered by the "Great Neck, NY 11020 & 11021", "Port Washington, NY 11050" and "Roslyn, NY 11576" ZIP Code postal zones, because the Hamlet of Manhasset (1,592 acres) is much smaller than the "Manhasset, NY 11030" ZIP Code postal zone (4,424 acres) which includes all or parts of seven communities (the Village of Plandome Manor, the Village of Plandome, the Village of Plandome Heights, the Village of Munsey Park, the Village of Flower Hill, the Village of North Hills and the Village of Thomaston) in addition to the Hamlet of Manhasset within its borders, beginning on the north and moving in a clockwise direction, the Hamlet of Manhasset is bordered on the north by the Village of Plandome Heights, the Village of Flower Hill and the Village of Munsey Park; on the east by the Village of Roslyn Estates; on the south by the Village of North Hills; and, on the west by the Village of Lake Success, the Village of Thomaston, the Village of Kensington and the Village of Great Neck.

[NS4Ever]

You can always count on Walter for the details within the details! :-)

[Interlude]

I spent the first 20 years of my life in Garden City and went through the public school system there from nursery school through high school. It's a wonderful place to live and I wouldn't trade my memories there for anything. Shortly thereafter, I moved to Manhasset and lived there for another 8 years.

Garden City and Manhasset both have a lot to offer, but Manhasset is far and away a better quality town in virtually every respect.

To begin, Manhasset's school system consistantly ranks among the very best on LI after Jericho and Great Neck. Garden City used to boast great schools however the district has slipped significantly. It's still very good but is outclassed by the north shore districts.

I viewed their police department as a curse rather than a blessing. The department as a whole has very little to do other than harass black people who have the misfortune of having to travel through the village, so they spend an awful lot of time responding to nonsense complaints by cranky neighbors and issuing tickets to people who don't park precisely within the lines in the municipal lots. Some may view this as good police work however after 20 years of dealing with the sort of mentality that the GCPD has, I'd rather put up with the slightly slower, but still excellent response time of the NCPD.

Garden City is surrounded by working class and lower class towns and if you border them, you will feel the impact. The eastern section of town, especially, borders on an unsavory part of Hempstead and is heavily used by Hempstead pedestrians on their way to Roosevelt Field. The GCPD had a reputation of stopping anyone with a dark skin color back in the day, but recent civil rights violation accusations have made them a bit less trigger happy. Walter, no matter how many ways you want to cut up the Manhasset cookie, not a single part of the 11030 ZIP code borders on anything even close to Franklin Square, none the less Hempstead.

I've found the "downtown" parts of both towns to be generally comparable, although GC does spend more time planting flowers and erecting clocks. For most intents, 7th Street in GC and Plandome Road in Manhasset offer similar shopping and restaurants.

Manhasset's access to the Port Washington train line equals a stellar ride into NYC: express trains will get you to Penn Station in under 25 minutes with only a single stop in Great Neck on the way.

GC is plagued with really annoying zoning restrictions: no "for sale" signs allowed on lawns, no parking on the street after 2am, no freestanding basketball hoops near the street, no pools allowed, etc.

GC does have one discernable advantage - child athletics. There is a strong sports culture in GC and there are numerous leagues and facilities in which kids can play.

[ykacan]

Do you have nokia N98? What is the price?

[azzurrony]

Well, this thread is interesting. My wife and I have looked at both communities. Garden City is a better fit for us.

1) To say GC schools have "slipped significantly" is bordering on a lie. They still rank top 10 in Nassau and only a few spots below Manhasset. The difference is marginal at best. When you factor the arts and sports in with academics, they outshine the other school districts significantly.

2) The commute from Manhasset on a good day is still about 30 min. That's only about 8-10 minutes shorter than GC stations...wow...big deal.

3) The "iffy" borders makes me laugh too. I think what people are trying to say is that GC has towns that border it which have minorities. No one said it outright, but that's what they mean. Then they argue that Manhasset doesn't have those minority towns next to it.

That's funny...look at the demographics of both towns. Manhasset is made up of 25% minorities...Garden City is about 8%. Now...that shouldn't matter at all....but don't go telling me that one area is bad because of the demographics of its borders (GC) when the other actually has those demographics in its own town (Manhasset). Makes no sense.

[Seann]

Is bordering a 'working class' neighborhood really 'the' criteria for buying a home?? If the folks in Hempstead aren't in GC assaulting/raping/robbing people, I really don't see the significance. It's not as if GC's borders have ever affected it's property values.(have you checked out home prices there lately?)

Those are both great areas, but Manhasset has two significant advantages:

The shore! It never hurts to be a short bike ride, walk, or short drive from the shore. I enhances quality of life. Garden city is located in the center of the island. I also thought I read on here that private pools were prohibited? That's a deal breaker for me if I'm spending in excess of a million $$.

Port Washington LIRR. More availability, shorter trip to Manhattan. The Hemsptead train makes a ton of stops, and it tends to crawl to each one. Transferring to other LIRR branches from the PW line can be a *****, since there's no Jamaica transfer.

I wonder how they match up in terms of property taxes??

I think we're all just nitpicking; Manhasset isn't any more affluent that GC, as a matter of fact, GC has nicer homes thoughout.

[azzurrony]

Sean,

Exactly. It's not as if they are having gang initiations in the middle of Garden City. There is an invisibile shield there on Meadow St...that's for sure.

1) I agree with you about the water, but access to that shoreline is limited I think.
2) LIRR--Mineola is about 37 min to the city. Nassua Blvd express is about 40 min. Merrilon Ave is about 35 min. So, it's really not that far off from Manhasset trains.

The other thing people forget is Northern Blvd. Manhasset is a traffic nightmare. It's jam packed full of rich soccer moms driving SUV's they can't handle. GC has managed to keep most of the major roads from cutting into it. Nassau Blvd, Stewart Ave., Franklin Ave...etc. They never get as bad as Northern Blvd.

----

In the end, both are great towns. I just hate hearing attacks on the school district when there is no material difference between them. I also think the "bordering town" argument is silly.

[AlexisT]

I wonder about the boundaries of Manhasset (CDP vs SD) as the SD is <5% black but the CDP is 12%.

I have played with the census data and maps, and the black population is heavily concentrated in a small area at the west of the hamlet between Lakeville Road and Community Drive. 59.8% black.Rest of the hamlet is under 4%.

(NOT posting this because I'm racially obsessed--mostly because my perceptions of Manhasset were always of a predominantly white area.)

BTW, if you put "11030" (the entire Manhasset area, not just the hamlet of Manhasset) it's 88% white, 9% Asian.

Also, the other advantage of the Port Washington branch, aside from speed, is train frequency.

[Seann]

Yes, there is a predominantly Black housing section in Manhasset which seems to be quarantined from the rest of the area(south of N. Blvd). It's right at the Community Drive/Northern Blvd intersection, directly across the street from the 6th precinct; I believe it is gov't subsidized. Also keep in mind that when most people speak of the residential areas of Manhasset, they're referring to "north" of Northern Blvd.

When I went to Westbury High school in the 90's, GC was regarded as having one of the very best school districts on the island, I doubt things have changed much.

Azzurrony,

When you've got time to waiste, try accessing Northern blvd through the Lakeville Road exit off the lie or Northern Parkway in the am or evening hours. You can literally sit in traffic in excess of 35 minutes just to hit N Blvd-- only to encounter more traffic.

Manhasset for the most part is about North Shore prestige, GC clearly has more attractive homes. Huge English tudors on tree lined streets throughout.

Maybe it's mental, but the Hempstead line feels a hell of a lot longer than the timetable indicates. It makes 4 stops in GC alone, and three stops in Queens prior to stopping at Jamaica. Oh, it feels long.

[NS4Ever]

Keep in mind, though, that there are neighborhoods south of Northern Blvd. that aren't exactly shabby -- such as South Strathmore, and even more so, Strathmore Vanderbilt. If anyone thinks Garden City has the monopoly on beautiful tudors and colonials, take a look at Strathmore Vanderbilt. It has Garden City beat, IMO. And it's no where near the subsidized housing, which is actually on the other side of Community Drive, across from Macy's and NSLIJ.

Also keep in mind that when you live in the area and become more familiar with it, you find ways around some of the more congested parts of Northern Blvd.