Garden City, New York

Garden City, New York is a village in central Nassau County, New York in the USA, which was founded by multi-millionaire Alexander Turney Stewart in 1869. The village is located 18.5 miles to the east of mid-town Manhattan, on Long Island. Garden City is located in central Nassau County in the Town of Hempstead just south of the Town of North Hempstead.

The Cathedral of the Incarnation located in the Central Section of the Village.

As of the 2000 census, The Incorporated Village of Garden City population was 21,672. The village is an upper middle-class, predominantly white, Catholic and Protestant community. Many families can trace their heritage to Italian and Irish immigrants from New York City.

The Garden City name is also applied to unincorporated areas in the region such as Garden City South, Garden City Park and East Garden City. Roosevelt Field, the current shopping center and former airfield from which Charles Lindbergh took off on his landmark 1927 flight, is located in East Garden City.

History

File:Hempstead Plains.jpg

The Hempstead Plains.

File:Alexander Turney Stewart 2.jpg

Alexander Turney Stewart.

Founding the City of Gardens

In following year, Scottish-born self made multi-millionaire Alexander Turney Stewart bought the relatively unpopulated Hempstead Plains, and in 1869 founded the Village of Garden City. The village was created as an upscale community for those seeking respite from New York City. The main attraction of the community was the Garden City Hotel, designed by the acclaimed firm of Charles Follen McKim, William Rutherford Mead and Stanford White. Although the original structure as well as the one that replaced it at the end of the 19th century were torn down many years ago, a hotel still stands on the original grounds, as do many nearby Victorian homes.

Stewart's wife founded the St. Paul's School for boys, St. Mary's School for girls, a Bishop's Residance and the gothic Cathedral of the Incarnation, which is today the center of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, as well as the final resting place of Alexander Turney and Cornelia Stewart. This elaborate memorial was completed in 1885. Mrs. Stewart died the following year. The Cathedral of the Incarnation is currently undergoing a multi-million dollar renevation, which is scheduled for completed by 2012.

File:Cathedral of the Incarnation Drawing1.jpg

The Cathedral of the Incarnation.

The early village did well due to its proximity to Hempstead, at that time the commercial center of Long Island. In time, thanks both to the railroad and automobiles, Garden City's population increased.. In 1915, the Village of Garden City merged with the Village of Garden City Estates to its west. It became an incorporated village in 1919. Garden City's growth promoted the development of many nearby towns, including Stewart Manor, Garden City Park, Garden City South and East Garden City.

In the 1920s, the community continued to grow, with houses built in Garden City Estates as well as the Eastern Section of Garden City. This development included the Mott Section, developed by the heirs to the Mott Apple Juice fortune, which was spurred by easy access to the now defunct Long Island Motor Parkway, as well as the establishment of the Doubleday publishing group's corporate headquarters. They remained in Garden City until Bertelsmann took over the firm in the mid-1980s. The plant closed in 1988 and has since been converted to offices for Bookspan, a media firm partly owned by Doubleday.

The LIRR Massacre

The Long Island Rail Road offers transit to and from New York City. Within the Garden City limits are five LIRR stations: Stewart Manor, Nassau Boulevard, Garden City, Country Life Press and Merillon Avenue.

The Merrillon Avenue station is the location of what has become to be known as the "LIRR Massacre." On December 7, 1993, Colin Ferguson, a Jamaican immigrant and New York City resident, boarded the 5:33 p.m. local train to Hicksville at Pennsylvania Station with a concealed weapon. After the train entered Nassau County, he walked down the aisle of the car he was riding in and shot some passengers while passing others. When the engineer realized that there was a serious problem on the train, he stopped the train at the Merillon Avenue. Several passengers overpowered Ferguson while he was attempting to reload for the second time and held him for police. Ferguson was convicted of shooting 25 passengers, six of whom died; he received six consecutive life sentences. This propelled Carolyn McCarthy, whose husband was killed and son seriously injured, to successfully run for the United States House of Representatives on a gun control platform. She currently represents Garden City in Congress.

Garden City's Role in the History of Aviation

In 1927, Charles Lindbergh departed on his famous solo transatlantic flight from Roosevelt Field in East Garden City. Today, Roosevelt Field is one of the largest shopping malls in the world. In 1929 Adelphi College, later upgraded to university, moved from Brooklyn to its present 76 acre campus in Garden City, becoming the first four-year college in Nassau or Suffolk counties.

Housing construction slowed after the 1929 stock market crash. But in the 1930s, hundreds of houses were built to accommodate a population boom, though Garden City used a strict zoning code to preserve Stewart's vision. Alone in central Nassau, the village retained a sense of orderly development, true to its rigorously planned roots. During World War II, the airfield of Mitchell Field in the far east of Garden City was used by the Air Force. Today, it is the present site of a military base, Nassau Community College, home the Long Island Children's Museum, a Sony IMAX theater and the Cradle of Aviation Museum.

After World War II, following a trend of urban flight, Garden City continued to grow. Post War construction filled out the present borders of Garden City with many split and ranch style homes, with construction occurring in the far eastern, northern and western sections of the town. The Waldorf School of Garden City was founded in 1947 (one of the first Waldorf Schools in the United States), originally as a part of Adelphi University. The village's public high school was also constructed during this time.

In the 1970s, the old Garden City Hotel declared bankruptcy, and subsequently closed. The hotel was later demolished, and unfortunately Garden City lost one of its grandest and most historical landmarks. A new Garden City Hotel was constructed on the previous site of the old Garden City Hotel.

In 1989s, the St. Paul's School also closed and in 1993 was purchased by the Village of Garden City. Recently, the Village voted to designate St. Paul's and its property as "park land." Although still a controversial topic in Village politics. St. Mary's School, the sister school of St. Paul's was demolished in 2002. Since then, six large single family houses have been built on the property.

Beautification
In the late 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, the village's downtown areas (Seventh Street, New Hyde Park Road and Franklin Avenue) benefitted from a renewal campaign and new construction. Franklin Avenue has long been known as the "Fifth Avenue of Long Island," although many upscale department stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale's and A&S have moved from Franklin Avenue to the Roosevelt Field Mall. Lord and Taylor has a large freestanding location that opened in 1956 on Franklin Avenue, which is still there today. Sears now occupies the building that was once home to Bloomingdale's. Several luxury restaurants have also opened in recent years along this majestic avenue, giving Franklin Avenue another moniker, "Restaurant Row."

Schools

There are seven schools in the Garden City School District: three primary schools (Hemlock School, Homestead School and Locust School), two elementary schools (Stewart School and Stratford School),the Garden City Middle School (grades 6-8), and finally, the Garden City High School (grades 9-12). The primary schools function as a single unit, with three campuses spread across the village.

One independent school, the Waldorf School of Garden City (grades n-12), and two (2) Roman Catholic elementary schools (n-8), St. Joseph School and St. Anne's School are located in Garden City.

Geography

Garden City is located at 40°43′37″N 73°38′59″W (40.726885, -73.649720).Template:GR

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 13.8 km² (5.3 mi²), all land.

Garden City is located in the heart of Nassau County, New York.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 21,672 people, 7,386 households, and 5,857 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,567.0/km² (4,059.5/mi²). There were 7,555 housing units at an average density of 546.3/km² (1,415.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 94.21% White, 1.23% African American, 0.07% Native American, 3.30% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.36% from other races, and 0.79% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.77% of the population.

There were 7,386 households out of which 36.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.8% were married couples living together, 7.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.7% were non-families. 19.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83 and the average family size was 3.27.

In the village the population was spread out with 26.5% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 23.1% from 25 to 44, 25.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 90.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.1 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $104,176, and the median income for a family was $120,305. The per capita income for the village was $53,196. About 1.8% of families and 2.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.3% of those under age 18 and 2.6% of those age 65 or over.

On a per capita basis, the village of Garden City lost the largest number of people in the attacks of 9/11.

Notable landmarks

• The Garden City Hotel
• Cathedral of the Incarnation
• St. Paul's School
• Roosevelt Field Mall
• Adelphi University
• Nassau Community College

Notable residents

• NFL Head Coach Eric Mangini
• New York Jet: Curtis Martin
• Author Nelson DeMille
• Actress Susan Lucci
• Musician John Tesh
• New York State Senator Kemp Hannon
• Artist George Mamos

Community

• Garden City Village Homepage
• Garden City Chamber of Commerce
• The Garden City News Online
• Garden City Life Online
• Garden City Historical Society
• The Welcoming Club of Garden City

Education

• Adelphi University
• Nassau Community College
• Nassau BOCES

Points of Interest

• Roosevelt Field Shopping Mall
• Long Island Children's Museum
• Cradle of Aviation Museum
• Sunflower Fine Art Galleries

Area maps Template:Mapit-US-cityscale