Great Neck, New York

Great Neck is a village located in Nassau County, New York in the USA. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 9,538.

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 Indians, who were pushed back by the colonists' expansion.

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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 the 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.

Related Topics:
Kings Point - F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby - Port Washington - Long Island Sound - Roaring Twenties - New York City - Suburbs - Sid Caesar - Marx Brothers - Jews - Brooklyn - Bronx

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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.

Related Topics:
World War II - Ashkenazi

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But even during the 1960s, many residents frequented the local pool and ice skating complex, Parkwood, but in the past fifteen years attendance at Parkwood 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).

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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 Ashkenasi temples, instead starting their own Iranian synagogues, where they could follow Sephardic traditions. The Persian community also established their own grocery shops.

Related Topics:
Baby Boomer - Iranian Jews

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From the late 1990s up until the present day 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. The Orthodox also use their own synagogues.

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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 and Persian families, while the 'South' part has a larger Asian population.

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