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Old Posted Apr 18, 2012, 1:53 AM
nygirl1 nygirl1 is offline
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The best of Long Island: Part 10: Garden City

Garden City is an affluent upper class village in the middle of Nassau County. The village was founded in the middle of the 19th century by Alexander Turney Stewart, a Scottish millionaire who purchased farm land on the flat leveled Hempstead Plain. Garden City at the time was already inhabited by farmers living within the town of Hempstead but Stewart had transformed it into an upscale community with large estates and a main concourse with shops and restaurants. The community boasted the popular Garden City Hotel which has been rebuilt in the late 20th century and caters to diplomats visiting the Island. Educational institutions and Religious institutions were also constructed in the area throughout the late 19th century. As the 20th century turned the area continued to develop housing and attracting a wealthy population though this development came to an abrupt halt after the stock market crash of 1929. The neighborhood continued to grow however as it amassed a population boom following the depression years. The population boom slowed during the middle of the 20th century. The village by the end of the century became a quiet commuter suburb/bedroom community which had seen much activity in urban renewal projects. Department stores, café’s, boutiques, restaurants and businesses now line its main avenues. White Anglo Saxon Protestants dominate the community which is still upscale and attracting growing families although many from East Asian backgrounds also call Garden City home.






















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