Local city information for Garden City, NY

Garden City is a village in the Town of Hempstead in central Nassau County, New York, in the United States. It was founded by multi-millionaire Alexander Turney Stewart in 1869, and is located on Long Island, to the east of New York City, from mid-town Manhattan, and just south of the Town of North Hempstead.

As of the 2000 census, the population of the incorporated village was 21,672. The village is an upper middle-class, predominantly white, Roman Catholic and Protestant community. Many families can trace their heritage to Italian and Irish immigrants who moved to Long Island 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.


In 1869, Irish-born, self made multi-millionaire Alexander Turney Stewart, bought a portion of the relatively unpopulated Hempstead Plains, and 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 McKim, Mead, and 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, Cornelia, founded the St. Paul's School for boys, St. Mary's School for girls, a Bishop’s Residence 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 Stewart and Cornelia Stewart. This elaborate memorial was completed in 1885. Mrs. Stewart died the following year. As of 2008, The Cathedral of the Incarnation is undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation, which is scheduled for completion by 2012.

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’s 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.

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. Mitchel Air Force Base, located on the far east side of Garden City, served as a United States Air Force Base from 1918 through 1961. As of 2008, the U.S. military still retains a limited physical presence there, with the rest of the base occupied by housing, Hofstra University, Nassau Community College, the Long Island Children’s Museum, the Nassau County Firefighters Museum and Education Center, 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 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 1989, 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.

In the late 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, the village's downtown areas (Seventh Street, New Hyde Park Road and Franklin Avenue) benefited from a renewal campaign and new construction. 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 avenue.

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