Garden City, New York

Garden City is a village located in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States.

In 1869, Irish-born millionaire Alexander Turney Stewart bought a portion of the lightly populated Hempstead Plains.

[4] In a letter, Stewart described his intentions for Garden City: Having been informed that interested parties are circulating statements to the effect that my purpose in desiring to purchase the Hempstead Plains is to devote them to the erection of tenement houses, and public charities of a like character, etc.

I consider it proper to state that my only object in seeking to acquire these lands is to devote them to the usual purposes for which such lands, so located, should be applied that is, open them by constructing extensive public roads, laying out the lands in parcels for sale to actual settlers, and erecting at various points attractive buildings and residences, so that a barren waste may speedily be covered by a population desirable in every respect as neighbour taxpayers and as citizens.

[8] Access to Garden City was provided by the Central Railroad of Long Island, another Stewart project which he undertook at the same time.

[13] The Garden City Company (founded in 1893 by the heirs of Alexander Turney Stewart)[14] donated 4 acres (1.6 ha) of land for the county buildings just south of the Mineola train station and the present-day Incorporated Village of Mineola, in the Town of Hempstead.

[15][16] The land and the buildings have a Mineola postal address but are within the present-day village of Garden City,[17] which did not incorporate, or set its boundaries, until 1919.

The early village did well due to its proximity to Hempstead, which was at that time the commercial center of Long Island.

[4][19] In 1910, Doubleday, Page, and Co., one of the world's most important publishers, moved its operations to the east side of Franklin Avenue and had its own train station called Country Life Press added nearby.

[20] The Doubleday company purchased much of the land on the west side of Franklin Avenue, and built estate homes for many of its executives on Fourth Street.

In 1916, company co-founder and Garden City resident Walter Hines Page was named Ambassador to Great Britain.

The Nassau Boulevard Aerodrome, west of the Estates section, hosted the Second International Aviation Meet in 1911, which featured the first official airmail service.

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.

[27] After World War II, following a trend of urban residents moving to the suburbs, Garden City continued to grow.

[29] Although Camp Mills was decommissioned after the war, the airbase Mitchel Field, which was established at the same time just east of the Village, existed until 1962.

[34] The Garden City Public Library, first established in 1952 as a volunteer service, now serves its residents from its building erected in 1973.

On December 7, 1993, the Long Island Rail Road's Merillon Avenue station, which is located within the village, was the location of the Long Island Rail Road massacre in which six people were murdered and 19 injured in a racially motivated mass shooting perpetrated by Colin Ferguson, a black Jamaican immigrant.

[36] Every year on the anniversary of the attack, the Garden City Fire Department holds a remembrance ceremony.

A bell tolls after the reading of each of the 23 residents' names, which are etched in the memorial monument stone on the Village Green.

[44][45][46] The Village Administrator is Ralph V. Suozzi, the former Mayor of the City of Glen Cove and the cousin of Congressman Thomas R.

The Department of Recreation and Parks maintains many programs for Village residents, and operates the Community Pool in the Summer months.

It provides garbage and rubbish collection, water service, and street maintenance including snow plowing.

In the 2024 U.S. presidential election, the majority of the Nassau county (that include Garden City) voters voted for Donald J.

[55] Old Country Road (Nassau County Route 25) forms much of Garden City's northern border.

U.S. census map of Garden City
Garden City Village Hall in September 2021.
Stewart Avenue (CR 177) within the village in September 2021
The Garden City Long Island Rail Road station in 2009
The Garden City Hotel in 2009