What is Great Neck, NY like?

It was a very Jewish, very upscale suburb for many years OP, from the 1940s on.

Persian Jews began moving in in the late 80s or so and changed the nature of the town considerably.

They were followed by Asians, mostly Chinese moving on from Flushing, as well as Orthodox Jews and Russian Jews.

So not many American-born Jews anymore except older people who have been there since they bought their first house 60 years ago.

The schools have always been very good.

it is very suburban, but pre-war suburban, meaning there is a downtown built around the train station and the houses are mostly pre-war too. They range from modest houses closer in to town to Gatsby-era mansions in Kings Point. Many of those mansions have been torn down by the Persians and replaced by Persian palaces

While the downtown has a number of businesses and restaurants and bars, it's still the downtown of a suburban town, so doesn't necessarily feel "urban"

The designers who created the areas around Great Neck and Kings Point, NY, and other affluent communities on Long Island did a great job of recreating the feel of an old English country village.

Very green, and bucolic with lots of natural landscaping that create high tree canopies and gives a natural feel. Many parts seem as if they're not crowded with homes, even though it's ALL set in an endless urban sprawl. Many of the older homes and village centers have a 'quaint' feel.

There have urban-looking areas, like those in neighboring Queens. But the rich areas are something else, they feel like they are part of a country village or even a rural area.

This sums up Great Neck. All you need to know.

Not really R3

Leonard's in in Great Neck but it is not OF Great Neck-- people having their parties there are far more working class and are impressed by the Great Neck address

The Persians who now dominate Great Neck do their own thing at places that cater to them.

All I know about it is that Fran Fine wanted to marry a doctor and have a house there.

Where do said Persians get all their money?

R1 interesting, I didn’t know any of that - I though it was still Jew-ville. Did they all move to Roslyn?

I think that came out sounding way more antisemitic than you'd intended Xennial.

"They" have mostly moved to Roslyn, Port Washington/Sands Point and points west (Jericho, Dix Hills, Syosset, Woodbury) and have also abandoned Long Island in large numbers for places like Chappaqua and Short Hills.

Many seem to run "import-export" businesses R6

Which I take it means they trade with people they know who are still in Iran--rugs and other goods.

Drew Friedman, the cartoonist son of Bruce Jay Friedman did an excellent job of portraying the very Jewish Great Neck of the 70s, 80s and 90s via his Marnin Rosenberg character, who, I learned in trying to find this link, was an actual classmate of his in high school.

R8 I’m Jewish (as I think I’ve said a few times on here) so ofc I can say it lol

I thought a lot of Persians and Asians went to Short Hills as well. Could be wrong.

You are forgiven then Xennial.

My in-laws live in Short Hills Lots of Chinese and Indians moving to replace the older Jewish empty nesters but no Persians.

IIRC, Forest Hills and Kew Gardens in Queens are their second choice after Great Neck.

And the Five Towns area on LI has become all Orthodox. Mostly Modern Orthodox, but Orthodox enough so as not to use the public schools.

^^Since someone will point it out, that should have been points EAST in R8

Every time hear Great Neck, Long Island go back to SNL sketch featuring wonderful Gilda Radner as Rhoda Weiss.

From Newsday, local Long Island newspaper.

As others have said, Great Neck is all about Persian Jews and Asians now for most part.

Asians in general both from within USA and coming from outside of it are or have invaded nearly all good areas of North Shore, especially those with decent to excellent public schools.

We'll stick to New Rochelle, thank you.

Thank you R9

Asians have “invaded” Great Neck and other good areas, coming from nearby Queens and out of state TX? Unlike the Persian Jews who flooded in from Iran in the 80s and 90s? Please.

In many ways Jewish migration to USA (western European variety) suffered same fate as Italians, Irish and others post Kennedy immigration reforms in early 1960's.

Orthodox Jews OTOH have benefitted greatly from various immigration schemes to allow them out of Eastern Europe and or former Soviet Union (Russia) in aid of rescue from persecution.

There's also something about immigration of Jews out of western Europe to USA that involves some sort of treaty or agreement (cannot recall which), between Israel and United States. Tons of Jews in France and Germany would love to immigrate to USA, but often must go to Israel if they want out badly enough because it is the easiest option.

Well, it certainly isn't Tuckahoe in Westchester County, that's for sure.

[quote] Tons of Jews in ...Germany

There are not "tons of Jews" in Germany R20

There are 116 thousand of them and many are former Russian Jews who moved there after the breakup of the Soviet Union

Great Neck is a place where people honk at you as soon as the light turns green. And sephardic jews try to bargain at the checkout line at the supermarket.

What's so great about Great Neck? Meh.

[quote]Montauk

Much Waspier.

R7 They are all Jews. Those Persians that R1 is referring to are Iranian Jews.

A "Persian" is a cat or a rug. The people are IRANIANS.

R27 No Persian was their classical name and Persia the name of their country. Their language Is Persian NOT Iranian. Iranian is more of an umbrella term like British for the various people from Britain(English, Scottish and Welsh).

The language is Farsi, dummy R28. Sit down, twat.

In Iran, Jews are not considered Persian or Iranian. They are considered Jews.

I hear it’s a helluva lot better than Good Neck, NY!

Montauk has been a shit show for 15 years (whenever the Surf Lodge & Crows Nest opened).

Ask American Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hughes!

Long Island: neither long nor an island. Talk amongst yourselves!

Leonard's has been the site of movies too. It was used for the outside of the place where Alec Baldwain gets knocked off in "Married To The Mob". Funny how Baldwin grows up to be an actor and one of his first movies shoots all over LI including his home town. And in "The Irishman", Leonard's stood in for a Miami Hotel.

Julia Phillips, author of the Hollywood tell-all You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again, was from Great Neck, which she mentioned in her speech after winning the Best Picture Oscar for The Sting (she was one of the film's producers). Presenter Liz Taylor had just encountered that Oscar streaker. LOL

oh my.

Great Neck is where Kris Kringle lives.

R38 Did he buy his house from Max, the Chanukah Bush Man?

The traffic in that area of the world is atrocious. I’d rather dig my eyes out with toothpicks than drive on the LIE once more in my life.

Eh, Iran is the Farsi (Parsi) word for Aryan.

Its vulgar. I used to work there.

Others don't care for the Persian Jews as they do not value education and try to get their daughters married off at 18.

Middleneck Road, which is the main street of GN, is a shadow of what it used to be. It was many small, family owned businesses with wonderful reputations, devoted clientele. High end and high quality. In the past decade, shops that were there for 40 years have closed their doors, to be replaced with crap.

A jewelry store in town was busted price gouging PPE at the beginning of the epidemic.

[quote] The traffic in that area of the world is atrocious. I’d rather dig my eyes out with toothpicks than drive on the LIE once more in my life. —Relatives in Manhasset

Comedian Alan King from Great Neck called The Long Island Expressway, the world's longest parking lot.

Surprised to learn that actor Christopher Lambert of "Tarzan" and "Highlander" fame was born in Great Neck. Father was a French diplomat serving in the USA.

I’ve always heard wonderful things about their town library.