The Great Neck Park District is a

park district A park district is a form of local special-purpose district for providing public parks and recreation in or near its geographic boundaries. Some park districts also own or maintain related cultural facilities such as monuments, zoos, sports venu ...

serving much of the

Great Neck Peninsula Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

of Nassau County,

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. It is the oldest park district in the State of New York and is headquartered a 5 Beach Road, Great Neck, New York 11024.

History

The Great Neck Park District was established on August 14, 1916, by Great Neck Resident Roswell Eldridge. It was created only a few months after a law was passed by lawmakers in Albany allowing towns to establish park districts; the Great Neck Park District was the first such district of its type to be established anywhere in the State of New York. In 1942, the Great Neck Park District gave some of its public beach in Kings Point to the

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for the

United States Merchant Marine Academy The United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA or Kings Point) is a United States service academy in Kings Point, New York. It trains its midshipmen (as students at the academy are called) to serve as officers in the United States Merchant ...

. In 1973, the Town of North Hempstead gave approval for the Great Neck Park District to purchase Creek Park through a $270,000 (1973

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

) bond. The park, which has a total size of roughly , was purchased from a private developer and created a greenbelt connecting Cutter Mill Park and the Russell Gardens Park (the latter being owned by the Russell Gardens Association). In 1977, community parents came together to construct an indoor play facility for children in an abandoned locker room at Steppingstone Park. The equipment installed during the project, which was hand-crafted, painted, and assembled by the locals, included a boat (named the ''USS Boat'') and a rocket ship. Each room was painted by the locals with unique themes and murals related to that theme. The materials cost around $1,800 (1977 USD); parents volunteered with the assembly and painting of the playhouse facilities. In the 1980s, the beach at Steppingstone Park reopened. It had been closed for over 30 years due to pollution in the

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

caused by sewage plants operated by the

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. In the 2000s, the Great Neck Park District renovated Parkwood Pool. The renovations included creating a water park.

Service area

The Great Neck Park District serves the following communities in Great Neck:

Incorporated villages

Great Neck Great Neck is a region on Long Island, New York, that covers a peninsula on the North Shore and includes nine villages, among them Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kings Point, and Russell Gardens, and a number of unincor ...

* Great Neck Plaza *

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

* Kings Point *

Russell Gardens Russell Gardens is a village on the Great Neck Peninsula in the Town of North Hempstead, in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 945 at the 2010 census. The area was proposed to bec ...

* Thomaston

Unincorporated hamlets

* Great Neck Gardens *

University Gardens University Gardens (also known as Lakeville) is a hamlet and a census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is located within the Town of North Hempstead and is part of the Gre ...

Additionally, the Great Neck Park District serves the area of Spinney Hill in

Manhasset Manhasset is a hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in D ...

zoned for the

Great Neck Union Free School District Great Neck Public Schools is a public school district serving students residing in specific areas of Great Neck, North New Hyde Park, North Hills, and Manhasset Hills, New York. It is Union Free School District Number 7 in the Town of North Hemp ...

List of parks

The Great Neck Park District operates the following parks and recreational facilities:

Major parks

* Allenwood Park Allenwood Park, Great Neck Gardens, Long Island, New York A

* Kings Point Park * Memorial Field * Parkwood Pool & Sports Complex * Steppingstone Park & Marina * Village Green & Rose Garden

Neighborhood parks

* Cutter Mill Park * Firefighters Park * Lakeville Park Lakeville Park, Great Neck, Long Island, New York

* Manor Park * Ravine Park * Thomaston Park * Upland Park * Wyngate Park

Passive parks

* Creek Park (Daniel Jay Berg Memorial Park) * Udalls Pond Park * Woodland Preserve * Wooleys Lane Park

Dog park

The Great Neck Park District operates a dog park on Colonial Road.

Great Neck House

Additionally, the Great Neck Parks District operates the Great Neck House. This facility serves as a cultural venue, and often provides park district residents with activities such as movies and live performances.

List of parking fields

The Great Neck Park District operates the following commuter parking fields: * Canterbury Road Lot * North Station Plaza Lot * Shoreward Drive

References

{{coord, 40.80406, -73.73674, format=dms, type:landmark_region:US-NY, display=title Great Neck Peninsula Town of North Hempstead, New York Special districts in Nassau County, New York Park districts in New York (state)