Garden City
Get to know Garden City
Why Garden City is the Place to be?
The Garden City neighborhood is home to such a diverse array of businesses that you could satisfy nearly every industry need and want without leaving the city limits. The city is also known for its high-quality schools and low crime rate, making it an ideal place to settle down with your family.
When it comes to shopping, Garden City has you covered! From retro furniture to trendy clothing, there’s something for everyone. We recommend visiting Coquettes for women’s apparel and Madison’s Niche for home décor.
For the men out there, you can find a wide array of clothing at Mr. Smith’s Suit Emporium or the more casual offerings of The Room Upstairs. There are also great shopping opportunities for children and babies at Jitters and Giggles, as well as plenty of options at The Baby Depot.
If you’re looking for more formal dining options, consider visiting Chopsticks House or La Cucina Italiana. When it comes to casual dining, you’ll want to check out Billy Bob’s Barbecue and Dairy Queen.
The fun doesn’t stop there! You can enjoy an evening out in the town at one of Garden City’s many bars or dance clubs such as The Martini Lounge or Club Minx. If you’re in the mood for live music, go see what’s happening at Howling Wolf Books & Music; they have everything from jazz bands playing every night to local folk singers performing weekly events
Nearby Neighborhoods:
Garden City History & Culture
In 1869, the Irish-born millionaire Alexander Turney Stewart bought a portion of the lightly populated Hempstead Plains. 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. In doing this I am prepared and would be willing to expend several millions of dollars.
The central attraction of the new community was the Garden City Hotel, designed by the acclaimed firm of McKim, Mead & White. Although the original structure, as well as that which replaced it at the end of the 19th century, were torn down following a fire, a rebuilt hotel still stands on the original grounds, as do many nearby Victorian homes.[citation needed] Access to Garden City was provided by the Central Railroad of Long Island, another Stewart project which he undertook at the same time; the railroad’s Hempstead Branch opened in 1873.
Stewart’s wife, Cornelia, founded the St. Paul’s School for boys, St. Mary’s School for girls,[a] 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. In 2008, the Cathedral of the Incarnation underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation and rehabilitation project, which was completed in 2012.
Voters selected Mineola (in the town of North Hempstead) to be the county seat for the new county of Nassau in November 1898 (before Mineola incorporated as a village in 1906 and set its boundaries), winning out over Hicksville and Hempstead.[10] The Garden City Company (founded in 1893 by the heirs of Alexander Turney Stewart)[11] 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.[12][13] The land and the buildings have a Mineola postal address but are within the present-day village of Garden City,[14] 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. In time, thanks to the railroad and to automobiles, as well, Garden City’s population increased.
In its early years, the press referred to Garden City as “Stewart’s Folly.”
