Homes & Real Estate In Little Neck, New York

Borders:

• North by Little Neck Bay
• East by Great Neck, New York in Nassau County.
• West is Douglaston.
• South is the Grand Central Parkway.

Due to this proximity to Nassau, Little Neck remains one of the most suburban-looking areas in New York City. It is the last New York City stop on the Port Washington line of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) while heading east.

Little Neck is home to one of the few, and certainly the busiest, railway grade crossings in New York City.

Littleneck (or little neck) clams live in the sound, but are not named for this area. They are the smallest size of quahog clams.

Little Neck has a highly regarded school system, low city property taxes, an easy commute by bus or train to Midtown Manhattan, and yet because of its location on the Nassau County border, it also has quick access to Long Island's suburban amenities.

Although some of the larger detached houses sell for $700,000 or more, small semi-attached colonials dating to the 1920's are available for around $500,000. One- and two-bedroom garden apartments at the 1,500-unit Deepdale Gardens co-op south of the Long Island Expressway are also moderately priced, with a one-bedroom selling for around $150,000. Apartments must be owner-occupied.

The so-called Pines section of the neighborhood, which extends from 247th Street to Little Neck Parkway north of Northern Boulevard, has been drawing young families looking for starter houses. Detached houses generally command higher prices than many families starting out can afford. One reason prices are so high is that there is very little turnover in houses. Residents tend to sink long-term roots.

The neighborhood is in Community School District 26, which is ranked first in the city based on student reading and math test scores by the Board of Education based on reading and math scores.

Although many older homes have been demolished to make way for new construction, local residents are determined to maintain as much of the ambience of their community as they can. Little Neck Pines was granted a zoning change last year by the City Planning Commission to prevent construction of apartment houses, which would have been allowed under previous zoning. Under the new zoning, adopted in July, only one- and two-family houses are now permitted.

The 84-year-old Westmoreland Association, one of five in the neighborhood, represents 320 homes on tree-lined streets east of Little Neck Parkway that wind from Northern Boulevard to the Long Island Rail Road tracks. Little Neck, like its westerly neighbor, Douglaston, was once home to the Matinecock Indians. Early settlers prospered by raising produce for the Manhattan market. Farms began giving way to development around 1900, when builders sensing a good market for single-family houses within easy commuting distance of Manhattan began buying up and subdividing some of the large properties. The Little Neck train station at Little Neck Parkway and 39th Road opened in 1866.

The Rickert-Finlay Realty Company of Manhattan first developed the peninsula jutting into Little Neck Bay, calling it Douglas Manor. The builders moved from there east to the Westmoreland section of Little Neck where they made house lots smaller -- 40 feet wide instead of 60 feet for the most part -- but houses architecturally similar to those in Douglaston, with a mix of Tudors, Capes, colonials and arts-and-crafts style dwellings, which have plain lines and often stucco and wood shingle exteriors. Older neighborhoods in Little Neck include not only the Pines and Westmoreland sections but also Little Neck Hills, a hilly section south of Northern Boulevard that was also developed early in the 20th century. The area extending south of the Long Island Rail Road tracks to Little Neck Bay was developed on landfill in the 1950's. Newer houses can also be found south of the Long Island Expressway, an area that also includes the 49-year-old Deepdale Gardens apartments.

Besides the 42-acre Udalls Cove Park and Ravine, a wildlife preserve with walking trails, residents also use the 640-acre Alley Pond Park just west of Douglaston Parkway, which stretches from Little Neck Bay to the Grand Central Parkway.