Kirk Condyles for The New York Times A string of businesses on a stretch of Old Northern Boulevard in Roslyn, N.Y. Many of the homes in the village were built in the mid-1800's.
By C. J. HUGHES
Published: March 5, 2006 WITH a lively, close-knit commercial center and dozens of handsome buildings from the 19th century — not to mention a deep-seated passion in the community to keep them looking the part — the village of Roslyn is, with respect to Long Island, something of an anomaly.
While many parts of the island were transformed by huge new housing developments after World War II, the village of Roslyn was passed by, and residents still live in small homes that in some cases predate the nation. The commercial district was also spared. The downtown's main street is lined with independently owned markets and upscale boutiques, often situated in historic buildings. Cathy Giliberti, a resident of Roslyn, said: "It's all right there, the manicurist, hair salon, bakery, hardware store. It's just like Norman Rockwell." Eight years ago, Ms. Giliberti, an executive with the real estate developer Silverstein Properties in Manhattan, bought a 3,500-square-foot house in the village with four bedrooms and two and a half baths, for $600,000. The older section of the house dates from 1770, with the newer part added in 1863. Like most of Roslyn's buildings, Ms. Giliberti's home on Main Street is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places, giving the community a museumlike imprimatur of a Colonial Williamsburg — a former stonemason's cottage here, a lawyer's estate there — but with none of the actors in period costume. "I can stand at the duck pond across from my house and look at the same streetscape that somebody in the 1770's looked at," Ms. Giliberti said. "It's absolutely unique." That one-of-a-kind quality drew many artists and musicians in the 1960's, when the downtown was more likely to be filled with galleries and nightclubs, where, as a teenager, Ms. Giliberti saw some concerts. Roslyn is clearly less rowdy today, but it still has a thriving nightlife, though now the scene is more about restaurant-bars than rock clubs. "I've lived here as a single, married, and divorced person, and it's been comfortable at every stage," Ms. Giliberti said. What You'll Find With 2,700 residents, the village of Roslyn, part of the Town of North Hempstead, is squeezed like a wishbone into a narrow valley at the southern tip of Hempstead Harbor, off Long Island Sound. Most of Roslyn's historic homes are located in the low-lying areas away from the harbor and were built in the same era, the mid-1800's. Most are also painted in the same color scheme, with black shutters and white shingles. The homes, however, are built in a smattering of styles: Greek Revival, Italianate, French Second Empire and Federal. By modern standards, the typical home isn't huge, usually measuring around 2,500 square feet, though most have at least three bedrooms, brokers say. The lots, though, are tiny, a quarter acre or smaller, and with tall ridges behind them, are often cloaked in shadows. But what they lack in yards can often be found in next-door Gerry Park — a patchwork of lawns, ponds, walkways, benches, a gazebo and a playground that also contains a replica of a water-wheel-powered paper mill from Roslyn's earlier days. In an old community like Roslyn, "newer" is a relative term, but newer homes do exist. In the 1950's and 60's, spacious ranches on half-acre lots were built along the hill on the western edge of the village. In addition, two developments are rising from a former asphalt storage facility in a marshy area adjacent to the harbor. The first, called the Horizon at Roslyn, from the developer David Marom of Hauppauge, is to have 50 rental units for tenants aged 55 and older. Thirty-two will be two-bedrooms, measuring 1,100 to 1,300 square feet, and 18 will be three-bedrooms, measuring 1,300 to 1,700 square feet. The Horizon is expected to open in the spring of 2007, Mr. Marom said. The second, called Sterling Glen of Roslyn, designed by Robert A. M. Stern in the style of an 18th-century inn, will add 158 one- and two-bedroom apartment rental units to the market when it is completed this fall; 60 of the homes are under contract, said Kevin Hunter, the chief operating officer of Sterling Glen. "A lot of the interest in the community right now is from the fact that we are right on the water with panoramic views," Mr. Hunter said. But for at least a while, the view will be one of cranes and scaffolding. The Roslyn Viaduct, the busy automobile bridge built in 1949 that carries Route 25A across the valley, is being replaced in a $127 million project, and one that won't be completed until mid-2008, according to the New York State Department of Transportation. When the bridge is built, the area below it will ultimately feature a five-acre public park, according to developers, in addition to a boardwalk that will connect the Horizon and Sterling Glen with the weathered gray grist mill on Old Northern Boulevard, a structure declared a landmark that used to contain a cafe but has been closed since the mid-1970's. The average home price in Roslyn today is $800,000, whereas five years ago, the average was about $500,000, brokers say. The larger, older homes can command prices above $1 million, yet brokers said nothing has sold for more than $2 million. Last March, a home in the historic district on Main Street, with six bedrooms and three and a half baths, sold for $1.75 million. Last month, also on Main Street, an older house with two bedrooms and two and half baths sold for $900,000. And in January, on East Broadway, the desirable one-way street that runs along the eastern edge of Gerry Park, an older home with four bedrooms and two baths sold for $925,000. Brokers agree that the market has cooled in the last six months. A year ago, a home still sold about every three months, though now it's about every six months, according to Diane Stigliano, a broker with Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty. Yet even though buyers aren't getting a large yard or much square feet for their money relative to other Nassau County communities, she said, there are intangibles that come with buying in Roslyn. "You're paying for history," Ms. Stigliano said. "You could never recreate the architecture in these homes." What to Do The downtown, which is anchored by a tall and iconic clock tower, has a surprising variety of bistros, cafes and restaurants, with Mexican, Italian and seafood menus. For more scholarly pursuits, the George Washington Manor, a restaurant located in a historic home on Old Northern Boulevard, once a month holds a well-attended lecture sponsored by the Roslyn Landmarks Society on a preservation or decorative arts topic. And the Bryant Library, built as a community center in 1920 and now holding 100,000 books, has jazz music for children, babysitting workshops for young adults and readings by authors, during afternoons and evenings. The Schools In a scandal that has unfolded over the last few years, prosecutors and auditors accused 29 people, including some of the top officials of the Roslyn Union Free School District, of stealing $11.2 million. The accused included the district's superintendent, Frank Tassone, who, with some of the others charged, pleaded guilty and agreed to repay some of the missing money. For its part, the school system, which has a new school board and administrators in place, wants to put the scandal behind it. "We're under new management," said Barry Edelson, the school spokesman. "And the district is still very proud of our students' record." The district, which serves the village of Roslyn as well as neighboring communities like Roslyn Heights and Roslyn Harbor, has five schools for its 3,400 students. The Heights School provides classes in prekindergarten through first grade, while students in Grades 2 to 5 attend the East Hills School. Both are located in Roslyn Heights. Other students attend the Harbor Hill School, located in nearby Greenvale, which offers instruction in Grades 1 to 5. For Grades 6 to 8, students head to Roslyn Middle School, in Roslyn Heights. Roslyn High School, meanwhile, teaches Grades 9 to 12 at its Roslyn Heights campus. The class of 2005 scored an average of 605 on the math section of the SAT and 582 on the verbal, far better than the 511 math and 497 verbal statewide averages. The History In a village as self-consciously historic as Roslyn — carefully worded plaques on rocks and signs on posts tell what happened when — you're never too far from something old and important. Even though historians debate whether some facts are true, like whether a Continental Army spy ring really did run through here during the Revolutionary War, one fact is less contentious: how the village got its name. Back in the early 1840's, the village's 42 residents were fed up with the original name, Hempstead Harbor, because they felt there were too many places around them using the name "Hempstead." In a letter to officials in Washington, according to Myrna Sloam, the archivist at the Bryant Library, they complained that the name Hempstead was "a serious inconvenience in our village particularly in our post office arrangements." One of those frustrated residents, William Cairns, suggested changing it to Roslyn, honoring Roslin Castle, in Scotland, a place with steep valleys, and his ancestral home. So, "Roslyn" was born. However, because of the many adjacent "Roslyns" — a sometimes confusing mélange of Roslyn Heights, Roslyn Harbor and Roslyn Estates — residents arguably are not much better off today than they were in the Hempstead days. The Commute Driving to the city can take anywhere from less than an hour to two hours, depending on the traffic, day of the week, and season, according to those who make the trip. Others prefer to take the train. Roslyn has its own Long Island Rail Road station, located just outside the village. The train, which has a connection in Jamaica, Queens, makes the trip in about 50 minutes at peak times. Many residents say they prefer to use nearby stations like Manhasset, which is about 10 minutes faster and does not require a change. What We Like With 100 structures within the sprawling National Register district, Roslyn's homes and businesses are distinct and attractive. To keep them that way, the village is currently drafting a set of guidelines that could regulate things like house paint color, according to John Collins, president of the Roslyn Preservation Corporation, a nonprofit group. What We'd Change Some drivers act like Main Street is a racetrack, and the speeding cars can make it difficult for residents to pull their cars out of driveways, or for pedestrians to cross the street. |
