Roslyn, N.Y.: A Hint of New England - The New York Times

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Living in Roslyn, N.Y.

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Johnny Milano for The New York Times

By Karin Lipson

March 16, 2016

As the mother of four boys, then ages 3 to 17, Malini Wang was ready for “a little serenity” in her life when she and her husband, John, were house-hunting on Long Island’s North Shore in 2013.

She found it in the village of Roslyn, where the Wangs bought a hillside home.

“I do believe in karma,” said Mrs. Wang, who discovered the house online. Since it was near her youngest son’s nursery school, “I decided to look at it right away” after dropping him off, she said.

The view from the half-acre property to the village below “just took my breath away,” Mrs. Wang, 48, recalled.

The Wangs, who had been living in Mineola, N.Y., bought the 2,200-square-foot 1976 colonial, with its three bedrooms and three fireplaces, for $930,000.

Life since then has been “exactly as I imagined,” Mrs. Wang said. Her husband, a surgical oncologist at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, has a convenient commute to work. And she loves the walk to quaint-looking village shops and restaurants. “It’s so picturesque,” she said.

The word “picturesque” crops up often in descriptions of this incorporated village of about 0.6 square mile, with two historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places, along with numerous structures. Both the village’s Historic District Board and the Roslyn Landmark Society, an organization dedicated to education, restoration and preservation, oversee the integrity of the historic buildings.

Image 50 DAVIS LANE A six-bedroom four-and-a-half- bath 1996 colonial on 0.37 acres, listed at $1.598 million. (516) 330-3131Credit...Johnny Milano for The New York Times

“This is a nationally known entity,” Craig Westergard, the president of the landmark society, said of Roslyn. Historic homes typically range from the mid-19th to the early-20th centuries, he said.

Older yet is the Robeson-Williams Grist Mill, from the 1700s. The mill, which had fallen into disrepair, is scheduled for a $1.8 million restoration, according to Mr. Westergard, with allocated state, county and foundation funds, as well as money raised through local fund-raisers.

Over all, “it’s a charming village,” said Joyce Styne, an associate broker with Laffey Fine Homes in Greenvale.

The charm factor figured into Perrie and Matt Halpern’s purchase of a 1929 four-bedroom colonial on a wooded hillside for $920,000 in 2006. But for the Halperns, who had lived in a smaller house outside the village but within the Roslyn school district, the primary concern was keeping their twin daughters in Roslyn schools.

They were impressed by the district’s “remarkable rate” of student acceptance by “great colleges,” said Ms. Halpern, 55, an accountant and web site owner.

Traffic can be busy in the village, and Ms. Halpern said some residents were initially concerned about increased congestion from a new 78-unit development of townhouses, condominiums and detached homes, Roslyn Landing. “There were many community meetings” to discuss those concerns, she said.

Rob Antonucci, a managing member of the Ranches, Roslyn Landing’s developer, said that “it’s ordinary to have meetings” before construction. “We worked with the village closely over the past couple of years,” he said.

Ms. Halpern said residents’ concerns had been addressed. She now sees the upscale development, soon to break ground, making the community “more desirable.”

“We’re not far from Manhattan,” she said, “but where I am it feels like we could be in Vermont.”

What You’ll Find

With about 2,800 residents, the village of Roslyn lies within what is sometimes called “greater Roslyn”: To the west is Roslyn Estates; to the north are the villages of Flower Hill and Roslyn Harbor, as well as Hempstead Harbor; to the east is East Hills; to the south is Roslyn Heights.

The scenic Gerry Pond Park, operated by the Town of North Hempstead, has a duck pond and runs through Roslyn’s downtown. With a movie theater, the Bryant Library and restaurants, downtown Roslyn has a “niceold-fashioned town feeling,” said Rene Hughes, an agent at Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty in Roslyn.

Roslyn’s most recognizable landmark, an 1895 clock tower of around 44 feet, stands on a grassy triangle at Old Northern Boulevard and Main Street.

Along Main Street, East Broadway and Old Northern Boulevard near Gerry Pond Park are “more than 100 structures of historic architectural significance,” said Anne B. Tinder, the executive director of the landmark society.

In other areas — including Marchant Park and Roslyn Pines to the west and Mackay Way and Davis Lane to the east — contemporary homes mix with colonials and ranches.

“It’s a very varied community,” said Mayor John Durkin. “There are co-ops, there are individual homes, there are rentals.” Rentals include the Horizon at Roslyn and Atria on Roslyn Harbor, both for older adults;the Chalet, a five-story building; and the much smaller Flower Gardens. Under construction on Lumber Road is a mixed-use project with residential and retail space.

The main commercial district, along Old Northern Boulevard, is lined with boutiques, a liquor store, a bank, a deli, restaurants and other businesses.

What You’ll Pay

“Because of a lack of inventory, homes that are appropriately priced will sell quickly,” said Susan Cherney, an associate broker with Douglas Elliman Real Estate in Roslyn.

But village prices are not homogeneous, said Ms. Styne of Laffey Fine Homes. “There could be a house asking $1.6 million, and next door they could be asking $699,000,” she said.

Janet Berookhim, an associate broker at a different Laffey branch in Greenvale, called the market “stable.”For the 12-month period ending March 3, the median sales price for a single-family house was $810,000, compared with $809,425 for the same period a year earlier, Ms. Berookhim said, using Multiple Listing Service of Long Island data. The median co-op price for the 12 months through March 3 was $175,000, she said, compared with $169,480 for the previous 12-month period.

On March 3, there were 21 properties on the market, ranging from a one-bedroom co-op in a 1955 building for $175,000, to a six-bedroom four-and-a-half-bath colonial house built in 1988 for nearly $2.1 million, Ms. Berookhim said.

What to Do

Gerry Pond Park has walking paths, a playground and a gazebo.

Roslyn is rich in restaurants and cafes, including Trattoria Diane and Diane’s Bakery Cafe on Bryant Avenue(owned by Mayor Durkin and his wife, Diane Margaritis) and Hendrick’s Tavern on Old Northern Boulevard.Thyme Restaurant, on Tower Place, has acoustic guitar music with vocals on Friday and Saturday nights.

For history buffs, the circa-1680 Van Nostrand-Starkins House, the village’s oldest structure, is open seasonally by appointment. The Landmark Society hosts an annual tour of historic homes.

The Schools

Roslyn Public Schools serve all or part of seven communities, including all of Roslyn village. The district hasabout 3,100 students, said Barry Edelson, a schools spokesman.

There are three elementary schools. Prekindergarten, kindergarten and some first-grade pupils attend Heights School; other first graders go to Harbor Hill School. Grades 2 to 5 go to Harbor Hill or East Hills School. Grades 6 to 8 attend Roslyn Middle School, moving to Roslyn High School at Grade 9.

Average SAT scores for Roslyn High School in 2015 were 590 in critical reading, 624 in math and 606 in writing, compared with 489, 502 and 478 statewide.

The Commute

The 7:42 a.m. Long Island Rail Road train from Roslyn station, with a transfer at Jamaica, is scheduled to arrive at Pennsylvania Station at 8:32. The peak-hour fare is $13 one way. A monthly ticket costs $287. The drive of about 22 miles to Midtown takes around 40 minutes or more, depending on traffic.

The History

Europeans first came to the area from Connecticut around 1643. In 1844 the name was changed from Hempstead Harbor to Roslyn to avoid confusion with other town names using the word Hempstead. The name Roslyn is said to have come from the village of Roslin in Scotland.

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