Senate Resolution No. 1559

BY: Senator THOMAS

        COMMENDING  the  Village of Garden City, New York,
        upon  the  occasion   of   celebrating   its   100th
        Anniversary

  WHEREAS,  It  is  the custom of this Legislative Body to observe and
commend the beautiful and majestic villages that can be found throughout
the State of New York; and

  WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is proud to commend  the  Village  of
Garden  City,  New  York,  upon  the  occasion  of celebrating its 100th
Anniversary; and

  WHEREAS, During 1869, New York City merchant  millionaire  Alexander
Turney  Stewart  set out to create a place that embodied his ideals, his
wisdom and his wealth; the widely known business genius purchased 10,000
acres of Hempstead Plains on Long Island; there, at almost 70  years-old
and  with  no  children,  Stewart began creating his legacy...his Garden
City; and

  WHEREAS, One of America's earliest planned villages, Garden City was
developed with wide avenues, hundreds of trees and shrubs, 60 well-built
homes on spacious lots, a handsome hotel on a 30-acre park, all  reached
via  its  own  railroad  line,  A.T.  Stewart's Central Railroad of Long
Island; and

  WHEREAS, When Alexander Turney  Stewart  died  in  1876,  his  wife,
Cornelia,  built  the  landmark  Cathedral  of the Incarnation, Bishop's
Residence and two church schools in memory of her husband; and

  WHEREAS, She agreed to deed these properties to the Episcopal Church
of Long Island with one provision - that her husband be entombed in  the
Cathedral; they agreed; and

  WHEREAS,  After  Mrs.  Stewart's death in 1886, her heirs formed the
Garden City Company in 1893 to continue the orderly development  of  the
Village;  for  many  years  there  was  little  change  in  the original
Village's overall dimensions; and

  WHEREAS, In 1907, a period of explosive growth was ushered  in  with
the  building of Garden City Estates; three years later, the Garden City
Company developed another tract known as Garden City East; and

  WHEREAS, In September 1919,  three  sections  of  the  Village  were
incorporated  under  an unusual and highly successful non-political form
of  government  called  the  Community  Agreement;  this  Agreement  was
modified  in  1931 to include the newly developed Western Section of the
Village; and

  WHEREAS, For  more  than  100  years,  Garden  City  has  grown  and
flourished  and,  to  this  day,  remains  one  of  the  most  desirable
residential communities in the country; now, therefore, be it

  RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its  deliberations  to
commend  the  Village  of  Garden  City,  New York, upon the occasion of
celebrating its 100th Anniversary; and be it further

  RESOLVED,  That  a  copy  of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to the Village of Garden City, New York.