Great Neck, NY — Crash Data, Roads, History & Law

Great Neck is an incorporated village in the Town of North Hempstead, Nassau County, New York, with 11,145 residents at the 2020 Census. Federal crash records show 2 fatal crashes that killed 2 people within its boundaries from 2010 through 2024 — 2 of them on foot. Residents who commute travel an average of 38.8 minutes each way.

Long Island Town Fact Book · Updated · Sources & method

Great Neck at a glance

Status
Incorporated village
Town
North Hempstead
County
Nassau County
Population (2020 Census)
11,145[C]
Housing units (2020)
3,883
Land area
1.32 sq mi
Density
8,415 people per sq mi
Average commute
38.8 minutes[B]
Traffic deaths, 2010–2024
2[A]
ZIP Codes
11021, 11022, 11023, 11024
Founded / settled
The Village's own hamlet history calls it one of Great Neck's earliest settlements and says it is still called by many "the old village," without giving a founding year.[1]
Legal status
One of nine incorporated villages on the Great Neck peninsula, in the Town of North Hempstead, Nassau County[1]
Village Hall
767 Middle Neck Road, Great Neck, NY 11021; (516) 482-2000[1]
Police
Nassau County Police Department, 6th Precinct (100 Community Drive, Manhasset) — the Village has no police department of its own[3][5]
Court
Village of Great Neck Justice Court, 767 Middle Neck Road[2]
Main roads
Northern Boulevard (NY 25A, state) and Middle Neck Road (part of NY 101, state)[9][10]
Census geography
Great Neck village · GEOID 3630169 · GNIS 2390866
Coordinates
40.8024°N, 73.7331°W

Fatal crashes in Great Neck, 2010–2024

From January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2024, 2 people died in 2 crashes on public roads inside Great Neck, according to the federal Fatality Analysis Reporting System.[A] Pedestrians account for 2 of those deaths (100%).

Fatal crashes
2
People killed
2
Pedestrians
2
Bicyclists
0
Motorcyclists
0
Vehicle occupants
0
Traffic deaths in Great Neck by year, 2010–2024
0 ’10 0 ’11 0 ’12 0 ’13 1 ’14 0 ’15 0 ’16 0 ’17 0 ’18 0 ’19 1 ’20 0 ’21 0 ’22 0 ’23 0 ’24

2024 figures come from NHTSA's Annual Report File and may be revised.

View the chart as a table
YearFatal crashesDeaths
201000
201100
201200
201300
201411
201500
201600
201700
201800
201900
202011
202100
202200
202300
202400

Roads where people died

RoadCrashesDeaths
Nirvana Ave 1 1
Old Mill Rd 1 1

Road names as recorded by police and normalised to common Long Island names.

When and where

  • Of the 2 crashes with a recorded time, 0 happened between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., 1 between 4 and 8 p.m., 0 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and 1 between 6 and 10 a.m.
  • 50% happened in darkness.
  • 0 of the 2 deaths were on expressways or parkways; 2 were on arterials and local streets.

Who owns the roads where they happened (2015–2024)

FARS has recorded the owner of the roadway since 2015. Of the 1 fatal crash in Great Neck since then:

  • City or village streets 1 (100%)

Ownership matters in New York because claims against a county, town, city or village generally require a notice of claim within 90 days (General Municipal Law § 50-e), while claims against the State are brought in the Court of Claims under Court of Claims Act § 10. This is general information, not legal advice.

Rate: 1.2 traffic deaths per 100,000 residents per year, against 5.8 for Nassau County. This is a resident-based rate, not a measure of how risky the roads are to drive: crashes are counted where they happen, not where the people involved live, so a small community crossed by a major highway shows a high rate.

Every fatal crash on record

DateTimeRoadDeathsWho diedLight
6 p.m. Nirvana Ave at Middle Neck Ave (CR 11) 1 Pedestrian dark
9 a.m. Old Mill Rd 1 Pedestrian daylight

FARS contains no names or personal identifiers. * 2024 records are preliminary. Download all 2 records (CSV) · How this was compiled

Recent Great Neck Incident Reports

Updated continuously from 511NY, NYSP, NCPD, and SCPD feeds — all Long Island reports.

All reported crashes, 2021–2024

These are the crashes police coded to the Village of Great Neck. Police reported 752 crashes there from 2021 through 2024 — about 0.5 a day. 128 (17%) injured someone and 0 were fatal. [D]

Police-reported crashes, Village of Great Neck
2021202220232024Total
172205199176752
Injury crashes
128
Fatal crashes
0
Struck a pedestrian
28
Struck a bicyclist
14
Struck a deer
0

Counts are crashes, not people. The municipality is entered by the reporting police agency, and coding is less consistent for small villages, so compare places with care.

How Great Neck gets to work

Great Neck commuters travel an average of 38.8 minutes each way, 2.8 minutes longer than the Nassau County average (the national average is 26.4 minutes). About 44.7% of workers drive alone, and 19.7% ride the railroad. [B]

Commuting and vehicle access, 2020–2024 (American Community Survey 5-year estimates)
Measure Great Neck Nassau County New York State United States
Average one-way commute 38.8 min ±7.5 36 min 32.6 min 26.4 min
Commute 60 minutes or longer 32.6% ±7 22.3% 16.8% 8.6%
Commute under 15 minutes 21.4% ±6.1 17.9% 20.5% 26%
Drive alone 44.7% ±7.6 60.7% 48.8% 68.8%
Carpool 7.6% ±3.9 † 7.3% 6.3% 8.5%
Commuter rail (LIRR) 19.7% ±6.3 7.1% 1.8% 0.3%
Bus 2% ±1.6 † 2.2% 5.1% 1.5%
Walk 5.9% ±3.1 † 2% 5.6% 2.4%
Work from home 14.2% ±4.2 15.6% 14.9% 15.1%
Leave home before 6 a.m. 4.7% ±3 † 10.8% 10.6% 14.4%
Households with no vehicle 6.7% ±4.8 † 6.8% 29.2% 8.4%
Households with three or more vehicles 8.5% ±3.7 23.3% 11.8% 21.9%

Survey estimates for 3,984 workers aged 16 and over; ± values are 90% margins of error. † Small sample — the margin of error is large relative to the estimate, so treat the figure as indicative only. Travel-time rows exclude people who work from home.

Notable facts about Great Neck

  • The Village of Great Neck is only one of nine separately incorporated villages that make up the area commonly called "Great Neck."[1]
  • The Village's own history page calls it one of the peninsula's earliest settlements, still known by many as "the old village."[1]
  • The Long Island Rail Road reached Great Neck in 1866, more than three decades before the line was extended to Manhasset and Port Washington in 1898.[8]
  • Middle Neck Road in Great Neck and Port Washington Boulevard four miles north are, officially, the same state route: NY 101.[10]
  • A full-chapter scan of the Village of Great Neck's code turns up no local prior-written-notice law, meaning the state's default rule, Village Law § 6-628, governs claims over defective streets and sidewalks there.[5][7]

History

"Great Neck" commonly refers to a peninsula on Nassau County's North Shore that is politically divided among nine separate incorporated villages plus unincorporated sections, all within the Town of North Hempstead; the Village of Great Neck is one of those nine, distinct from neighboring Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kensington, Kings Point, Lake Success, Russell Gardens, Saddle Rock and Thomaston.[1] The Village's own account of its history describes it as one of the peninsula's earliest settlements and says it is "still called by many 'the old village,'" though it does not give a founding or incorporation year.[1]

The Long Island Rail Road reached Great Neck in 1866.[8] In 1898 the railroad extended its tracks north from Great Neck to Manhasset and Port Washington, a project that required building the Manhasset Viaduct; after the extension opened, business activity on the peninsula began shifting toward the rail stations.[8]

How the roads got here

Northern Boulevard through the village is New York State Route 25A; NYSDOT's official route description runs NY 25A from the Queens–Nassau line, via Roslyn, to Port Jefferson and beyond.[9] Middle Neck Road, the village's principal internal artery, carries the state's NY 101 reference route, which NYSDOT describes as running from NY 25A in Flower Hill "on Port Washington Boulevard and Middle Neck Road" north to Sands Point — the same route number that also names Port Washington's main north–south street.[10]

Law and legal history

A full scan of the Village of Great Neck's own code of ordinances, as published on eCode360, turns up no chapter creating a police department and no chapter on "notice of defect" or prior written notice of highway or sidewalk hazards — unlike the neighboring Town of North Hempstead, which adopted its own notice-of-defect law in 1978, and the Village of Roslyn, which adopted one in 2000.[5][6] In the absence of a local supersession, the default rule for New York villages, Village Law § 6-628, governs: "No civil action shall be maintained against the village for damages or injuries to person or property sustained in consequence of any street, highway, bridge, culvert, sidewalk or crosswalk being defective, out of repair, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed" unless written notice was first given to the village clerk and the village failed to act on it within a reasonable time.[7]

Government, courts and policing

The Village of Great Neck is governed by an elected Board of Trustees from Village Hall at 767 Middle Neck Road.[1] Traffic, parking and village-ordinance violations are heard by the Village of Great Neck Justice Court at the same address.[2] The Nassau County Police Department's 6th Precinct, headquartered at 100 Community Drive in Manhasset, lists "Great Neck" among the communities it serves, alongside Manhasset, Roslyn, Great Neck Plaza, Munsey Park, Thomaston, Saddle Rock, Russell Gardens and others; the Village's own website carries no police department page, consistent with county rather than village policing.[3] By contrast, NCPD's 3rd Precinct, in Williston Park, serves a distinct set of more central Nassau communities (Mineola, Garden City, New Hyde Park, Williston Park and others) and does not list Great Neck, Manhasset, Port Washington or the Village of Roslyn among the places it covers.[4]

Railroad and transit

Great Neck's Long Island Rail Road station opened with the line's arrival in 1866, well before the 1898 extension that carried the railroad on to Manhasset and Port Washington.[8]

Great Neck timeline

  1. Rail service reaches Great Neck. The Long Island Rail Road reached Great Neck in 1866, the year after the Civil War ended.[8]
  2. Line extended to Port Washington. The LIRR extended its tracks from Great Neck to Port Washington, a project that required building the Manhasset Viaduct.[8]

Major roads in Great Neck

RoadRouteMaintained byIn Great Neck
Northern Boulevard [9] NY 25A New York State runs through
Middle Neck Road [10] NY 101 (unsigned state reference route) New York State runs through

Emergency Resources

Hospitals

  • North Shore University Hospital (Northwell Health) — 300 Community Drive, Manhasset, NY 11030 — (516) 562-0100 (New York State Department of Health Level I adult trauma center; the same listing shows no pediatric designation for this facility.)
  • Cohen Children's Medical Center (Northwell Health) — 269-01 76th Avenue, New Hyde Park, NY 11040

Police

  • Nassau County Police Department, 6th Precinct — 100 Community Drive, Manhasset, NY 11030 — (516) 573-6600 (Lists "Great Neck" among the communities it serves. The Village of Great Neck has no police department of its own.)

Courts

  • Village of Great Neck Justice Court — 767 Middle Neck Road, Great Neck, NY 11021 — (516) 487-0775 (Handles traffic, parking and Village ordinance violations.)

Local Driver Services in Great Neck

Practical resources for Great Neck drivers — tire shops, gas prices, and live traffic conditions.

Safety Resources

Frequently Asked Questions

What are traffic conditions like on Middle Neck Road in Great Neck?

Middle Neck Road (NY-101) is Great Neck's busiest internal arterial and sees chronic congestion during morning and evening rush hours. The stretch through Great Neck village and Great Neck Estates is particularly constrained by a narrow right-of-way, on-street parking, and high pedestrian activity near the LIRR station and commercial downtown.

Is the LIE backed up near Great Neck exits?

Exit 33 (Lakeville Road/Great Neck) and Exit 32 (Shelter Rock Road) frequently back up during the evening westbound rush. The LIE approaches from the Queens-Nassau border can be congested from as early as 3:30 p.m. through 7:00 p.m. on weekdays. The Lakeville Road ramp at Exit 33 has limited stacking capacity.

What injury attorney should I contact after an accident in Great Neck?

Nassau County personal injury attorneys handle all accident claims from the Great Neck area. Many maintain offices in Mineola near the Nassau County courthouse. If your accident involved serious injuries, a free consultation with a personal injury attorney is recommended before settling with any insurance company.

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Data: machine-readable fact sheet (JSON) · fatal-crash records (CSV) · methodology and limits

References

Datasets

  1. [A] National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2010–2024 national files. Retrieved September 17, 2026.Crashes on public trafficways in which a person died within 30 days. No personal identifiers. Placed by reported coordinates into 2020 Census boundaries.
  2. [B] U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-Year Estimates, tables B08303, B08013, B08301, B08302, B08201, B19013, B01002. Retrieved September 17, 2026.Survey estimates with 90% margins of error. lowReliability = coefficient of variation above 30%.
  3. [C] U.S. Census Bureau, TIGERweb — 2020 Census tabulation geography (POP100, HU100, AREALAND). Retrieved September 17, 2026.
  4. [D] New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, Motor Vehicle Crashes — Case Information: Four Year Window. Retrieved September 17, 2026.Police-reported crashes coded to a town, city or village by the reporting agency. Hamlets are not coded; hamlet pages show the parent town.

Sources for history, roads and law

  1. [1] Village of Great Neck. Village of Great Neck, NY — home page (2026). Government record.
  2. [2] Village of Great Neck. Village Court (2026). Government record.
  3. [3] Nassau County Police Department. About Sixth Precinct (2026). Government record.
  4. [4] Nassau County Police Department. About Third Precinct (2026). Government record.
  5. [5] Village of Great Neck / General Code (eCode360). Village of Great Neck, NY — full Code table of contents (2025). Government record.
  6. [6] Town of North Hempstead / General Code (eCode360). Chapter 26, Highways: Notice of Defect (2005). Government record.
  7. [7] newyork.public.law (consolidated statute text). New York Village Law § 6-628, Defective streets and sidewalks (2026). Reference work.
  8. [8] Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society. Long Island Rail Road (2026). Historical society.
  9. [9] New York State Department of Transportation. Official Description of Highway Touring Routes ... in New York State (NY 25A) (2017). Government record.
  10. [10] New York State Department of Transportation. Official Description of Highway Touring Routes ... in New York State (NY 101) (2017). Government record.
  11. [11] New York State Department of Health. New York State Trauma Centers (n.d.). Government record.

Sources opened and checked September 17, 2026.