Great Neck (LIRR station)

Great Neck
The Great Neck station as seen from the Port Washington-bound platform. The depot is visible above the canopy for the Penn Station-bound platform.
Location	Middle Neck Road & Station Plaza Village of Great Neck Plaza, New York
Coordinates	40°47′14″N 73°43′34″W / 40.787235°N 73.725986°W / 40.787235; -73.725986Coordinates: 40°47′14″N 73°43′34″W / 40.787235°N 73.725986°W / 40.787235; -73.725986
Owned by	Long Island Rail Road
Line(s)	Port Washington Branch
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	NICE Bus: n20G, n20H, n21, n25, n26, n57, n58
Construction
Parking	Yes (local permit required)
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	4
History
Opened	October 27, 1866 (NY&F)
Closed	1883, 1924
Rebuilt	1883, 1893, 1925-1934, 1990s
Electrified	October 21, 1913 750 V (DC) third rail
Previous names	Brookdale (1869-1872)
Traffic
Passengers (2006)	11,024
Services
Preceding station   LIRR   Following station Woodside toward Penn Station Port Washington Branch rush-hour express Manhasset toward Port Washington Little Neck toward Penn Station Port Washington Branch regular services Port Washington Branch rush-hour local Terminus

Great Neck is a station in the village of Great Neck Plaza, on the Port Washington Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It is the first station on the branch (heading from Manhattan) in Nassau County. The station is at Middle Neck Road and Station Plaza at Great Neck Road, 0.25 miles (0.40 km) north of Northern Boulevard, and is 15.9 miles (25.6 km) from Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan. From this point on, the line becomes single track to Port Washington.

Great Neck was originally the terminus of the New York and Flushing Railroad when it was built in 1866 by a subsidiary called the North Shore Railroad, and called Brookdale Station. The NY&F was acquired by the Flushing and North Side Railroad in 1869, and the name was changed to Great Neck in 1872. The F&NS was consolidated into the Flushing, North Shore and Central Railroad in 1874 through a merger with the Central Railroad of Long Island, only to be leased in 1876 by the LIRR.

Though Great Neck station served as a terminal station for much of the 19th Century, it was never intended to stay this way. An attempt to extend the line east from the station toward Roslyn failed in 1882. Thirteen years later, wealthy Port Washington residents persuaded the LIRR to bring the terminus to their hometown. This required the construction of the Manhasset Viaduct over the marshes at the southern end of Manhasset Bay, which was authorized by an LIRR subsidiary called the Great Neck and Port Washington Railroad. On June 23, 1898, the first LIRR train passed through Great Neck to cross the Manhasset Viaduct, Long Island's highest railroad bridge to extend the line through Manhasset, Plandome and Port Washington. In 1924, the station was closed and moved to its current location on February 26, 1925, as a grade crossing elimination project brought the tracks below ground by June 8, 1934. Elevators are on both sides. The wall along the southeastern platform has an aluminum sculpture by artist David Saunders that was installed in 2001.