NYT Profiles 'Fairy Tale' Sands Point: 5 Takeaways

PORT WASHINGTON, NY — The New York Times apparently thinks highly of Sands Point, highlighting the affluent village for it's "natural beauty," 1-acre zoning and "feeling of retreat."

The Times article, published Wednesday, also highlighted Sands Point for its access to schools and businesses, as well as its proximity to the Port Washington Branch of the Long Island Rail Road that provides direct access to New York City. And it wouldn't be an article about Sands Point if there wasn't at least one mention of Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan and the East Egg. (We've done it).

Here are five takeaways from the Times article about the Port Washington peninsula's northernmost village.

1. F. Scott Fitzgerald probably wouldn't recognize it. Beth Horn, executive director of the Sands Point Preserve, told the Times the village is less exclusive since the famed author of "The Great Gatsby" walked around.

"I think he probably would have been surprised to see how many people reside here," she said. "In Fitzgerald's day, it was such an exclusive place; I think it's less so now."

2. Sands Point is a convenient alternative to Newport. Wealthy families from the Jazz Age cordoned themselves off from the city by living on sprawling estates on the waterfront. Nowadays, many of the mansions are gone, too large to reasonably maintain.

3. Even so, it's still an enclave for the mega rich. In fact, Sands Point was dubbed the richest town (yes, it's technically a village) in the state with a median household income of more than $230,000.

4. Despite what you might hear from millennials struggling to leave the nest, the village has seen an influx of young families. Mayor Edward A.K. Adler told the Times that when he and his wife first moved to Sands point in the mid-1970s, they felt like they were the only ones outside with a baby stroller. Nowadays, he sees kids waiting at bus stops in the mornings.

5. License-plate readers at major Sands Point intersections help prevent crime. But the technology coupled with routine patrols from village police officers might have given residents a false sense of security — the neighborhood was recently targeted in a series of car break-ins and thefts.