Page "Great Neck, New York" Paragraph 27

In more recent days, Great Neck — in particular the Village of Kings Point — provided a backdrop to F. Scott Fitzgerald's book The Great Gatsby.

It was thinly disguised as " West Egg ," in counterpoint to Manor Haven / Sands Point, which was the inspiration for the more posh " East Egg " ( the next peninsula over on Long Island Sound ), Great Neck symbolized the decadence of the Roaring Twenties as it extended out from New York City to then-remote suburbs.

The Great Gatsby's themes and characters reflected the real-world transformation that Great Neck was experiencing at the time, as show-business personalities like Sid Caesar and the Marx Brothers bought homes in the hamlet and eventually established it as a haven for Jews, formerly of Brooklyn and the Bronx.