Hewlett: Schools, diversity, 'Mayberry'-like feel draw buyers

THE SCOOP Comprising less than one square mile, with fewer than 7,600 people, Hewlett is the kind of place where even at the big-box stores, people know your name.

"I call it the 'Mayberry Effect,' " said lifelong resident David Friedman, 68, president of the Hewlett-Woodmere Business Association, referring to the quintessential small town of the 1960s TV series "The Andy Griffith Show."

"People know each other," agreed Missy Miller, a council member of the Town of Hempstead, which encompasses Hewlett. The hamlet is distinct from the villages of Hewlett Harbor, Hewlett Neck and Hewlett Bay Park — all of which take their name from George Hewlett, the English immigrant who farmed the land in the 1600s. "The local merchants know the citizens coming in," she said. "People know their neighbors."

Those neighbors include people of a variety of religions. Hewlett is home to the Roman Catholic St. Joseph Church; the Protestant Anglican Trinity-St. John's Church; the Islamic Center of Five Towns; and the Jewish Chabad House of Hewlett and Sephardic Congregation of Hewlett.

Community life centers around those institutions, as well as such events as the spring Arts Below Sunrise STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) Festival produced by the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Schools Endowment Fund; the annual Memorial Day Parade, featuring such Hewlett organizations as Cub Scout Pack 20, the Young Israel of Hewlett shul and the Hewlett-Lawrence Soccer Club, which is based in neither Hewlett nor Lawrence but in Woodmere next door.

Hewlett boasts the 35-acre Grant Park, containing three synthetic-turf ballfields, a hockey rink, a playground and a batting cage, plus basketball, tennis and shuffleboard courts, walking and bicycle paths, a horseshoe pit and Grant Park Pond, where anglers can catch bass, sunfish and carp.

"Grant Park was a staple of my childhood. We'd do school trips there," said Miller, who grew up in Atlantic Beach. "It's open even until 9 o'clock at night and they have lights for evening baseball games. It's really one of the nicest parks in Nassau County."

Commercial strips abound within easy reach. Along with large retailers — King Kullen and Trader Joe's supermarkets, a Duane Reade pharmacy — there are many restaurants and shops. Miller is partial to Walls' Bakery and its cream-cheesy Philly fluff pound cake. And it's a quick hop to the waters of Hewlett Bay and Broad Channel.

The highly-ranked school district includes George W. Hewlett High School — named not after the infamous Tory who almost captured George Washington during the Revolutionary War, but rather after George Wilson Hewlett, president of the school district for 34 years.

He and his wife lived in what is now called Hewlett House, built circa 1740 and on the National Register of Historic Places. And it is living history, as the headquarters of the nonprofit breast-cancer awareness group One-in-Nine.

CONDOS AND CO-OPS There is one condo, priced at $649,000, and eight co-ops, priced between $239,000 and $799,000, on the market.

SALE PRICES Between Aug. 27, 2023, and Aug. 26, 2024, there were 75 home sales with a median sale price of $670,000, according to OneKey MLS. During that period a year earlier, there were 86 home sales with a median sale price of $667,000.

OTHER STATS

Population 7,590

Median age 38.8

Median home value $675,000

Monthly LIRR ticket from Hewlett $253

School districts, graduation rates Hewlett-Woodmere (94.8%), Lynbrook (96.8%)

Libraries Hewlett-Woodmere, Lynbrook

Transit NICE Bus Routes 1, 31, 32

Sources: 2022 American Community Survey; OneKey MLS via InfoSparks by ShowingTime; LIRR, data.nysed.gov

$1.95 million

With seven bedrooms and 4½ baths, this home on a nearly quarter-acre lot includes a living room and a family room, a formal dining room, an exercise room, a fireplace, walk-in closets and a two-car garage. The eat-in kitchen has granite counters. Taxes are $22,412 annually. Sara Abikzer, Signature Premier Properties, 516-984-6798.

$899,000

Built in 1928, modernized with an updated eat-in kitchen and central air-conditioning, this four-bed, two-bath Colonial on a tree-lined street includes a partially finished basement and a pulldown attic. It has a formal dining room, a living room with fireplace, a family room, a laundry room and a garage. Yearly taxes are $17,009. Ronnie B Gerber, Douglas Elliman Real Estate, 516-238-4299.

$589,900

A three-bed, two-bath abode of 1,370 square feet, this 1920 home has new electrical sockets throughout, as well as new plumbing, including a 3-year-old hot-water tank, plus a 2-year-old natural-gas burner. Along with an eat-in kitchen is a combined living/dining room. There is a one-car garage. Taxes annually are $15,210. Oyebadejo Oyediran, Douglas Elliman Real Estate, 631-327-0806.

RECENTLY SOLD

$1.375 million

Woodside Drive

Style Colonial

Bedrooms 5

Bathrooms 3

Built 1974

Lot size 0.16 acre

Taxes $26,616

+/- List price -$23,000

Days on market 126

$840,000

W. Broadway

Style Ranch

Bedrooms 3

Bathrooms 2

Built 1964

Lot size 0.24 acre

Taxes $16,099

+/- List price -$19,000

Days on market 87

$515,000

Chestnut Drive

Style Cape

Bedrooms 4

Bathrooms 2

Built 1950

Lot size 0.15 acre

Taxes $13,899

+/- List price -$15,000

Days on market 125

ON ONEKEY MLS

Number of listings 35

Price range $239,000 to $2.55 million

Tax range $15,001 to $33,389