Stony Brook Village Center

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Stony Brook Village Center
Stony Brook Post Office 2.jpg
The Stony Brook Post Office, centerpiece of the main crescent of shops
LocationStony Brook, New York
Coordinates40°55′2″N 73°08′45″W / 40.91722°N 73.14583°W / 40.91722; -73.14583
Address111 Main Street, Stony Brook, NY
Opening date1941
Owner

Stony Brook Village Center is a privately maintained commercial center in Stony Brook, New York. The center was created by philanthropist Ward Melville as a "living Colonial Williamsburg" in the style of a traditional New England village with clapboard buildings. Several historical structures in the vicinity were moved into a crescent shape while additional structures were built to match. Completed in 1941, it is owned and operated by the Ward Melville Heritage Organization, a privately operated nonprofit corporation.[1]

The center was conceived as a "living Williamsburg" and originally functioned as an active village center with such shops as a butcher, a baker, and a hardware shop. To the chagrin of many local residents and students, the original shops have since nearly all been replaced by boutique shops geared toward the affluent.[2]

Operation[]

Boutique shops in the Stony Brook Village Center

The Ward Melville Heritage Organization is a privately operated nonprofit corporation that was created as the Stony Brook Community Fund in 1939 with the task of operating the Stony Brook Village Center and various historic properties in its vicinity. The organization has been a center of local controversy for operating entirely without public input and for pushing long-term businesses out of the village center. A number of local residents believe that the corporation has failed in its original task of maintaining a living village, having since replaced it with a center that predominantly consists of high-end boutique shops and maintains almost no activity beyond the late afternoon.[2]

References[]

  1. ^ "About Us". Stony Brook Village Center. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Building a Village, Providing for a School". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-06-28.

External links[]

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