Rich with history and a bustling business district, Manhasset is a great place to spend the day. Here are a couple of ideas for a day itinerary in the hamlet.
EAT: Pearl East
No secret to the locals and especially to the wealthy and famous, dine in the upscale and award-winning Pearl East on Northern Boulevard. This Chinese restaurant covers all of the bases for Asian cuisine, from Cantonese, Mandarin, Szechuan and Japanese dishes. Choose from a variety of dim sum, appetizers, traditional Asian main course dishes, sushi, sashimi and more.
Pearl East is located at 1191 Northern Blvd. and is open every day for lunch and dinner. Reservations are highly encouraged. Visit www.pearleast.li or call 516-365-9898 for details.
SEE: Christ Church Manhasset
After lunch, make your way east on the boulevard to Christ Church Manhasset, the final resting place of Dr. James Cogswell, a Revolutionary War patriot and surgeon who served on George Washington’s staff.
Grafted from the plaque at the cemetery, it is known that Cogswell was a philanthropist and was one of the originators of the New York Dispensary System of the Society for the Relief of Distressed Debtors. He was also involved with the first African school, established in New York City in 1787 as a one-room schoolhouse with 40 students. It was once located at 137 Mulberry St. but since razed for apartment buildings. He was a devoted Christian.
He was a member of the Manumission Society, founded by John Jay, which battled the slave trade, working toward emancipation of slaves in New York. The organization was instrumental in passing a law in New York which prohibited the sale of slaves in 1785.
Cogswell was born in Canterbury, CT, to James and Alice Fitch Cogswell, on July 31, 1746.
He studied medicine and began his practice in Preston, CT. He served as an army surgeon at Cambridge, MA during the Battle of Bunker Hill. In August of 1776, he married Elizabeth Davenport and they settled in Stamford, CT, raising one child, Alice. As the war progressed, Cogswell was called upon again to aid the patriot cause. He was assigned as regimental surgeon to General Gold Selleck Sillman, who was on duty in New York with the Connecticut militia. He took his younger brother, Mason, on as his assistant. His wife died in 1779. When the war ended, Cogswell returned home and married Abigail Lloyd, with whom he had four children. They moved to New York, where Cogswell continued his medical practice and maintained an apothecary business. Cogswell contracted yellow fever while attending to a sickened patient; he died on Nov. 22, 1792.
Christ Church Manhasset Historic Cemetery is located at Plandome Road and Northern Boulevard. Visit www.christchurchmanhasset.org to learn more and to schedule a cemetery tour.
DO: Leeds Pond Preserve
You get so much more than scenery and fresh air when you take a hike at Leeds Pond Preserve. Leeds Pond is named after Warner M. Leeds who owned the pond from 1906 until his death in 1925. The 36-acre preserve includes the Science Museum of Long Island, a pond, marine edge, stream, woodlands and meadows. It offers a wide diversity of plant and animal life, and serves as a springboard for the detailed investigation of local ecological habitats.
The preserve is located at 1526 N. Plandome Rd. in Manhasset. Grounds hours are typically 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Check the museum’s website for special guided hikes, tours and night programs. Visit www.smli.org or call 516-627-9400 for details.