As you approach the three towering sentinels that make up the North Shore Towers complex, you’d be forgiven for dismissing them as examples of bland 1970s residential architecture. However, appearances can be deceptive. While North Shore may not be New York City’s most beautiful trio of towers, it just might be the most well-appointed.

North Shore Towers contains 1,800 co-ops of various sizes. It is a small city with its very own ZIP code, and perhaps the wealthiest community in New York. The complex’s ZIP code (11005) is reported to have the largest percentage of millionaire households, 10.53%.

In Floral Park, Queens, on the border with Nassau County, the towers are the highest points in Queens County. On a clear day, the Midtown skyline, 16 miles away, and the Atlantic Ocean are visible from upper floors.

North Shore Towers is a lifestyle choice with a full-service country club, a full-size movie theater, and a communal mall accessible from all three towers.

Glen Kotowski, an NYPD veteran of 23 years, has served as general manager of the towers and the adjoining country club since winter of 2001.

“We have 22 commercial properties in the arcade at ground level, including a Chase Manhattan Bank, a 450-seat movie theater, supermarket, spa, hairdresser, and restaurant,” Mr. Kotowski explained.

But that’s not all. There’s a catering facility, a pool, outdoor barbecuing in the summer, and an 18-hole golf course (with a resident golf pro and a pro shop). The course wraps around the three towers, and affords residents bucolic vistas from their balconies.

Linda Rappaport is North Shore Towers’ on-site sales associate and a resident herself for more than 15 years.

“It’s a very diverse community here, with people commuting to Manhattan and people commuting to Florida in winter,” she said. “We have a lot of empty nesters who want to downsize and simplify their lives; they’ve had the big houses, the pool, the landscaping.”

“They come here and we take care of everything for them,” Mr. Kotowski added.

Ira and Maddy Rubin moved to North Shore Towers in July of 1994 from another co-op building in Great Neck.

“We wanted a change and we wanted to try the country club lifestyle,” Mr. Rubin said.

“When I compare it to where we lived previously, there was no social aspect where we were,” he said. “Go downstairs here and you immediately interact with new people because of the arcade. It’s much easier to socialize here, and the activities are endless,” Mr. Rubin said. They include square dancing, off-Broadway shows, and an eclectic lecture series including Lewis Kacher speaking on “Diane Arbus Revelations” from The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

An express bus to Manhattan leaves every hour on the hour until midnight, ensuring that many of North Shore Towers’ semi retired are never too far from their former lives in the city.

However, most residents don’t have to venture past the golf course for anything – even to meet new people, as Mr. Kotowski explains that the businesses in the towers are open to the public. Anyone from corporate executives to visiting family members can play a round of golf before banqueting in the catering facility, or ordering sandwiches at the luncheonette. Only residents can join the country club, however.

During the blackout of 2003, this commercial “open community” policy was put to the test, as North Shore Towers’ power plant was the only source of electricity for miles around.

“When the Northeast went black a year and a half ago,” Mr. Kotowski recalled, “we were the only ones who had electricity, so people came from all over to utilize the restaurant, the movie theater, and of course, the air conditioning. We were the only lights you could see for miles,” he said.

The power plant was installed in the hangar-like basement when the complex was built in the early 1970s.

The maintenance staff at North Shore Towers is on call 24 hours a day – which means residents don’t have to wait until things in the bathroom start floating into the living room before a plumber shows up. Most of the maintenance crew, along with the security staff, are also trained to use defibrillator – a skill Mr. Kotowski claims has saved lives.

“We take security very seriously, and have a full security team on duty at all times, in addition to a concierge in every lobby and a doorman in every lobby also,” Mr. Kotowski said.

How much does all this cost?

Prices start at around $249,000 for a 680 square foot studio, while $379,000 will get you a one-bedroom with one bathroom, said Ms. Rappaport

“I also have a gorgeous 1,200 square foot one-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath apartment overlooking New York City and the bridges, with a banquet sized dining room, large terrace and gourmet eating kitchen. That’s $639,000,” said Ms. Rappaport.

If you’re downsizing from a house, you might be more comfortable in a three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath, 2,000-square-foot penthouse with two balconies, terrace, granite eat-in kitchen, media room, Jacuzzi, sauna, and steam room – all for $1.1 million, which is reasonable when you consider what that will get you elsewhere in Gotham.