Imagine A Downtown Levittown

Towards the west of Levittown, the HUB is finally getting underway. To the north of us Hicksville is talking about transit-oriented development at the old Sears lot. Farmingdale already having embraced transit-oriented development, is developing a vibrant and bustling downtown.

Can Levittown compete and attract its residents and visitors from neighboring “hot spots” to spend money locally?

How do we get a person who is at the Coliseum to stop in Levittown for a post-game dinner and drinks instead of driving down Hempstead Turnpike on the way to Farmingdale? How do we get people in Hicksville to leave their cozy community to visit Levittown?

The solution isn’t hard, yet it won’t be easy to implement either… We must promote what we have already, then we must improve and add to it. Along a small stretch of Hempstead Turnpike, we already have Miller’s Ale House, a new Ping Pong Bar Called Smash, Izumi Sushi & Hibachi Steak House, not to mention Tri-County Unique Bazaar. This small stretch would be an ideal area to build and improve a “Downtown” Levittown. It is already situated on a major Nassau County thruway, has ample parking, and mass transit by NICE Buses.

In their downtowns Westbury has the Space; Huntington has the Paramount and Levittown has Governor’s Comedy Club. Which just so happens to share the same parcel of land I and constituents I’ve talked with, am envisioning downtown Levittown to be. This stretch of Hempstead could create a true entertainment mecca. Full of restaurants, local shops, food trucks, shows, pedestrian paths and outdoor entertainment. Let’s attract coffee shops with personality (think the Witches’ Brew in West Hempstead), tea houses and the “purrfect” addition to any downtown a cat café. (Suffolk County will have three cat cafes by the end of June).

Not long-ago people did come to Levittown to play. Remember the rolling rink on the corner of Newbridge Road and Hempstead Turnpike and the discos that were on the turnpike back in the day? We can be a playground again!

All our planning and hard work will go to waste if people can’t get there. We can work to get better NICE bus service on Hempstead Turnpike and Newbridge Road. Perhaps a pedestrian footbridge over Hempstead Turnpike to make crossing safer and linking the north and south sides together. In the future the County can invest in a trolley or shuttle that rides along Hempstead Turnpike connecting the Hub to Levittown and Farmingdale downtowns.

To become a viable downtown, we might have to look at how retail space is being used and rethink zoning laws. Hempstead Town Councilwoman Erin King Sweeney has convened a panel to look at revising the town code. The last major revision to the code was in 1957. Panelists include planners, builders, and civic leaders. They will look at how to spur development and streamline the permit process. To pay for it we can look into grants from the New York, Nassau County, and Hempstead Industrial Agencies and bring private developers.

Some of the suggestions may not come to fruition, but every great idea starts with a conversation and we can start talking about how to encourage people to spend time and money in our great community!