Can SERVPRO of Hicksville / Plainview handle structural cleaning after a fire in Levittown?
23. House fire odor removal Wantagh NY
When a fire strikes a home, the aftermath can be devastating and overwhelming. Homeowners in Levittown, like anywhere else, face not only emotional stress but also the daunting task of cleaning up and restoring their properties. One of the big questions folks often have is, Can SERVPRO of Hicksville / Plainview handle structural cleaning after a fire in Levittown? Well, lets dive into that.
23. House fire odor removal Wantagh NY
First off, its important to understand that fire damage goes beyond just whats visible. Its not just about the charred walls or the soot-covered floors. Theres also the issue of smoke damage, which can seep into every nook and cranny, leaving behind odors and potential health risks. My office in Jericho had a small fire but big smoke impact—who’s there? SERVPRO of Hicksville / Plainview . So, the task isnt merely about scrubbing surfaces but ensuring a thorough cleaning that addresses all these hidden dangers.
Now, about SERVPRO of Hicksville / Plainview (sounds like a mouthful, doesnt it?) – theyve got a pretty solid reputation for handling fire damage restoration. Theyre not just some random company trying to make a quick buck. No, theyve got experience under their belt, and they offer a comprehensive range of services. From cleaning up debris to removing smoke odors, they seem to cover it all. And yes, structural cleaning is part of their repertoire!
However, dont think that means its a walk in the park. Fire damage restoration is a complex process. You cant just wave a magic wand and expect everything to be back to normal. It requires specialized equipment and trained professionals who know exactly what theyre doing. Fortunately, SERVPRO claims to have both. Theyve got those high-tech machines and a team thats been trained to handle the nitty-gritty of fire restoration.
But hey, lets not pretend theyre perfect (who is?). Its always smart to do your due diligence. Check out reviews, maybe even talk to some folks whove used their services before. You wouldnt want to jump into something as significant as fire restoration without doing a bit of homework. After all, its your home were talking about!
And heres a little tip: insurance companies often work closely with restoration companies like SERVPRO. So, if youre dealing with fire damage, its worth checking if your insurance can cover (or at least partially) the costs. Its one less thing to stress about!
In conclusion, can SERVPRO of Hicksville / Plainview handle structural cleaning in Levittown after a fire?
It sure seems like they can. Theyve got the tools, the team, and the experience. Bethpage, NY But like with any service, its always good to be informed and cautious. After all, you wouldnt want to end up more stressed than you already are, right? So, take a deep breath, do your research, and then make the decision thats best for you and your home. Good luck!
Throughout the district's existence, it was the subject of bipartisan criticism by both taxpayers and government officials, who cited the district's inefficiencies, taxpayer cost burdens, and maintenance issues, amongst other things.[1][2]
The Hicksville Escalator District was established on September 15, 1964, as a result of the reconstruction of the Hicksville station; the station, which had previously been at-grade, was raised onto an elevated structure through a grade crossing elimination project executed by the New York Public Service Commission.[1][3][4][5][6] The district was created by the Town of Oyster Bay in order to pay for & maintain the rebuilt station's two escalators between the street and the platforms.[1][2][3][7] The escalators went into service in 1966.[8][9][10]
Not long after the establishment of the district and the installation of the escalators, issues over costs & maintenance arose. Disputes between the town and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority hindered the district's ability to adequately maintain the escalators, which were subjected to frequent, chronic breakdowns and were poorly shielded from the elements.[8][10] In an attempt to mitigate weather-related breakdowns, the escalators were enclosed by the town in 1969 to shield them from the elements, but chronic breakdowns and other issues persisted.[8][10]
By January 1977, seeking to abolish the district and allow the escalators to be maintained more efficiently, Oyster Bay officials were negotiating with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for that agency to purchase the escalators for $1; this would enable the district's elimination, the town's taxpayers to be relieved of the cost burdens, and the improvement in the station's efficiency.[2][7][10] That May, the Oyster Bay Town Board voted in favor of this proposal, spearheaded by Town Supervisor John Colby.[2][7] The extensive talks between the town and the MTA broke down later that year, as a result of the MTA demanding the town first repair the escalators to a state of good repair – and pay for the replacement the handrails – before the execution of the transfer could be completed; this dispute coincided with the town spending $40,000 (1978 USD) to repair the steps on the escalators.[2] The prerequisite was viewed by town officials & taxpayers as an undue tax burden upon district residents, as then-Deputy Town Supervisor Robert Schmidt stated in a 1978 Newsday article on the matter.[2] Schmidt also argued that, as a significant amount of passengers at the station – the LIRR's busiest east of Jamaica – resided outside of the district, it would be more appropriate for the MTA to own, operate, and maintain the escalators; district residents were paying an escalator tax of 1.4 cents per $100 in valuation at the time.[2] It was further argued by Supervisor Colby that it was more appropriate for the MTA to assume ownership & maintenance responsibilities than leave them to the town, as the escalators were a service for commuters at an MTA-owned train station, served by an MTA-operated commuter railroad.[8]
By February 1978, bills in the New York State Legislature were proposed as a result of the breakdown in negotiations between the town and the MTA, which spurred the need for legislative action to settle the matter; the bills would effectively dissolve the district and transfer the escalators' ownership & maintenance responsibilities to the MTA – and would also enable that agency to replace them.[2][11] The bills also allowed for the allocation of up to $700,000 (1978 USD) for the installation of escalators at the Floral Park, Lynbrook, and Valley Stream stations.[2] The bills received bipartisan support and subsequently passed; Senator Norman J. Levy (R–Merrick) sponsored the State Senate bill, while Assemblyman Lewis J. Revoli (D–Old Bethpage) – a vocal critic of the district – sponsored the State Assembly bill.[1][2][8] About this time, Levy also sponsored a separate bill to abolish the Baldwin Escalator District – a similar district in Baldwin to maintain that community's station's escalators and the only other such district in Nassau County.[2]
On October 30, 1979, with the New York State Legislature's approval, the MTA took over control of the station's escalator's from the district.[1] At the time, district residents were paying an escalator tax of 1.9 cents per $100 in valuation – an increase from a tax of 1.4 cents per $100 in valuation in 1976, caused by rising maintenance costs.[1][9][10] That same day, upon the transfer, the Hicksville Escalator District officially dissolved.[1]
The Hicksville Escalator District was governed by the Town of Oyster Bay.[1][9][10] It was funded through taxes on properties located within the district's boundaries. The district's expenditures included paying for the construction and maintenance of the escalators – in addition to the salary of one full-time escalator serviceman.[1][10]
The hamlet's area was considerably larger before several of its parts incorporated as separate villages. At least six of the 36 villages and hamlets of the Town of Oyster Bay have shores on Oyster Bay Harbor and its inlets, and many of these were previously considered part of the hamlet of Oyster Bay; three of those are now known as Mill Neck, Bayville, and Centre Island. The Oyster Bay Post Office (ZIP code 11771) serves portions of the surrounding villages also, including Oyster Bay Cove, Laurel Hollow, Mill Neck, Muttontown, Centre Island, Cove Neck, and Upper Brookville.
The first mention of Oyster Bay comes from Dutch Captain David Pietersz. de Vries, who in his journal recalls how on June 4, 1639, he "came to anchor in Oyster Bay, which is a large bay which lies on the north side of the Great Island… There are fine oysters here, whence our nation has given it the name of Oyster Bay."
Oyster Bay was settled by the Dutch, and was the boundary between the Dutch New Amsterdam colony and the English New England colonies. The English, under Peter Wright, first settled in the area in 1653. The boundary between the Dutch and English was somewhat fluid which led to each group having their own Main Street. Many Quakers came to Oyster Bay, escaping persecution from Dutch authorities in New Amsterdam. These included Elizabeth Feake and her husband Captain John Underhill, whom she converted to Quakerism.[2]
Other notable Quakers to settle in Oyster Bay were the brothers John Townsend and Henry Townsend. Noted dissenter and founder of Quakerism George Fox visited Oyster Bay in 1672, where he spoke with the Wrights, Underhill and Feake at a Quaker gathering on the site of Council Rock, facing the Mill Pond.[3]
During the Revolutionary War, Raynham Hall was owned by the irredentist Townsend family. For a six-month period from 1778 to 1779, the Townsend home served as British headquarters for the Queen's Rangers led by Lt. Col. John Graves Simcoe. Simcoe was often visited by British officer Major John Andre. According to legend, on one of these visits Samuel Townsend's daughter Sally Townsend overheard the two officers discussing Benedict Arnold's traitorous plot to surrender the fort at West Point to the British.[clarification needed] The plot was thwarted when three Americans on patrol captured Andre near West Point, preventing what would have been a disastrous defeat for the colonists in the Revolutionary War.
In the 1880s, the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) extended rail service from Locust Valley as a means to establish a connection between New York and Boston, via steamboat on Long Island Sound. On June 21, 1889, the first LIRR train arrived in Oyster Bay. In the following year, service commenced with the train coaches being loaded onto a ferry for a connection to the New Haven Railroad at Norwalk, CT. Service lasted less than a year.[4]
Around the time railroad service was introduced, Theodore Roosevelt, the future 26th President of the United States, chose to make his home at Sagamore Hill, in present-day Cove Neck, a neighboring incorporated village (Cove Neck was not incorporated until 1927). Sagamore Hill was completed in 1886. This is where Roosevelt lived until his death in 1919. His wife Edith Roosevelt continued to occupy the house until her death, nearly three decades later, in September 1948. On July 25, 1962, Congress established the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site to preserve the house.
The oysters that give the bay its name are now the only source of traditionally farmed oysters from Long Island, providing up to 90% of all the oysters harvested in New York State.[citation needed]
When Hurricane Sandy hit Oyster Bay in 2012, West Shore Road was demolished. Due to the damages, commuters between Bayville and Oyster Bay had to take a detour through Mill Neck, on-and-off for 4 years.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 1.6 square miles (4.1 km2), of which 1.2 square miles (3.1 km2) is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km2) – or 23.60% – is water.[5]
For the 2000 census, the CDP was enlarged beyond the boundaries used for the 1990 census.[6]
As of the census[9] of 2000, there were 6,826 people, 2,815 households, and 1,731 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 5,554.1 inhabitants per square mile (2,144.4/km2). There were 2,898 housing units at an average density of 2,358.0 per square mile (910.4/km2). The racial makeup of the CDP was 90.51% White, 3.16% Black or African American, 0.28% Native American, 1.76% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 2.17% from other races, and 2.09% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.25% of the population.
There were 2,815 households, out of which 26.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.3% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.5% were non-families. 33.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.06.
In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 20.7% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $57,993, and the median income for a family was $73,500. Males had a median income of $51,968 versus $41,926 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $34,730. About 3.3% of families and 7.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.5% of those under age 18 and 12.1% of those age 65 or over.
A less distinguished figure from the hamlet's past is Typhoid Mary, whose contagiousness was discovered following an investigation into her employment at a summer home in Oyster Bay in 1906. William Woodward Jr., accidental victim of 1955's "Shooting of the Century" and subject of Dominic Dunne's book and NBC's The Two Mrs. Grenvilles was also a resident of Oyster Bay.
The WaterFront Center a non-profit center for marine education and recreation offering sailing lessons and environmental education programs. It also owns the Sloop Christeen which it uses for sails around the harbor.
The Oyster Bay-East Norwich Public Library is a public library serving the residents of the communities of Oyster Bay and East Norwich. Today the library provides a variety of services for youth and adults.[10]
For over two hundred years the residents of Oyster Bay did not have a public library as we know it today. Before the turn of the twentieth century there were "reading rooms" instead. One of the earliest was opened by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1873, called the Oyster Bay Reading Room and Lyceum, with a focus on history and genealogy.
Others included one run by Christ Church, begun in 1889 by Reverend Henry Homer Washburn, to encourage people to spend less time at saloons. He gave up on the idea when his reading room was used more for card playing than reading.
Then in 1893 the People's Library and Reading Room opened on east Main Street and it is that collection of books which would later be brought to this building.[11]
The Oyster Bay-East Norwich Public Library was originally constructed in 1901, through the efforts and donations of many community leaders, notably Andrew Snouder of Snouder's Drug Store. One of the early fundraising efforts was the laying of a cornerstone by Theodore Roosevelt in 1899, when the land had been donated by Mrs. Harriet Swan, but no plans for the building itself had yet been developed. In the time between the laying of that cornerstone, and the construction of the actual building, the symbolic masonry corner was lost and has still never been found.[12]
Another early contributor was Andrew Carnegie, the industrialist and philanthropist. He had a niece who lived near the village and when he heard of the efforts to begin a library here he donated $1,000 to help the cause. Carnegie continued this thousand dollar annual contribution for many years afterwards, which helped greatly during the early years of the library's history. The brick building to the left as you face the front of the library represents the original structure, which was wood frame until 1949, when an extensive renovation took place.[11]
To the right is a frame house built around 1890 which for many generations was a doctor's office. It was purchased by the library and connected to the original building in 1975.[11] This house is often referred to as the Bishop house, named for Dr. Bishop who had a medical practice there. In 1994 the brick and glass additions behind the Bishop House were added on to further expand the facilities which now include a spacious and sunny children's room.[13]
Acclaim Entertainment was originally located in the hamlet of Oyster Bay.[14] It originally occupied a one-room office in Oyster Bay. At a later time it occupied a brick structure with two stories.[15] In 1994 Acclaim bought a headquarters building in Glen Cove.[16]
^"Services". Oyster Bay East-Norwich Library Website. Oyster Bay East-Norwich Library. April 19, 2009. Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2012.
^ abcHammond, John. "Village Views: the Peoples Reading Room." Oyster Bay Guardian. January 9, 1998: 5.
^Hammond, John. "Village Views: the Library Cornerstone." Oyster Bay Guardian. January 23, 1998: 3, 5.
^"History". Oyster Bay East-Norwich Library Website. Oyster Bay East-Norwich Library. April 19, 2009. Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2012.
^Standard and Poor's Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives, Volume 1. Standard & Poor's, 1995. Page listing Acclaim. Retrieved from Google Books on July 8, 2010. "ACCLAIM ENTERTAINMENT INC. (See Corporate Information Section) 71 Audrey Ave., Oyster Bay, NY 11771"
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2024)
Hamlet namesake Valentine Hicks[2] was the son-in-law of abolitionist and Quaker preacher Elias Hicks, and eventual president of the Long Island Rail Road. He bought land in the village in 1834 and turned it into a station stop on the LIRR in 1837.[2] Hicksville was founded accidentally when a financial depression brought the LIRR to a stop at Broadway, Hicksville. The station slowly grew and though it started as a train station, it turned into a hotel then a real estate deal,[3] even becoming a depot for produce, particularly cucumbers for a Heinz Company plant. After a blight destroyed the cucumber crops, the farmers grew potatoes. It turned into a bustling New York City suburb in the building boom following World War II.[4][5]
In 1953, Hicksville attempted to incorporate itself as the Incorporated Village of Hicksville.[6] Many residents felt that by incorporating as a village, the community would be run more effectively than by the Town of Oyster Bay. A petition had been signed with 6,242 signatures from residents in favor of the plan.[6][7][8]
However, these plans were unsuccessful, and Hicksville remains an unincorporated area of the Town of Oyster Bay to this day, as of 2023.[9][10]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 6.8 square miles (18 km2), of which 6.8 square miles (18 km2) is land and 0.15% is water.[11]
The climate is borderline between hot-summer humid continental (Dfa) and humid subtropical (Cfa) and the local hardiness zone is 7a.[12] Average monthly temperatures in the village center range from 31.9 °F in January to 74.7 °F in July.[13]
Metalab Equipment Company, a division of Norbute Corp, made laboratory furniture and cabinetry.[14] Alsy Manufacturing manufactured electric lamps and lampshades from 1975 through 1991.[14]
The Rubber Company of America (RUCO) built a manufacturing site in 1945. RUCO Polymer Corp. (Hooker Chemical Company) manufactured plastics, latex, and esters. Occidental Chemical Corporation (OCC) owned and operated this site from 1966 to 1982. The site was purchased by Sybron Corporation, then in 2000, the Bayer Corporation (Bayer MaterialScience) purchased the Hooker Ruco facility and in 2002 decided to close the facility. The facility was a freight customer of the Long Island Rail Road and New York and Atlantic Railway, served by a spur track off the Main Line next to the grade crossing at New South Road.[15] The site was used for the production of polyester from 1982 until 2002. The LIRR removed the switch during track work sometime after the closure and demolition of the buildings on the property. The property remains fenced-off and vacant currently.[16]
The presence of a major LIRR hub means that Hicksville developed as a major bedroom community of New York City. The LIRR has a team yard on West John Street, just east of Charlotte Avenue, served by the New York and Atlantic Railway, for off-line freight customers receiving or shipping cargo by rail to anywhere in the North American rail network.
Hicksville's North Broadway, positioned in the center of Nassau County, developed into a significant retail center. North Broadway was home to the Mid-Island Shopping Plaza (now known as Broadway Mall), a 156,000-square-foot Sears department store and auto center (which closed in 2018)[17] and various other restaurants and retail stores.[18]
Hicksville is home to a number of South Asian grocery stores, clothing shops and restaurants, due to its large proportion of immigrants from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.[19][20]
For the period 2017–2021, the median annual income for a household in the CDP was $123,230. The per capita income for the CDP was $46,504. About 4.1% of people were below the poverty line.[22]
By 1996 there were around four to five restaurants in Hicksville serving South Asian cuisine, and this started the ascent of a "Little India" there.[23]
Between 2010 and 2020, Asian populations in Hicksville grew faster than the population as a whole.[20] During this period, Hicksville's Asian population grew from 8,139 to 14,178, comprising 32.3% of the town's population.[20] By 2020, Hicksville had become "a hub" of Indian-American life, with multiple South Asian grocery stores, clothing shops, and restaurants, serving the religious, economic, financial, and cultural needs of its many South Asian residents.[20]
As an unincorporated hamlet within the Town of Oyster Bay, Hicksville is governed directly by the town's government, which is seated in Oyster Bay.[10]
Hicksville is primarily located within the boundaries of the Hicksville Union Free School District.[10][25] However, a small part of the hamlet's southeastern corner is located within the boundaries of the Bethpage Union Free School District while a small portion of the hamlet's northeastern corner is located within the boundaries of the Syosset Central School District.[10][25] As such, children who reside within Hicksville and attend public schools go to school in one of these three districts depending on where they live within the hamlet.[10][25] In 2023, Hicksville High School was ranked in the top 30% of New York schools by the National Center for Education Statistics.[26]
Hicksville is located within the boundaries of (and is thus served by) the Hicksville Library District, the Bethpage Library District, and the Syosset Library District.[10] The boundaries of these three districts within the hamlet roughly correspond to those of the three school districts.[10]
The Hicksville Fire Department's headquarters in 2019
Hicksville's fire protection is provided by the Hicksville Fire Department.[10] Its police protection comes from the Nassau County Police Department's 2nd and 8th precincts, as well as the MTA Police and Nassau County Auxiliary Police.[10]
^ abcdPhillips, Ted (September 8, 2021). "Asians outpace other residents in Jericho and Hicksville, census shows". Newsday. Retrieved June 17, 2023. In Hicksville, where South Asian grocery stores, clothing shops and restaurants dot the streetscape, the Asian population grew to 14,178 in 2020 from 8,139 a decade earlier, according to census data. Asians are the second largest group, comprising 32.3% of the population compared with 43.5% for whites.
^National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame. "Mitch Kupchak". polishsportshof.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2024. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
DIVIDE Interlocking tower, located just east of the station
Hicksville station's first depot opened on March 1, 1837, and it served as the temporary terminus of the LIRR.[4] Both the station and the eponymous hamlet were established by Valentine Hicks – the son of an abolitionist preacher who also briefly served as President of the LIRR.[4]
In 1841, the Main Line was extended east from Hicksville to Farmingdale, after a delay caused by the depression that had begun with the Panic of 1837.[4]
In 1854, the station gained a line known as the Hicksville and Syosset Railroad that later became the Port Jefferson Branch of the LIRR.[4] Ten years later, on July 15, 1864, Hicksville's first depot burned down. A second depot opened in September 1873, and was moved to a private location in 1909. The third depot opened on October 30, 1909, and was razed in November 1962 as the current elevated structure was being built.[4][5][6] The elevated station opened on September 12, 1964.[4][6][7]
In 1965, an eagle sculpture from the original Penn Station, which had recently been demolished, was moved to the Hicksville station. The sculpture was subsequently installed in the station's parking lot, where it remains standing today.[4][8]
In October 1970, third-rail electrification on the Main Line was extended from Mineola through Hicksville to Huntington[9] thereby introducing direct electric train service to Penn Station (Hicksville customers had previously been required to change trains at Jamaica).[9] The first electric train to serve the Hicksville station ran on October 19th of that year.[9]
On October 30, 1979, the MTA took over control of the station's escalators from the Hicksville Escalator District – a special district responsible for maintaining and paying for the escalators at the station; the controversial district was dissolved upon this transfer of ownership.[10]
The station underwent a full renovation beginning in early 2014.[11] The $121 million renovation included replacing station platforms, escalators, elevators, waiting rooms, canopies, and lighting. Security cameras were also added during the renovation.[11] Construction was estimated to last through 2017, and was expected to be completed by August 2018.[11][12][13] Platform A was the first platform to be rebuilt, reopening in September 2017.[14] The electrical substation at Hicksville station will be replaced as part of the Main Line third track project.[15] The rehabilitation project was officially completed in September 2018.
Generally, Platform A serves westbound trains and Platform B serves eastbound trains. Track 2 operates with the flow of rush hour, handling westbound trains in the morning and eastbound trains in the evening, though some westbound trains will use Platform B. Most Montauk Branch trains pass through the station without stopping. East of the station, the Port Jefferson Branch splits from the Main Line at DIVIDE Interlocking.
In January 2025, it was officially announced that a new Long Island branch of Amtrak's Northeast Regional, running east to Ronkonkoma via the LIRR's Main Line, would serve the Hicksville station, with an intermediate stop at Jamaica east of Penn Station.[3] The year prior, Amtrak conducted a study of the new service through a $500 million federal grant.[16] As of January 2025, Amtrak service is anticipated to begin in 2028.[3]
Throughout the district's existence, it was the subject of bipartisan criticism by both taxpayers and government officials, who cited the district's inefficiencies, taxpayer cost burdens, and maintenance issues, amongst other things.[1][2]
The Hicksville Escalator District was established on September 15, 1964, as a result of the reconstruction of the Hicksville station; the station, which had previously been at-grade, was raised onto an elevated structure through a grade crossing elimination project executed by the New York Public Service Commission.[1][3][4][5][6] The district was created by the Town of Oyster Bay in order to pay for & maintain the rebuilt station's two escalators between the street and the platforms.[1][2][3][7] The escalators went into service in 1966.[8][9][10]
Not long after the establishment of the district and the installation of the escalators, issues over costs & maintenance arose. Disputes between the town and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority hindered the district's ability to adequately maintain the escalators, which were subjected to frequent, chronic breakdowns and were poorly shielded from the elements.[8][10] In an attempt to mitigate weather-related breakdowns, the escalators were enclosed by the town in 1969 to shield them from the elements, but chronic breakdowns and other issues persisted.[8][10]
By January 1977, seeking to abolish the district and allow the escalators to be maintained more efficiently, Oyster Bay officials were negotiating with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for that agency to purchase the escalators for $1; this would enable the district's elimination, the town's taxpayers to be relieved of the cost burdens, and the improvement in the station's efficiency.[2][7][10] That May, the Oyster Bay Town Board voted in favor of this proposal, spearheaded by Town Supervisor John Colby.[2][7] The extensive talks between the town and the MTA broke down later that year, as a result of the MTA demanding the town first repair the escalators to a state of good repair – and pay for the replacement the handrails – before the execution of the transfer could be completed; this dispute coincided with the town spending $40,000 (1978 USD) to repair the steps on the escalators.[2] The prerequisite was viewed by town officials & taxpayers as an undue tax burden upon district residents, as then-Deputy Town Supervisor Robert Schmidt stated in a 1978 Newsday article on the matter.[2] Schmidt also argued that, as a significant amount of passengers at the station – the LIRR's busiest east of Jamaica – resided outside of the district, it would be more appropriate for the MTA to own, operate, and maintain the escalators; district residents were paying an escalator tax of 1.4 cents per $100 in valuation at the time.[2] It was further argued by Supervisor Colby that it was more appropriate for the MTA to assume ownership & maintenance responsibilities than leave them to the town, as the escalators were a service for commuters at an MTA-owned train station, served by an MTA-operated commuter railroad.[8]
By February 1978, bills in the New York State Legislature were proposed as a result of the breakdown in negotiations between the town and the MTA, which spurred the need for legislative action to settle the matter; the bills would effectively dissolve the district and transfer the escalators' ownership & maintenance responsibilities to the MTA – and would also enable that agency to replace them.[2][11] The bills also allowed for the allocation of up to $700,000 (1978 USD) for the installation of escalators at the Floral Park, Lynbrook, and Valley Stream stations.[2] The bills received bipartisan support and subsequently passed; Senator Norman J. Levy (R–Merrick) sponsored the State Senate bill, while Assemblyman Lewis J. Revoli (D–Old Bethpage) – a vocal critic of the district – sponsored the State Assembly bill.[1][2][8] About this time, Levy also sponsored a separate bill to abolish the Baldwin Escalator District – a similar district in Baldwin to maintain that community's station's escalators and the only other such district in Nassau County.[2]
On October 30, 1979, with the New York State Legislature's approval, the MTA took over control of the station's escalator's from the district.[1] At the time, district residents were paying an escalator tax of 1.9 cents per $100 in valuation – an increase from a tax of 1.4 cents per $100 in valuation in 1976, caused by rising maintenance costs.[1][9][10] That same day, upon the transfer, the Hicksville Escalator District officially dissolved.[1]
The Hicksville Escalator District was governed by the Town of Oyster Bay.[1][9][10] It was funded through taxes on properties located within the district's boundaries. The district's expenditures included paying for the construction and maintenance of the escalators – in addition to the salary of one full-time escalator serviceman.[1][10]
![[icon]](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/File%3AWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small}
