Our Town: Williston Day

The Island Now

I can honestly say the Williston Park Day is my favorite day of the year.  

It always  reminds me of the Molly Bloom soliloquy in James Joyce’s Ulysses where she lets her mind ramble on about the richness of Dublin, its people and her love.  

On Williston Park Day we finally get a chance to walk Hillside Avenue without the fear of being run down by a speeding car.   

We finally get a chance to bump into our neighbors, eat some food served on the sidewalk and in the sun.  

This of course is like s European piazza which they have every day but we have but once a year. 

On this day I noticed those wonderful antique cars like the 1931 Dodge and glorious green MGB convertible.  My first car was a 1954 MGTF with the sideboards and tire on the trunk. I love MG’s.

And then my stroll took me past the new owners of The Village Flower Shoppe, Roberto Costillo of EmbroidMe and  past a booth for Reverend Robert Kelley’s Beacon Church still spreading the good work. 

I bumped into  the charming women who run the Historical Society of Williston Park and then passed Harry’s Deli where I purchased a tasty stuffed pepper and some tender chicken wings. 

Full replenished I walked by James and Aiden of Framing Mantis and Mike and Steve Mistretta of Frantoni’s who were smart enough and kind enough to provide shaded seating right outside their store. 

Up I went and after dropping off some mail I chatted with Police Officer Ken Sikorski who was watching over what appeared to be a safe and friendly street. I spoke with the women of the Irish American Society and then Tom Magaldi, a therapist who works next door to me at 2 Hillside Ave.  

Then there was Dr. Glenn Whitney, D.C. who just took over Nancy Breitbarth’s chiropractic practice. 

Down I walked and bumped into Jerome Vivona who along with his wife, Michelle is the artistic director of American Theater Dance Workshop. 

I was informed that on Dec. 12 and 13 they will be putting on a performance of “Cracked” at the Herricks Community Center. Vivona told me that “Cracked” was a sequel to “The Nutcracker” and I told him I would be interviewing he and his wife soon. 

This past week I was invited back to Iona College my alma mater to give a talk on sport psychology. 

What impressed me most about the campus was the sight of all these gifted students hanging out in the famous sheltering quadrangle on a perfect warm fall day surrounded by huge shaded oaks, their famous Gingko tree, cloister gardens and lawns. 

Just like back in 1969 there were all these privileged students lounging about on the grass as they read or discussed literature or simply passed the time.

Iona’s beautiful quadrangle, like those on the University of Chicago campus, is a throwback to the European piazza and represents one of the few places in America with architecture of hope. 

These sanctuaries provide a safe, beautiful, quiet and relaxed setting to lounge, to read and get to know one’s peers.   

 Oldenberg, Kunstler, Putnam and others has referred to this type of rare setting The Third Place, separate from home and workplace and nourishing human connection. 

These Third Places are said to be crucial for civil society, democracy and civic engagement. They are characterized by being welcoming, free or inexpensive, accessible, playful,  with food and drink being central, as being leveling with status as unimportant, accessible, all about conversation,  and a place where you see old friends and make new ones. 

It seems to me that we in Williston Park create this Third Place but once a year and you can see how the people flock to it.   

We all know that there is a better way to spend our time then to sit in front of the tube and kill time. I wish we could have this kind of street fair/European piazza/sanctuary /campus quadrangle every weekend all summer long. 

I know that Garden City shuts down 7th Street every Friday night all summer. It may take time do this but just think of how nice it would be to be able to walk down Hillside Avenue at your leisure and not worry about being run over by a car. 

I would imagine that entertainment would find a home there, new restaurants would thrive along with older establishments and people would once again have that Third Place which now seems only reserved for American colleges or for lucky Europeans. 

I doubt that a weekly street fair will ever happen but you can’t blame me for dreaming.  Just think how much money we would save in airfare. 

Walking to Hillside Avenue is so much cheaper than flying to Paris for a stroll down the Champs Elysees for some weekend fun.

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