September 2023 : Volume 23 - Issue 12 - - A Big Change

A Big Change

Big changes were about to take place. In 1968, the shopping center was enclosed.  A second north-end expansion added a 3-level, New York City-based S. Klein department store. It would later become E. J Korvettes.  S. Klein was built as part of a renovation that enclosed the mall.

Mid-Island Plaza Map Circa 1960

Mid-Island Plaza Map Circa 1970

The Music Under the Stars program was hosted by the Town of Oyster Bay and Nassau County. However, July 9, 1969, Mid Island Plaza, being ahead of the curve, hosted their “Music Under the Stars” with the Long Island Banjo Society. The event was held in the parking lot of the Twin Theaters.

It was July of 1970 when Nathan’s Famous opened its doors at the Mid Island Plaza. Nathans opened its new $250,000 restaurant as their first franchised store to debut on Long Island. It was a bright, color splashed eatery that took the hot dog to new levels. It would bring 80 employees working two shifts to keep customers happy.  Nathans was fully equipped with 200 seats. It had a projected sale revenue of over $2 million dollars.

April 8, 1972, a fast-spreading fire gutted four stores and heavily damaged a fifth store at Mid Island Plaza. The first alarm was sounded at 11:35 AM, with mutual aid requested from the Jericho and Westbury fire departments. The fire spread quickly to the cockloft above the stores where it was difficult to combat. Firemen were hampered by heavy smoke that built up in the mall when automatic opening windows failed to open. Firemen were forced to break many of the windows.

1972 Fire

Less than 8 months later on Wednesday December 15, another alarm was sounded for a fire at Mid Island Plaza. The alarms were sounded at 7:21 a.m. for a fire of undetermined origin which heavily damaged the glass blowers’ shop. The owner suffered burns of the arm and hand. Firemen were hampered when the entire area was filled with smoke.

Another highpoint came in 1972, WYankees Visit Hicksville 1973alt Frazier, star of the NY Knicks basketball team, appeared at the mall to sign autographs and meet some of his fans. A year later, on August 8, 1973, members of the New York Yankees, Thurman Munson, Ron Bloomberg and Sparky Lyle, arrived to signed autographs. It was sometime in the mid or late 70’s, when the Bay City Rollers arrived at the Plaza, I think it was in the Korvettes Record area.

In 1975 the Nassau County Municipal Bus service was granted use of Mid Island Plaza as a bus stop and depot. It was a pickup point that took many to Jones Beach for $0.75.

Buses Waiting at Mid-Island

Buses at Jones Beach

Some may recall in May of 1976 when a little-known actor from “Welcome Back Kotter”, John Travolta (Vinny Barbarino), would arrive on the roof of the mall. An estimated 2,000 screaming fans showed up to get a new record album autographed by the star. The crowd was much larger than anticipated and several people passed out and were treated by the Hicksville and Jericho fire department and transported to Syosset Hospital for heat exhaustion.

In 1977 an international adventure in shopping commenced at Mid Island Plaza and its focus was to increase attention into an exciting ten-courtyard design concept with the innovative international theme: ‘‘Islands of the World.” Authentic replicas of scenes from such diverse islands  such as the Far East, the Caribbean, Great Britain and a Grecian isle in the Aegean Sea gave shoppers the chance to stroll through a realistic Japanese garden or rest beneath a palm treed tropical oasis.  Shoppers could ample the native wares of any of ten exciting islands all while doing their regular shopping without leaving the mall.

The $8 million dollar "Islands of the World" project was completed by late 1979. However, it seemed that the idea was a bust. By 1983 many of the original store leases expired which allowed an $80 million dollar refurbishment to take place between 1983 and 1984. Vacated areas were gutted and reconfigured, with smaller store spaces created. In 1985, the owners of Mid-Island Plaza, Stackler & Frank, agreed to sell to the Delco Development Corporation, Allen Yudell and his brother, Martin, pumped in about $10 million into renovating and expanding the center.                                  

Mid Island Shopping Plaza was renovated between 1987 and 1991 and renamed Broadway Mall in 1989. It was completely redeveloped in 1995 and now goes by the name Broadway Commons. The once community friendly shopping mall no longer does much for the community it serves, as it once did.

  I haveFiremens drills many fond memories of the plaza from the days of firemen’s drills, shopping during holidays and living within walking distance of the plaza.  

There is ONE constant that has survived 67 years, The Plaza Barbers. While it’s not the original owners, it has been passed down through the generations to those who have worked there. At one point the shop was owned by Silvio, Gregorio, and Horst. It was a real old-fashioned barber shop, completed with straight razor sharpened on a leather strap, hot shaving cream, hot towel, and massager. I have been getting my “buzz” cut there since 1967 and it now costs a whopping $22. 

Finally, for me, the stores that stir up happy memories are.Pizza D'Amore

Pizza D’Amore was owned by “Manny” It was when pizza cost 25 cents a slice. I remember the square slice with the piece of cheese in the middle with the right blend of cheese and sauce.

The Game Room was a place that I could go and get lost in a Pinball Festival with throngs of people fighting for a turn to play their favorite games. Pinball was a national pastime with complex visuals and sound effects. Enthusiasts still spend hours basking in the frenetic beauty of the blinking lights and irrepressible randomness of the ball’s movements. It was also at the height of “Tommy” the movie in 1975. It was based on the rock opera by the rock-n-roll group “The Who".  It centered around Tommy's odyssey through life, punctuated by encounters with all sorts of weird folks, of whom the most seductive is Tina Turner as the Acid Queen. Then there's the great pinball tournament, which is the movie's best single scene: a pulsating, orgiastic turn-on edited with the precision of a machine gun burst. Elton John, wearing skyscraper shoes, is the defending pinball champion. 

KresgKresgese’s was a place that held warm memories.  The Christmas holiday centered on Dad and Mom taking the children out to U.S General at Mid Island Plaza to choose the right Christmas tree. After tying the tree to the ’67 yellow Chevy Impala, the next step would be a stop for hot cocoa at S.S. Kresge’s. In the summer, playing little League Baseball, Dad would take us to Kresge’s to throw a dart at the balloon board. It was my chance to win a free ice cream sundae served in a baseball helmet. My team was the New York Mets.

Long’s Chinese Restaurant had an entrance from inside the plaza at the backend and an entrance from outside, where Target Store now stands. The entrance from the mall was the restaurant, where the outside entrance brought you into the kitchen area. That was also the area for “to-go and pick up”. Inside that kitchen area you were greeted with a happy hello, and you could watch the cooking in progress. Whether it was a Friday or Sunday dinner, the adults would have a quick drink at the bar, while the order was placed. I can still hear the clanging of pots and pans and the aroma of Chow Mein and egg rolls.

Gertz In February 1983, morphed into another Allied Stores division, Paramus, New Jersey-based Stern's. My mom, Adeline (Brigandi) SGertzchweitzer worked for Gertz before retiring from Sterns. The store would later become "Macy’s in May 2001 and close a few years back and remains empty. Gertz had a great “Garden Restaurant” on lower level, that would transform into a “Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre” event during the summer months.

Pathmark memories are driven with thoughts of my brother, Marty (Schweitzer), Class of 73. He started as a “Cart Boy’” at the age of 14 and parlayed that into a 51-year career, ending as a butcher in Shop Rite. Shopping with mom was a Saturday ritual.

Car Lin Bake Shop was part of the weekly tradition growing up.  On Sunday’s, when we attended mass at St. Ignatius. we needed to stop and get dad his “Star Rolls” for his peanut butter. We would go in the bakery and buy the best chocolate cupcakes, apple squares and great donuts. What I remember, the access to the bake shop was on the outside of the mall, where Target now stands and it was a tight fit when walking into the shop. There wasn't a lot of room in the store. If you walked through the front door,  you had an area of about 8-foot-wide  to stroll in front of the showcases and pick out your favorites. The showcases, filled with colorful goodies, were set up in a long glass row, and there was a walkway behind the showcases for the workers to gather your goods. The Plaza was closed on Sundays (back then stores weren’t allowed to open). Many hearts were broken when they closed their doors.

Here is an incomplete but thorough list of stores that occupied the Mid Island Shopping Plaza, Mid Island Plaza, The Plaza at Mid Island, and limited to Broadway Mall from 1956 through 1985ish.

National Shirt Shops	Lofts Candies
Gertz and Shop Rite	Horn and Hardart
Mid-Island Sign with Band	VP Nixon Visits Hicksville 1964