Allied Shopping Center
by Stefanie Cedar Shames, Class of 1977
In between Levittown and Hicksville, on Jerusalem Avenue, was Allied Shopping Center. Built in 1954, the memories of the center are clear in my mind. When I lived in the area, the supermarket was Grand Union. If you currently live in Hicksville, you will probably know this center with Best Market, Dollar Tree, Dunkin Donuts, and Monaco's Pizza.
I lived in Levittown from 1962 until we moved to Hicksville in 1973, and I was there until 1981, so Allied was always a regular stop. The 5 and 10 at the corner with a luncheonette was usually the stop, but we also frequented Cinnamon's Jewish article store. I remember Mr. and Mrs. Cinnamon fondly, and in later years, without my knowledge or intervention, they knew my in-laws! Jerusalem Kosher Meats was also in this shopping center, and even after I moved to Florida, I would call Frank to have meals sent to friends. Those businesses, along with Hicksville Jewish Center, are gone due to changing demographics. I think there was also a large dry cleaners on the other side of Jerusalem Avenue.
Of course, who could forget Crown Bakery and its delicious cakes, especially the bakery cookies? They would put everything in a white box and perfectly wrap it with string. When I go to the Publix bakery now, I never get a box with string! I always think it was the perfect way to carry the box and ensure nobody opened it until it arrived at its destination.
Carvel was across the street, and many of us remember the surprise tornado that hit Hicksville in 1976! I lived in the Glenbrook section between Division Avenue and Newbridge Road. My father was giving a piano lesson in our house, and we joked then because of the heavy wind that instead of "Morning Has Broken," my friend Danny was playing "Right Hand Has Broken." Later, we discovered that the heavy wind was really a tornado and not a joking matter. The tornado blew the roof off Carvel! I found pictures online with captions that the roof landed in an open field. But I remember that windows were broken when the tornado (or flying roof parts) crossed the street into the Allied Shopping Center! Classmates of mine were injured that day. Even streets behind the shopping center had entire garages knocked down, and only refrigerators and freezers were left standing.
I have seen a lot of memories of Allied in old Facebook posts. If you have memories too, you can add them to this article!
References:
https://muss.com/property/jerusalem-avenue-shopping-center/
https://www.showcase.com/406-442-jerusalem-ave-hicksville-ny-11801/23544263/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/59518829922/posts/starting-in-the-early-50s-there-was-a-small-strip-shopping-center-on-jerusalem-a/10159852304139923/?_rdr (photos submitted by Susan Coppola Simmons and Brian Quinn)
