June 2026: Volume 26 - Issue 9

We continue to need writers and an assistant/successor Webmaster with CMS experience to ensure that HixNews is here for generations to come. Please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and we will send you a link to our monthly meeting. Or, just email us your article. We will be happy to edit it and include it. If you would rather just send us an update about where you live and what you are doing, we can include that, too! Or go to Features and create your own blog. If you would like it published in the newsletter as well as on the website, please let us know. 

Hicksville Redevelopment

Stefanie Cedar Shames, Class of 1977

Recent news from Hicksville describes a redevelopment project that appears to have some opposition. On May 19, 2026, the Patch reported that the Town of Oyster Bay approved a $61 million project near the Hicksville LIRR station. The project is called Cornerstone Hicksville, and construction is expected to begin in early 2027. This project is just the latest in a series that began in 2017 under the umbrella of the Downtown Hicksville Revitalization Initiative, a partnership between the Town of Oyster Bay and local organizations, including millions of dollars from the private sector.

In addition to the work near the railroad station, there will be developments along Newbridge Road, North Broadway, and West Cherry Street. Plans include Festival Plaza with residential housing, townhouses, restaurant and retail space, landscaped walkways, lighting, seating areas, trash cans, safer pedestrian access to the LIRR station, and green space in an expanded Kennedy Park. 

The SAVE our Hicksville Facebook group posts photographs of the development. Some residents seem concerned about the growth causing congestion and car accidents. When reviewing posts and comments from June 9, 2026, they refer to it as the Hicksville Renaissance. I went to the Town of Oyster Bay website, as they recommended, and searched for "Hicksville Renaissance"; many articles appeared. The link is in the references below.

If you still live in Hicksville or nearby, we would love to have you keep us updated with articles and pictures, since many of us no longer live on Long Island but still think of it fondly. You can email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or even add a comment at the bottom of this article. 

 References:

https://patch.com/new-york/hicksville/61m-cornerstone-project-approved-hicksville-downtown-revitalization-continues

https://oysterbaytown.com/?s=hicksville+renaissance

Wendy Elkis Class of 1977On July 4, 1776, the vote for the Declaration of Independence was cast, the words adopted, and copies printed.   There was still one colony who hadn’t voted yet, the colony of New York. 

NY Supports Independence

The fourth New York Provincial Congress voted to support the Declaration on July 9th, becoming the 13th and final colony to do so, and making the push towards independence unanimous. Once New York voted to support the Declaration, John Holt, a New York printer, printed 500 broadsides (posters).Holt Broadside Those broadsides were distributed to all of the government officials in New York.  Holt then fled to Poughkeepsie, where he would spend the rest of the revolution before returning to Manhattan at the end of the war. Five hundred copies of Holt’s broadside exist today. 

The Declaration is Read

New York was becoming the center of the revolution, with its citizens and soldiers determined to seek freedom from British rule.  At the time of Kennedy HouseAt the time of the Declaration's signing, General George Washington was in New York at his headquarters, located at the Kennedy House, Number 1 Broadway. On July 9, 1776, George Washington received an official copy of the Declaration. He understood the document's magnitude and importance and planned a formal reading.

At 6 pm, in an area known today as City Hall Park, George Washington assembled the New York brigades.  The soldiers and spectators alike listened as Washington read the Declaration’s words.  Those words boosted the morale not only of the soldiers but also of the general public.  Washington Arriving at Bowling Green Park

A Tyrant is Taken Down

Motivated by the words of the Declaration, Captain Oliver Brown led approximately 40 men down to Bowling Green Park.  In the park stood a statue of King George III. The statue was erected in 1770 after the repeal of the Stamp Act. It was pulled down by the soldiers on the night of July 9, 1776.  The statue symbolized the tyranny of George III.  Destruction of the StatueTearing it down symbolized the end of that tyranny. Parts of the statue were melted down, and just over 42,000 musket balls were made.  Over the years, parts of the statue have been found around the foundry where it was melted.  The head, though, has never been found. The New York Historical Society owns some items made from the statue, as well as pieces of the statue. 

Happy 250th to the United States of America

The Declaration of Independence

https://constitutioncenter.org/media/files/Declaration.pdf

In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

John Hancock -President

Charles Thompson - Secretary

 Resources

Washington and the Declaration - https://www.history101.nyc/first-reading-of-the-declaration-of-independence

Holt Broadside- https://www.nypl.org/events/exhibitions/galleries/beginnings/item/11191

Kennedy House - https://www.boweryboyshistory.com/2022/07/george-washingtons-copy-declaration-independence.html

                                 https://revolutionarywarjournal.com/washingtons-headquarters/

Tearing Down King George's Statue - https://www.frauncestavernmuseum.org/king-george

Declaration Text - https://www.nypl.org/events/exhibitions/galleries/beginnings/item/11191

Illustrations

Holt Broadside - https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/arts/design/declaration-of-independence-holt-broadside-auction.html

Washington Arriving at Bowling Green Park - https://www.history101.nyc/first-reading-of-the-declaration-of-independences

Kennedy House - http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2012/07/lost-1745-kennedy-house-no-1-broadway.html

Destruction of King George's Statue - https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/666015

Class of 1991 35-Year Reunion

by Ted Urban

On Saturday, June 6th, 2026, the Hicksville High School Class of 1991 gathered to celebrate a major milestone: 35 years since walking across the graduation stage. The day of nostalgia began in the morning at our local staple, the Hicksville Sweet Shop, where alumni gathered for a quick breakfast and a chance to catch up before the day's main events. Following breakfast, the group returned to their alma mater for a comprehensive tour of the high school. The Class of 1991 extends its tremendous gratitude to current HHS Principal Williams, who generously gave up several hours of his weekend to guide the alumni through the familiar hallways and highlight the school's modern updates. The celebrations culminated in the evening, with over 70 graduates attending the main festivities. The night was an overall success, filled with rekindled friendships and shared memories. Looking back on 35 years, the event served as a perfect reinforcement of the timeless school motto: "Once a Comet, always a Comet."

The Class of 1976 is gathering information to see if anyone is interested in a reunion to celebrate 50 years since graduation. A Facebook page has been created: Hicksville Class of 1976. Join that page to see the latest news!

Etcetera for June 2026 

Hicksville High School News

Hicksville High School recently celebrated 10 students completing the newly launched Emergency Medical Technician program in partnership with the Hicksville Fire Department and the Nassau County EMS Academy. These dedicated students met after school every Monday and Wednesday. The Hicksville Fire Department fully covered all costs for the students. To read more, see the link that follows:  https://www.midislandtimes.com/articles/hhs-celebrates-new-emt-program/

In Memoriam

Kenneth Ulbricht, Class of 1976, passed away on June 2, 2026.

Richard Albert Humann, Class of 1962, passed away on June 7, 2026.

Thank you to Lewis Fuhrman for notifying us:

Ronald Palmer, Class of 1962, passed away in 2023

Bruce Goldmacher, Class of 1967, passed away in 2025