There is a place on South Oyster Bay Road in Hicksville inside the Central Nassau Guidance & Counseling Services Center that provides a little bit of magic for people with special needs. It is known as the Starry Night Café and is a place to gather for socialization, recreation and treatment for the counseling center’s patients.
“It is a place where people with special needs can meet up in a nightclub setting and get a bite to eat, listen to music, sing karaoke, sit outside and play Jenga and watch the ballgame,” said Miss B. Artale, manager of the café. “It is an incredibly magic place that gives people the opportunity to interact with each other and make friends without the aide of parents and family members.”
Artale has no credentials in the mental health field and has spent most of her working career as a stand-up comedian and infomercial spokesperson. That background serves as a plus for the café’s patrons, she said.
“It is better this way for the people here because I am not someone who is going to go around with a chart checking on everyone like in a typical mental health agency,” she said. “If it looks like a program type of atmosphere, it is going to be unappealing to them.”
The unique venue draws people from all over Long Island and the city looking for a place to relax, socialize and have a good time with their peers.
“People come from all over to spend time here,” said Artale. “We have groups that come in from the Bronx, Whitestone and Ronkonkoma to dance, karaoke and order food. Sometimes we will get 50 to 60 people a night in here. As far as I know this is only place on Long Island like this.”
The café is also run by people with disabilities, providing them with a satisfying place of employment. One of those people is Tammy Goodell of Massapequa, who works as a staff member at the café.
“This is actually my very first job,” said Goodell. “I really like the job and the people here and I like being able to clean up at the end of the night. My favorite part though is performing my belly dancing routine on talent night.”
Upon entering the café, it’s easy to forget you’re in the back of a counseling center. The lighting is low, there is a little makeshift bar at the center of the room and the walls are adorned with a collection of various items that Artale has retrieved from garage sales and off eBay. There are different sections in the café including the Wild West wall and the Heroes wall, which has many items and knick knacks from police and emergency service units.
“We have a simulated fireplace, a real shark’s head on the wall, plenty of pictures and even a huge neon gas sign,” Artale said. “These walls are inspiring for them and are done for them.”
The motto at the café is “where friends meet,” which couldn’t be more true for the people who frequent the location.
“People with all types of diagnoses, people who are wheelchair bound or who have a brain injury can come in and feel comfortable here,” said Artale. “They are not labeled with a stigma or looked at as being different. That is the magic of this place that those kind of labels disappear the minute they walk in here.”
The Starry Night Café is a nonprofit venture open Tuesday through Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 4 to 11 p.m. There is a $2 cover fee for patrons from Wednesday through Saturday. For more information, visit centralnassau.org/programs/starry-night-cafe .
