Every hamlet on Long Island has a “Main Street” or a “Broadway” or some sort of a gathering for one-stop shopping, dining or root canals.
“Ma, we’re going to town,” was most often heard during the ’70s and ’80s as kids jumped on their bikes and headed down to a three-block area that runs along Park Boulevard, between Front Street and Clark, roughly one-tenth of a mile.
Barely two football fields long, “town” is loaded with mom-and-pop businesses. With almost 40,000 residents, Massapequa and Massapequa Park have a ton of retail options, including a mall, big shopping centers and numerous strip malls. So what is it about town that makes it more popular for folks to actually gather?
Could it be that this three-block area has, literally, everything?
There are more than 30 professional services available, spanning every possible healthcare provider to take care of your feet, eyes, brain, cholesterol and teeth. And if anything goes wrong, there are more than 20 lawyers available to take your case.
Want to live in Massapequa? There are four different Real Estate brokers ready to get you into the house of your dreams and two banks on the opposite sides of town, to help you get a mortgage. There are even a number of financial services to help you with your excess cash.
Strolling up and down the town will barely get you 1,000 steps on your Fitbit, but you will pass 11 different places you can get your hair cut or coiffed, your nails done or a spa treatment.
Without even breaking a sweat, you pass 12 different places to eat from all over the globe—Greek, Asian, Thai, Chinese and American. You can get pizza, fish, or just a bagel. There’s even a coffee house. Don’t forget dessert—you can get ice cream, smell the things in the bakery or stop in a famous place that sells ices.
Want a drink? There are five sit-down restaurants that also serve alcohol and four more serving mostly drinks. That’s nine drinking establishments within stumbling, I mean walking, distance. And you don’t even have to drive—we have our own taxi company, standing by.
There are personal trainers, a furniture store, two national insurance companies, two dry cleaners, a gift shop, two florists and a place that turns fruit into floral arrangements. You can get your dog groomed and buy jewelry for your spouse—all in a three block radius.
Did I mention a full service supermarket? How about the old “Five and Dime” store? Is there anything you can’t find in there? What about the hardware store, where I once bought a single nut by bringing in the old rusted one for comparison? It’s the only place I know where they can fix your screen and sell you a T-shirt with “Massapequa” on the front.
You can get cigars, outfit your soccer team or join a VFW Post. There are two competing liquor stores, directly across from each other. There’s a full-service pharmacy and a complete business center. We’ve even got a public square with our very own year-round tree that gets illuminated for the holidays. And did I mention that it is right across the street from the Long Island Railroad station?
Our little town, with obstetrics, pediatrics and elder care practitioners, completes the circle of life. We’ve even got a funeral parlor. Of course, you have to “crossover” Clark Boulevard to get there.
