Hicksville progress can't derail

Two and a half years ago, Hicksville won a big prize: a $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant from New York State.

But so far, instead of a revitalized downtown, t’s been the same ol’, same ol’.

It’s time for ...

• The Town of Oyster Bay and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to get serious about building a much-needed parking garage, and making a deal to allow for potential additional development;
• The town to rezone the downtown for a mix of uses, including housing, in a way that will encourage private developers to get involved, and keep housing reasonably priced;
• The town and local residents to embrace the reality that something must rise at the ghostly Sears site which has sat vacant for the last two years; 
• The leaders of Oyster Bay to present a clear vision for the hamlet — which also is one of Long Island’s major crossroads — and then execute it. 

The vision thing

Hicksville can be the next hot spot on Long Island, a place with ample public transportation, housing and restaurants, and a cultural vibe that will attract and keep a younger workforce.

Right now, though, Hicksville is an ugly, crowded mess of last-century industrial and retail development, and sprawling streets that can’t be easily crossed. As Long Island transforms itself into a modern suburb, the Town of Oyster Bay perpetuates Hicksville as a case study of one of the worst examples of postwar land use in the nation.

The coming 2022 completion of the Long Island Rail Road’s third track, and the East Side Access connection to Grand Central Terminal, will give Long Islanders increased service and a better commute. That’ll encourage more millennials to live and spend here, while also opening up the reverse commute, so expanding Long Island businesses can lure the talent they need from those who live in New York City.

Hicksville, which is just a 45-minute ride to midtown Manhattan, is a key piece of that. Redeveloping the area was never going to be easy, given the layers of government, a complex and sometimes arduous state process, and a town that’s had a troubled history when it comes to development of anything beyond the white picket fence. But it’s been even more difficult because state, MTA, and local officials haven’t yet reached agreement on some of the basic elements, like parking and height.

Oyster Bay officials say the revitalization of Hicksville remains a top priority for them. They point to progress, like the opening of 35 Broadway, a four-floor building, where the first floor is office space and the top three have 18 apartments. But those apartments start at $2,600 a month for a studio. Just two units are considered workforce housing, and will be priced more affordably.

It’s a start, but a meager one.

To build reasonably priced rentals, developers need to offer enough apartments to make them economically viable. That means more height or smaller units and more of them, or both.

But the town doesn’t seem to want to find a way to add enough units. And officials don’t want buildings above four stories — just a few feet higher than the top of the LIRR trains on the elevated platform. As if anything taller than that would destroy the area’s bucolic ambience.

Unless this changes, the MTA or any private developer will have trouble taking advantage of the potential of Hicksville to invigorate Nassau County.

Parking solution

One part of the plan for Hicksville is for the MTA to construct a parking garage for the town and, in exchange, for the town to provide land to the MTA for transit-oriented development that can help pay for the garage. But no one in this arrangement has been able to agree on, well, anything. The town wants to maintain its resident-only parking, while MTA officials want most of the parking to be open to any commuters. The town wants a four-story maximum for the mixed-use development; the MTA wants eight.

MTA and Oyster Bay officials are scheduled to meet later this month. The town should negotiate a compromise on parking and recognize the need for more height. The MTA can do its part by at least allowing some parking spaces to be restricted to town residents.

If after that meeting Hicksville’s future is still stuck in the mud, the town could turn to private developers. Even then, more height and more units will be necessary, as will a continued partnership with the MTA and additional support — and perhaps pressure — from the state.

Nassau County, which completed its traffic analysis for the town and also awarded Hicksville $150,000 in federal funds, can play a role, too. County legislators, along with state lawmakers and others, can keep the pressure on.

As the area immediately around the train station moves forward, town officials also have to focus on developing the former Sears property, which is about a half-mile away. Seritage Growth Properties is now proposing 425 rental apartments, along with retail, restaurants and office space, at the 26-acre site. The revised proposal is a reasonable start.

The next several months are key. Besides the coming meeting with the MTA, a public hearing on Seritage’s proposal is scheduled for March. And the town says its environmental review process for the downtown area’s rezoning must be finished by May if hearings are to begin in June.

Ultimately, Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino has to decide whether he wants to be a leader who will be celebrated for his dynamic vision for the Long Island of the future or the caretaker for a wax museum exhibiting Long Island’s past.

— The editorial board