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A SIMPLE DREAM
For William Levitt
By Robert Mauro
Where once potatoes only grew
and trees were small and very few,
a man looked out upon the scene
imagining a simple dream.
The poet Frost, he'd love this place;
his little horse would slow its pace.
Bob took the road less traveled on
and so did Levitt of our town.
Some critics cried, "No Frank Lloyd Wright!
Cardboard houses! Suburban blight!"
But sometimes critics fail to see
the beauty in simplicity.
The young at heart -- you folks, I mean --
believed in Levitt's simple dream.
And now the trees are older, Bill --
like us: so tall but growing still.
Oh, no potato fields are seen,
but in their place: your simple dream.
LEVITTOWN, NEW YORK
AMERICAN'S AND MY HOMETOWN
According to David Halberstam's book The Fifties, Levittown, New York, first called Island Trees, was, during its construction, given the name of its builder, Bill Levitt. Seems, at the time, there were, to quote Levitt, just "two scrawny trees" in Island Trees and everyone was calling it Levitt's Town, so "Levittown" stuck.
Levitt, starting in 1947, using lumber from Oregon, prefabrication and other mass-production techniques and nails made right on site, built up to 180 houses a week when most builders of the day were building maybe five homes a year. Levitt had learned to build fast as a Navy Seebee in World War Two. During the war he built runways as fast as possible. The final total of Levitt homes was 17,447. They're located about twenty miles east of Manhattan, on a potato farm bought up by Levitt in the late 1930's and 1940's.
When the Levitt homes went up for sale in March 1949, there were long lines of eager buyers. On the first day, Levitt sold 1,400 of his quaint little homes! Vets bought them at just $58 down! Average cost was $6,999 with a free washing machine and -- rarity or rarities in 1949 -- a free TV.
In its early days, Levittowners, by order of Bill Levitt, were not allowed to dry clothes outside unless they used approved racks. No fences were allowed and Levitt himself supervised all lawn cutting, sending the bill to each family.
Until the end of the 1970's, Levitt homes had septic tanks. Sewers were installed in 1979. For nearly a year, Levittown had beautiful crimson sunrises and sunsets due to the great clouds of dust in the air from the extensive sewer construction work. But for the Levittowners with disabilities, this construction was a boon. It included curb cuts at every corner and street crossing!
Lewis Mumford, an architectural critic and social commentator of the time, said Levittown was a town where all the houses were the same and all were lived in by the same people, thinking the same thoughts, wearing the same clothes, making the same salaries, shopping in the same stores, and eating the same processed foods.
Today nearly every house in Levittown is different. As of 1990, Levittown, Long Island's population was 53,286. Billy Joel loved Levittown. As a child, he hung out here and later wrote a song called "Levittown." Later he re-wrote that tune and called it "Allentown."
The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, is still waiting for one Levittowner who still lives in a now rare unmodified Levitt home to donate his house to the museum. Don't hold your breath, America! We Levittowners love our homes! We love our Levittown. As far as we're concerned, it's the middle of Middle America and the Heart of the nation!
In 1997, Levittown celebrated its 50th Anniversary.
For more information on Levittown, Long Island, you can phone the Levittown Chamber of Commerce at 516-520-8000. Or write to the Levittown Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 207, Levittown, NY 11756.
If you'd like to read all about Levittown, NY, check out Levittown: The First 50 Years by Margaret Lundregan Ferrer and Tova Navarra. Published in 1997 by Arcadia Publishing, One Washington Center, Dover, NH 03820, the book sells for $16.99. It contains about 200 photos of Levittown from its beginning in the 1940's to today. Its residents, houses, and famous residents, like Billy Joel, are shown in wonderful black and white family photos. This is a fun read and a nostalgic book. I loved it! It's available at fine book stores. Look for ISBN 0-7524-0465-2 in the library.
Also check out Levittown: The Way We Were By Susan Kirsch Duncan. What was it like to be a baby boomer growing up in Levittown, the country's first "planned suburb"? Susan Kirsch Duncan's book, Levittown: The Way We Were, is a delightful journey back to a simpler time. It's a world of stay-at-home moms, large families, neighbors who became dear friends, the early days of television and the impact of rock 'n roll. This firsthand account evokes the joys, fears and adventures of being a kid before adult concerns were allowed to invade the carefree life of childhood. Written with warmth and humor, this vivid remembrance will bring smiles of recognition to boomers everywhere. Ordering information follows: Levittown: The Way We Were, ISBN 0930545-18-4; price $10.95 (NY State residents must add sales tax) + 1.50 shipping. Order from Maple Hill Press, 174 Maple Hill Rd., Huntington, NY 11743-2113. Money-back guarantee.
Check out Susan's Levittown Web Site By Clicking Here
Visit the Levittown Historical Society
A shopper can find great places to eat as well as places to have fun in Levittown. K-Mart, Office Max, Target, The Lowes Multiplex Movie Theater, Toys-R-Us, The Tri-County Flea Market, P.C. Richards, Off-Track Betting, Waldbaum's, Pet Smart, Pathmark, The Nassau Mall, and The Levittown Mews provide a wide choice of goods, services, and entertainment in a small area along one of Long Island's main thoroughfares, Hempstead Turnpike. There are auto dealerships and bicycle shops in our town, as well as a number of banks, including CitiBank and HSBC Bank.
About a mile from the tree-lined, quiet back roads and cape and ranch houses of Levittown's residential area, you can also find great family restaurants like Red Robin, Country Kitchen, The Bunnery Pub, McDonald's, Nathan's, Pizza Hut, and Friendly's. Great Italian, Mexican, and Chinese restaurants are also located in town. Every delectable eatable from Bagels at Bageltown to delicious heros at the Fireside Deli are just a hop, skip and a jump from anywhere in Levittown.
There are about six houses of worship in Levittown. Approximately five churches and the Israel Community Center of Levittown are among them. A worshiper will find quaint, little country churches to ultramodern houses of prayer in Levittown. Saturdays and Sundays Levittowners can be seen dressed up and walking to their local churches or synagogue.
Of course, these houses of worship hold their fund raisers, their bingo games, and their arts and crafts sales. Usually around August, St. Bernard's Roman Catholic Church holds its annual summer carnival, complete with games and rides for the whole family.
At Levittown's Israel Community Center you can find weekly bingo games. St. Bernard's holds bingo games, too. The Good Shepard Lutheran Church occasionally holds an arts and crafts sale.
There are about twelve schools in Levittown. From kindergarten to high school, Levittown children can attend community parochial schools or public schools. There's even a school for chiropractors.
An elevator was installed in the Salk Junior High School to accommodate Levittown's disabled school children, who are being mainstreamed.
In the Levittown schools, you can see excellent productions of Broadway musicals, attend band concerts, and watch great sports events. Of course, every year Levittown school bands march in the annual Memorial Day Parade, held on Hempstead Turnpike.
The present Levittown Library, on Bluegrass Lane, was opened on January 21, 1963. In 1986, modifications were made to make the library more accessible to persons with disabilities. These modifications included bringing interior and exterior wheelchair ramps into compliance with accessibility standards, modifying rest rooms, widening doors, and replacing exterior doors.
The library has over 277,760 catalogued books and 25,000 uncatalogued paperbacks, numerous video tapes, CDS, and phonograph records. Visitors can do research on microfilm readers, computer databases and the library's computerized card index. Patrons can borrow audio-visual equipment, books on tape and large print materials. The library has the Foundation Center Collection, Levittown History Collection, and Out-of-State Telephone directories, an online computerized catalog, public access computers, and typewriters.
You can also find online resources: ERIC, InfoTrac 2000, UMI, and EBSCOhost CD-ROM : Phonolog, Peterson's College Selection Service, Peterson's Financial Aid and Gale's Literary Index.
The Levittown Library also provides service to the homebound, tax assistance, career counseling and the Senior Connections.
The library sponsors discussion groups, children's programs, art exhibits, and concerts.
The Levittown Library is located at: 1 Bluegrass Lane, Levittown, N.Y. 11756. Phone: (516) 731-5728. Fax: (516) 735-3168.