On Saturday, July 14, I returned to my house from the Hicksville train station—a trip that normally takes three to four minutes.
That evening, 6:30 p.m., I was turned away from every possible route to reach my house. After one hour and 45 minutes, I was finally able to turn onto my street, after asking the policeman to please move the stanchion so I could turn (my street was blocked as well). His partner yelled at me for being “disrespectful.”
This officer obviously does not know the difference between frustrated and disrespectful—I’d hate to see him in a situation with an agitated person. His attitude would only exacerbate the problem (as it did with me).
Another point of contention: from the very first checkpoint, I asked the cops for an alternate route/how could I get home? In each instance, I was given a shrug, and “you can’t go this way!” If the police are going to detour traffic, they must be able to offer an alternate route, not a shrug.
I might also add my dissatisfaction for the patrolmen positioned at the entrance/exit of Delco Plaza on 107. Instead of helping to facilitate the egress of hundreds of cars that were being funneled into the parking lot (along with shoppers) from the Old Country Road entrance (again by NCPD), they were just standing around in front of their patrol cars while we were at the mercy of a traffic light with a very short green time. It should be noted that this traffic light was totally unnecessary, as no northbound traffic was being allowed through. Getting out of the parking lot was a massive nightmare, magnified tenfold, by these cops doing nothing.
Over the years (I am a lifelong resident of Hicksville), the firemen’s parade usually allowed cars to cross through to side streets during pauses in the parade, allowing for some sort of navigation.
Today I witnessed a massive screw-up, or at the very least, gross inefficiency, by the powers that be in planning this parade.
You cannot close every intersection in a half-mile radius without some sort of plan for vehicular traffic—especially for those of us who live inside that radius (and there are a lot).
Being stuck in a traffic jam worse than rush-hour, I think I can safely speak for many of the residents, who were stuck in the same holding pattern, when I say this abomination was wholly unacceptable, and should never be allowed to happen like this again.
My only regret is that I don’t really know who’s actually responsible for the day’s debacle. At best, that person should be severely reprimanded—at worst, fired.
As much as I appreciate the Nassau County Police Department and the Hicksville Fire Department for the jobs they do, I can safely say that I do not see any donations to either organization in the near future.
—Neal Rubinstein
