Hicksville, NY — Crash Data, Roads, History & Law

History

The Town of Oyster Bay's own history states that in 1648 Robert Williams of Hempstead bought from Native Americans a large parcel of land "represented today by Hicksville and adjacent parts of Jericho, Plainview, Syosset and Woodbury."^[1] The Town itself traces its origin to 1653, when it says the Native American leader it names as Chief Mohannes sold land in the Town's northern portion to the New England colonists Samuel Mayo, Peter Wright and William Leverich, with an English patent following from Governor Sir Edmund Andros in 1667.^[1]

Accounts of Hicksville's own founding differ on a year. The Hicksville Public Library's digital history collection, part of the New York Heritage digital collections, describes the hamlet as "founded by accident in 1836, when a financial depression brought the Long Island Railroad to a stop at Broadway, Hicksville," adding that the stop "started as a train station then a hotel then a real estate deal" before slowly growing.^[2] A 2025 Long Island Press history article instead dates "Hicksville's first depot" to March 1, 1837, "as the last stop of the newly founded railroad," and states the hamlet was named for Valentine Hicks, the railroad's second president from 1837 to 1841.^[4]

A Town of Oyster Bay photograph caption describes the "Hicksville Triangle," the junction of Jerusalem Avenue, Broadway and John Street pictured around 1900, as the site of "the present-day John F. Kennedy Memorial Park."^[1]

The plant changed ownership several times over the following decades before its remediation became the subject of state and federal legal proceedings described below.^[6]

How the roads got here

The New York State Department of Transportation's official touring-route description places NY 106 running "North Bellmore, on Newbridge Road, Hicksville, Jericho, Oyster Bay (Bay Avenue)" and NY 107 running "Massapequa, on Hicksville Road, Hicksville, Jericho, Brookville, Glen Cove (Pulaski Street)," placing both numbered state routes inside Hicksville.^[16]

The Town of Oyster Bay's Highway Operations Department describes itself as responsible for "road maintenance and repair, and snow, ice and flood control for the nearly 750 miles of road under Town jurisdiction," while listing separate contacts for roads under Nassau County and New York State control.^[21] Streets in Hicksville that are not state or county routes fall under this Town jurisdiction.^[21]

Law and legal history

The same corporate history was litigated in federal court. In Town of Oyster Bay v. Occidental Chemical Corp., 987 F. Supp. 182 (E.D.N.Y. 1997), the Town sued Occidental and other companies under CERCLA over contamination at a landfill the Town had formerly operated in Syosset.^[6] The court's opinion recounts that "Occidental is the successor-in-interest to RUCO, which operated a plant in Hicksville, New York from 1945 through 1965," that "[i]n 1965, Hooker Chemical Corporation purchased RUCO and operated the Hicksville plant as its RUCO Division," and that "[t]he RUCO Division together with the Hicksville plant were sold to employees in 1982," with Occidental having admitted in its answer that it "disposed of or arranged for disposal of hazardous substances or waste containing hazardous substances at the Landfill."^[6] The court's 1965 purchase date for Hooker's acquisition of RUCO differs by a year from the 2012 NYSDEC Record of Decision's 1966 date; both are quoted here rather than reconciled.^[6]

A zoning dispute involving a Hicksville institution reached the Appellate Division in Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church of Hicksville, Inc. v. Casey, 150 A.D.2d 448 (2d Dep't 1989).^[8] The church challenged the Town of Oyster Bay Zoning Board of Appeals' October 22, 1987 denial of a special-use variance to reduce required off-street parking.^[8] The Appellate Division affirmed the denial, holding that the record contained "substantial evidence that the 50-space off-street parking deficiency generated by the proposed use would have a negative impact on the surrounding community" and that the board's decision was "reasonably related to the public health, safety and welfare of the Town of Oyster Bay."^[8]

Government, courts and policing

As an unincorporated hamlet, Hicksville is governed as part of the Town of Oyster Bay, whose local streets and sidewalks are covered by the Town Code's prior-written-notice law.^[9] Town of Oyster Bay Code Ch. 160, "Notification of Defects," adopted November 9, 1982 by Local Law No. 5-1982 and amended in its entirety on July 22, 2003 by Local Law No. 5-2003, provides that "[n]o civil action shall be maintained against the Town of Oyster Bay for injuries or damages to persons or property sustained by reason of any street, highway, bridge, culvert, sidewalk or crosswalk being defective, out-of-repair, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed unless written notice of such condition was actually served upon the Town Clerk," with a failure to remedy it within a reasonable time thereafter.^[9]

Criminal charges and smaller civil claims from Hicksville go to the Nassau County District Court at 99 Main Street, Hempstead, which the state court system's own page describes as deciding "civil suits involving claims up to $15,000," handling "misdemeanors and lesser offenses," and arraigning "defendants accused of felonies."^[13] Nassau County's Traffic & Parking Violations Agency, at 801 Axinn Avenue, Garden City, states its mission as "the timely adjudication of all traffic, parking and photo enforcement related offenses."^[15] Larger civil matters go to Nassau County Supreme Court in Mineola, which the same state court system page describes as hearing cases including "civil matters involving higher dollar amounts" and noting that, "[o]utside New York City, Supreme Courts hear civil matters while the County Courts hear criminal matters."^[14]

Railroad and transit

The station was elevated in the early 1960s, the Main Line through Hicksville was electrified in 1970, and a $121 million renovation of platforms, waiting rooms and security systems was completed in 2018.^[4] As of the article's 2025 publication, the LIRR was reportedly discussing electrifying the Central Branch, which historically ran from Hicksville, "allowing electric trains to travel from Hicksville to Babylon," though no timeline had been set.^[4]