Thesis Statement ?

"Malverne has stayed independent and non-commercialized due to its farm and devoted residents who are in love with the small town ambiance."

I drew this conclusion from my interview and a New York Times article I read from 1997.

An interview with a librarian

1. How long have you lived in Malverne?

The Librarian said that she lived in Malverne since she was born. She had only moved twice when she was married and that was for only four years.

2. Have you witnessed any changes within the last 30 years?

She said that not too many changes had occurred within the last thirty years. No new buildings have appeared except for an associated supermarket had become a Kodak store.

3. Do you see Malverne changing at all in twenty years?

Yes, she said that Malverene was going to remove Grossman’s Farm and build condos or new homes. She also knew about a nursery that was going down to create new homes. She was very disappointed in Malverne for doing this because she felt like the farm helped give Malverne its small town atmosphere. She felt these new homes would give Malverne more congestion than it already has on one of its main roads, Ocean Avenue.

4. Do you appreciate Malverene’s small town atmosphere?

Yes, she feels like it helps Malverne remain “quaint and bucolic”

5. What do you like about Malverne?

She said very simply that she likes its “small town atmosphere”

6. Would you say that Malverne has a good school district?

She was unaware of Malverne’s school and the ratings on it. When she was younger she went to a school in Valley Stream since she was zoned for it.

7. Would you like to see Malverne develop and have big corporate franchises such as McDonalds?

No! She also said she feels like many people in the community feel the same. She doesn’t feel it changing anytime soon.

8. If you could change one thing about Malverne what would you change?

She would change the strict village government. She feels as though they have too much say on what you can and can’t do to your home. Her belief is that since she is paying such high taxes the residents should have more control over their home. However, she realized it’s to keep the community to look a certain way. She also said that she doesn’t think Malverne needs a police department and thinks they shouldn’t have to pay for one since they already pay for a Nassau police department. The other side of this is that the police force helps keep the village safer.

9. How do you feel about Malverne’s farm?

She feels like it is an important part of Malverne and she is bothered that it will be taken down because it will change the sense of Malverne.

10. What attracted you to this neighborhood when you moved in?

She did not have a choice to move into Malverene. Her father was a construction worker and built a house in Malverne. However, she believes that she would move into Malverne because of its small town bucolic feel.

Questions for Interviewing Malverne Residents

1. How long have you lived in Malverne?
2. Have you witnessed any changes within the last _____ years?
3. Do you see Malverne changing at all in twenty years?
4. Do you appreciate Malverene’s small town atmosphere?
5. What do you like about Malverne?
6. Would you say that Malverne has a good school district?
7. Would you like to see Malverne develop and have big corporate franchises such as McDonalds?
8. If you could change one thing about Malverne what would you change?
9. How do you feel about Malverne’s farm?
10. What attracted you to this neighborhood when you moved in?

Racism in Malverne ( Research)

Gunther, Max. “Why A Northern Town Fights School Intergration” Saturday Evening Post. 237.32 (1964) : 66-67

This article I found on the databases for Malverne was written in 1963. The choice of language is completely different than what might be used today in an article. It refers to African Americans as “Negro’s”. The article focuses on Malverne’s controversy over kicking some white kids out of school to reach a status quo. The Plan trying to be passed during this time said, “any school that has a nonwhite enrollment of more than fifty percent was endangered of becoming entirely segregated”.
An organization called the Taxpayers and Parents organization (TAP) tried to combat this plan. This combat stirred up much racial conflict in Malverne. They members of TAP denied being racist or making this opposition a racial movement but rather said it was reverse racism towards whites. Mason Hampton Jr, TAP’s lawyer said, “…having forty-nine percent Negro in a school, or any other percentage, is illegal, then its just as bad as the southerner who wants a quota of zero percent Negro kids in a white school.” However, African American leaders explained their view of “subconscious prejudice”. Dr. Lloyd Delany, the head of the Negro United Committee for Action Now (UCAN) received a bomb threat and white boys on the street would occasionally yell, “lynch the blacks”. The racism in Malverne at this time seemed to be played down a lot by whites refusing to be racist, but just wanting their children to fill the neighboring school.

Malverne's Small Town Glory (Research)

Kellerman, Vivien. “If You’re Thinking of Living In/Malverne, L.I; Mom-and-Pops and a Working Farm.” New York Times 5 Oct. 1997, late ed., sec 9: 3.

On 1997 The New York Times wrote an article on Malverne’s own groundhog, Malverne Mel, who brought many visitors to the town. While the reporter for this article visited the quaint town of 8,000 residents they emphasized the structure of the small town. The article gives a vivid description of the “mom and pop” stores, the independent movie theatre and the library. Malverne is located between two big Nassau communities so the residents of Malverne are not closed off from the rest of the world. It is approximately 22 miles away from midtown Manhattan and it takes just 43 minutes on the Long Island Rail Road to get there. The residents of this town don’t always have to go out of their neighborhood to find entertainment they hold antique car shows and an annual one-day County Fair that brings at least 200 vendors. A famous part of Malverne is one of the last farms on Nassau County, Grossmann’s Farm. A small knit family that creates tomatoes, beets, scallions, zucchini, etc operates the Farm. It has been around for seventy-five years. Another farmhouse in the village was turned into a museum that is free on Sundays from twelve in the afternoon until three.

Two Paragraphs For My Research Paper

Imagine visiting your friend’s new house and walking down a street in modern day Long Island when you suddenly get a hankering for a tender crisp salad. Suddenly you think of the Wendy’s commercial you saw last night. The images of fresh salad and nicely chopped tomatoes starts to entice you and you ask, “Hey where is the local Wendy’s I have an uncontainable desire for a salad only good old Wendy’s can make me” and then unexpectedly you friend tells you that there is no Wendy’s nearby and that you are going to have to drive to even see a commercial franchise that makes your salads just the way you like and remember them. Tears might come to your eyes or you might hop in a car and drive a couple miles to the nearest fast food joint but either way you will probably find it weird that there are no commercial fast food places in the town you are in. That is how life is like in my town Malverne, Long Island.
Besides not having commercial fast food places Malverne has many other interesting characteristics. It used to be a farmland. Many farmers moved into Malverne because of its fertile soil and. When people started to move in and tried to industrialize Malverne they had difficulty building homes since there was so much water on the land. Many early Malverne homes had to endure flooding. Today there are still some signs of this earlier problem. The Malverne High School was built upon a lake and it sinks a little bit each year.

Before 1950

When the sun beams into the many windows of Howard T. Herber Junior High School it initiates the beginning of a school day. Students are noisy as they get ready to sit in classrooms and listen to their teachers lecture about the fundamental subjects that will prepare them to succeed in high school. The Malverne Public Schools, Howard T. Herber Junior High School and Malverne High, are located directly across from each other on Ocean Avenue. Many other neighboring towns send their children to Malverne High and the Junior High. This mix of students gives the Malverne schools diversity. This is interesting since the actual town of Malverne does not have much diversity in itself. Chatting to the locals gives you a bit of information into the town and their history.
Howard T. Herber was actually the High school before Malverne bought the lake across from it and built what is today known as Malverne High. Howard T. Herber was built during the Great Depression. The gnome decorations all around the school are indicative of that given that gnomes were a popular décor around the 1930s. The building is made up of brick and is large in length. This photograph is only a portion of this school. Some of the bricks on the school look lighter than the other parts, which might mean that the school went under some renovation from the Great Depression till present day. On both sides of the main door are cemented columns. This style is also old fashioned and would not be in modern architecture. Above the entrance doors reads “To Give Each Child An Opportunity For Educational Advancement”. This sign in cement above the doors also is a design used in earlier decades. Normally today that quote would be on a sign on the grass or on their schools mission statement. This school also does not have central air but rather air conditioners hanging out of the windows. That is a loud sign that this school is not new and has seen a few decades in its lifetime. Howard T. Herber is also quite well kept with much trimmed grass surrounding it and little bushes around the stairs. This greenery gives the school a serene feeling.