Walk through Bellmore town on any given day. I promise you, you won’t find anything outstandingly remarkable. Sure, the lemon voodoo pancakes at Morning Rose are to-die-for and the bento box lunch special at Komo is a pretty nice deal. A movie is always great at the Playhouse and no Long Islander can say “no” to a small Ralph’s ice. And yes, the Giants did fly Umberto’s pizza all the way out to Indiana when they made it to the Super Bowl. With the food selection, handful of shops and close walk to the train station, it’s fair to say that Bellmore is a great little town. But what sets it apart from every other south shore Sunrise Highway strip?
Every day of the week Bedford Ave. is busy. Whether it’s people waiting for brunch on a Sunday morning or teens lining the block for a Thursday night movie premiere, the block is always alive. Drive two miles or so over to Merrick? There might as well be a cartoon tumbleweed. What is it that makes the Bellmore Playhouse more inviting than Merrick Cinemas? Or Ralph’s- I mean seriously. Bellmore-Merrick has three Ralph’s Ices between the two towns. Why go to one over the other? Is the Bellmore indoor seating truly a game changer or am I missing something here?
It makes sense when there’s a little extra traffic on Friday nights in the summer. The Bellmore “Friday Nite Car Show” attracts loyal car owners and enthusiasts from all over the island. Even if you can’t tell a Bel Air from a Beetle, Friday nights in Bellmore are just another, albeit well-orchestrated, excuse to stroll around the streets with your Ralph’s in hand.
Just as the car show may start the weekend, the flea market wraps up the end in Bellmore. Every warm Sunday like clockwork vendors set up shop for a long day at the train station parking lot.
And then there’s that long weekend in the fall where nearly every Long Islander and their cousin who still live in the five boroughs descends onto the town- the Bellmore Family Street Festival. For kids in Bellmore, it’s hands-down the best time of the year.
Yet, so what? Most towns have car shows, markets and festivals. Bellmore’s community happenings are surely less than groundbreaking, yet they never seem to falter, and often rise far above that of other towns.
Whatever it is in Bellmore – the weekend shows, the holiday signs or even the music played through the lampposts on Bedford Ave. (seriously, who decides this playlist)– it keeps people coming back.
The avenue is a magnet for middle schoolers, hooked on their first taste of freedom. A few interchangeably inhabit the underpass near the movie theater, reveling in the echoes of their punk rock music. You can always count on seeing cars circling the blocks trying to find parking behind Gold’s Gym. Young families that go early to the street fair on a Friday night before the high schoolers take over. Generations reuniting outside Matteo’s as the valet struggles to control traffic. College students back home on break celebrating at McBride’s.
And although Bellmore is known to change, like those two storefronts that never seem to stay the same, an eternal guessing game of what’s to come next, it’s the constant of these people that keep the town whole. Like the comfort of knowing you can literally order anything at the Mediterranean Diner, you can rely on these sights, sounds and crowds on Bedford Ave. Until the reason behind this inexplicable popularity is discovered, I’ll chalk it up to some hometown charm. Thanks for being there for me and so many others over the decades, Bedford Ave. You’re pretty alright.
