In a recent article in your newspaper, I read that Billy Joel was being honored by New York State. In that article, Marc Herbst was quoted as saying that Billy Joel was "a former resident of the Hicksville section of Levittown." I was surprised that Mr. Herbst didn't realize that there is no Hicksville section of Levittown. There are, however, Levitt houses that were built in Hicksville. They run as far north as Old Country Road. However, I am pretty sure that the people who live in those houses know that they live in Hicksville and not in Levittown.

I have read many interviews with and articles about Billy Joel. He always seems to avoid saying that he is from Hicksville. Even in his letter in your July 2 edition, where he makes an attempt to explain himself, he states that Hicksville was where he lived "on the map." Levittown was where he lived "on the block." Wrong! Hicksville is where Billy Joel attended elementary, junior and senior high school. He had a mailing address and zip code that was Hicksville's. It was Hicksville's high school reunion that he attended and his name is on a plaque on Hicksville High School's Wall of Fame.

It means nothing to half admit that he is from Hicksville in our local newspaper. We already know where he is from. His explanation that he mentions Levittown rather than Hicksville because it is more well known is just silly. The Baldwins and Jerry Seinfeld aren't afraid to say they come from Massapequa. Everyone knows that Rosie O'Donnell comes from Commack and Eddie Murphy comes from Roosevelt. They don't say that they are from somewhere else because it is more well known.

Billy Joel has sung about Billy the Kid from Oyster Bay, about village greens, parkway diners, Italian restaurants and people that are familiar to a lot of us. Newsday called him "LI's Joel," and he is! But although he may have grown up in a Levitt house, his roots (part of what makes him what he is today) are in Hicksville. I'm sure most of his LI fans already know that. We're so proud of him and what a success a Hicksville kid has become. We're his #1 fans and always will be. Sadly, the warmth we feel for him does not seem to be reciprocated.

Andrea Smith