This past weekend marked the end of the Ladyzinski family's business and personal association with the Village of Greenvale. It was no small affair. After opening in 1944, Alexander's Liquors, located on 32 Glen Cove Road, has shut its doors. More than that, it meant the end of an association with the village that lasted nearly the entire 20th century. Before Alexander's Liquors, the Ladyzinski family also operated both a general store and a dry goods store. Those establishments first opened in 1911.

John's Market and an accompanying dry goods store were both located for decades only a few short feet from where Alexander's Liquors stood. The businesses were operated by John Ladyzinski, a native of Poland, and his two sons, John Junior and Alexander.

Alexander Ladyzinski spoke to The Roslyn News on a Friday afternoon, the day before the liquor store would close down for good. As the interview proceeded, a steady stream of customers filed in and out of the store. Indeed, Mr. Ladyzinski praised the generations of regular customers that sustained not only his business, but also other family ventures. He especially remembered business from the "estates trade." That is, the days when Roslyn was noted for its large estates, themselves a major source of employment for local citizens.

Mr. Ladyzinski said his father had always wanted to open a liquor store in Greenvale. He first applied for a New York State license in 1936. However, back then, the village was deemed to be too small to have a liquor store. By 1944, with World War II in its final years, the area had grown enough for such a license to be approved.

Mr. Ladyzinski not only remembered his loyal customers, but the Greenvale area as a good place to do business. "We've had really nice customers," he said. Mr. Ladyzinski also said he was able to get a good price on the property; hence, the decision to sell. Apparently, the new property will be home to not one, but two stores, even though neither Mr. Ladyzinski nor his wife knew what businesses those stores would operate.

Greenvale falls under the jurisdiction of the Town of North Hempstead. When asked what the town could do to make life easier to small businesses, Mr. Ladyzinski simply replied, "lower property taxes!" the burden of which, he added, is "outrageous." He also acknowledged that parking is a concern, but that is "a problem all over." Mr. Ladyzinski and his wife, Florence, have lived in Greenvale their entire lives, in the process, raising their children in the village. Now, they are moving farther out on the island, to North Bellmore, to be close to their daughter. The only other time Mr. Ladyzinski left Greenvale, he recalled, was for a stint in the armed services.

Since last weekend marked the end of the Ladyzinski's family 90-year stay in Greenvale, Mr. Ladyzinski reminisced about his father, the man who started the first businesses. His father originally emigrated from Poland to Mount Holyoke, MA. The senior Mr. Ladyzinski had a cousin who worked at a meat market in Roslyn Heights. And so, he moved from Massachusetts to New York. There, the senior Mr. Ladyzinski worked for his cousin and saved his money, all with an eye on starting his own business someday. While in Roslyn, the senior Mr. Ladyzinski met a Polish girl who worked on the Underhill Farms. This young lady, as it turned out, lived in the same town in Poland as the senior Mr. Ladyzinski hailed from. The two hadn't known each other when they lived in the old country. As young people in America, they met and dated and soon married. The senior Mr. Ladyzinski would also realize his dream of owning and operating his own business.