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A look back at a once ‘thriving community’ in Riverside

Peter's Motel, which opened in 1957, is believed to have been the first black-owned establishment of its kind on Long Island.
Peter’s Motel, which opened in 1957, is believed to have been the first black-owned establishment of its kind on Long Island.

PETER’S MOTEL

In 1957, Mr. Fitzgerald’s parents opened Peter’s Motel, believed to be the first black-owned establishment of its kind on Long Island.

“It was named after me,” said Mr. Fitzgerald, whose father eventually built a house for his family behind the motel. “I was 3 years old.”

Located next door to Dave’s Diner, the 10-unit building survives and is now used as housing, said Mr. Fitzgerald. He began taking care of both properties with the help of his wife, Marianne, after his mother died in 1999.

“She was very, very proud,” Marianne Fitzgerald said of her mother-in-law. “She kept [the motel] neat: landscaped, flowers, beautiful. There were concrete benches around, a big rosebush. And she was always painting.”

Around 2004, Mr. Fitzgerald sold Dave’s Diner and the motel, along with his childhood home and a rental house on the property.

During its heyday, he said, Peter’s Motel was able to capitalize on the fact that Sunrise Highway hadn’t been extended yet.

“Everyone riding out to the Hamptons would have to stop here,” he said. “A few white people came, but mainly black.”

Hy-WAY 24 RESTAURANT

Frustrated with the lackluster service black people were receiving at other local eateries, Mr. Fitzgerald’s parents decided to open their final business, Hy-Way 24 Restaurant, in the early 1970s.

“It was supposed to open Feb. 24, 1972,” Mr. Fitzgerald said. “Everything was set up, the menus were on the tables. But on Feb. 21, I went into the bedroom and found my father dead.”

The site of Hy-Way 24, which the family did eventually open in 1973, is now occupied by the Mexican restaurant El Mariachi. Mr. Fitzgerald and his mother operated it until 1988, when the latter decided to retire.

“She said, ‘I’m tired,’ ” he recalled.

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