If Graves had taken the Southern State west, he could have gone to the Green Acres Mall, which was once a wonderful place to shop and eat when I was a child, and where now you enter at your own risk. He wouldn't have any problem finding other "thugs of color" to hang out with.
That being said, Lawn Guyland is the most segregated place I have ever lived.
I grew up in Massapequa Park, not more than 5 minutes from the Sunrise Mall. I remember going there all the time when I was in junior high and high school because there is oh so much for a teenager to do on LI /sarc. Haven't been back there in years though. The last time I was there I saw that they had a Walmart.
You're absolutely right about LI being completely segregated. The only people you would see in Massapequa/Massapequa Park were Italians, Jews, Irish, and German (in that order). Any black people that lived in Massapequa were located in East Massapequa, which anyone from that area will tell you is not really Massapequa anyway.