Glen Cove is a city in Nassau County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the city population was 26,964.
Part of the early 20th century Gold Coast of the North Shore, Glen Cove has a diverse population. Of Nassau County's five municipalities, Glen Cove is one of the two municipalities that is a city, rather than a town, the other being Long Beach on the South Shore.
The city was also the location of several successful manufacturing facilities in the 20th century.
Geography
The city is on the north shore of Long Island, on Long Island Sound. The hills that stretch along the shore are terminal moraines left by glaciers of the last ice age.
Glen Cove sits at 40°52′2″N 73°37′40″W (40.867326, âˆ'73.627738).
The city of Glen Cove is bordered on three sides by the town of Oyster Bay, and on the fourth by the sound.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has 19.2 square miles (50Â km2), including 6.7 square miles (17Â km2) of land and 12.6 square miles (33Â km2) of it (65.51%) water.
Demographics
2010 census
As of the 2010 census, Glen Cove is 74.2% White (59.4% non-Hispanic white), 7.2% African American, 4.6% Asian, 10.1% some other race, 3.2% two or more races, 0.4% Native American, and 0.1% Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. Hispanics or Latinos of any race make up 27.9% of the population.
2000 census
As of the census of 2000, there were 26,622 people, 9,461 households, and 6,651 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,006.0 people per square mile (1,545.7/km²). There were 9,734 housing units at an average density of 1,464.7 per square mile (565.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 60.28% White, 26.40% African American, 0.29% Native American, 4.11% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 5.72% from other races, and 23.15% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 20.0% of the population.
There were 9,461 households out of which 29.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.5% were married couples living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were non-families. 24.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.22.
In the city, the population was spread out with 21.2% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 30.6% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 17.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 92.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $89,000 and the median income for a family was $108,000. Males had a median income of $61,900 versus $40,581 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,627.
Government
The mayor is Reginald Spinello; this position is elected at-large. He succeeded Ralph V. Suozzi, cousin of former Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi. The city council is elected from single-member districts.
The town of Oyster Bay had jurisdiction over the area from the 1680s until 1917, when Glen Cove became an independent city. Glen Cove has its own police, fire protection, and emergency medical services. The fire department and emergency medical services are volunteer agencies. The Office of Emergency Management is responsible for the planning, coordination and response to natural and man-made emergencies that occur within the city of Glen Cove.
History
Succeeding cultures of indigenous peoples had lived in the area for thousands of years. At the time of European contact, bands of the Lenape (Delaware) nation inhabited western Long Island, the areas of New York and New Jersey around the harbor, and along the coast through present-day Pennsylvania and Delaware, as well as along the Delaware River. They spoke an Algonquian language. By 1600 the band inhabiting this local area was called the Matinecock after their location.
Glen Cove was used as a port by English migrants from New England and named "Moscheto" before 1668. On May 24, 1668 Joseph Carpenter of Warwick, Rhode Island purchased about 2,000 acres (8.1Â km2) of land to the northwest of the Town of Oyster Bay from the Matinecock. Later in that year he admitted four residents of Oyster Bay as co-partners in the project: brothers Nathaniel, Daniel, and Robert Coles, and Nicholas Simkins. The five young men named the settlement Musketa Cove Plantation, "musketa" meaning "place of rushes" in the Lenape language.
19th century
In the 1830s, steamboats started regular service on Long Island Sound between New York City and Musketa Cove, arriving at a point still called "The Landing." As "Musketa" was negatively associated with mosquito, in 1834 village residents changed the name to Glen Cove; this was said to be taken from the misheard suggestion of "Glencoe," meaning Glencoe, Scotland. The village added population as workers arrived for jobs at the Duryea Corn Starch factory, which operated until 1900. The name "Duryea" was once suggested as a village name to replace Mosquito Cove but rejected.
By 1850 the village of Glen Cove had become a popular summer resort community for New York City residents. The Long Island Rail Road was extended to Glen Cove in 1867, providing quicker, more frequent service to New York City. The availability of the train and the town's location on Long Island Sound made it attractive to year-round residents, and the population increased. On June 8, 1917, Glen Cove became an independent city, separating from the Town of Oyster Bay after 250 years.
The vistas afforded of Long Island Sound from the town's rolling hills attracted late 19th-century wealthy industrial barons, including Charles Pratt and his sons, as well as J. P. Morgan, and F. W. Woolworth. They built large private estates along the island's North Shore. This expanse of settled wealth was part of what would become known in the 1920s as the Gold Coast of Nassau County. Part of the Morgan property was donated to the city and is now operated as Morgan Park and Beach.
20th century
Most of the mansions were adapted to other purposes before the mid-20th century. Winfield Hall, the former home of F.W. Woolworth, is privately owned. Altogether, five Pratt families owned about 5,000 acres (20Â km2) in the area. John T. Pratt's estate ("The Manor," designed by Charles A. Platt) is now operated as the Glen Cove Mansion Hotel and Conference Center.
The Braes, the country estate of his son Herbert L. Pratt, was purchased by the Webb Institute in 1945. After renovation, it opened the facility in 1947 as an established specialty college for naval architecture and engineering.
George DuPont Pratt's estate, Killenworth, was purchased by the Soviet Union government for use by its United Nations delegation. The Russians have used it for decades to house visitors and as a weekend retreat for its UN staff. When in the United States for meetings at the United Nations, both Nikita Khrushchev, then premier of the Soviet Union, and Fidel Castro, then president of Cuba, separately stayed at Killenworth.
Like many other suburbs, Glen Cove grew rapidly in population after World War II, when new residential developments were completed that replaced pastureland and farms with subdivisions. Many residents were second and third-generation descendants of eastern and southern European immigrants, and had moved out from childhood homes in Queens or Brooklyn. Some African Americans were descendants of slaves from the colonial period, as colonists had used slaves for domestic help and farm labor; others were descendants of migrants from the South who came to New York City and the area during the Great Migration of the first half of the 20th century.
In the late 20th century, immigrants to the city have been generally from Latin America and eastern Asia. A Sikh gurdwara established in Glen Cove draws members from the ethnic Indian population in the area.
The U.S. Post Office at Glen Cove, built in 1932 during the Great Depression, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The Justice Court Building, the former city court and later city hall and police headquarters, was added to the NRHP in 1990. It has been renovated and adapted for use as the North Shore Historical Museum. The Old Glen Cove Post Office on Glen Street was listed on the NRHP in 2010; it is now used as an architect's office.
Industry
Glen Clove Creek was channelized in the early 20th century by the US Army Corps of Engineers.
Li Tungsten produced tungsten powder and tungsten carbide powder, along with other specialty products. The company was first known as Wah Chang Smelting and Refining Company, and later as Teledyne Wah Chang.
Columbia Ribbon and Carbon Manufacturing Company opened a Glen Cove research lab in 1932 and produced blue printing inks, carbon paper and typing ribbon until 1980.
Powers Chemco, which made photographic equipment and supplies, was renamed Chemco Technologies in 1987. It was later purchased and renamed Konica Imaging U.S.A., and is today known as Konica Minolta Holding USA Inc. The company closed its Glen Cove factory in 2006 and moved to Michigan.
In 1953 and 1958, Pall Corporation established factories to make filtration products. One site was occupied until 1999, the other until 1971, when the building was sold to August Thomsen Corp.
Photocircuits Corporation began manufacturing circuit boards in 1951, and employed 740 workers when it closed in 2007.
Another company, Slater Electric, began making electrical wiring devices in 1956.
In 1988, Pass and Seymour manufactured electric components using an injection molding process.
Former Gladsky Marine operated a marina and marine repair facility along Glen Cove Creek from the early 1970s until 1999. The remediation of semi-volatile organic compounds and metals from the facility was completed in 2010.
Economy
Acclaim Entertainment had its headquarters in One Acclaim Plaza, located in Glen Cove. Acclaim bought the three-story, 65,000 square feet (6,000Â m2), Class A office building in 1994 for $4 million.
Education
Public schools
The city of Glen Cove and its residents are served by the Glen Cove City School District. Children who live in the City attend the Eugene J. Gribbin/ Katherine A. Deasy Elementary schools for grades K-2 (pre-k offered at Deasy), Landing/ Margaret. A. Connolly schools for grades 3â€"5, Robert M. Finley Middle School for grades 6â€"8, and Glen Cove High School for grades 9â€"12. Finley Middle School was one of ten NASSP Breakthrough Schools. The Glen Cove City School District's "Paired Plan" for elementary schools has the Gribbin and Connolly schools paired, as well as the Deasy and Landing schools. All students from across the city attend joint classes in the central Middle and High schools.
Private schools
There are several private educational institutions inside the city boundaries:
- All Saints Regional Catholic School
- Friends Academy (preK â€" 12) is a Quaker-founded private school that is located within the corporation boundaries of Glen Cove but has a Locust Valley mailing address.
- Webb Institute of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, a four-year college.
Houses of worship
- Calvary AME Church
- Congregation Tifereth Israel (Glen Cove, New York)
- First Church of Christ Scientist
- First Presbyterian Church
- Glen Cove Gurdwara
- Holy Virgin Protection and St. Sergius Russian Orthodox Church
- St. Patrick's Church (Roman Catholic)
- St. Paul's Episcopal Church
- St. Rocco's Church (Roman Catholic)
- Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses
- North Country Reform Temple
- Trinity Lutheran Church
Transportation
The city of Glen Cove is served by the following mass transit services:
- Rail: The Oyster Bay Branch of Long Island Rail Road has three stations within the boundaries of the city: Sea Cliff, Glen Street and Glen Cove.
- Bus: Nassau Inter-County Express (formerly MTA Long Island Bus): routes N21 (to Great Neck) and N27 (to Hempstead). There is also local service within the city.
- Express bus: Long Island Transit offers weekday commuter service between Glen Cove and Manhattan with stops in Midtown and the Wall Street area.
Culture
- The Morgan Park Music Festival holds free concerts on Sunday evenings during July and August at the gazebo in Morgan Park.
- Glen Cove is the headquarters of the American Stamp Dealers Association.
- Welwyn, the former Harold Pratt estate, is a 204-acre (0.83Â km2), densely wooded preserve open to the public. It features nature trails and a variety of habitats, including a wooded stream valley, fresh water ponds and swamps, a coastal salt marsh, and a stretch of Long Island Sound shoreline. More than 100 species of birds and a variety of small native mammals, reptiles and amphibians inhabit the preserve's grounds. It is the site of the Holocaust Memorial & Educational Center, which offers exhibits and other educational programs.
Nearby are such attractions as the Hillwood Art Museum at C.W. Post Center of Long Island University, Nassau County Museum of Art; Old Westbury Gardens and Mansion, which holds regular concerts; Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, Theodore Roosevelt's summer White House; the Planting Fields Arboretum and Coe Mansion, which also holds concerts; and other live music venues.
Its sister city is Sturno, Italy, from where many immigrants came in the early 20th century and settled in Glen Cove.
Waterfront
The city of Glen Cove has an extensive waterfront area on Hempstead Harbor and Long Island Sound. There are three public beaches: Crescent Beach, Morgan Beach (at Morgan Park), and Prybil Beach. Hempstead Harbour Yacht Club, Glen Cove City Yacht Club, and the Garvies Point Boating Association are the three major sailing clubs in the City. Brewer's Boardyard is the only boating storage yard left in the city. The city has a boat launch ramp at the end of Garvies Point Road. The city has no facilities for kayaks.
Sailboat racing in the Glen Cove area can be watched from a cliff-top park in the neighboring village of Sea Cliff and from various points on the hills of Garvies Point Preserve. Races are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings, and Saturdays during the afternoon. The annual "Around Long Island Sailboat Race" finishes at the end of the breakwater at Morgan Park.
On the waterfront the saying goes, "If you can hear the train, it is going to rain." If you hear that train whistle blow, that means the wind is coming from the east and a storm is on the way.
Representation in media
- Sabrina (1954), starring Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, and William Holden - scenes filmed at the Glen Cove train station
- North by Northwest (1959), starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason â€" scenes filmed at Old Westbury Gardens. The police station was the actual Glen Cove Police Station, now the North Shore Historical Museum.
- Hello Again (1987), starring Shelley Long and Corbin Bernsen â€" scenes filmed at Glen Cove train station
- Still of the Night (1982), Brooke's mother's house where dream occurs, and also the climax of the film, is in Glen Cove.
- Batman Forever (1995), starring Val Kilmer and Nicole Kidman - used the Webb Institute (formerly 'The Braes' estate) as the exterior for 'Wayne Manor'
- Sabrina (1995), starring Harrison Ford, Greg Kinnear, and Julia Ormond â€" filmed at Salutations, the former Junius Spencer Morgan III estate, still privately owned
- A Perfect Murder (1998), starring Michael Douglas â€" filmed at Salutations
- Eyes Wide Shut (1999), house where the orgy takes place is in Glen Cove.
- Dedication (2007), starring Billy Crudup and Mandy Moore - location used unknown
- Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2008) â€" Contract (Season 7, Episode 12)
- Sex and the City 2 (2010) â€" some scenes set at Salutations
- Fringe â€" in Season 3 Episode 7, it was revealed that Agent Broyles lives in Glen Cove
- Josh Alan Friedman, a resident as a child, set his "autobiographical novel", Black Cracker (2010), in Glen Cove. The book portrays events from his childhood in the early 1960s, when he attended South School, a de facto black school. For a time, Friedman was South School's lone white student.
- In 2010, a television commercial for Hunt's tomato sauce was filmed at the Glen Cove Volunteer Fire Department, featuring GCVFD firefighters.
- Our Idiot Brother (2011), starring Paul Rudd, Zooey Deschanel, Rashida Jones, Elizabeth Banks - interior shots of mother's house were filmed at a house on Highland Rd.
- Gotham (2014) - Parts of the television show Gotham were filmed outside and inside of the Webb Institute. The producers catered for the students, as the show had commandeered the school's dining room for filming. The Institute also supplied a ship model that was used as a set piece.
Notable people
- Laurie Bird â€" film actress
- Leslie Buck â€" businessman, designer of the Anthora coffee cup
- Mike Grella - professional soccer player for the New York Red Bulls
- Ashanti Douglas â€" singer and actress
- Curt Hawkins â€" professional wrestler
- Thomas Pynchon â€" novelist
- Chuck Schuldiner â€" musician
See also
- Welwyn Preserve, previously the estate of Harold I. Pratt, in Glen Cove
References
External links
- Official website
- Civil Service website, Glen Cove
- Glen Cove History, Glen Cove Public Library
- "Glen Cove Heritage", official website
- "Landing Pride", civic association
- Glen Cove's Historic Estates, Old Long Island