“Glen Cove is the kind of community that people are born in and raised in and often choose to stay here,” says Mayor Panzenbeck, who won re-election in 2023 with 62 percent of the vote.“We have people of every ethnic background, every race, every socio-economic group, every religion. It’s really a wonderful, diverse community and pretty much always has been even when other communities were not.” The numbers validate her assessment. Money Magazine ranked Glen Cove as the 37th best place to live in the United States in 2022, the only New York location to make the list. With a population of 28,365, the city scores in the 98th percentile for safety nationwide. Its 10 miles of shoreline along Long Island Sound provide three public beaches and numerous waterfront amenities that define daily life for residents. “When you live in a community like Glen Cove, you can never go and live somewhere where you don’t see water every day,” Mayor Panzenbeck notes. The combination of small-town atmosphere, metropolitan access via three train stations, and natural beauty continues to attract young professionals and retirees to this North Shore enclave. TRANSFORMING PARKS AND BEACHES Glen Cove’s revitalization began with infrastructure, as Mayor Panzenbeck’s administration systematically upgraded nearly every public space in the city. The transformation started at Morgan Park, the former JP Morgan property where decades of deferred maintenance had taken their toll. “We have upgraded the sea wall, renovated the bathrooms, put new hardy boards and roofs on the exterior structures,” Mayor Panzenbeck explains.“We rebuilt stairs that were collapsing from the upper park to the lower park. We’ve replaced all the rotted bricks on the historic pavilions and completely renovated the roofs.” The improvements go across all three city beaches. At Pryibil Beach, a dead tennis court became one of the most popular amenities in the city. “We took a dead tennis court and renovated it to become a volleyball court. It’s fenced in. It’s a sand volleyball court,” says Mayor Panzenbeck. “Of the many things Photo Credit: Office of the Mayor 237 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 07 GLEN COVE, NY
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