On his last album, singer Tom Waits laid a track without any instruments, just the voice of a guy relating pieces of recent family history to his son through anecdotes about all the cars they had owned, which was  immersed by the sound of urban traffic.  

In downtown Glen Cove on Thursday, anyone with interest can enjoy the same kind of atmosphere created by Waits' nostalgic father narrator, but magnified and more palpable.

The Glen Cove Volunteer Fire Department is slated to host the city's first Cruise Car Night of the season. The event will be held every Thursday until Sept. 30.

Traffic will be closed on portions of Bridge, School, and Glen streets, and will be limited to the intersections at Pulaski Street and Highland Road. The goal is to facilitate a sort of thoroughfare mall where custom car mechanics and enthusiasts can lounge in lawn chairs next to their suped-up Mustangs or classic cars while exchanging information and mingling with one another and pedestrians. Bands will also be on-hand to provide musical entertainment. 

Restaurants and shops in the city, fire officials said, will also stay open later than usual hoping to benefit from the spectacle-induced swell of pedestrian traffic.

The event is sponsored by the Glen Cove Downtown Business Improvement District (BID), a not-for-profit agency that represents more than 200 of the city's businesses, which acts as the promoter. The fire department is responsible for organizing the activity including collecting entry fees, barring the roads and erecting signs to help redirect traffic and deflate congestion.

The idea was pitched to the department last year by Robert "Bob" Citco, a city fire dispatcher and 38-year volunteer for the department, as a way to both raise money for the department's 175^th Anniversary celebration in 2012 and attract more patrons to the city's business district. 

It was "enthusiastically supported" by the BID, according to Francine Koehler, the agency's Executive Director, and together, the BID and fire department proposed it to Mayor Ralph Suozzi before getting approval from the city government.

During the initial season, which took place from May through October 2009, results were mixed. Rain washed out many Thursdays, driving out would-be participants and spectators. There were also complaints issued by some business owners about diversion of traffic and use of parking spaces in front of their buildings.

But that did not dissuade the BID or the city from supporting the event because of its potential to increase revenue for everyone in the downtown area.

There were also highlights, such as one night in July recalled by Chief Tony Tripp, when approximately 100 cars were on display.

"I find it takes about five years for an event to get off the ground and into everyone's consciousness," Koehler said.

Citco added that Oyster Bay, which is in its fifth year hosting similar auto display events, now garners around 150 cars a night, up from about 30 in the beginning. As the chairman of the department's Anniversary Committee, he hopes their efforts in Glen Cove will raise a few thousand dollars.

The car nights are free for pedestrians and $5 for car exhibitors. All cars are admitted from 5 to 10 p.m. at the gate outside the Glen Cove Police Department on Bridge Street. 

For more information, visit the BID's Web site.