What Went Wrong?

I think some of our problems in Glen Cove and our area really started a very long time ago, maybe with the Robert Moses’ Oyster Bay/Rye Bridge; the bridge was going to connect our area to Rye, NY and transform our sleepy little North Shore City into a busy, transportation hub. 

People traveling to and from points north would soon be driving near or through Glen Cove, the City of the Gold Coast. We were going to be “on the map.”  “On the map” got into our subconscious, and we’ve been chasing that map ever since. Based on the Bridge, we made plans to upgrade our city, make roads wider, build parking garages, renovate old storefronts and build new ones. Even after the bridge plans were scrapped, for some reason we went on preparing for it.

To be honest, one way or another, I think we’re still looking for that bridge.  

We started moving to be ready for it, getting the momentum started was one thing, but stopping it was another; I guess things just looked too good. Like a lot of municipalities, we made unrealistic predictions of how great things were going be, then made unrealistic promises based on those predictions. Promises that would be very hard to keep. I’m not blaming specific politicians or the people; it’s pretty easy to see the thinking, it’s easy to see how the ball got rolling, and it’s easy to see how it was next to impossible to stop. It’s just another case of putting the cart before the horse, then buying the cart even after we learned that there wasn’t going to be a horse.  After all, it’s a great looking cart.   

For better or worse, the Oyster Bay/Rye Bridge would have completely changed our area.  The idea of the Bridge was conceived by Robert Moses and his crew in the 1950s; after highways were built and altered to support it, the whole idea was scrapped by Governor Rockefeller in 1973. The highway leading to the bridge (135, or “The Seaford Oyster Bay Expressway) was stopped in Syosset, six miles short of Oyster Bay and the North Shore. I guess some powerful people just didn’t want to be “on the map”.  

Whether it was the bridge that got into our psyche or not, we need to face facts: we’re just not a convenient destination. Our city is at the end of two clogged arteries (Glen Cove Road and 107) and almost at the end of the Oyster Bay Train line, which (thanks to an indirect route to Penn Station) is inferior to some train lines that are just a few towns over.

There are no good ways in and no good ways out. No highways and no through traffic.  Unless there’s a way to relocate the Glen Cove cul de sac, or get a direct Manhattan train route in here, I think we’re pretty much stuck with the cards we have.  

The Waterfront has become our biggest hope; we’re told that once we have that developed, things will be better. It’s true, Glen Cove does have some beautiful water front, but it’s along Long Island Sound. What we’re calling “the waterfront” now was always “the creek” when I was a kid. 

After it’s developed (if it’s developed), I have my doubts that business will be able to succeed there, because it will most likely be seasonal business. Many of the people that think it’ll be a home run never really ran a business. The property taxes and other NY State taxes and fees, and the general costs of doing business in our area are too high to give up five or six months a year to bad weather. Waterfront places generally work better when the season is longer, or the tax/rent burden is smaller. It seems like we were originally shooting for something like Mystic Seaport; I think we’ll get Bayville, if we’re lucky.

The area lacks some things that business needs in order to thrive (or even survive).  

Not a lot of Industry (jobs): They either moved away or closed taking thousands of jobs with them. Thousands of people that earned money in the larger businesses spent it at the smaller ones. I doubt we’ll get much of that back. Forget that you live here, forget that you know and love the area; if you were going to set up shop, would you want to do it here, or another part of the country where the costs of doing business will be a small fraction of what we pay? Profit has become a bit of a dirty word (especially to people that never had to earn one), but the private sector needs profits or it withers and dies quickly. The Public Sector needs the Private Sector to profit, so they can draw from it. Business can make more money elsewhere, so they do. When they go away, our problems get worse. When Grumman moves or Photocircuits closes, the rest of us have to share the huge tax burden they once carried, and the load is getting pretty heavy.  

Population: The answer to this seems to be building more, but if we build it, they still might not come; where would they work? We’re told that if we add homes or buildings, it will ease the tax burden, but all of the new people will be needing services. That means more teachers, police, fire and sanitation. Adding population isn’t as cost effective as we might think.  

Traffic: Dead ends aren’t on anyone’s route and we’re a dead end. An answer to this seems to be a Manhattan Ferry. I don’t think that worked out too well the last time. Ferries aren’t nearly as cost effective, fuel efficient or practical as trains.  

Property Taxes and Business Costs: For an area with fewer and fewer opportunities to earn, the tax man takes a pretty big cut. When the high property taxes, business taxes, payroll taxes, corporate taxes, transportation taxes, and fees, are added to the high price we pay for power and heat, there isn’t a lot of room to breathe, especially in a bad economy.  

It might sound like all gloom and doom, but it isn’t. If we adapt, we can overcome. We need to make tough decisions, adjust our goals. Instead of thinking about getting onto a map, we should make the area more inhabitable for the people that live here. Try to get taxes under control, try to make it a better environment for business (they’ll come back with their jobs if the conditions are right), try for some smaller goals instead of giant ones. Business can lead the way, but it needs proper conditions.  

It’s not only Glen Cove, it’s not only Nassau County, Long Island or New York. Different parts of the country are having similar problems. States with higher taxes (California, Michigan, Illinois and our own NY) are shrinking, losing business and people to states that offer more by taking less.  

In order to describe the difference between a good country and a bad one, I once heard someone pose the question: “If a country opens its gates, would  people rush in or rush out?” The same can be said for a city, a state or anywhere with borders. Are people trying to get in or out? I think the last census made that pretty clear. People are leaving, young and old. We’re beating the Golden Goose to death, and she’s opting to cross borders to survive.