Glen Cove Among State's Most Fiscally Stressed

Glen Cove is being described as one of the most financially stressed cities in New York by state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

Statewide, only the city of Niagara Falls was ranked worse than Glen Cove, which had Long Island's worst rating, according to Newsday.

The study was part of a analysis of 1,000 counties, towns and cities statwide and towns released Tuesday. The rankings were based on a review of debt levels, fixed costs and operating deficits, Newsday reported.

Glen Cove received the second-highest score amount New York cities, behind only Niagara Falls, the report states. Glen Cove's ranking was based, in part, on the city's debt service, more than $9 million or more than 17 percent of its total revenue, Assistant Comptroller Nathaalie Carey told Newsday.

Mayor Ralph Suozzi said the city's deficit is about $4.1 million, which is another factor in the scoring.

"When you couple that debt with other indicators, that starts to paint a picture," Carey told Newsday.

Suozzi responded that he wasn't surprised by the report, adding Glen Cove's fiscal issues predate his election in 2005.

Suozzi requested that former State Comptroller Alan Hevesi  perform an audit of the city's finances, Suozzi told Newsday. The ultimate deficit back then approached $15 million.

The city has been reducing the deficit since: "I knew Glen Cove was stressed before I became mayor. It's why I ran for mayor," Suozzi told Newsday.

Six Upstate municipalities were ranked as having "significant stress," six including Glen Cove were said to have "moderate stress," and a dozen were listed as "susceptible to fiscal stress," the report said.