Thursday, October 1, 2026
For roughly 17 years, Glen Cove’s Crescent Beach has been closed to swimmers. The cause was initially fleeting; the solution was complex, and the process at times was extremely frustrating.
Now that nearly two decades have come and gone, the project has come to fruition and the beach is open for the summer, so it’s a good time to reflect on how we got to this moment.
The cause of the closure wasn’t the beach at all — it was the stream that runs west of the beach. When Ralph Suozzi was mayor, Nassau County began testing Crescent Beach for bacteria in the water, and detected levels 1,000 times higher than the permissible amount.
At the time, I was a city councilwoman, and the city’s Parks Department began its investigation with various dye tests to determine if faulty septic systems were the culprit. While Glen Cove is 90 percent sewered, some neighborhoods near the beach were not, which made it a logical starting point.
Becoming a County Legislator in 2012 gave me the chance to delve further into the issue. Based on the initial hypothesis, I secured $12 million in Nassau’s capital plan to expand sewer service. While we didn’t use most of this funding, subsequent studies determined that two new pump stations, along with miles of sewer lines, would be needed to fully sewer this portion of Glen Cove at a cost of more than $30 million.
As our probe continued, engineers discovered roughly 20 pipes in a stream near the beach, and bacteria levels were very high at the mouths of two of those pipes. Further testing determined that the source of the bacteria was animals, not humans. So I met with former Mayor Tim Tenke and the homeowners, who agreed to purchase Helix filters to purify the water coming out of the pipes from their properties. We’re all so grateful to those homeowners, whose cooperation set us on a path toward resolving the issues at Crescent Beach.
Another concern that needed to be addressed was water runoff — it crossed a wooded area in what was almost a natural viaduct. Because the pathway was so carved out, any bacteria that accumulated remained in the water when it reached the stream. Natural, bacteria-reducing plantings were added there as a solution.
The last major hurdle was cleared with a $250,000 project to upgrade a culvert near the stream that was almost entirely blocked. The Department of Public Works, which has done yeoman’s work at Crescent Beach, also regraded sand to prevent runoff, and installed signs reminded residents to keep dogs away from the stream.
Slowly but surely, bacteria levels in the county Department of Health’s routine sampling began to drop. By the end of last summer, we received optimistic signals that the beach could soon be able to open. Last month, we got the news we’d all been waiting for — Crescent Beach could welcome swimmers again!
There are so many people to thank for their efforts and support for this project. Four mayors — Suozzi, Reggie Spinello, Tenke and Pamela Panzenbeck — were involved, and they worked tirelessly, Democrats and Republicans alike, to achieve this outcome. The city contributed greatly by improving the parking lot and bathrooms. Vinnie Martinez, Mario Calderon and Rocco Graziosi, of the DPW, and Recreation Director Spiro Tsirkas were true forces of nature in getting this done.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation; the county Department of Health; Eric Swenson, executive director of the Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee; and Dr. Sarah Meyland, who guided us in selecting the plants for filtration, were instrumental partners, as was former Sea Cliff Mayor Bruce Kennedy, who literally put on his boots to help me inspect outflow pipes. I also want to thank retired Nassau DPW Commissioner Ken Arnold, who always took meetings with me to discuss this beloved beach, and Steve Hearl, vice president of H2M Architects & Engineers, for his expert assistance.
After being asked countless times, “When are you going to open the beach?” I can finally say that day has come — and it is truly an example of levels of government working together and never giving up. It’s a model for what can be achieved through cooperation in pursuit of a common goal that prioritizes the environment and our quality of life.
Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, of Glen Cove, represents Nassau County’s 11th Legislative District and is the Legislature’s minority leader.
