Manorhaven seeks ways to revitalize, beautify village business corridor

The Village of Manorhaven has started efforts to reimagine its downtown in an effort to attract young professionals, reduce parking, and beautify its business corridor.

The village board is seeking ideas through a series of town hall-style talks with residents and in March hired Vision Long Island, a Northport smart-growth nonprofit group, to help with strategy and grant applications. Efforts focus on Manorhaven Boulevard.

About 60 residents attended an April 25 meeting at Village Hall with local officials and representatives of Vision Long Island. The village is considering ways to attract more boaters when the long-closed Morgan's Dock is rebuilt and opened as the village public dock.

Officials also want to increase the number of parking spaces in the village.

"We're trying to get ideas together to solve problems," Leslie Gross, the village's clerk-treasurer, said Monday.

The dense nature of the village is one issue officials want to address. Recent census data show that about 6,700 residents live in a 0.47-square-mile village that is a mix of two-family houses and single-family homes.

Deputy Mayor Lucretia Steele said the village suffers from "a lot of overcrowding."

Steele said the board will study ways to relieve traffic congestion, such as creating diagonal parking spaces on Manorhaven Boulevard to allow for more parking.

The village can highlight its proximity to the waterfront and local marinas, said Eric Alexander, director of Vision Long Island, calling Manorhaven "a close-knit walkable community that has housing options the broader Port Washington community doesn't."

By Scott Eidler

scott.eidler@newsday.com@ScottEidler

Scott Eidler is a deputy editor for the towns department at Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.