Glen Cove officials to vote on renewal of Garvies Point proposal

Glen Cove Mayor Reginald Spinello stands at the site of the city's ongoing waterfront redevelopment project on Friday, June 26, 2015. Credit: Danielle Finkelstein
The Glen Cove City Council is scheduled to vote Friday whether to authorize Mayor Reginald Spinello to renew an agreement with the city’s Community Development Agency and Industrial Development Agency to administer projects and grants connected with the Garvies Point waterfront redevelopment project.
The agreement is renewed annually, said city spokeswoman Lisa Travatello. Spinello chairs both quasi-municipal agencies.
The Garvies Point proposal includes 1,110 condominium and rental units, four parks, three marinas, stores, a restaurant, offices, an amphitheater and other amenities.
Construction on the $850-million-plus, 1.72-million-square-foot project is slated to begin in the spring.
The project has divided the city. Spinello and other boosters say it will provide long-term tax revenue to city coffers and revitalize a blighted waterfront. Opponents worry the city would end up spending more money on services than it would gain from the development and decry its scale as inappropriate for the city.
A lawsuit the Village of Sea Cliff filed in November against the city and the project’s developer, Uniondale-based RXR Realty, alleges Glen Cove is violating a 2000 intermunicipal agreement with Sea Cliff that called for a much smaller development.
A separate lawsuit, with more than three dozen Sea Cliff, Glen Head and Glen Cove residents as plaintiffs, alleges the city is violating state law by not requiring new environmental studies on the project site. Attorneys for the city and RXR deny the allegations and predict the suits will not delay the project.
The council also is slated to vote Friday on the reappointment of Spinello as the CDA’s chairman and the following as members of the board: Lyndsay Anderson, Daniel Cox, Vincent Hartley, Anthony Jimenez, Danielle Willis and Luis Vasquez. Spinello chooses the IDA’s board members.

Things to do now on LI Rock climbing? Indoor beach volleyball? Water parks? Arts and crafts? NewsdayTV's Elisa DiStefano and Newsday deputy lifestyle editor Meghan Giannotta have your look at ways to spend your winter break.

Things to do now on LI Rock climbing? Indoor beach volleyball? Water parks? Arts and crafts? NewsdayTV's Elisa DiStefano and Newsday deputy lifestyle editor Meghan Giannotta have your look at ways to spend your winter break.