REMEMBERING 9/11

Watch live - World Trade Center site ceremony remembering those lost on 9/11

Tenants oppose possible condo conversion in Glen Cove

Nathaniel Jones has lived in his Glen Cove apartment for eight years, but he is worried that he may be forced out. "We're senior citizens, and I'm not going to put my wife in the street," Jones says.

News 12 Staff

Mar 2, 2016, 5:08 PM

Updated 3,114 days ago

Share:

Nathaniel Jones has lived in his Glen Cove apartment for eight years, but he is worried that he may be forced out.
"We're senior citizens, and I'm not going to put my wife in the street," Jones says. "No way."
The Glen Cove Planning Board held a public hearing at City Hall Tuesday night to discuss a proposal to tear down the apartments on Glen Cove Avenue, where Jones lives, in order to develop luxury condos on 4 acres of land.
"The project takes a few blocks," says Glen Cove Mayor Reggie Spinello. "There are some areas with low-income housing. We're taking some blighted property, we're returning it to a good use." Spinello says he wants to make sure all residents are taken care of while also enhancing the community's economy with jobs and increased tax revenue.
Residents near the site of the proposed condos say they are more concerned with tenants than the property itself.
"I did hear the word 'blighted' used," says Reggie Williams, who lives near the apartments. "I don't agree with that. Improvement is not just how the building looks. You have to include the people."
Williams is also the pastor at First Baptist Church. He says some of his parishioners would be affected by a condo conversion.
The Planning Board will take the public's comments into consideration and is expected to make a decision in the coming weeks.