On Dec. 28, the Glen Cove City Council voted to allow local lobstermen to store their lobster traps, ropes, buoys and, in some cases, boats in the city's impound yard on Shore Road and at the municipal sewage treatment plant. The agreement comes as a response to the recent crisis within the lobster industry which has caused serious financial strain on local lobstermen and their families. The crisis is a massive die-off of lobsters in Long Island Sound which scientists speculate is caused by a parasite.

Glen Cove lobstermen who are residents and/or lobstermen who fish out of Glen Cove will be able to store their gear on the two sites for one year at no charge. The city will ensure the storage is attractive and protected. The lobstermen are required to maintain their insurance and the city will not be liable for any damage to the gear. At the end of the one-year period, the city will revisit the issue. Mayor Thomas Suozzi said Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto and the Town of Huntington will be considering a similar arrangement for lobstermen in those jurisdictions. The mayor said one other reason for reaching out to the lobstermen is to encourage the industry to stay in Glen Cove which enhances the city's waterfront while maintaining a Glen Cove tradition.

During a press conference on Dec. 29 in Mineola, Mayor Suozzi and local lobstermen Joe Finke, Charles Cressi, Joel Lizza, and Glenn Lizza described their situation. The lobstermen represent one and two generations of lobster fishing in our community. Mr. Finke has expressed gratitude on behalf of the 20 or so lobstermen who are based in Glen Cove. "This will help us get through the winter. Those of us who haven't been able to bear the cost of storing our gear are selling it. If and when the lobsters return, then what? Glen Cove is an excellent port with a beautiful creek. The lobsters started dying in September. Usually between Thanksgiving and Christmas we have our largest catch; we saw between one and five lobsters. The lobstermen have fixed overhead expenses and not enough resources are available to help us maintain our business. We are grateful to the mayor and city council. This saves us thousands of dollars each." Mr. Finke described the cost cutting measures he has taken to ensure the well-being of his wife and two sons. Cable television, newspapers, AOL have already been cut from the family's budget. Joel Lizza said he was probably going to sell his equipment because the future is bleak. "I had just bought a new boat because I thought things were okay and then one day, the bottom just dropped out." Mr. Cressi said the lobster die-off happened with an unprecedented speed. "What do you do for a living when this happens?" Many lobstermen have taken other jobs to make ends meet. Mayor Suozzi said he and the city council understand that this offer won't solve the problem but it does serve two purposes. "It will give the lobstermen a financial break since they won't have to worry about renting space for storage and it will buy precious time for the lobstermen until the situation is alleviated," said the mayor. The city is also exploring the possibility of the federal and state governments declaring the situation a disaster area which would make the lobstermen eligible for low interest loans through the Small Business Administration.

Prior to the city council meeting on Dec. 28, the Glen Cove Community Development Agency met and approved a resolution authorizing the agency to purchase a three-family house on Grove Street which will be rehabilitated in an historically appropriate manner and transformed into what the Glen Cove community knew in the 1920s as The Orchard House.

The price paid by the CDA is $240,000. The property had been in foreclosure proceedings and bought privately at auction for $200,000. When the purchaser learned that the city wanted the property a deal was struck paving the way for the CDA to buy it. Soon, the agency will be soliciting bids for its rehabilitation.

The house is on B-2 commercially zoned property and has a 15-year record of numerous violations to the city's housing code. The chairman of the CDA, Thomas Suozzi, said the goal is to make the property the site of a reborn Orchard House for the predominantly immigrant Hispanic community in the area. It will be run by a not-for-profit organization and serve as an education center to help residents of the neighborhood in learning how to speak English, American customs and the procedures to follow on the road to attaining American citizenship. The CDA will also look at the feasibility of moving the city's shapeup center to the property since there is ample room. By having the shapeup center on the same site, should the day laborers not find employment on any particular day, they could avail themselves of the learning opportunities in the Orchard House. After the rehabilitation, the site will also offer housing opportunities the income from which will help run the Orchard House. By the city controlling the site, it can monitor its activities.

Chairman Suozzi said this is an opportunity to uplift the neighborhood, to end the illegal housing history of the property, clean up the mess on the site and, most important, provide a sorely-needed opportunity for the neighborhood residents. It is estimated that the rehabilitation of 34 Grove Street will cost $100,000.