I am writing this letter in support of the Glen Isle Waterfront Development Project from a slightly different perspective. As a real estate broker with offices in Manhattan and Glen Cove, I have had several inquiries from clients of mine who maintain their primary residence in the city about locating an affordable weekend home, preferably a waterfront condominium on the North Shore within walking distance to shopping, urban facilities and transportation. While conducting a search for such location, I found out that nothing like this exists anywhere on the North Shore of Long Island except for the future Glen Cove waterfront development. In anticipation of the Glen Isle project, I conducted an informal survey among all my friends and clients and have a "standby" list of more than a dozen families looking to purchase either a retirement year-round condo or a weekend apartment in Glen Cove once this project materializes. I myself, as a weekend homeowner on East Island, living and working in the city during the week at the moment, am looking forward to downsizing and moving to a condo apartment with water views once my husband and I reach our retirement. We would like to stay in Glen Cove, on the waterfront as we do now, provided we can simplify our life and reduce our expenses by moving from a house to an apartment. The same applies to many friends of ours who are in their early 60s currently living in houses and looking to downsize to apartments once they retire, preferably in the North Shore area to stay close to their local friends and relatives. The purpose of my letter is to highlight the fact that by creating an attractive, upscale and vibrant waterfront condo community a lot of Glen Covians, like us, would stay in the community when they retire and a lot of their friends and business colleagues, who live on the North Shore, will want to join. By making Glen Cove a baby boomer vibrant retirement destination and not just a nursing home mecca, the quality of life of our city as a whole will greatly improve. The much needed tax and spending dollars are sure to follow.

Edna Fast