On warm summer afternoons in the 1960s, Roberta Cerassi would ride her bike down to Crescent Beach, an inflatable raft under her arm, and spend hours in the calm, shallow water of the Long Island Sound with her sister. The Glen Cove shoreline, once known among locals as the “baby beach,” was where families gathered, lifeguards knew everyone by name and childhood memories were made.
“It was just a beautiful, beautiful beach,” Cerassi said. “We would hang out all day. It was really the best beach ever.”
Now, after more than a decade of restrictions, Crescent Beach is set for a return to those days — though with significant safeguards in place.
The Nassau County Department of Health has granted conditional approval for the City of Glen Cove to reopen the beach for swimming this summer, citing improved water quality thanks to years of remediation efforts. The decision, outlined in an April 2 letter from the department to Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck, was based on reduced bacteria levels in samples collected in 2024 and 2025, as well as infrastructure upgrades aimed at addressing contamination from a nearby stream.
For many residents and officials, the approval marks a long-awaited milestone.
“Crescent Beach has been part of my life for as long as I can remember — from going there as a kid to bringing my own children years later,” Panzenbeck recalled. “Seeing it reopen really means a lot. It’s a place for families, for memories.”
Still, the reopening comes with strict conditions that water-quality concerns have not been fully resolved.
Under the health department’s stipulations, the beach must close immediately if the nearby stream is found to be draining directly into the swimming area. Warning signs must be posted to alert visitors to elevated bacteria levels near the stream. If testing reveals elevated bacteria levels unrelated to rainfall, the beach’s opening could be delayed or halted during the season.
Rainfall remains a key factor. Health officials issue advisories when more than a half-inch of rain falls in a 24-hour period, because runoff can carry contaminants into the water — particularly at beaches like Crescent that lack strong tidal flushing.
“Some beaches don’t have the strong tides needed to quickly move contamination out,” Alyssa Zohrabian, a public health administrator forNassau County, explained. “So after rainfall, we may issue advisories, because bacteria levels can temporarily rise.”
County officials monitor water quality using specific thresholds. A single sample exceeding 104 colony-forming units of bacteria can trigger a closure, while a 30-day log average above 35 CFUs can lead to longer-term restrictions.
Crescent Beach’s water quality issues date back to June 2009, when testing revealed consistently high bacteria levels. While the beach itself remained open for sunbathing and picnicking, swimming was prohibited.
Darcy Belyea, Glen Cove’s former parks and recreation director, said the problem was ultimately traced to a feeder stream carrying groundwater and potential contaminants from surrounding areas.
“The water table is very high in that area,” Belyea said. “What happens is, groundwater flows into that stream and then into the harbor.”
Efforts to address the issue included testing nearby properties, replacing at least one failing septic system and, eventually, implementing broader environmental solutions. After dye testing and environmental surveys in 2009 the beach was initially closed, the Environmental Protection Agency stepped in during the mid-2010s to test the water, and found high bacteria levels stemming from animal waste, which shifted the cleanup strategy toward environmental fixes rather than sewer repairs. Creative and cutting-edge efforts to reduce and manage bacteria levels includedinstalling Helix filter systems and a box culvert near the base of the stream, utilizing plantings that naturally absorb bacteria, and creating a new conduit for the stream.
County Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton helped secure nearly $1 million in funding for remediation projects, and is continuing to spearhead the pursuit of a $108,740 intermunicipal agreement between the county and the city for a Caterpillar compact track loader that would be used to maintain the hard-earned progress.
“Reopening Crescent Beach has been my personal goal for the last 17 years, and this project to protect our environmental and improve our quality of life has been a tremendous group effort that four Mayors, regardless of their political party, each supported,” DeRiggi-Whitton wrote in a statement. “I am thrilled that the residents of Glen Cove will be able to fully enjoy it for generations to come.”
Eric Swenson, executive director of the Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee, said the project reflects how coordinated action can improve water quality.
“Clean water and local bathing beaches are essential to our quality of life and we should never take them for granted,” Swenson wrote in a statement. “That is the way it should be.”
Cerassi recalls the last time she went into the water years ago, unaware that conditions had deteriorated.
“I got really sick,” she said. “I didn’t know the beach had been contaminated.”
Now, she added, she hopes future generations will be able to safely experience the beach as she once did.
