Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Village of Sea Cliff will soon be building on its sewer project that began more than 20 years ago as four streets have been chosen for sewer installation. The $6.5 million project will see 45 homes hooked up to the sewer line.
Funding for the sewer expansion will come from more than $1.1 million in Community Project Funding secured by U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi and $4 million in bond authorization over the next two years secured by Nassau County Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton.
The expansion will build on a previous project completed in the summer of 2021. At that time, all of Fairview Place and portions of Prospect, Maple, 12th, Sea Cliff, Summit, Central, 8th and 7th avenues were sewered.
Mayor Elena Villafane noted at the Sept. 10 news conference, where the project was discussed, that the expansion would have benefits for residents, Hempstead Harbor and the water system.
“We are so thankful and so grateful,” she said, “for this commitment that has been more than for 20 years in the making.”
Efforts to switch the village from cesspools to sewers began in 2003 under Mayor Eileen Krieb. They have continued throughout the administrations of Bruce Kennedy, Ed Lieberman and Villafane.
For more than 30 years, the village and environmental organizations have worked to improve water quality and shellfish populations in Hempstead Harbor. Suozzi explained at the Sept. 10 news conference that protecting the harbor by preventing contamination from flowing into it is a major goal.
“We don’t want the cesspools leaking out the nitrogen out into the Long Island Sound to cause hypoxia,” he said.
Hypoxia is a state of low oxygen levels in the water than can threaten marine life. Excess nitrogen can cause growth of certain microbes which later die and decay. When bacteria consume dead microbes, they use up dissolved oxygen, leading to hypoxia.
The route to be sewered includes Prospect Avenue between Carpenter Avenue and Albin Street, Winding Way between 7th and Prospect Avenues, The Drive between Park Way and Carpenter Avenue and Park Way between 7th and Prospect avenues. Sewers will be connected to a gravity line which travels to the Glen Cove Sewage Treatment Plant, under county control.
Former Village Justice Robin Maynard and former Trustee Tannaz Nasirzadeh-Balooch are among residents whose homes will be hooked up to the sewer system. Maynard said Sept. 10 that she is excited to be part of the project.
“The harbor has gotten tremendously cleaner over the years,” she added. “My children went boating this year. They’ve seen manta rays. They’ve seen dolphins. They’ve seen all sorts of wildlife that we haven’t seen in 20 years here.”
According to Suozzi, construction could begin in the spring or summer of 2027 and should be completed within six months. DeRiggi-Whitton added that if an intermunicipal agreement is reached, the work would be under village control and could be done more quickly. She added that the work will be “disruptive” and said officials appreciate residents’ patience.
“We all need some feel-good news right now,” DeRiggi-Whitton said, “and the fact that this harbor is getting cleaned up, and we are making steps to do things for the future generations that they will benefit from is what I need as a resident of this area.”
