Glen Cove, NY — Crash Data, Roads, History & Law
Glen Cove is a city in the City of Glen Cove, Nassau County, New York, with 28,365 residents at the 2020 Census. Federal crash records show 9 fatal crashes that killed 9 people within its boundaries from 2010 through 2024 — 5 of them on foot. Glen Cove Ave accounted for more of those deaths (2) than any other road. Residents who commute travel an average of 29.4 minutes each way.
Long Island Town Fact Book · Updated · Sources & method
Glen Cove at a glance
- Status
- City
- City
- Glen Cove
- County
- Nassau County
- Population (2020 Census)
- 28,365[C]
- Housing units (2020)
- 10,793
- Land area
- 6.66 sq mi (plus 12.59 sq mi of water)
- Density
- 4,260 people per sq mi
- Average commute
- 29.4 minutes[B]
- Traffic deaths, 2010–2024
- 9[A]
- ZIP Code
- 11542
- Founded / settled
- May 24, 1668 (Joseph Carpenter's purchase from the Matinecock); incorporated as a city June 8, 1917[1]
- Incorporated
- June 8, 1917, when the Governor signed the bill making Glen Cove a city, after 250 years as part of the Town of Oyster Bay[1]
- Former names
- Musketa Cove[1]
- Founding purchase
- May 24, 1668, Joseph Carpenter's purchase of about 2,000 acres from the Matinecock[1]
- City incorporation
- June 8, 1917 (bill signed by the Governor)[1]
- Main state road through the city
- NY 107, ending at Pulaski Street[7]
- State-designated local spur
- NY 900B, Glen Cove Road from the Oyster Bay Town line to NY 107[7]
- Census geography
- Glen Cove city · GEOID 3629113 · GNIS 979003
- Coordinates
- 40.8845°N, 73.6449°W
Name:After steamboat visitors confused "mus-kee-tah" with "mosquito," residents at an 1834 public meeting voted to rename the community; local legend holds someone suggested "Glen Coe," after a spot in Scotland, which was misheard as "Glen Cove."[1]
Fatal crashes in Glen Cove, 2010–2024
From January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2024, 9 people died in 9 crashes on public roads inside Glen Cove, according to the federal Fatality Analysis Reporting System.[A] Pedestrians account for 5 of those deaths (56%). The deadliest year was 2012, with 2 deaths.
- Fatal crashes
- 9
- People killed
- 9
- Pedestrians
- 5
- Bicyclists
- 1
- Motorcyclists
- 1
- Vehicle occupants
- 2
2024 figures come from NHTSA's Annual Report File and may be revised.
View the chart as a table
| Year | Fatal crashes | Deaths |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1 | 1 |
| 2011 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | 2 | 2 |
| 2013 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | 1 | 1 |
| 2015 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 1 | 1 |
| 2018 | 1 | 1 |
| 2019 | 1 | 1 |
| 2020 | 1 | 1 |
| 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 1 | 1 |
Roads where people died
| Road | Crashes | Deaths |
|---|---|---|
| Glen Cove Ave | 2 | 2 |
| Sea Cliff Ave | 2 | 2 |
| Route 107 | 1 | 1 |
| County Route 79 | 1 | 1 |
| Brewster St | 1 | 1 |
| Cedar Swamp Rd | 1 | 1 |
| Pratt Blvd | 1 | 1 |
Road names as recorded by police and normalised to common Long Island names.
When and where
- Of the 9 crashes with a recorded time, 6 happened between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., 2 between 4 and 8 p.m., 0 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and 1 between 6 and 10 a.m.
- 56% happened in darkness.
- 0 of the 9 deaths were on expressways or parkways; 9 were on arterials and local streets.
Who owns the roads where they happened (2015–2024)
FARS has recorded the owner of the roadway since 2015. Of the 5 fatal crashes in Glen Cove since then:
- County roads 2 (40%)
- Town roads 1 (20%)
- State highways 1 (20%)
- City or village streets 1 (20%)
Ownership matters in New York because claims against a county, town, city or village generally require a notice of claim within 90 days (General Municipal Law § 50-e), while claims against the State are brought in the Court of Claims under Court of Claims Act § 10. This is general information, not legal advice.
Rate: 2.1 traffic deaths per 100,000 residents per year, against 5.8 for Nassau County. This is a resident-based rate, not a measure of how risky the roads are to drive: crashes are counted where they happen, not where the people involved live, so a small community crossed by a major highway shows a high rate.
Every fatal crash on record
| Date | Time | Road | Deaths | Who died | Light |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| * | 8 p.m. | Glen Cove Ave | 1 | Bicyclist | dark |
| 8 p.m. | Route 107 at Bridge St | 1 | Pedestrian | dusk | |
| 11 p.m. | County Route 79 at Walnut Rd | 1 | Vehicle occupant | dark | |
| 11 p.m. | Brewster St | 1 | Pedestrian | dark | |
| 6 p.m. | Sea Cliff Ave | 1 | Motorcyclist | dusk | |
| 10 p.m. | Cedar Swamp Rd | 1 | Pedestrian | dark | |
| 6 p.m. | Glen Cove Ave | 1 | Pedestrian | dusk | |
| 11 p.m. | Sea Cliff Ave | 1 | Vehicle occupant | dark | |
| 6 a.m. | Pratt Blvd | 1 | Pedestrian | daylight |
FARS contains no names or personal identifiers. * 2024 records are preliminary. Download all 9 records (CSV) · How this was compiled
Recent Glen Cove Incident Reports
Man, 23, of Roslyn Killed in Glen Cove E-Scooter Crash
Man, 23, of Roslyn Killed in Glen Cove E-Scooter Crash. Nassau County. August 19, 2026.
Both Shoulders Blocked After Eastbound Crash on Northern State Parkway in Nassau County
Both Shoulders Blocked After Eastbound Crash on Northern State Parkway in Nassau. in glen cove. Nassau County. August 3, 2026.
Left Lane Closed After Minor Crash on Westbound I-495 in Nassau County
Left Lane Closed After Minor Crash on Westbound I-495 in Nassau County. in glen cove. August 2, 2026.
Right Lane Closed After Minor Crash on Westbound I-495 in Nassau County
Right Lane Closed After Minor Crash on Westbound I-495 in Nassau County. in glen cove. August 1, 2026.
LIE Exit 39–40 and Sunrise Highway Face Weeks of Overnight Lane Closures
LIE Exit 39–40 and Sunrise Highway Face Weeks of Overnight Lane Closures. Nassau County. August 1, 2026.
Two Left Lanes Blocked by Westbound I-495 Crash in Nassau County
Two Left Lanes Blocked by Westbound I-495 Crash in Nassau County. in glen cove. July 23, 2026.
Updated continuously from 511NY, NYSP, NCPD, and SCPD feeds — all Long Island reports.
All reported crashes, 2021–2024
These are the crashes police coded to the City of Glen Cove. Police reported 1,560 crashes there from 2021 through 2024 — about 1.1 a day. 467 (29.9%) injured someone and 1 were fatal. [D]
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 321 | 436 | 417 | 386 | 1,560 |
- Injury crashes
- 467
- Fatal crashes
- 1
- Struck a pedestrian
- 52
- Struck a bicyclist
- 23
- Struck a deer
- 1
Counts are crashes, not people. The municipality is entered by the reporting police agency, and coding is less consistent for small villages, so compare places with care.
How Glen Cove gets to work
Glen Cove commuters travel an average of 29.4 minutes each way, 6.6 minutes shorter than the Nassau County average (the national average is 26.4 minutes). About 68.4% of workers drive alone, and 4.3% ride the railroad. [B]
| Measure | Glen Cove | Nassau County | New York State | United States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average one-way commute | 29.4 min ±3.6 | 36 min | 32.6 min | 26.4 min |
| Commute 60 minutes or longer | 16.4% ±3 | 22.3% | 16.8% | 8.6% |
| Commute under 15 minutes | 34.7% ±5.4 | 17.9% | 20.5% | 26% |
| Drive alone | 68.4% ±2.2 | 60.7% | 48.8% | 68.8% |
| Carpool | 6.7% ±2 | 7.3% | 6.3% | 8.5% |
| Commuter rail (LIRR) | 4.3% ±1.1 | 7.1% | 1.8% | 0.3% |
| Bus | 0.9% ±0.7 † | 2.2% | 5.1% | 1.5% |
| Walk | 2.9% ±1.5 † | 2% | 5.6% | 2.4% |
| Work from home | 10.9% ±2.5 | 15.6% | 14.9% | 15.1% |
| Leave home before 6 a.m. | 7.2% ±2.1 | 10.8% | 10.6% | 14.4% |
| Households with no vehicle | 9.7% ±2.7 | 6.8% | 29.2% | 8.4% |
| Households with three or more vehicles | 19.1% ±3 | 23.3% | 11.8% | 21.9% |
Survey estimates for 13,780 workers aged 16 and over; ± values are 90% margins of error. † Small sample — the margin of error is large relative to the estimate, so treat the figure as indicative only. Travel-time rows exclude people who work from home.
Notable facts about Glen Cove
- Glen Cove was originally named Musketa Cove after its 1668 purchase; confusion between "mus-kee-tah" and "mosquito" led residents to rename it Glen Cove at an 1834 public meeting.[1]
- In 1699, the colonial governor of New York described Musketa Cove (now Glen Cove) to London's Board of Trade as one of Long Island's top four smuggling ports.[1]
- Glen Cove spent 250 years as part of the Town of Oyster Bay before the Governor signed a bill making it a city on June 8, 1917.[1]
- The Duryea Corn Starch Works, which relocated to Glen Cove in the 1850s, employed nearly 600 people and printed the local Glen Cove Gazette on its own press.[1]
- J.P. Morgan Jr. and Standard Oil's Charles Pratt were among the Gold Coast industrialists who built estates in Glen Cove around the turn of the 20th century; Pratt built homes for seven of his eight children.[1]
History
On May 24, 1668, Joseph Carpenter of Warwick, Rhode Island, purchased about 2,000 acres northwest of the Town of Oyster Bay from the Matinecock.[1] He soon admitted four partners — brothers Nathaniel, Daniel and Robert Coles, and Nicholas Simkins — and the five proprietors named their settlement "Musketa Cove," which the city's own history describes as Matinecock for "this place of rushes."[1] The proprietors built a sawmill and gristmill on Glen Cove Creek, and by 1679, two years after the colonial government ratified Carpenter's purchase, the mill was producing nine grades of lumber for the New York City market.[1] In 1699 the colony's governor, Lord Bellomont, described the settlement to London's Board of Trade as one of the top four smuggling ports on Long Island.[1]
By the early 1800s the waterfront economy shifted from lumber to clay mining after physician Thomas Garvie found deposits suitable for pottery around 1810 on land later called Garvie's Point.[1] Garvie arranged with Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1827 to begin steamboat service, which became a daily run to New York City by 1829, and Glen Cove developed into a resort community with hotels including the Pavilion, used as a Civil War convalescent home.[1] Confusion between the Matinecock-derived "Musketa" and "mosquito" led residents at an 1834 public meeting to rename the community Glen Cove.[1] The Industrial Revolution arrived in the 1850s when the Duryea Corn Starch Manufacturing Company relocated its plant to Glen Cove, eventually employing nearly 600 people in a company town with its own store and newspaper.[1]
By the turn of the 20th century, wealthy industrialists built Gold Coast estates in Glen Cove, including J.P. Morgan Jr.'s estate on East Island and Charles Pratt of Standard Oil, who built homes for himself and seven of his eight children.[1] As the city's population passed 10,000, the Governor signed a bill on June 8, 1917, making Glen Cove a city after 250 years as part of the Town of Oyster Bay.[1]
How the roads got here
New York's official touring-route description routes NY 107 south from Massapequa through Hicksville, Jericho and Brookville to end at Pulaski Street in Glen Cove.[7] NYSDOT separately designates that same NY 107 segment "between the southern city line and Pulaski Street" the Sergeant Major Daniel Joseph Daly Memorial Highway.[7] Glen Cove Road itself carries a state touring-route number, NY 900B, described in the DOT's route book as running "from the Oyster Bay Town line to NY 107."[7]
The LIRR's Oyster Bay Branch, built by the LIRR from Mineola to Locust Valley in 1865 and extended from Locust Valley to Oyster Bay by the Oyster Bay Extension Railroad in 1889, passes through the Glen Cove area; double track between Roslyn and Glen Cove was completed in 1908.[8] Before the railroad, Glen Cove's transportation was maritime: the city's own history dates the start of regular steamboat service to New York City to 1829, from a landing at the foot of Landing Road within present-day Morgan's Park.[1]
Government, courts and policing
Glen Cove is one of only two incorporated cities in Nassau County and, unlike the surrounding hamlets of the Town of Oyster Bay, maintains its own police department rather than relying on the Nassau County Police Department; NCPD's own Second Precinct page lists the City of Glen Cove among the municipalities inside its boundary that "maintain their own police departments."[2][3] Glen Cove City Hall, which houses the Mayor's Office, City Council, City Clerk, City Attorney and Finance Department, is at 9 Glen Street.[1]
Landmarks and listed places
Glen Cove timeline
- Founding purchase. Joseph Carpenter of Warwick, Rhode Island, purchased about 2,000 acres northwest of the Town of Oyster Bay from the Matinecock; he and four partners named the settlement "Musketa Cove."[1]
- Andros Patent confirms purchase. The colonial New York government ratified Carpenter's purchase two years earlier, and the Musketa Cove Proprietors' Book came to include a copy of the 1677 Andros Patent.[1]
- Smuggling port. Colonial Governor Lord Bellomont wrote to the Board of Trade in London describing Musketa Cove as one of the top four smuggling ports on Long Island.[1]
- Battle of Long Island. After Washington's defeat at the Battle of Long Island, local militia reorganized as the Musketa Cove Company of the Loyalist Queens County Militia.[1]
- Clay discovered. Physician Thomas Garvie discovered clay deposits suitable for pottery on his property, later known as Garvie's Point.[1]
- Steamboat service begins. A daily steamboat began running between Glen Cove and New York City, after Garvie opened negotiations with Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1827.[1]
- Renamed Glen Cove. Residents voted at a public meeting to change the community's name from Musketa Cove to Glen Cove.[1]
- Incorporated as a city. The Governor signed a bill proclaiming Glen Cove a city after 250 years as part of the Town of Oyster Bay.[1]
Major roads in Glen Cove
Emergency Resources
Hospitals
- Glen Cove Hospital (Northwell Health) — 101 St. Andrews Lane, Glen Cove, NY 11542 — (516) 674-7300 (Confirmed on Northwell's own site.)
Police
- Glen Cove Police Department — 1 Bridge Street, Glen Cove, NY 11542 — (516) 676-1000 (non-emergency) (Glen Cove's own municipal department; NCPD does not patrol the city.)
Courts
- Nassau County Supreme Court — 100 Supreme Court Drive, Mineola, NY 11501 — (516) 493-3400 (Handles larger civil matters, including personal-injury actions, for all of Nassau County including Glen Cove.)
Local Driver Services in Glen Cove
Practical resources for Glen Cove drivers — tire shops, gas prices, and live traffic conditions.
Safety Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do after a car accident in Glen Cove, NY?
Move to safety and call 911 immediately, then document the scene with photos and exchange insurance and contact information with everyone involved. File a police report with NCPD and notify your insurer promptly. New York is a no-fault state, so your own PIP coverage pays initial medical costs regardless of fault, and you have just 30 days to file the NF-2 application.
Which roads are most dangerous in Glen Cove?
Glen Cove Road and Forest Avenue carry the heaviest traffic through Glen Cove and account for most of the reported crashes we track. Glen Cove Road at Forest Avenue — the city’s busiest commuter junction. Commercial driveways, signalized intersections, and turning movements along these corridors drive the local crash mix.
How current are these Glen Cove accident reports?
Long Island Traffic adds new reports every 2–4 hours from 511NY, NYS Police Troop L, NCPD, and verified local news. Scroll up for the latest Glen Cove and Nassau County incidents, and check the "Dangerous Roads" section for corridor-level breakdowns.
Do I need a lawyer after a Glen Cove accident?
If you suffered serious injuries, significant property damage, or the other driver was uninsured, consulting a Nassau County personal injury attorney is strongly recommended. Many firms offer free consultations and work on contingency. See our free guides at /know-your-rights/car-accidents/ and /know-your-rights/insurance-claims/.
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Data: machine-readable fact sheet (JSON) · fatal-crash records (CSV) · methodology and limits
References
Datasets
- [A] National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2010–2024 national files. Retrieved September 17, 2026.Crashes on public trafficways in which a person died within 30 days. No personal identifiers. Placed by reported coordinates into 2020 Census boundaries.
- [B] U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-Year Estimates, tables B08303, B08013, B08301, B08302, B08201, B19013, B01002. Retrieved September 17, 2026.Survey estimates with 90% margins of error. lowReliability = coefficient of variation above 30%.
- [C] U.S. Census Bureau, TIGERweb — 2020 Census tabulation geography (POP100, HU100, AREALAND). Retrieved September 17, 2026.
- [D] New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, Motor Vehicle Crashes — Case Information: Four Year Window. Retrieved September 17, 2026.Police-reported crashes coded to a town, city or village by the reporting agency. Hamlets are not coded; hamlet pages show the parent town.
Sources for history, roads and law
- [1] City of Glen Cove. History of Glen Cove (n.d.). Government record.
- [2] City of Glen Cove. Police Department (n.d.). Government record.
- [3] Nassau County Police Department. About Second Precinct (n.d.). Government record.
- [7] New York State Department of Transportation, Office of Traffic Safety & Mobility. Official Description of Highway Touring Routes, Bicycle Touring Routes, Scenic Byways, & Commemorative/Memorial Designations in New York State (2017). Government record.
- [8] trainsarefun.com. LIRR Branch Notes: Oyster Bay Branch (n.d.). Reference work.
- [10] New York State Unified Court System. Nassau County Supreme Court (2026). Court decision.
- [11] Northwell Health. Glen Cove Hospital (n.d.). Institution.
- [12] Nassau County Police Department. About Second Precinct (n.d.). Government record.
Sources opened and checked September 17, 2026.