The City of Glen Cove is considering building a ferry ride that would transport people from that city to Foxwood Casinos, a gambling site in New London, CT. Roslyn does not exactly border Glen Cove; still, members of the Roslyn Board of Trustees recently weighed in with their own opinions on the proposed project.

The ferry project has been on the boards since May. The ferry boat, currently dubbed The Sassacus, will be docked on the Glen Cove waterfront and will not only transport Long Islanders from that city to Connecticut but also may pick up people in Manhattan.

The project came in for some controversy when Ted Blackburn, the mayor of Sea Cliff, Glen Cove's most immediate neighbor, expressed first his concern then his outright opposition to the project. Mayor Blackburn opposes the project on grounds of boater safety in Hempstead Harbor, traffic in his village, and environmental concerns.

Roslyn and Glen Cove are both part of a nine-village intermunicipal partnership which has agreed to work together on Hempstead Harbor environmental issues. Mainly on the force of this issue, the village BOT recently weighed in on whether to make their own official pronouncement on the ferry issue. After a public debate at the most recent village meeting, BOT members decided to table the issue, while taking it up at a future meeting.

The village, in the near future, may ask that an environmental impact statement be drawn up for the ferry project. Deputy Mayor Nolan Myerson stated that he was "definitely opposed" to the ferry, citing both environmental and traffic concerns. He said that the entire environmental ramifications would have a "major impact on the quality of life in Roslyn."

In addition, the traffic heading toward Glen Cove would have an "adverse impact" on traffic conditions in Roslyn. The only benefit to the ferry, Mr. Myerson said, was that Glen Cove Mayor Thomas Suozzi would get more dredging into his harbor.

Trustee Marshall Bernstein agreed that the ferry would worsen traffic in Roslyn. "This would be true for any development," he said. "If I had my druthers, there would be less traffic." He added, however, that he couldn't discern just yet whether the project would have an adverse impact on the harbor.

Trustee Bernstein also wondered if the City of Glen Cove had asked Roslyn BOT members for their opinion on the entire matter. Mayor Janet Galante said that the subject came up in a meeting of local mayors. She was asked if Roslyn had taken a position on the ferry. Mr. Myerson added that Sea Cliff officials had asked for Roslyn's opinion.

Village Attorney John Spellman called the ferry idea a "two-way sword." There is the traffic problem, but any new dredging in Hempstead Harbor would be a good thing. Meanwhile, Mayor Galante expressed her own doubts on whether traffic generated by people driving to and from Glen Cove would have any good impact on businesses in downtown Roslyn.