Glen Island Park Quietly Reopens For Walkers

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — In March 2020, Glen Island Park in New Rochelle became a symbol of the growing global pandemic. As coronavirus infection rates began to grow out of control, the popular Westchester County park was ordered closed to the public. The island's green space instead morphed into New York State’s first drive-through COVID-19 site. The park on the Long Island Sound also became a base of operations for National Guard troops deployed to New Rochelle by the governor in an attempt to contain one of the first coronavirus clusters identified in the U.S.

A sign on the roadway in front of the drawbridge leading to Glen Island Park reads “PARK CLOSED,” but gone are the diesel-powered LED traffic warning signs that had only a few days earlier warned drivers lined up for COVID testing to leave masks on and car windows rolled up. On the first day of spring, drivers not crossing the bridge for anything other than official business were turned away by Westchester County police, but walkers hoping to stroll along the park’s waterfront promenade were allowed to pass with a nod and wave.

“What a nice surprise,” New Rochelle resident Lorna Rhodes told Patch shortly after walking in the park on Sunday. “We saw all the cars in the [Neptune Park] parking lot and thought, 'What is going on?’ then we saw a bunch going across the bridge. It’s great, but people are just going to park over there and it’s going to be a problem.”

Pedestrians were first being allowed to cross onto Glen Island on Saturday, but by Sunday, word had spread and the parking lot at nearby Neptune Park was filled to near capacity. The city-owned waterfront park remained open to New Rochelle residents while its neighbor was for weightier matters of public health and logistics.

The county has still not fully reopened the park to the public. Earlier this year, rowing club members with boats stored in the park’s boathouse were permitted to use the launch facilities in some cases. As of Monday morning, the Westchester County Parks and Recreation website lists Glen Island park and beach as closed “until further notice.”

New Rochelle residents have been frustrated by the lack of information about the future of the beloved recreation area. City officials say they have so far been kept out the loop when it comes to plans for reopening the county-owned park. County officials, meanwhile, say because the park was closed in part due to National Guard activity, the decision rests with the state of New York.

By dusk, the police checkpoint at the Glen Island drawbridge once again more closely resembles a border crossing than a favorite family picnic spot. The bright orange barricades serve as a poignant reminder that the coronavirus is not yet behind us, but much like a tulip pushing through early spring snow, dog walkers and parents with strollers enjoying the paths at what was once the very symbol of the pandemic, gives hope that better days are ahead.