Glen Cove, NY Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

Chapter 259, adopted in 1981 as the City of Glen Cove Wrecking and Towing Ordinance, puts the Chief of Police in charge of licensing every tow car owner and driver operating within city limits or a 1.5-mile radius of it. An owner's license expires every December 31 unless revoked sooner, and the Chief can cap how many licenses any one operator holds. Licensees must keep a terminal with 24-hour service, equip each truck with a lifting boom, a ton-and-a-half winch, dolly wheels and other listed gear, and display a City-issued license medallion and rate chart on the vehicle.

Section 259-38 is the core consumer protection: no motor vehicle may be towed without a signed authorization from its owner or the person in charge of it, on a form prescribed by the Chief of Police, showing the towing, labor and storage rates to be charged. The signed form must be kept for six months and shown to police on demand. At accident scenes, the Police Department maintains a rotation list of licensed owners under Section 259-41, and the vehicle's owner or operator picks the company from that list.

Rate caps under Section 259-36 run $125 for the first mile of towing and $5 for each additional mile, $20 per day for the first seven days of outside storage rising to $30 per day after that, and a $225 impound tow plus a $100 administrative fee. Charging above these caps is unlawful under Section 259-36G, and soliciting towing work by driving the streets looking for work, or parking at an accident scene uninvited, is banned under Section 259-40.