Glen Cove, NY Public Conduct: Skateboarding Rules (2026)

Chapter 231, adopted 8-25-1981 and amended 4-22-1986, flips the usual local approach: instead of listing prohibited zones, it makes every street and public property off-limits to skateboards, roller skates and similar devices by default and then lets the City reopen specific locations. Section 231-1 gives the Chief of Police the authority, subject to City Council approval, to designate streets or portions of streets or any public property where the devices are permitted, and requires that designation to be marked by a proper sign or signs before it takes effect.

Until a location is signed, using a skateboard, roller skates or a similar device there is unlawful, whether the street is downtown, a residential block or a municipal parking lot. Because the ordinance was written for skateboards and roller skates specifically and only extends to similar devices by that phrase, whether it reaches later wheeled equipment like inline skates or kick scooters turns on how the Glen Cove Police Department interprets that catch-all language, a decision made case by case rather than spelled out district by district in the code.

Riders and parents should look for posted signage rather than assume a street is open just because it looks quiet or is near a park; the ordinance places the burden on the rider to use a designated area, not on the City to post warnings everywhere use is barred.