+15165268077
Cordeira Realty
Sea Cliff is a village of about 5,000 people packed onto a bluff over Hempstead Harbor. Victorian houses with front porches, streets that drop steeply toward the water, old public stairways down to the beach, and a small downtown you can walk end to end in a few minutes. It calls itself "One Square Mile, 16 Parks," and it means it.
The Incorporated Village of Sea Cliff is on the North Shore of Nassau County, in the Town of Oyster Bay, with Glen Cove to the north and Glen Head to the south. It was incorporated in 1883 and runs its own Village Hall, beach and parks. The ZIP code is 11579, and a Sea Cliff mailing address doesn't automatically mean a property is inside the village, so confirm that for any house you're looking at.
Jump to: Quick Facts · What It's Like · Living on the Bluff · Getting Around · Beach & Parks · Dining · Schools · History · FAQs
Sea Cliff doesn't look like the rest of Nassau County, and that's the draw. The village grew up as a summer resort in the 1880s and 1890s, so instead of rows of capes and ranches you get Victorians, cottages and old summer houses that were winterized over the last century. The streets are hilly, and some of them are steep.
The commercial center is a few blocks of Sea Cliff Avenue and Roslyn Avenue, with restaurants, a pub, a craft beer and coffee spot, and small shops. Village Hall and the library are at 300 Sea Cliff Avenue, and the Sea Cliff Village Museum is at 95 Tenth Avenue. The three share a complex that's listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1988, 27 properties were listed together on the National Register of Historic Places as the Sea Cliff Summer Resort group, most of them houses from the resort years. The 1931 Tudor Revival firehouse on Roslyn Avenue was added in 2003. If you're buying an older home here, budget for older-home realities: original framing, old systems and whatever the last century of renovations left behind.
Because the village drops so sharply to the harbor, old public stairways and paths connect the upper streets to the waterfront. They're also a free workout. Take the steps back up from the beach once and you'll understand why the place is called Sea Cliff. #RippedRealtor
The Village describes itself as perched atop a 120-foot bluff. That gives Sea Cliff its views, and it also means slope, drainage and retaining walls really matter here.
The village has seen what happens when they fail. In 2014, heavy rain triggered a landslide that took much of a Bay Avenue home's driveway and backyard down the bluff. In 2021, the remnants of Hurricane Ida washed out the embankment behind a hillside home and knocked down old concrete retaining walls nearby.
If you're buying a home on the slope or near the edge, look at where the water goes, what's holding the yard up and who built the walls. If you're selling one, have your wall and drainage records ready before a buyer's engineer asks. Before any work on a slope, wall or drainage, start with the Village Building Department.
My guide to bluff homes on the North Shore covers what to check, the state coastal erosion permit rules, disclosure and insurance.
Find out where your Sea Cliff home stands in today's market.
Sea Cliff station is on the Oyster Bay Branch, at Sea Cliff Avenue and Glen Keith Road in Glen Cove. The station dates to the late 1860s, was rebuilt in 1888 and is itself on the National Register. A 1997 renovation added high-level platforms. Check the MTA for current Oyster Bay Branch schedules before you plan a commute around it.
Sea Cliff Avenue runs through the village and meets Glen Cove Avenue at the Glen Cove line, and Glen Cove Avenue runs north into downtown Glen Cove and south through Glen Head and Glenwood Landing to Roslyn Harbor.
The Village beach sits on The Boulevard at the bottom of the bluff on Hempstead Harbor. It opens Memorial Day weekend, runs weekends only into late June, then daily until Labor Day. The Village sells seasonal memberships to residents and non-residents and accepts daily fees, and it rents small-boat racks at the beach. Details are on the Village Parks & Recreation page.
At Prospect and Sea Cliff Avenues, on top of the bluff. Locals call it Sunset Park or Hippie Park. It's the spot for the view across Hempstead Harbor, especially at the end of the day.
Clifton Park takes up the block bounded by Glen, Sea Cliff, DuBois and Locust Avenues and has a playground. Elm Park, on Dayton Street between Elm and Cedar Places, goes by "Spooky Park."
The Village also lists Central Park (Central and 14th Avenues), Prospect Park (Prospect Avenue between 14th and 15th), Roslyn Park (between Franklin Avenue and Adams Street, with a ballfield) and Plaza Park, which locals call Headless Park, at Roslyn and Eighth Avenues.
Just outside the village on Shore Road at the foot of Littleworth Lane. It's run by the Town of Oyster Bay, and you'll need a Town seasonal parking pass. See the Town of Oyster Bay beaches page for current rules.
Hempstead Harbor opens straight onto Long Island Sound. The Sea Cliff Yacht Club, founded in 1892, is on The Boulevard. If you're buying near the water, confirm what the property actually has: a view, beach access or true waterfront are three different things, and the flood zone matters on the low streets.
For a one-square-mile village, Sea Cliff eats well. I checked each of these against current listings in November 2026.
Glen Cove Avenue runs just east of the village, and these spots carry Sea Cliff addresses.
Live in Sea Cliff and think I'm missing your spot? Tell me.
Sea Cliff is in the North Shore Central School District. Sea Cliff had its own district until it merged into North Shore in 1953. The district's schools are:
The district office is at 112 Franklin Avenue in Sea Cliff. Verify the district and school assignment for the individual property.
The name is as literal as it gets: the village sits on a bluff over Hempstead Harbor. Before the resort, this was farmland.
The railroad got here first. The line reached Sea Cliff from Mineola in the late 1860s, and the station became the way in. Then, in 1871, the Metropolitan Camp Ground Association bought 240 acres of farmland and spent $270,000 turning it into a summer camp-meeting ground, with a waterfront boardwalk, a steamboat pier, a big open-air auditorium called the Tabernacle, and paths lined with tent sites.
Camp meetings peaked in the 1880s. By the mid-1880s the association was selling tent lots for summer houses and hotels, and in 1883 Sea Cliff incorporated as a village. In 1890 the association sold off the rest of its land as building lots. Through the 1880s and 1890s, visitors came by daily steamboat from New York City and on weekend train excursions, and stayed at hotels like the 300-room Sea Cliff Hotel.
The resort run didn't last. By 1910, cars and better roads were taking summer crowds elsewhere, and most of the hotels came down. The summer houses got winterized and Sea Cliff became a year-round village. None of the original camp-ground buildings survive, but dozens of resort-era houses do, and the Sea Cliff Village Museum keeps the rest of the story.
Sea Cliff is small, so there are never many homes for sale at once. Set up a search now and see everything listed in Sea Cliff.
Start with a free home value estimate, then let's talk about what your house will actually sell for.
Price it right from day one. Fix what an inspector is going to flag, especially on an older house. Show off what makes it Sea Cliff: the porch, the view, the walk to the beach. If your property is on the slope, have the retaining wall and drainage paperwork ready, and if it's on the low streets near the water, have your flood information ready too. Then talk to me before you set a price.
Yes. Sea Cliff incorporated in 1883 and has its own Village government, beach and parks. It's in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County. A Sea Cliff 11579 mailing address doesn't automatically mean a property is inside the village, so confirm it for the specific house.
The North Shore Central School District. Sea Cliff School is in the village, along with the district office. Verify the district for the individual property.
Yes. Sea Cliff station is on the LIRR's Oyster Bay Branch, at Sea Cliff Avenue and Glen Keith Road, just over the line in Glen Cove.
The Village offers seasonal memberships to both residents and non-residents and also accepts daily fees. Check the Village Parks & Recreation page for the current season's rules.
Yes. The Village describes itself as perched atop a 120-foot bluff over Hempstead Harbor. Homes on the slope have had landslides and retaining wall failures in heavy rain, including in 2014 and during Ida in 2021, so drainage and walls are worth a close look. My bluff homes guide covers what to check.
Start with a free home value estimate, then I'll walk the house with you and pull the right comparable sales.
Sea Cliff packs a lot of character into one square mile, and much of it lives in local knowledge: the best steps, the summer traditions, the history behind your street. If you live here and something's missing, tell me and I'll add it.
I'm John Cordeira, Broker/Owner of Cordeira Homes. I live in Massapequa Park and have spent more than 20 years helping people buy and sell homes on Long Island.
John Cordeira | Cordeira Homes | #RippedRealtor
Browse the newest Sea Cliff listings below. For every filter, use the full live search for Sea Cliff.
Listings courtesy of OneKey® MLS as distributed by MLS GRID. Based on information submitted to the MLS GRID as of . All data is obtained from various sources and may not have been verified by broker or MLS GRID. Supplied Open House Information is subject to change without notice. All information should be independently reviewed and verified for accuracy. Properties may or may not be listed by the office/agent presenting the information.
Get instant property value now!
Get instant property value now!
