LIRR FORUM at Wantagh Library, 1.30.2012. Warning! These notes may contain errors.
The meeting lasted from 8 p.m. to about 9:20 p.m.
Nassau county Legislator David Denenberg hosted Bob Brennan, Director,
Government and Community Relations, LIRR, and Patrick Gerakaris, Branch Line Manager
of some 38 south shore stations in Nassau County. The email for the Branch Line Manager is
pcgerak@lirr.org
Larry Rubinstein of the LIRR Commuters' Council was present. Please see http://www.pcac.org
I note that two Nassau seats on the LIRR Commuters' Council remain
vacant.
As people drifted in and out, the highest attendance was about 35. However, they were far more outspoken and
less polite than the smaller numbers of other meetings. Chief problem: Some attendees would repeat
their complaints several times and not yield the floor.
Claudia of the North and Central Merrick Civic Association said that the
people of Merrick and Bellmore want the Town of Hempstead to require permits
for parking at those two stations.
However, some of the lots were developed with federal or New York State
aid and cannot be reserved for town residents.
Station maintenance was a big issue, especially at Freeport. As Nassau County pays the maintenance bills,
it has some say about the level of cleaning.
Because of the pigeon problem at Merrick and Bellmore, a cleaner wipes
the stairway handrails twice each morning.
The same cleaner cleans the toilets there and in Wantagh and Seaford
twice also.
The ripples and deterioration of the platform at Wantagh requires a major
overhaul, but the third year of the MTA budget has not yet been appropriated by
the NY State Legislature. There is
question whether any funds for Wantagh will be included beyond a design study.
Bob Brennan said that Wantagh has 5,500 customers daily, and that it
ranks #7 or #8 in passenger count.
Someone inquired about closed circuit camera surveillance preventing
suicides. In the brief discussion, one
of the speakers said that the locations of working cameras could not be
revealed. Mention was also made of
parking lot and platform security cameras, but there again few answers were
forthcoming. Mention was made of more
active CCTV surveillance over the past years at Freeport, including the arrest
involving in street crime caught by the station cameras. Freeport is different village police, in
addition to MTA police, watch the station.
Someone questioned whether N.I.C.E. buses would help in LIRR service
suspensions. The answer differentiated
between planned service suspensions and emergencies. Pat Gerakaris said that the railroad has
contracts with forty bus companies across the island to supply emergency
help. No one addressed the impossibility
of keeping drivers near on full standby.
A man from Oceanside and others complained about the relatively-new
weekend schedule that has dropped half-hourly service at Rockville Centre,
Baldwin, Merrick, Wantagh, Seaford, Massapequa Park, Copiague, and Lindenhurst
on four eastbound trains and five westbound trains.
Someone said that many LIRR stations are not ADA compliant. Bob Breenan reminded him that the ADA
requirements are for new stations and stations that have major
renovations. Although many stations lack
elevators, the railroad is fully compliant with the law
Someone complained that his $600 bicycle was stolen from the rack at
Seaford, and he requested more security.
That led to a discussion of the bike lockers that are provided at some
stations through a private firm. They
had to be moved further from the trestles because of possible terrorist use.
A woman complained about the short canopies at Seaford. Bellmore, Merrick, and Massapequa have
canopies protecting the entire platform.
Wantagh and Seaford do not. She
also complained that track workers leave their work debris around.
A man from Massapequa explained that his father was a LIRR
yardmaster. He complained about problems
with defecation and urination in the upstairs waiting room. He also related how there was once a fire in
that room and burned wooden bench was left on the platform. However, the waiting room now has two metal
benches bolted to the floor, and on the morning of 2.1.2012 there was no
offensive odor.
Someone said that the emergency number at elevators was no longer in service. One of the representatives explained that
many numbers were gathered into 511, but the railroad is going to reinstitute
the old 8228 number.
An attorney from Wantagh explained that the rebidding for the coffee
truck has endangered the familiar coffee man.
All agreed that it was a question of dealing with MTA Real Estate. The process includes a Request for Proposal,
then bidding.
A man from Seaford complained about graffiti on the bridge over NY state
135. He said it was an invitation to join
a gang. One of the LIRR representatives
explained that it took coordination with the NYS Department of Transportation,
police, and the railroad to get the graffiti covered. The same man complained about the presence of
homeless people at the train stations.
Fortunately, the funding for the East Side Access is still in the
pipeline and work continues. The Wantagh
station renovation depends on MTA funding from the New York State
Legislature. The chairman of the New
York State Senate Transportation Committee is Charles Fuschillo.
There is renewed interest in double-tracking from Farmingdale to
Ronkonkoma. I suspect that the project
may draw fewer NIMBY objections than the elevation of three tracks through New
Hyde Park.
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