The Long Island Railroad is calling its plan to create new lines to Grand Central Station on Manhattan’s East Side as its “Moonshot.” And I have to agree.
This is the biggest thing to happen to Long Island mass transit since, well, the railroad first made Great Neck its terminus, in 1866 (it was the Flushing and North Side Railroad back in those days). History has shown how the railroad enabled the development of America’s first suburban communities. It is the biggest development in our regional mass transportation plan since New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie turned his back on a $9 billion project to build a new tunnel under the Hudson River from New Jersey.
The East Side Access project is scheduled for completion by 2016. LIRR says it has two-thirds of the $7 billion in funding, but still has to find the remaining funding (perhaps from the money that Christie gave back?).
This is a huge win for Great Neck, one of the busiest stations on Long Island, which has seen service into Penn Station cut back to hourly in the off-peak periods. Indeed, the Port Washington line is one of its most popular, carrying 43,000 commuters each day.
Service into Manhattan will be significantly increased with the additional trains. And for those who need to go to the East Side, it will shave 20 to 40 minutes from the commuting time to backtrack. Being able to go directly to Grand Central provides access to the Lexington Avenue subways and Metro North, further linking the region into Westchester and Connecticut, which is the dream for those of us who would like to see more mass transportation and fewer climate-polluting cars. It also expands the geographical circle of job possibilities.
Access to the East Side will actually improve house values on Long Island because now, people who work on the East Side seek out homes in Westchester and communities along the Metro North line which goes to Grand Central.
“Many jobs, high-paying jobs, have gravitated to the East Side over the decades,” Joe Calderone, LIRR vice president of public affairs, told me. “So it makes a lot of sense…. This will keep Long Island competitive with New Jersey and the northern suburbs in terms of housing.”
Those who support mass transportation should be rejoicing, but already, there are local rumblings which may have a lot to do with misinformation and mischaracterizations.
No plan is perfect, though, and every project of this size – particularly one that goes through developed areas – is bound to cause some hardship or disadvantage some.
So it is important to reflect on what needs mitigating (we are going to propose three major proposals: support for north-south Middle Neck Road bus, support for expanded commuter parking facilities, and some mitigation to Thomaston if its property tax revenues are affected).
But considering how many people will benefit from the new service (50 percent of LIRR commuters go to the East Side), it is remarkable how few people will be adversely impacted by this expansion.
Indeed, the project pivots on the ability of the LIRR to extend its existing pocket track in Thomaston by the length of a train, 1,000 feet.
Village of Thomaston Mayor Robert Stern has falsely accused the LIRR and MTA of ignoring the community, and acting in despotic fashion. That is absolutely not the case. In fact, it is hard to understand where the mayor’s complaint lies (but I hope to find out at a village meeting on the LIRR subject the mayor called for Wednesday, Jan. 26, ostensibly for an “update,” without informing the LIRR or inviting a representative). The mayor has charged that the LIRR intends to ram the pocket-track extension through without rebuilding the bridge.
Mayor Stern has riled up the Great Neck Village Officials Association and newly elected state Senator Jack Martins during the senator’s December visit to the GNVOA, giving the impression that LIRR is seeking to do the pocket track before rebuilding the bridge. He seems to be basing this assessment on his analysis of the LIRR budget that suggests the LIRR’s capital plan provides for the pocket track project but funding for the bridge is more tentative. He further has conveyed the impression that the Long Island Railroad is going full steam ahead without considering the views, concerns or wishes of the community.
Indeed, GNVOA President J. Leonard Samansky, commented based on Mayor Stern’s comments, “The railroad has taken a position – and this is one of the problems, whether true or not – the LIRR and MTA have tried to position themselves to be rulers without any discussion among people affected. It leaves bad taste in my mouth…”
But, as mayor of Saddle Rock, whose residents are likely commuters, he said, “I think it’s a wonderful idea [for East Side access], provided there are protections for the peninsula and commuters – sufficient parking, safety, roads, public safety. Nobody has discussed them – not with me, for sure.”
Such hyperbole from Mayor Stern was reflected in a hostile meeting between Thomaston residents and the LIRR President last fall.
But I found no such arrogant disregard for the community during my conversation with Calderone.
In the first place, Calderone conveyed that all three things need to happen together: rebuilding the bridge, fixing the drainage problem and extending the pocket bridge by 1,000 feet, for a total cost of $40 million that would be spent in Great Neck.
“We know we need to do the bridge, so while we are doing the bridge, it makes sense to also address the drainage issue and the pocket track extension issue,” Calderone said.
He said that the bridge will need to be demolished and rebuilt, a $10 million project by itself.
“The new structure would be greatly improved – it won’t be open deck. It will have regular pavement,” Calderone said.
Now the residents who live near the bridge have the annoyance of the clanking, bouncing noise as vehicles rumble over the open-metal mesh. The bridge is rated for only three tons, meaning that trucks and some school buses have to take a longer way around.
“What we tell the residents is that this is an existing pocket track, used every day,” Calderone said. These are not diesel trains (which have greater noise impact); these are electric trains.” The trains would not be parked there overnight, but the pocket track is necessary to stage the train during the congested rush hour period.
Why does the pocket track have to be here in Thomaston, at all?
“This is where it makes the most sense – there is an existing one but we want the trains to come from Great Neck, one of the busiest stops,” Calderone said. “If we put pocket track anywhere west of Great Neck [such as between Little Neck and Great Neck Plaza], Great Neck won’t get the benefit of the service. The morning rush is very tight, very choreographed, so the train has to be there, it can’t have to back up. If we don’t get a pocket track and a little bit more yard in Port Washington, we won’t be able to offer the same level of service we would like to. It would give us better ability to offer more and better service to the entire branch.”
It is also important to point out that the pocket track is on the LIRR’s own right-of-way – this is not a case of eminent domain whereby the railroad would be taking over private property, nor of the village having the power to nix the deal altogether.
The Long Island Railroad – which has yet to start its environmental review process – indicates its willingness to mitigate impacts. In fact, on Monday, Jan. 24, we learned of a joint LIRR/MTA board committee meeting that morning, where LIRR President Elena Williams briefed the committee on the Colonial Road Bridge replacement and pocket track extension. She briefed board that the environmental assessment review was about to begin, with public sessions that could start in coming weeks.
That is hardly the action of an agency that is going full-steam ahead, ignoring the need to rebuild the bridge or that has yet to find funding.
“We want to work with the community – we’re a public authority. We have an obligation to work with the community,” Calderone said.
So at this point, all the village – and community – can do is carefully contemplate the potential adverse impacts and try to get the best mitigation it can.
The first problem is the 25 Thomaston homes who are closest to where the pocket track is being extended, who will likely be concerned about the visual and noise impacts. These can be mitigated by the sound barrier wall and by vegetation, which the LIRR has already agreed to, showing Mayor Stern a plan that calls for more than 350 plantings during a meeting at Sen. Kristin Gillibrand’s Long Island office last fall.
The second problem is the impact on property values of those 25 Thomaston homes who will be directly affected – and by extension, the possible impact on property tax revenues to the village of Thomaston.
Now, LIRR notes that overall, the new service will improve property values since people who work on the East Side might more naturally gravitate to Westchester and areas served by Metro North. But LIRR acknowledges that those 25 houses might be impacted, at least in the short term. And if those homes are impacted (I’m guessing they will see their property taxes reduced, which would be a benefit to them), then might Thomaston see some loss in property tax revenue?
This should be part of the environmental impact study, but if there are impacts on property values and to Thomaston’s tax revenue, my suggestion here is for LIRR to offer some kind of compensation, perhaps a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) for a period of time to those homeowners and the village. This is unlikely, to happen.
The Long Island Railroad actually raises another potential problem that would come with success: many more people coming to Great Neck station from the further reaches of the Peninsula and the surrounding areas, who might now be taking the bus to Flushing and the 7 train to the East Side. A traffic and use analysis needs to be done to determine if there will be many more “kiss-and-ride” drop-offs, creating more traffic, and more demand for commuter parking.
Commuter parking is now in the realm of the Great Neck Park District, which by a quirk of history, owns and operates the commuter lots. But for at least a decade, the commissioners have wanted to expand its parking lots – Commissioner Robert Lincoln has proposed perhaps double-decking the upper lot, or even expanding that lot over the LIRR tracks, itself. Perhaps there could be some funding mechanism that is part of the project that could make that happen, especially if federal funds might be involved (thanks NJ!)
What else should Great Neck be pushing for?
How about support for a trolley-style bus (free or nominally expensive) that would go up/down Middle Neck Road, to relieve congestion, especially if the LIRR is correct and the new Grand Central service will increase travel on the railroad. This part of the project can be tied to the Nassau Hub, which is also investigating how to improve mass transit. The Hub, of course, is designed to facilitate travel into the area around the Nassau Coliseum, but in the process, is supposed to also address environmentally friendly transportation, particularly making up for north-south transit gaps. Here, too, there might be federal funding available.
As for mitigation, he said, “We would welcome suggestion and will do the best we can.”
This would all benefit all of the residents of the Great Neck Peninsula.
“From what they discussed as a goal – to enhance and provide improved service – that to me sounds like something the community should embrace,” commented Great Neck Plaza Mayor Jean Celender, based on her initial briefing. “But that being said, it does go behind people’s homes, and potential impacts have to be addressed. But what I heard was their willingness to mitigate to the extent they could – walls, vegetation, to mitigate the noise… We could have a lot of Great Neck residents benefiting from East Side access because already going there now. We think we need better service from Great Neck…..”
So do we.
Karen Rubin
