MTA moves to shut down trains to the North Fork
Pols say East End should consider secession
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But that will change if the Metropolitan Transit Authority decides to end rail service between Ronkonkoma and Greenport in September, forcing him and an estimated 200 other commuters to find an alternative route to New York City.
"It would be awful if I would have to drive to Ronkonkoma every morning," Mr. Schur said, adding that he would have to leave his home earlier, purchase a new car and pay more money in gas if he could not leave from the Mattituck Long Island Rail Road station. He said he bought his home in May specifically because it was within walking distance of the station.
Assemblyman Marc Alessi (left) and county Legislator Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches) (third from left) vowed to fight the cash-strapped MTA's proposal to power down its Greenport line. They cited the agency's hefty payroll tax on local businesses as reason enough to maintain the line, which runs the span of the North Fork.
If not, they said, the MTA will face the possibility that East End towns will secede from the transportation agency.
"It's absolutely wrong," New York State Assemblyman Marc Alessi (D-Wading River) said of the MTA's proposal at a press event Monday outside the Riverhead LIRR station.
Four eastbound and four westbound trains would be eliminated Monday through Friday and two eastbound and two westbound would be eliminated on weekends, leaving North Fork riders with no direct rail services.
Mr. Alessi and county Legislator Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches) vowed to fight the proposed change, explaining that the East End's local businesses were hit hard last year when the state approved a payroll tax on all businesses, government agencies and schools in an effort to close the MTA's original $1.2 billion budget gap.
"The East End can no longer serve as a cash cow to fund a system that mainly benefits New York City," Mr. Romaine said. "If the MTA refuses to provide service, the Peconic region should immediately secede from the MTA and establish its own transportation authority."
"It's taxation without transportation," said Southold Supervisor Scott Russell, who also attended the event.
Mr. Alessi said he would introduce legislation into the Assembly that would prohibit the MTA from collecting the payroll tax in places where there it does not provide service. He also promised greater transparency into how the MTA operates.
But he agreed that if the MTA decides to eliminate rail service east of Ronkonkoma, then the East End should investigate seceding from the MTA.
"It's time to put up or get out of the way," he said.
LIRR spokesman Joe Calderone said that the MTA had instructed its agencies to investigate ways to reduce services while impacting the fewest number of people.
"The ridership on those trains is just very low," he said. "We tried to look at the area that would have the least amount of customer impact." Mr. Calderone stressed that the proposed change was not set in stone and that people can make their voices heard at public hearings. "This is an opportunity to examine alternatives," he said, paraphrasing LIRR president Helena Williams.
Eight public hearings will be scheduled to discuss the proposal in March, although none will be held locally. The hearings will take place in White Plains, the Bronx, Carle Place, Brooklyn, Flushing, Manhattan, Suffern and Staten Island, officials said.
James Ellwood, who serves on the board of the Five Town Rural Transit Inc., a nonprofit group dedicated to the research and development of improved public transportation on the East End, said that his agency has been investigating ways to improve service for North Fork commuters for years.
In a letter addressed to Ms. Williams in October 2009, members of the Five Towns Rural Transit board called for minor schedule changes that would better serve North Fork commuters, many of whom work in western Suffolk and Nassau County and not in Manhattan.
He said those suggestions were ignored.
Mr. Ellwood also said the proposed cuts negatively impact the long-term multimillion dollar plan for an overhaul of mass transit on the East End. The plan would integrate a light-rail service and connecting shuttle buses on the North and South forks.
"Part of that plan was to maintain the rail system," he said.
MTA officials reportedly said after Monday's event that they would consider running trains to Riverhead if the East End eventually got its own transit network up and running.
As for Mr. Schur, he said he hopes the MTA can come to a compromise, perhaps reducing the number of trains or shortening the North Fork route.
"At the very least, run to Riverhead," he said.
vchinese@timesreview.com
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1 comments found
REAL ESTATE : 3/10/2010
we were going to buy a home on the north fork,we work in new york, i am cancelling my contract date and moving to the south shore,the noeth fork is finished,this is a disgrace,the mta is full of -------,no one will come business will suffer,north fork will go down,what a beautiful place,stupid low class people should not be in charge,there is more to what they are saying,
