Lawmakers: MTA has failed East End
Scores of people attend public hearing on MTA cuts
2 comments below
Scott Russell speaking at Monday's public hearing on the MTA's proposed rail service cuts to the North Fork.
"We begin to wonder if the MTA has outlived its usefulness," said county Legislator Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches), whose district covers the North Fork. "You have failed as a public agency."
"The MTA is broken and can't be fixed," added Rebecca Molinaro, who was representing state Assemblyman Fred Thiele (I-Sag Harbor).
At least 55 people registered to speak during Monday night's hearing at the Suffolk County Center in Riverside, which drew a crowd of nearly 200. The main topic at hand: the MTA's proposed rail service cuts to the North Fork.
But speakers were universally critical of the perceived mistreatment of the entire East End, which many referred to as the MTA's "forgotten stepchild."
In January, the agency proposed cutting all rail service between Ronkonkoma and Greenport except for summer weekends in an effort to close a $400 million budget gap. MTA officials have defended the proposal by explaining that the Greenport line, which has about 200 riders daily, is its least-used branch.
Some critics of the MTA say a Peconic Bay Regional Transit Authority could more effectively coordinate public transportation on the East End -- and do it cheaper, too.
Mr. Thiele, Assemblyman Marc Alessi (D-Wading River) and state Senator Ken LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) have sponsored legislation to put a non-binding referendum on the November ballot in eastern Suffolk County asking voters to consider the creation of a East End transit council.
Many of the speakers, which included mostly politicians, representatives of advocacy groups and owners of small businesses, derided the transit authority for proposing to virtually eliminate Long Island Rail Road service to the North Fork, something they said would stagnate economic development and lead to more congested roads.
Representatives from the MTA, including chairman Jay Walder, LIRR president Helena Williams and the Suffolk County representative on the board, Mitch Pally, listened virtually silently for nearly three hours as residents expressed their outrage -- and in many cases personally insulted MTA officials' competence.
One man, Paul Askedall, traveled from Farmingdale and donned a tuxedo to get his point across. "You'd rather have everyone who can afford your train dress like this," he said. He also likened the MTA's attitude toward the East End to that of Clark Gable's character in "Gone With the Wind": "[It's like they are saying], 'Frankly taxpayers, I don't give a damn.'ââ"
Many critics agreed that low ridership on the Greenport line was due not to lack of interest, but to insufficient service. The presiding officer of the county Legislature, William Lindsay (D-Holbrook), noted that the Hampton Jitney is able to thrive precisely because of the MTA's poor East End service.
"I guess [they're] making a pretty good living off a service that you folks are walking away from," he said.
Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter said MTA officials should take the East End train themselves to see how inconvenient the service really is. He noted that if the MTA representatives did take the train to Riverhead that evening, they would have gotten off at the "squalor-infested train station that [they] don't manage" and waited for hours before the meeting began.
"Take your own darn train," he fumed.
The cuts hurt some people on a more personal level than others.
MTA employees protested the elimination of jobs and small-business owners complained of the payroll tax.
Current commuters also showed to air their concerns.
"I cannot afford a taxicab from Ronkonkoma to my house," said one man, who said he lived in Medford.
Monday was the ninth and final hearing on the proposed cuts. MTA officials expect to reach a decision by March 25.
There were originally only eight hearings scheduled, with the easternmost in Carle Place in Nassau County.
The MTA added the Riverside hearing after public opposition.
vchinese@timesreview.com
The Suffolk Times is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. The Suffolk Times does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not The Suffolk Times. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Service and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website.
2 comments found
Personal Experience : 3/14/2010
Having taken the LIRR Greenport line a dozen times a year since the mid '90s and Suffolk Bus now and then I'll add my semi-informed two cents... Scott Russell is 100% on target when he labels the cuts as taxation without transportion. However, I have observed that the weekday westbound morning train is about 10% full and even on Monday mornings in the summer, calling it 25% full would be generous. Things are pretty much the same on the early evening eastbound train but the numbers seem even lower as there are only a few people left after Mattituck. The weekend schedule is extremely inconvenient for locals as it is set up for NYC people to come out here but when you consider there are 8 million people there (seems more like 8 billion) many without cars and only 20 some odd thousand of us who mostly do have vehicles...
The tough part about a local takeover of part of the system is that the one rail line doesn't service Orient or New Suffolk and it is an athletic walk from the Cutchogue and Jamesport business districts. The line isn't electrified so any trains (possibly purchased from the MTA) would have to rely on internal combustion engines. There is no connection with the Montauk line so presumably a bus transfer would need to be created. Given all that, the S92 Suffolk Bus compares favorably as it goes down the Main Road and stops at useful places with frequent service and will take you all the way to to East Hampton. Note that when I have mentioned to someone that I'm going to take the S92 they typically ask "Why would you do that?" and offer to drive me (I don't accept). So mass adoption of public transport isn't going to happen any time soon. So the best thing might be simply to fight the payroll tax. For reference I live and work in Southold Town.
Anyway, I know insults will be hurled at this post but this is what I have observed.
There are more failures here : 3/11/2010
The MTA has failed the East End, that is true. The MTA has shown a strong bias towards NY City and against Suffolk County for decades.
But where have our elected politicians been?
Our elected politicians have also failed us, big time. Some, like Mr. Levy and Mr. LaValle had been contacted about this numerous times, but have done nothing. Others have given lip service, and also have done nothing.
Reform for east end transportation needs two things to succeed: independence through an East End Transportation Authority and responsible representation from our elected politicians.
http://www.lirrcommuters.org/
