Five local mayors are considering forming a coalition to address Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plans to put a third track along a stretch of the Long Island Rail Road running through their villages.
At a meeting with U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City) Friday afternoon, mayors from Floral Park, New Hyde Park, Mineola, Garden City and Westbury discussed how they could share information with each other and with higher elected officials as details about the project emerge.
“We’re mobilizing. We’re getting on the same page, we’re talking and we’ll take this on as it comes,” Village of Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss said.
It’s not certain what the group would look like or who would speak for it, Strauss said.
But it could take a form similar to the coalition that stopped plans for a third track in the mid-2000s, Floral Park Mayor Thomas Tweedy said, which had the support of more than 175 governments and community organizations.
“I was really satisfied and really felt that we’re not alone,” Tweedy said.
Cuomo and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced plans Jan. 5 to install a third track along 9.8 miles the LIRR’s Main Line between Floral Park and Hicksville to encourage reverse commuting from New York City, improve train service and reduce traffic on Long Island highways.
They say the $1 billion to $1.5 billion project would shore up Long Island’s economy by attracting new businesses and employees and spur transit-oriented housing development in places near LIRR stations, such as Mineola.
Tweedy said the “massive” construction could disrupt commerce and other activity in the village. But because it’s reportedly aimed at increasing economic activity further east, he said, it wouldn’t necessarily improve train service in Floral Park.
“Not only will we bear all the burden in terms of construction, but when it’s done we’ll have less service,” Tweedy said.
The mayors also agreed Friday that the MTA should improve its existing infrastructure to get the same benefits rather than taking on another “megaproject” that would affect so many residents, Tweedy said.
In a statement, MTA spokesman Sal Arena said the project will “benefit all Long Islanders,” as a third track would improve train service and make both Nassau and Suffolk counties “a more attractive place to live and do business.”
New Hyde Park Mayor Robert Lofaro told the group a third track construction would remove about 500 parking spaces along the railroad tracks in New Hyde Park, Tweedy said.
At a Jan. 5 Village Board meeting, Lofaro and some residents said they were also worried a third track would increase freight traffic of potentially hazardous materials.
But Arena said it will not entail any additional freight service.
Cuomo’s plan would require the LIRR to take land from 30 commercial and 20 residential properties, mostly in Mineola, significantly fewer than the 200 acquisitions required in the old plan, MTA officials said.
Arena said Cuomo has mandated the MTA work closely with all the affected villages and property owners as it examines the project’s potential impacts over the next year to 18 months.
“The environmental impact study the LIRR is about to undertake will afford the mayors and the public a full opportunity to raise their concerns as well as an opportunity for the railroad to fully address them,” Arena said in a statement.
In a statement, Rice spokesman Coleman Lamb said the congresswoman encourages residents to call her office about the project as she continues to “gather input from everyone involved and ensure the process is as inclusive as possible.”
Rice told the mayors she would share any information she gets from her meeting with MTA representatives next week.
The villages want to see detailed plans before taking a definite stance, Strauss said, but neither the governor nor the MTA have produced any.
The MTA abandoned plans for a third track between Queens Village and Hicksville in 2008 after intense opposition from officials and residents in villages along the Main Line, including Floral Park, New Hyde Park and Mineola.
Lofaro could not be immediately reached for comment Friday, but on Jan. 5 said officials there would “fight the governor vehemently” on the new project.
“I really haven’t heard from the residents other than, ‘Hey, we did this already. What’s changed?’” Strauss said Friday.
Other lawmakers on the state, county and town levels have been in touch with the villages, Strauss said.
In a statement, state Sen. Jack Martins said he remains “strongly opposed” to the third track, but added he would help Cuomo organize meetings with residents about the project.
