Suffolk County Police detectives said they are investigating the death of a woman found in a wooded area in Centereach Sunday, Oct. 11.
Police said 6th Precinct officers responded to a 911 call reporting a female body lying in a wooded area off of Hawkins Road, near Eastwood Boulevard, at around 12:10 p.m.
Jaclyn D’Andrea, 33, of Bellmore, was pronounced dead by a physician assistant from the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner. An autopsy was performed and the cause of death is under investigation.
Police are asking anyone with information on this incident to contact detectives at 631-852-6392.
Cindy Court (left) from Mather and Susanne Igneri (right) from Lustgarten accepted the donations from Yacht Club members Gary Passavia, Chuck Chiaramonte and Karl Janhsen. Photo from Mather Hospital
The Port Jefferson Yacht Club, just by the nature of their craft, know how to navigate turbulent times.
It’s why even despite the pandemic and setbacks to its 11th annual Village Cup Regatta, the group still managed to raise $40,000 which is split between Mather Hospital and the Lustgarten Foundation, which funds pancreatic cancer research.
Normally held in September, the regatta is a competition between teams for the Village of Port Jefferson and Mather Hospital. Whichever team wins gains the coveted trophy and bragging rights for the year, but the real purpose is to generate funds for pancreatic cancer research and cancer treatment. Last year the function raised $91,000
Chuck Chiaramonte, a past commodore for the yacht club who helps head the annual regatta, said they were pleasantly surprised to see just how many people still donated even in a time where many are experiencing financial hardship.
While the event is two-fold, one being the club’s outreach to the community to share their love of sailing and the other being its fundraising efforts, only one of those could be focused on this year because of the pandemic, Chiaramonte said.
“When COVID hit, there was no way we could ask club members to have a lot of people crammed into the cockpit of their boats, and so we thought we would have to cancel,” Chiaramonte said. “But then later on we were thinking, pancreatic cancer is as bad as ever, we thought we could still hold the charitable portion.”
The regatta still happened this year, but in a smaller capacity. Instead of boats crowded with people, each sailing craft was only allowed a max of two persons. Normally the event has Mather racing against the village, just using club members’ boats. Calling it the Village Cup “COVID Race” this year, club members still raced carrying banners of sponsors and others who donated to the event, though the village/hospital competition was dropped.
Though it may have raised less than previous years, and even in the midst of so much tragedy due to the pandemic, cancer and specifically pancreatic cancer still weighs heavy on so many club members’ minds, with so many friends and family having been lost to the disease. And this year, with COVID-19, club members knew they had to do as much as they could to help the hospital that went through hell during the pandemic’s height.
Kenneth Roberts, the president of Mather Hospital, thanked the yacht club for its support.
“We are grateful to the Port Jefferson Yacht Club and their continuing commitment to Mather Hospital, even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Roberts said in a statement. “This is a wonderful example of how we will get through this, together.”
Chiaramonte said the yacht club plans to return for the 12th annual regatta in 2021, this time, hopefully, back to its normal self.
Suffolk County Police reported a Centereach man was seriously injured Sunday night in the parking lot of a local bar.
Police said Gary Harnig, 48 of Centereach, was standing in the parking lot of Jack McCarthy’s Pub, located at 2582 Middle Country Road, when he was struck by a vehicle at around 10 p.m, Oct. 11. Harnig was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital in serious but stable condition.
The motor vehicle, described as a white pickup truck, fled the scene southbound on Lake Grove Boulevard, according to police.. Detectives are asking anyone with information on the crash to contact the 4th Squad at 631-854-8452 or Crime Stoppers at 800-220-TIPS (8477). All calls will remain confidential.
Residents were concerned to see vape and hookah merch being set up in an empty store in Chandler Square, but both the village and shop owner say the new location will focus on tobacco product. Photo by Julianne Mosher
Questions over Port Jeff’s handling of hookah and vape products has become inflamed once again, though the outcome might just be the loss of one vape shop and the opening of a new smoke store.
Locals have noticed smoke and hookah products moving into a space in Chandler Square next to where The Soap Box resides. Officials said Sanjay Bakshi, the owner of Hookah City, which was located on Main Street, had planned to move from its space there to that new spot but, upon learning of the move, village officials quickly moved in to explain current code requirements.
Village trustee Kathianne Snaden said the village was alerted after residents spotted vaping paraphernalia in the front window. Deputy village attorney, Richard Harris, spoke to owner and is working on getting the issue resolved.
Village code restricts any new vaping stores from opening up in anything but light industrial zoning. All new vape shops or hookah parlors must also be granted a special-use permit by the board of trustees.
Snaden said Bakshi, has agreed to comply with village code and is continuing his work opening in the new space, though now as a smoke shop selling cigars, pipes, tobacco and other products. Harris said the owner understands the code and has moved about 90% of all the vape or hookah-type products from the premises. The Port Jeff fire marshal, Ryan Klimar, has also been to the location and has recommended a few minor changes to the sprinklers and fire extinguisher placements.
“He understands very clearly what he needs to do,” Harris said.
Bakshi said the owner of the previous location did not renew his Main Street lease, requiring the move. The new space, he said, is going to be part smoke shop, part “convenience store” that sells candies and soda. He is getting rid of the name Hookah City and is just going with Smoke Shop, displayed in small letters on the front window.
Bakshi confirmed he does not plan to display any smoking product in the window and that he doesn’t plan to sell any kind of electronic tobacco products like the old vapes and hookahs.
Before the move Hookah City had been able to continue despite the code change, having been grandfathered in under old requirements. In 2019, when the shop was cited by Suffolk County police for allegedly selling a vape product to a minor, village trustees openly talked about what could be done to the shop but village attorney, Brian Egan, said that officials could not impact a business in any major way unless the code was violated.
In the past, Port Jeff constables have sent Suffolk police details of what they said were examples of the store allegedly selling to minors, according to past interviews with Fred Leute, code enforcement chief.
Though more and more smoke and vape shops have reported an incredible decline in sales since New York State officially banned the sale of flavored electronic cigarettes back in May, and that’s in addition to the wider economic impact of the COVID-19 shutdowns.
Schools in recent years have complained about the number of vape products getting into minors’ hands, despite age restrictions. Though the science is not conclusive, studies have shown the harmful and addictive nature of nicotine-based products. The U.S. Federal Drug Administration guidelines are still evolving, but the FDA considers vaping medically unsafe for young people, pregnant women and adult smokers who are not using it to quit the habit.
Still, for village officials like Snaden, seeing the last remaining vape shop go is a clear victory for the local community.
“Anything keeping vape products out of the hands of our children is better for our schools, parents and kids,” she said.
Suffolk County Police said two people from Port Jefferson Station were seriously injured while on a motorcycle on Route 112 Sunday, Oct. 11.
Police said Melvin Rodriguez-Carvajl, 24 of Port Jeff Station was driving a 2007 Suzuki motorcycle northbound on Route 112 when a 2014 Honda pulled out of a gas station, located at 1883 Route 112, and struck the motorcycle at around 10:30 a.m. Rodriguez-Carvajl and his passenger, Elianny Feliz-Rodriguez, 19 of Port Jefferson Station, were thrown from the motorcycle.
Rodriguez-Carvajl and Feliz-Rodriguez were transported to Stony Brook University Hospital with serious injuries. The driver of the Honda, Virginia Acosta, 47, of Coram, was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital with minor injuries.
The Honda and motorcycle were impounded for safety checks. The investigation is continuing. Anyone with information is asked to call the 6th Squad at 631-854-8652.
SC Legislators join Dr. David Fiorella, fourth from right, in congratulating the Mobile Stroke Unit’s efforts after it was launched last year. Photo from William Spencer’s office
In March of last year, Dr. David Fiorella went before the Suffolk County Health Committee chaired by Legislator William “Doc” Spencer (D-Centerport) and announced the launch of Long Island’s first Mobile Stroke Unit program aimed at reducing death of stroke victims. Fast forward 18 months and Fiorella has reported to the same committee Oct. 1 that since deployment, the MSU has been on over 1000 total calls. Findings during the first-year show Stony Brook Medicine’s units have successfully facilitated the diagnosis and rapid delivery of time-critical therapies to stroke patients at the point of care resulting in substantially improved outcomes.
“We are also very grateful to all of the members for the Suffolk County Legislature for their help in promoting the program’s success and look forward to further improving upon these outcomes and expanding this program to service even more residents of Suffolk County in the future,” said Fiorella, a neurointerventionalist and Director of the Stony Brook Cerebrovascular Center and Co-Director of the Stony Brook Cerebrovascular and Comprehensive Stroke Center.
Fiorella also mentioned their intent to locate two more stroke units to add to the current slate located at Long Island Expressway Exits 57 and 68. Each unit is equipped with telehealth capability to communicate with physicians at Stony Brook University Hospital. When a suspected stroke call comes in, the mobile stroke unit is dispatched and the team works quickly to determine the type of stroke the patient is experiencing using the features on board including a CT scanner and CT angiogram. Once that is determined, first responders in the unit can begin administering time-sensitive stroke treatments.
Data from the program further shows stroke patients transported by the MSU had much greater rates of discharges directly from the hospital to home after treatment, higher rates of independent clinical outcomes after stroke and much lower rates of death from stroke when compared to national averages, county average, and Stony Brook’s own data preceding the MSU program.
“The work that Dr. Fiorella and his team are doing is extraordinary,” Spencer said. “The reduced time it takes their units to reach and care for stroke victims is yielding measurable improvements to the lives they touch.”
Spencer also noted the legislature’s goal in expanding the program.
Strokes are a major public health concern nationwide. Every 40 seconds, someone in the United States suffers a stroke and every four minutes someone dies on one, according to the American heart Association.
Rocky Point residents took to the polls in 2017 to vote on propositions to demo the old and rebuild a new North Beach Company 2 firehouse, and purchase a new fire truck. A new bond is asking an extra $1 million to go all the way. File photo by Kevin Redding
*This article was updated to include a link to the firehouse projects budget breakdown.
As the Rocky Point Fire District settles in for a $1 million community bond vote Tuesday, some residents still have questions about the process and what their tax dollars will go if they vote “yes.”
The district has scheduled a vote for Tuesday, Oct. 13, for a $1 million bond to help complete the station 2 firehouse construction. Officials have previously said that because of a delayed start, expanding construction costs and the pandemic they do not have the funds to complete the original $7.25 million project.
The new firehouse along King Road in Rocky Point has been in construction since May of last year, but fire district officials said they need more funds in order to fully complete the project. Photo by Kyle Barr
In a Zoom conference call hosted by district officials Wednesday, Oct. 7, fire district commissioners, the project and manager and attorneys for the district answered the community’s questions.
Several asked if there would be absentee ballots for those unable to vote in-person out of concern for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but Fire District Chairman Anthony Gallino said having to count absentee ballots would result in a “delay in the process,” when construction needs to be completed by the end of the year. Officials claimed that New York State law under Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) executive orders are unclear regarding special district votes.
Fire District Attorney William Glass did not return a call for clarification before press time. Officials also said that if they waited for election day Nov. 3, the district would not receive funds until February next year.
The district originally asked the community to support a $8.5 million bond in 2017, where $7.25 million would go to the construction of the new firehouse. Gallino said they originally included about 7% contingency of over $500,000. This new $1 million bond is looking at a 25% contingency of about $250,000. Gallino added that any unused funds of the new bond will be put to paying down the bond.
“We realized that [original contingency] was not enough to cover obstacles so we put a little more in there for this building,” Gallino said.
On Saturday, Oct, 10, district officials made a full breakdown of the project budget available. Documents show the district lacks $752,310 to complete the firehouse. That number is out of a remaining $1.5 million on a firehouse that is 75% complete. The district still has $500,000 in contingency bond funds and $293,814 left in money taken from the general fund.
Click here to see the budget breakdown, which includes the remaining amount of money left from the districts last bond.
There were issues on the project from the start, officials said during the call. The project manager they originally hired put out bids which were routinely around $1 million over budget. In Aug. of 2018 the district terminated its contract with its original construction manager. In February, 2019 they hired a new project manager, Devin Kulka, the CEO of Hauppauge-based Kulka Group, and were able to get started with asbestos abatement in May, 2019 and demolition followed in June. Materials and labor costs, especially with New York prevailing wage, also increased from when the bond vote was passed. The pandemic made things even more complicated.
Documents show there were items that came in way over what they were originally budgeted for several years ago, resulting in the $752,310 shortfall. HVAC, for example, was slated for $600,000, but is now awarded at a $925,000. While a few items came slightly under budget, those overages make up the total of the $1.5 million the project is over by.
Kulka said during the Zoom call there was one contractor company that went under during construction due to COVID-19. He confirmed a surety company would be cutting a check for the cost between the work the contractor already did and what it wasn’t able to complete.
Gallino said materials costs increased by 10%. Some community members questioned what the cost could be on what has already been constructed, which now resembles a cinder block exterior, but officials said the price of prevailing wage kept costs high.
District officials said the increase of the yearly fire district tax bill will increase about $18 or $19 for the average house within the district. The idea of forking over more money during a time of austerity due to the pandemic might not be appetizing, but Gallino said this was the only means to construct the firehouse. Currently the station 2 company is housed in the old Thurber Lumber property on King Road, which is owned by local developer Mark Baisch. The developer allowed the company into the property free of charge, but plans to turn that property into a slate of 55-and-older rental pieces, and would need the company to be out by the end of the year.
“We’re also residents of the community, we understand that this was not an easy decision,” the chairman of the board of fire commissioners said. “We tried alternative methods, but we found if you want to finish this building on time, you need another $750K to get it done, I think it was the only decision we can make at this point.”
Kulka said the firehouse should be finished by the end of the year if things keep at the current pace.
Some residents are still not convinced, perhaps even less so because of the Zoom meeting. Shoreham resident John Searing, who lives in the district and himself works as a project manager, said he does not feel they were given all the information needed to make a decision as he listened to the Zoom meeting.
“I went into this meeting with an expectation that the Fire District would be able to clearly articulate the need for the additional 13.8%, or $1 million, increase in this project,” he said via email. “However, neither the fire district nor their construction manager or engineer could even provide a rough estimate of expenditures thus far, which raised many more questions in my mind about the future need.”
The bond vote is set for Tuesday, Oct. 13. Polls will be open from 3 to 9 p.m. at the Shoreham Firehouse, located at 49 Route 25A. Voters are reminded to please wear masks and adhere to social distancing guidelines.
This article was updated Oct. 12 to correct the spelling of a name as well as add additional information from the budget document.
Volunteers for the Setauket Harbor Task Force have monitored the health of Port Jefferson Harbor for the past three years. Photo by Kyle Barr
What does it take to monitor the health of your local waterways? For the people who month after month do just that, all it takes is a love for the place one lives.
The Setauket Harbor Task Force was one of the most active of the 22 groups involved with Save the Sound and its bay water recording initiative. The immense amount of work is taken up by a squad of volunteers, some of whom have been active during the May through October months of the last three years.
Laurie Vetere and George Hoffman, co-founders of the Setauket Harbor Task Force, discuss this year’s findings compared to two years ago. Photo by Kyle Barr
The Setauket Harbor Task Force originated as a way to monitor the health of what they considered the lone “orphaned” bay on the North Shore, but their activities eventually spread over the border into Port Jefferson as well. While the task force originated in 2015 to help maintain the local waterways’ wellbeing, in 2018 the group joined the United Water Study program under the EPA’s Long Island Sound Study, and since then has done monitoring in 10 different locations in Port Jeff and Setauket harbors.
Hoffman, of the task force, said they have dedicated much of their time and energy to the project, especially maintaining rigorous scientific standards. They have gone out in foggy mornings where you could barely see a few feet in front of the boat. Once, their craft’s engine stopped working, and they had to be towed back to harbor. There have been times their small craft has rolled in early morning swells, but they keep on going.
“With climate and environment, there’s so little that most people can do,” he said. “Every day you read about a new thing — ice shelves melting, whales being beached … I find when I talk to volunteers, it’s just being able to do something.”
Every participating organization must take readings of the water twice a month, no less than 10 days apart. Because monitoring must be performed three hours before sunrise, volunteers are up well before dawn, getting into the small craft and wading out into the harbors. Their recording instrument, a sonde meter that records all manor of water quality metrics, costs close to $20,000.
Steve Antos, one of the task force board members, also owns Setauket Landscape Design. Though he and others in his group have lived in the area for decades, the idea of water quality has really taken a hold on many of its participants. Antos enjoys constructing rain gardens in his regular job, which are critical for preventing water runoff flowing from people’s yards down toward the Sound.
“In the past, everyone tried to get their properties to drain onto the road … and eventually it just runs into our bays and takes all the pollution and dog waste with it,” Antos said. “A lot of it is way beyond our control, but whatever we can do, just little things, it all adds up.”
Before working with the task force, many of the 10 or so volunteers wouldn’t have known what most of the readings, from the chlorophyll levels or turbidity (the water clarity) meant, but now have become a kind of citizen scientist, able to comprehend measurements using a very technical device. Their backgrounds range from a retired veterinarian to retired teachers, but what brings them together is their long time proximity to the bays and waterways of the North Shore. It’s what drove them to want to make sure the water was being maintained.
Tom Lyon, of Mount Sinai, and Mark Smith, of East Setauket, are the boat captains, and have lent their experience and water crafts to the project. They are small runabouts, one an 18-foot and the other 16.
Nancy Goldstein, herself a trained scuba diver, got into the project thanks to a friend and has been active for three years.
“I took marine biology in high school, but I’m totally not a scientist,” Goldstein said. “I care about the earth, and the marine — it’s all one.”
Bert Conover, a retired veterinarian from Port Jeff, said he has always been on the water “from Delaware River to Ocean City.” Long ago, he majored in chemistry and biology, but went to grad school for zoology and then went on to veterinarian school.
“Now that I’m retired it gives me a chance to give back,” he said. “And hopefully the data will redirect how to approach a healthy harbor.”
Alice Leser has lived in Stony Brook for 49 years, and is a life-long Long Islander. She has taught programs about Long Island waters as a teacher and alongside fellow environmentalists at the Long Island Museum. When three years ago the task force offered her a training program at the Village Center, she snapped up the opportunity.
“I’ve been surrounded by water my entire life,” she said. “I’ve canoeed all the rivers, and I’ve taught programs about Long Island waters, so I really care about the purity of the water.”
Laurie Vetere, the fellow co-founder of the task force, said they have not had anyone drop out in three years.
“When we first started this program, we found that we had more volunteers than we needed,” Vetere said. “People are attracted to the water.”
Hoffman agreed, saying there is something about Long Islanders and their connection to their coasts.
“Long Islanders are coastal people,” he said. “I think what keeps us on Long Island is we all have a love for the water.”
Jamie Vaudrey, a professor of marine science at the University of Connecticut, detailed the issues with multiple Long Island bays across the North Shore. The main issues are nitrogen and how well a bay flushes. Photo by Kyle Barr
A new report by a regional environmental nonprofit says a little under half of all bays on either side of the Long Island Sound were given a poor-to-failing grade. It’s a continuing problem, but more and more local groups are stepping up to dedicate their time and energy to trying to maintain the water as a strong habitat.
At a press conference Tuesday, Oct. 6, Save the Sound, a Connecticut-based environmental nonprofit funded by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant, released its biennial 2020 Long Island Sound Report Card that described the general health of 50 bays from Long Island and Connecticut based on the previous year’s data.
Click on the above link to see the grading of the entire Long Island Sound.
Officials and experts revealed that, of those monitored, Suffolk County North Shore harbors were largely better off than those in Connecticut, but several still had issues. Port Jefferson, at least the outer and middle portions of the harbor, was ranked in the top 10 most healthy, with experts saying it most likely has to do with how well the harbor flushes daily.
Meanwhile sites like Northport and Centerport harbors were ranked C- and C respectively. Northport Harbor received a F grade for its excess of chlorophyll, a measurement of how much microalgae is in the water, and its low level of dissolved oxygen, an important factor for the health of fish. Centerport had similar difficulties, but also had issues of excessive seaweed accumulation.
Perhaps the most concerning of North Shore Suffolk County’s waterways was the innermost part of Cold Spring Harbor which received F grades in chlorophyll, seaweed and dissolved oxygen.
U.S. Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-NY3) and Lee Zeldin (R-NY1) were both present to offer their support of bipartisan funding for this and future studies as well as initiatives to keep local bays clean. Suozzi said in the past four years, the Long Island Sound Caucus has extended the EPA Long Island Sound program to 2023 and increased the $4 million appropriated to the Sound to $21 million. The House has already passed a bill to up that to $30 million, but has not yet been taken up by the Senate.
Zeldin said the low grades of so many bays only emphasizes the need for more federal funding for further studies and additional relief.
“Working across the aisle and across the Sound, we’ve made great progress in preserving this critical waterway, but with nearly half of the waterways measured in this report as receiving a D grade or below, there’s still work to do,” he said.
George Hoffman, a co-founder of the Setauket Harbor Task Force that monitors Port Jeff, also acknowledged a great deal of why the bay has done comparatively well is because of its flushing capacity. Another factor, he said, may be the hundreds of thousands of oysters and shellfish the Town of Brookhaven seeds into the bay. The shellfish do a great job of filtering organic particulates from the water.
U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi said the Long Island Sound Study needs more federal funding. Photo by Kyle Barr
Save The Sound’s Unified Water Study program includes 22 organizations covering 50 harbors on both sides of the waterway. Monitoring begins in May and ends in October. The study also looks at the general health state of the Sound itself. It’s long been clear that the closer one is to New York City, the less healthy the water is. The Western Narrows portion of the Sound received an F grade on all marks, while the Eastern Narrows, which runs from Northport to the edge of Hempstead Bay, received a C grade overall. Areas to the east were reported as much healthier in general.
Jamie Vaudrey, an assistant research professor of marine science at the University of Connecticut, said likely the biggest factor for the health of bays in a modern environment is how well the water flushes in and out of the harbor. Water like that trapped into the southernmost tip of Cold Spring Harbor is more impacted by any real increase in nitrogen.
“They just have this large nitrogen burden coming in that’s not being flushed out,” she said. “In systems like that, really pushing down that nitrogen load is important.”
Nitrogen has been called public enemy No. 1 for coastal waters as it’s the leading cause of hypoxia, namely low or depleted oxygen causing major problems for marine life. This can cause fish or other sea creatures to die off and lead to an excess of seaweed or algae. Some of these algal blooms have even been dangerous to animals or humans.
Though Port Jefferson Harbor’s general health was rated high, it too has experienced its share of dangerous algal blooms, including a so-called rust tide back in 2018. Though this specific bloom doesn’t present a threat to human beings, it kills fish quite rapidly. Those who study water quality have become very concerned with how often these blooms have appeared since the early 2000s.
For some of the struggling bays in the Town of Huntington, New York State Sen. Jim Gaughran (D-Northport) called for a funding stream from the federal government on down that can really start to make a dent in Suffolk County’s lack of sewage treatment facilities and get the ball rolling on nitrogen-reducing septic systems, which individually can cost a homeowner $10,000 to $15,000 apiece without government funding.
“People can’t do that on their own — we need tax credits, we need funding,” he said.
MTA: All Projects on Standby, All Contracts in Jeopardy Without Federal Aid
Morning commuters at the Huntington station where many switch trains to go both east and west. Photo by Donna Deedy
As the MTA prepares its budget for the next few years, potentially reducing a massive amount of service due to the pandemic, local officials are saying some of that money earmarked for the Port Jefferson Branch line can get put to better use.
Though the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has a $12 billion cash shortfall in its 2021 budget, its 2020-24 capital plan still includes plans to purchase new dual-mode (electric/diesel) trains for $150 million to replace older locomotives on several Long Island Rail Road lines, including Port Jeff.
PJ Village Trustee Bruce Miller says commuters to NYC have stayed away from the PJ line without electrification. Photo by Elana Glowatz
A representative of the MTA could not give any fresh updates on these new trains or other initiatives as all of them are on hold due to economic uncertainty, but whether or not the $16.7 billion annual-expenditure entity gets the aid it needs in time, officials are still against any new diesel trains without electrification first.
For years, area officials from all levels of government have been promoting electrifying the Port Jeff rail line, transforming it into a system like that of Ronkonkoma for faster, greener public transport. That initiative has been ongoing for years.
In March this year, the environmental advocacy group Sierra Club Long Island held a kickoff event for its green transportation initiative, holding one of its events at the Stony Brook train station. Village, town and county officials have stood behind them at this and past events.
Sierra Club Green Issues chair, Mayer Horn, is also a Dix Hills-based transportation consultant and has worked with Port Jefferson Village before. He said purchasing new diesel trains was “a very foolish thing to do.”
Back in December of 2018, Horn published a report on behalf of Port Jefferson about the North Shore rail line which described a general lack of full-time direct service between Port Jeff and Penn Station, and how current dual-mode could be used to provide such service now.
Village trustee Bruce Miller, who has also long advocated for electrifying the Port Jeff line, said replacing the diesel engines was “anathema” to what has long been proposed. It would effectively make it that much harder to argue for modern technology if the old line suddenly had new trains.
Miller has often used the refrain that people all across the North Shore, even as far east as Calverton and as west as Greenlawn, take the longer drive to places like Ronkonkoma rather than catch the closer train, only because it is both less reliable and efficient.
“Basically, you’re not entirely eliminating vehicles or cars when you have these two diesel lines on the North Shore and South Shore,” Miller said. “People aren’t factoring in pollution.”
On Sept. 17, the MTA put out a press release saying all its contracts are in jeopardy if it does not receive the $12 billion stimulus from the federal government. Some of these multibillion-dollar contracts are for companies that create and sell train and rail parts.
The September 2019 presentation of the LIRR’s capital improvement plan had included 160 new electric cars, nearly 20 coach cars and over 10 new locomotives.
Plans have changed due to the pandemic, as the MTA looks to close a $5.8 billion budget gap for 2021. Rail lines like Port Jefferson to Huntington will still run hourly at peak periods, but others with lower ridership will not likely be so lucky. Fares are also expected to increase beyond the anticipated 4% for 2021 through 2024, and riders who are taking trips to the city will feel it in their wallets the most.
Yet the new diesel engines remain on the docket, making local advocates and officials severely question if they are still coming when so much service is getting cut.
In the MTA’s July preliminary budget presentation, it stated that a reduction or delay in the 2020-24 capital program will have a limited impact on the operating budget because, for one, the MTA’s portion is back ended, having already been funded from several tax sources. Using those sources to fund the operating budget instead would “consume cash and reduce liquidity.”
Still, there has been talk of removing some parts of the capital plan. Newsday has reported the MTA has plans to put the $230 million north/south link between the Ronkonkoma and Babylon branches on pause.
There is no money in that capital plan for Port Jeff electrification either.
The 2018 Port Jeff report by Horn notes that the Ronkonkoma line, once the LIRR expanded electrification from Hicksville to Ronkonkoma in 1987, jumped daily trips from 6,200 to 16,000 by 2007, a result of people no longer taking the Port Jeff or Montauk branches to both north and south. Less local traffic also meant a decline in the economic vitality of Upper Port.
These new diesel trains are just another factor of what Horn calls “a real lack of planning.” He lamented why the MTA, or America in general, doesn’t try to learn from countries with much better, faster and more efficient train systems like South Korea or Japan.
The greatest need, however, has been the addition of a third rail for the Port Jeff line, something that has been trumpeted and sometimes praised to be coming soon.
“It looks to me like LIRR is basically telling us that they are going to proceed as if exempt from CLCPA, which is outrageous.”
— Steve Englebright
State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) has long been a proponent of electrification. As the chair of the Assembly environmental conservation committee, he said he, along with his state Senate counterpart Todd Kaminsky (D-Rockville Centre), met with Phil Eng, the head of the LIRR, late last year to talk about these new trains.
“Quite frankly, he was not able to give us any assurance he was going to do anything but plow ahead,” Englebright said. “That was a couple months before COVID crisis basically created a whole new set of distractions.”
New York State, in the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, has set the lofty goal to limit statewide greenhouse gases to 40% of 1990 levels by 2030, and 85% by 2050.
“It looks to me like LIRR is basically telling us that they are going to proceed as if exempt from CLCPA, which is outrageous,” the local assemblyman said. He added these trains could have a lifespan of 50 years.
In a letter sent to Englebright in March 2019, MTA president, Patrick Foye, said that the LIRR had been reviewing proposals for a $4 million study on Port Jeff electrification and other projects, and that it could be awarding a contract for the electrification study in early summer 2019. That study has not yet materialized and, with the MTA saying it has no updates, it’s likely it won’t any time soon.
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