Governor Cuomo said recently that he has heard from residents in Nassau but intends to go ahead with his budget plan to fund a multi-billion dollar MTA LIRR Third Track Expansion project from Floral Park to Hicksville. Maybe he hasn’t heard from enough of us who live and work in communities along the Main Line—New Hyde Park, Mineola, Carle Place, Garden City and Hicksville. Each one will be impacted by this project if it moves forward. Construction will impact traffic patterns, commuter parking, the structural integrity of homes, schools, public and private buildings, environment/air quality and business activity, not to mention delaying local development of properties in proximity to the railroad right-of-way. The governor plans to spend taxpayer money to satisfy his ego and his legacy. His budget is great for the unions but not for the people of our village or the folks in communities along the Main Line that will be badly impacted by this project.
The economy is not great here in New York State despite Gov. Cuomo’s constant barrage of expensive TV ads telling us how wonderful the state is for business and the quality of life of millions of people. Truth is, the state is very inhospitable to businesses with its high taxes and high utility rates. Why is he cozy with a small number of Long Island’s big business owners at the expense of the rest of us who will be negatively impacted by this unnecessary project? There’s no proof of a need for more trains for reverse commute. We don’t want more rumbling freight trains carrying garbage day and night going through our communities. We don’t need city people traveling to points east to compete for jobs Islanders can fill. Anyway, why would low-wage workers want to pay the high cost of commuting?
Why should property be taken from our citizens? This project starts in Floral Park, but it isn’t the only place that will suffer—imagine a giant MTA LIRR parking garage in New Hyde Park to replace street-level parking and homes that are there now? Of course, most agree that it’s a good idea to get rid of dangerous grade crossings and that could be done and should have been done long ago.
There are plenty of reasons why this isn’t a good idea for all the communities along the Main Line. Many people have presented the facts to the governor but he chooses to ignore them. The bottom line is this: the governor thinks he has already heard from the residents of Floral Park. Join me and the Citizens Against Rail Expansion (CARE). Write, email and use your social media skills to contact Governor Cuomo. We have about 50 days to convince the governor to remove this proposal from his budget. Call 516-775-6849 for more information.
Contact Governor Cuomo and respectfully ask him to remove this item from his budget. Write to: The Hon. Andrew Cuomo, Executive Chamber, State Capitol Building, Albany, NY 12224 , call 518-474-8390 or go to www.governor.ny.gov.
—Ann Corbett
