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On the Honor Roll
Hempstead, Uniondale, Westbury schools get 'blue ribbon'

By John Hildebrand, STAFF WRITER

2003 September 17

Three Long Island public schools serving mostly black and Hispanic students won
U.S. "blue ribbon" status yesterday under a revamped awards system that
recognizes dramatic test-score gains in English and math.

The three local schools - Franklin School in Hempstead, Turtle Hook Middle
School in Uniondale and Westbury Middle School - are among about 220 public
and private schools honored nationwide. Yesterday's announcement by the U.S.
Education Department touched off celebrations among the schools' staffers and
students, many of whom have had to overcome twin effects of poverty and
limited English to raise their academic standing.

"How do you feel about being the best?" said Constance Clark, superintendent of
Westbury schools, as a class of 19 seventh-graders broke into applause.
Yesterday, Clark and other administrators went from classroom to classroom in
the school to announce the news.

The announcement from Washington also sent morale soaring at Franklin School,
which is dealing with an extra challenge this semester. The elementary school's
enrollment, normally around 600, has been pushed close to 800 by the addition
of children from the district's Prospect School, which has been closed because of
structural deterioration.

"I'm hoping it serves as an example of just what schools can do, number one,
and number two, that we can move our students even higher," said John Moore,
principal of Franklin School since 1991.

Blue-ribbon designations have been handed out nationwide since 1982, under a
federal program meant to honor schools for outstanding achievement. Until this
year, however, much of the criteria for recognition was notably vague - for
example, with points given to schools fostering a "caring community" among
teachers and students.

This year's group is the first recognized under new criteria, pushed by the Bush
administration, that emphasize math and reading achievement. Under the
revamped rules, schools can win blue-ribbon status for one of two reasons:
either because they improved test scores dramatically and serve substantial
numbers of disadvantaged students, or because they score in the top 10 percent
in their state.

All three of the Island's honored schools fall in the first category, and all have
raised scores through a combination of tactics that include clear-cut academic
goals and lots of after-school tutoring. At the Turtle Hook School, for example,
teachers are required to offer extra help to students for 50 minutes after classes
at least once a week.

All three schools have had obstacles to overcome. At Westbury Middle School,
more than three-fourths of students qualify, through low family incomes, for free
or reduced-price lunches. Thirteen percent speak languages other than English -
usually either Spanish or Haitian Creole.

To boost test scores, the Westbury school in recent years has begun providing
students in need with double daily periods of English and math. One result is that
the portion of eighth-graders scoring satisfactorily in English has jumped 20
points, to 52 percent.

"You know, the school worked very hard to get to this point," said Karen Dolsky,
a sixth-grade teacher.

Notably missing from yesterday's list were schools in wealthier parts of Long
Island that consistently appear among the nation's top schools in private
rankings. Some of those schools do not actively seek blue-ribbon status, being
more concerned with private rankings that recognize a higher level of
achievement.

"It's really not on the radar screen," said Charles Fowler, superintendent of
Hewlett-Woodmere schools and president of the Nassau County Council of School
Superintendents. However, he applauded the efforts to boost student
performance by the honored schools.

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September 16, 2003

East Hampton plan

Topic Tonight: East Hampton Blueprint

By Katie Thomas, STAFF WRITER

2003 September 18

Three years after work began on a blueprint for East Hampton's future, the town
board will give residents tonight what may be their last chance to speak out on
the town's proposed comprehensive plan.

To get to this point, board members have sat through dozens of public meetings
and perused hundreds of pages of committee recommendations, not to mention
two consultants' reports.

But even though the proposed plan, which will guide development for the next 20
years, is nearly complete, residents are still divided about whether it should be
adopted. Most of the debate centers on whether the town can aim to reduce
future "buildout," a technical term for the maximum number of housing units the
town might eventually hold - and hence the total number of people who might
live there.

While the town's planning consultants, Manhattan-based Horne Rose, say their
report aims to reduce buildout by passing more restrictive zoning and other
measures, they say that limiting buildout, as an end to itself, is illegal. Instead,
they argue that decreasing the town's future size is possible if it's justified by
other goals, such as protecting groundwater.

"We absolutely can limit or reduce our buildout," said Republican town board
member Diana Weir, whose party holds a slim 3-2 majority in Town Hall. "The
plan clearly says that."

But opponents - including Democrats, who are trying to win control of the board
in this November's elections - say the plan may lead to an increase in buildout
because it suggests intensifying growth in hamlet centers while limiting it in
outlying areas.

"I think what everybody in town is saying is, 'Look, we want less [growth] in the
hamlets and we want less outside the hamlets,'" said David Gruber, the town's
Democratic Party chairman. "To a large extent this document is not usable."

While Weir said she is determined to pass the plan while her party holds a
majority, town board member Pete Hammerle, who like Weir is running for
re-election this fall, said he would favor hiring yet another consultant if
Democrats win control. "I have a strong sense that the people I talk to don't want
to see this adopted," he said.

This kind of back-and-forth has exasperated many residents, said Robert
DeLuca, president of the Bridgehampton-based environmental organization, the
Group for the South Fork. "Some kind of action, after all of this chewing on the
process, would make people feel a lot better," he said.

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Posted by dc at 09:04 PM | Comments (0)

September 15, 2003

dunehampton petition

The mere idea of Dunehampton, a thin sliver of mostly oceanfront property that
would run from Water Mill to the East Hampton town line, had been criticized by
one town councilman as "Richampton" and attacked as an entity that was being
created only so the people who lived there would not have to follow the laws of
Southampton Town.

But its supporters argued they had as much right to control their own destiny as
do the residents of any other village in Southampton, and feared that town
coastal protection regulations would prevent them from rebuilding their homes if
they were damaged in a hurricane.

Southampton Rejects Dunehampton Petitions

By Mitchell Freedman, Staff Writer

2003 September 15, 8:34 PM EDT

Southampton Supervisor Patrick Heaney ruled Monday that petitions calling for
the creation of a new oceanfront village in his town -- Dunehampton -- are
invalid.

In a highly anticipated decision, Heaney ruled that the petitions were deficient
because the proposed village did not contain the minimum 500 residents required
by state law.

The petitions calling for the creation of the new village were filed in no particular
order, neither by name nor street address.

When the town cross-indexed the names, Heaney said, they found 193 people
were listed as residents of just 11 houses. Heaney noted that one Sagaponack
resident found herself listed as a resident of the proposed village although she
told the person carrying petitions that she lived and voted in Princeton, N.J., and
would not change her residence.

The new proposed village's supporters, Heaney noted, did admit that six people
listed as residents in their petition were dead and should not have been counted.

The supervisor's ruling, which Southampton officials expect to be challenged in
court, means that no vote will be set on the creation of what might have been
one of the richest villages in the nation.

Heaney said he expects to be sued by supporters of the village, just as he
expected its opponents would have sued him if he had decided the other way.

And while this set petitions appears dead, Heaney noted there is no reason to
believe the idea of forming the village will end. "It's an open-ended process," he
said. "They [village advocates] can always correct the defects and resubmit."

Joseph Prokop, the attorney for the petitioners, has 30 days to appeal Heaney's
decision in court. "We continue to believe the petitions were sufficient," he said,
adding that no decision has been made on whether to appeal or file new
petitions. "We intend to do either one or both."

The mere idea of Dunehampton, a thin sliver of mostly oceanfront property that
would run from Water Mill to the East Hampton town line, had been criticized by
one town councilman as "Richampton" and attacked as an entity that was being
created only so the people who lived there would not have to follow the laws of
Southampton Town.

But its supporters argued they had as much right to control their own destiny as
do the residents of any other village in Southampton, and feared that town
coastal protection regulations would prevent them from rebuilding their homes if
they were damaged in a hurricane.

The question of residence is not a simple one because there is no definition of
residence in the part of the state law that applies to the creation of villages.

And because many of the houses in the proposed village are used as summer
homes, some property owners argued they could use any of their homes as a
residence for voting purposes.

But no one can vote twice in the same election, and Heaney said the Suffolk
Board of Elections showed only 212 registered voters in the area of the proposed
village. He reduced that number to 194, removing people who were registered as
voters but no longer lived in the proposed village.

Heaney said each couple would need 3.2 children to reach the population target
of 500 people. But voter registration rolls show 126 voters who are 55 or older,
and unlikely to have many school-age children living with them.

The supervisor said it would take an average of more than seven 8.74 children in
each remaining house to get to the population target.

There are 260 houses in the proposed Dunehampton area, but 183 of the 243 tax
bills for them -- some people own two or more houses and get just one bill -- go
to out-of-town addresses.

Dunehampton was strongly supported by a number of local residents, but just as
bitterly opposed by others -- some of whom feared they would no longer be able
to park on the new village's streets and would be kept from the ocean beaches.

And, they added, Dunehampton would have split communities that date back to
the 1640s. "They were attacking history," said Alfred Kelman, who opposes the
new village.

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Posted by dc at 11:53 PM | Comments (0)

September 14, 2003

I can't drive 65 on LIE ?

Update: 2004 April 27: 65 is the las now.

Speed Limit May Rise on LIE, Other Roads

By John Valenti, STAFF WRITER

2003 September 15

You are still not able to drive 65 mph on the Long Island Expressway. Not legally,
anyway.

But that may change. Gov. George Pataki signed into law last week legislation
that allows the state Department of Transportation to decide which stretches of
highway should have a 55-mph speed limit - and which should be 65 mph.

The law, sponsored by state Sen. Caesar Trunzo (R-Brentwood), also makes
65-mph zones around the state permanent. Those zones were scheduled to
expire Dec. 1, 2005.

"What this means is that the state Department of Transportation now has the
authority to increase the speed limit on state roads without having to go for
legislation," said Trunzo, former chairman of the state Transportation Committee.

"That doesn't mean the department will raise the speed limit here on Long Island.
But it means it could."

Proponents of a 65-mph speed limit note that, while the number of fatal accidents
fell dramatically after the maximum national speed limit went from 65 mph to 55
mph in 1974, the number of fatalities continued to decline even after the national
55-mph law was eliminated in the National Highway System Designation Act of
1995.

The speed limit on Interstates 81 and 87 - both north of New York City - was
increased to 65 mph in August 1995. In 1997, a study by the New York State
Thruway Authority found the Thruway had recorded its lowest death rate in 44
years. Almost five years after the maximum limits were increased, the number
of accidents per 100 million miles traveled decreased 4 percent on 65-mph
highways in the state. The fatal accident rate had decreased 29 percent, the
injury accident rate by about 5 percent.

A recent poll conducted by the AAA Automobile Club of New York found 90
percent of its members supported an increase from 55 mph to 65 mph.

The Department of Transportation said speed-limit changes on Long Island would
be made only after a review of traffic volume; the road's design, width and
condition; land use; and whether the area is urban, suburban or rural. Police said
officers will enforce the speed limit set by the DOT.

"Some have said if we make the speed limit 65 mph here, people will do 90,"
Trunzo said. "But we've found most people drive around 65 - and all this does is
allow that to be determined by the DOT."

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Posted by dc at 11:47 PM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2003

MLS Long Island

Multiple Listing Service for Long Island realty inventory.

See also:

Coldwell Banker Sammis (Long Island): open houses and search.

Coach Realty.

Foxton's buyers' search.

Posted by dc at 04:28 PM | Comments (0)

September 12, 2003

LIRR station info

The old lirr42 site, eg SmithTown was better than the new MTA Info site.

For example, under Parking Maps, lirr42 had a good station map.

Posted by dc at 08:24 PM | Comments (0)

September 11, 2003

Dangerous county roads

This summer Suffolk County Department of Public Works commissioner
Charles Bartha and a host of other local officials went hat-in-hand before the
ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep.
James Oberstar (D-Minn.), to seek funding to institute transportation solutions on
Long Island. And Bartha said then it would take about $1 billion to fix deficiencies
on Nicolls Road, North Ocean Avenue, Pinelawn Road, Fifth Avenue, Portion
Road, Bay Shore Road, North Road, Old Country Road and Montauk Highway.
The study alone to find solutions for William Floyd Parkway would cost about
$700,000, Suffolk Department of Public Works Chief Engineer Bill Shannon said
yesterday.

"I wish I could wave a magic wand and make these problems go away," he said.
"But, I can't."

Local roads - the tree-lined streets through your suburban neighborhood - do not
carry the traffic volumes most county roads carry. Major state roads - highways
such as the Long Island Expressway, the Southern State Parkway, the Northern
State Parkway - are safer because of their nature: limited access, unidirectional,
limited conflict points. But county roads are caught in between. A lot of them -
Fifth Avenue, Ocean Avenue, Commack Road, Route 111, William Floyd Parkway
- carry a lot of traffic and are bordered by residential neighborhoods, malls and
schools.

Once Again, Deadly Crash Happens on a County Road
John Valenti

2003 September 10

Another mother, another daughter killed. Another son left fighting for his life.
Another aftermath of another tragic car accident. Another testament to life - and
death - on our roads on Long Island.

This time it happened on William Floyd Parkway in Shirley. This time it involved a
Saturday night, a red light and an intersection local residents said is a known
danger. This time.

Fact is, it could have happened almost anywhere - on almost any road with an
intersection on Long Island - since you can ask someone to stop at a red light but
you can't make them. And Suffolk police said one driver, Evelyn Asendorf, 59, of
Mastic, ran a red light on William Floyd and struck a car driven by Roseann
Brooks, 45, of Shirley, as she crossed with the green on Robinwood Road. The
collision killed Brooks and her daughter Jennifer, 17. It left her son, Bruce Jr.,
15, in critical condition at Stony Brook University Hospital. All of which might be
fate.

Except it is little surprise that such an accident occurred on a county road,
instead of a state road or a local one. A recent Newsday investigation of the most
dangerous roads on Long Island found that the 10 deadliest roads in Suffolk
County between 1999-2001 - the roads with highest fatality rates per 100 million
miles driven - were all county roads. William Floyd Parkway is 15th on that list
with 12 fatalities in that time, though statistics for the southern 5.22 miles
between Montauk Highway and the entrance to Smith Point County Park, where
seven died in that time, would move it into the top 5.

A dubious honor, to say the least.

So what makes these roads so dangerous - and deadly? And who is to blame?

First glance would suggest the county. But, fact is, it might be all of us. Because
the evolution of Long Island has turned roads designed as local thoroughfares
into major arterials, where traffic volume and traffic speed often exceeds design.
And engineers can never design out driver error. Like running a red light. Though
with more money - and with more foresight from communities into land use -
those engineers could design out a lot of hazards.

"We would like to be able to design the safest road possible," said Richard
LaValle, chief deputy commissioner for public works in Suffolk County. "But what
does possible mean? You have economics. It is extremely expensive to do that.
Impacts to the community can be extensive. You have aesthetics. Communities
want an area to look good.

"People want Main Street," he said. "But the fact is we're limited by our options."

Just this summer Suffolk County Department of Public Works commissioner
Charles Bartha and a host of other local officials went hat-in-hand before the
ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep.
James Oberstar (D-Minn.), to seek funding to institute transportation solutions on
Long Island. And Bartha said then it would take about $1 billion to fix deficiencies
on Nicolls Road, North Ocean Avenue, Pinelawn Road, Fifth Avenue, Portion
Road, Bay Shore Road, North Road, Old Country Road and Montauk Highway.
The study alone to find solutions for William Floyd Parkway would cost about
$700,000, Suffolk Department of Public Works Chief Engineer Bill Shannon said
yesterday.

"I wish I could wave a magic wand and make these problems go away," he said.
"But, I can't."

Local roads - the tree-lined streets through your suburban neighborhood - do not
carry the traffic volumes most county roads carry. Major state roads - highways
such as the Long Island Expressway, the Southern State Parkway, the Northern
State Parkway - are safer because of their nature: limited access, unidirectional,
limited conflict points. But county roads are caught in between. A lot of them -
Fifth Avenue, Ocean Avenue, Commack Road, Route 111, William Floyd Parkway
- carry a lot of traffic and are bordered by residential neighborhoods, malls and
schools.

Many of them, Shannon said, are "obsolete." But, because of the limitations,
LaValle said, "We're reduced to dealing with the problems on an
intersection-by-intersection basis." The entire design and new construction
budget for Suffolk this year is less than $20 million. It sounds like a lot. It isn't.

The speed limit is 55 mph on William Floyd Parkway, where the latest fatal
accident occurred. A Home Depot is being built not far from the crash site. It is
the lone major arterial into the area. There are cross streets and intersections.
There is cross traffic.

Years ago, after a study of William Floyd Parkway, the county built sidewalks for
pedestrian traffic, installed pedestrian signals, closed median openings and
reduced access to side streets. The Town of Brookhaven installed lighting. All for
safety.

But no one wants the county to build another Sunrise Highway into Shirley-Mastic
Beach. Despite the fact that what the state did in making Sunrise Highway a
limited-access highway in Suffolk County made the road safer than it once was.

So, what we're left with is pot luck: Dangerous roads. Dangerous conditions.
Dangerous accidents.

And another mother and daughter dead. Another son, left in a coma. And the
rest of us wondering what we can do to see it doesn't happen again.

Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.

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Posted by dc at 11:35 PM | Comments (0)

September 10, 2003

Shirley's dangerous William Floyd Parkway

From 1999 to 2001, there have been seven fatal accidents on the 5.2-mile stretch
of the six-lane William Floyd Parkway south of Sunrise Highway compared with
five fatal accidents on the lesser traveled 10.5-mile portion north of Sunrise.

Residents said drivers pick up speed on the roadway as it changes from 45 mph to
55 mph. The speed limit rises about a half-mile before Robinwood Road, the scene
of Saturday's accident.

A Deadly Stretch of Road
Shirley mom, daughter killed in crash; son, friend critical

By Joie Tyrrell, Staff Writer

2003 September 08, 8:14 PM EDT

When Lydia Mohn leaves her Shirley home, she's always cautious when she gets
to the six-lane William Floyd Parkway.

She uses the same intersection at Robinwood Road where a mother and
daughter were killed Saturday night after police said a motorist ran a red light
and struck their car.

"It's my main way to get out and I'm scared to death," said Mohn, who had
traveled that road just 10 minutes prior to the accident. "You don't know if people
are going to stop."

As the tight-knit community mourned the loss of Roseann Brooks and her
17-year-old daughter, residents Monday questioned the safety of the William
Floyd Parkway. The death rate on its more heavily traveled southern five miles is
higher than the rate on the lightly traveled northern and central sections,
according to a Newsday analysis of Suffolk County records.

The fatality rate is also many times higher than the rates on some of Long
Island's busiest highways: the LIE and the Northern and Southern State
Parkways, according to the analysis.

From 1999 to 2001, there have been seven fatal accidents on the 5.2-mile
stretch of the road south of Sunrise Highway compared with five fatal accidents
on the lesser traveled 10.5-mile portion north of Sunrise.

Residents said drivers pick up speed on the roadway as it changes from 45 mph
to 55 mph. The speed limit rises about a half-mile before Robinwood Road, the
scene of Saturday's accident.

"They should make it all one speed limit," Mohn said. "It's ridiculous that it
changes."

Suffolk County officials tested the traffic lights in the area Monday and said they
were working properly. Richard LaValle, chief deputy commissioner of public
works for Suffolk County, said the county is looking into timing the signals along
William Floyd to control the speed of traffic.

The county has made improvements along the southern section of William Floyd
in recent years, including restricting turning at Stuart Road. "In general, we do
everything we can to keep the road as safe as possible," LaValle said.
"Unfortunately, we can't account for all the actions of the drivers. Some accidents
you might not be able to ever prevent."

Legis. Peter O'Leary (R-Moriches) said his office received calls from residents
Monday complaining about the parkway and he has requested a study of the
road. New homes have been built and a new King Kullen supermarket and Home
Depot are under construction alongside the Parkway.

In the seven years that tow-truck operator Keith Whitman has worked the
William Floyd Parkway, his business has jumped at least 40 percent. "There are
at least one or two every week south of Sunrise Highway," said Whitman, owner
of Wood's Towing and Auto Repair in Shirley. "The town is growing so much and
there is so much going on, I don't think the town can handle the traffic."

O'Leary said police have stepped up patrols and could soon add Smart Signs --
which alert motorists to their speed.

For drivers, such as Donna Mazzone, of Mastic Beach, the roadway is like a
gamble every time she drives it. "The speed limit is 55 and they do 65 and 70,"
she said.

Staff writer Robert Fresco contributed to this story.

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September 09, 2003

Farming on LI

Saving the Farm On Long Island Sound; Agriculture Boomlet Revives Debate

By KIRK JOHNSON ( Series ) 1937 words

2003 August 13, Wednesday
METROPOLITAN DESK

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. -- One of the constants of life on Long Island for the last
half-century, so relentless as to seem almost a motor of history, has been the
steady swallowing up the farmland. Suburban development, roaring east from
New York City, changed the quality of the air and water, overwhelmed old
patterns of transportation and transformed the connections between people and
the land.

But now, here on the island's east end, there is a plot twist. To Ed Harbes, it is
called opportunity.

Mr. Harbes, a fifth-generation Long Island farmer, is doing quite well and wants
to expand his acreage, not contract. And he is not alone. Agriculture, in a part of
the nation that might seem the least likely of breadbaskets, is hot.

''The business has grown in very healthy fashion,'' said Mr. Harbes, 45, who
reinvented his farm in the late 1980's -- giving over the potato fields his father
cultivated to sweet corn and pumpkins that he sells to weekenders and tourists
from two farm stands. Chardonnay and merlot grapes for a Harbes winery were
planted this spring. Three of Mr. Harbes's eight children now say they want to
stay in the family business, which has taken on 10 new employees in the last few
years.

Here on Long Island Sound's southeastern edge, 70 miles from Manhattan, the
environmental and political implications of a strengthened farm economy are
immense, conservationists, farmers and local elected officials say. The question
of what land is saved, what is built upon, who profits and who loses -- a real
estate equation that has been at the heart of the Sound's environmental
trajectory for decades, if not centuries -- are all in play here as agriculture
asserts its muscle.

August 13, 2003, Wednesday

METROPOLITAN DESK

Saving the Farm On Long Island Sound; Agriculture Boomlet Revives Debate

By KIRK JOHNSON ( Series ) 1937 words

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. -- One of the constants of life on Long Island for the last
half-century, so relentless as to seem almost a motor of history, has been the
steady swallowing up the farmland. Suburban development, roaring east from
New York City, changed the quality of the air and water, overwhelmed old
patterns of transportation and transformed the connections between people and
the land.

But now, here on the island's east end, there is a plot twist. To Ed Harbes, it is
called opportunity.

Mr. Harbes, a fifth-generation Long Island farmer, is doing quite well and wants
to expand his acreage, not contract. And he is not alone. Agriculture, in a part of
the nation that might seem the least likely of breadbaskets, is hot.

''The business has grown in very healthy fashion,'' said Mr. Harbes, 45, who
reinvented his farm in the late 1980's -- giving over the potato fields his father
cultivated to sweet corn and pumpkins that he sells to weekenders and tourists
from two farm stands. Chardonnay and merlot grapes for a Harbes winery were
planted this spring. Three of Mr. Harbes's eight children now say they want to
stay in the family business, which has taken on 10 new employees in the last few
years.

Here on Long Island Sound's southeastern edge, 70 miles from Manhattan, the
environmental and political implications of a strengthened farm economy are
immense, conservationists, farmers and local elected officials say. The question
of what land is saved, what is built upon, who profits and who loses -- a real
estate equation that has been at the heart of the Sound's environmental
trajectory for decades, if not centuries -- are all in play here as agriculture
asserts its muscle.

But the shifting debate about the land also reflects a much deeper pattern on the
Sound -- how fundamentally its fate, for better and for worse, has always been in
the hands of local politics and passions. Although its deep waters, stretching out
110 miles from New York City to Rhode Island, have shaped much of the climate
and economy of the Northeast, historians say the Sound has always been like the
proverbial elephant as described by blind men -- understood by its parts, never
by the whole.

''You've got a resource that has so many different boundaries -- no one ever
looks at what the big picture is,'' said Tom Andersen, author of ''This Fine Piece
of Water: An Environmental History of Long Island Sound'' (Yale University Press,
2002). ''The decisions are made in isolation. That's the Sound's character.''

That picture is clear in Riverhead, where the economics of farming and the
intricacies of zoning have become bound up with the Sound's fate along the
stretch of majestic bluffs and cliffs that form Riverhead's northern boundary on
the water.

Last year, town officials drafted a long-term development plan for Riverhead that
would have focused development along the Sound -- by far the most valuable
land in town -- as a way of preserving farmland in the interior. It was a trade-off
that many environmentalists condemned, and they threatened to push instead
for a plan the farmers hated -- a revision of the zoning rules that would sharply
reduce the value of any farmland sold for development.

The farmers fought back. Working through their trade group, the Long Island
Farm Bureau, they forged an unlikely political alliance of agricultural interests,
home builders and environmentalists, and they offered an alternative vision.

Their plan would preserve farmland values. Environmentalist support was
rewarded by shifting development away from the Sound and by aiming to save
more open space than the town's version would have. Builders would get a
streamlined development process -- and in perhaps the most divisive element of
all -- the ability to build higher density clustered homes at up to six units per acre
within the town's agricultural zone -- an area that was off limits under the town
plan.

Riverhead's elected town supervisor, Robert F. Kozakiewicz -- whose family's
farm here is still run by his parents and a brother -- said the plan was still being
debated. But he said he believes that substantial elements of the ''stakeholders
proposal,'' as the farmer-led effort is called, will probably be incorporated when
the town board votes this fall.

Some critics say the farmers and their allies have hijacked Riverhead's future --
horse trading to get everything they want now, in protecting the agricultural
industry, and everything they want in the future, in being able to sell out to a
housing developer when times change or retirement looms.

''It's a scheme,'' said Richard L. Amper, the executive director of Pine Barrens
Society, a conservation group based in nearby Manorville. ''What they are
producing is a shell game -- they're not reducing development, just moving it
around.''

Some farmers also oppose the plan -- especially the idea of building town houses
near the farms -- and are fighting back as well.

''The whole issue here is density,'' said Art Binder, a horse and bison rancher
who favors cowboy hats and is running for a seat on the Town Board this fall on
his opposition to the idea of higher-density housing in Riverhead. ''If you want to
save the farmland, then you just can't develop it at six units per acre.''

Both supporters and opponents agree that farming has changed. What had been
a mostly wholesale business subject to the fluctuations of national and global
markets, especially when potato-growing was king, has shifted to retail, specialty
foods and tourism -- or even further to what some people here call
''agri-tainment.'' (Mr. Harbes, for example, builds mazes in his corn fields for
children to wander through.) And the higher profit margins of that shift are
showing.

Between 1997 and 2001, farm cash receipts here in Suffolk County rose more
than 40 percent, to $5,543 an acre, according to the most recent figures from the
State Department of Agriculture and Markets. That was more than 10 times the
statewide average and far higher than any other county in New York.

And much of the rest of Riverhead's economy has gone along for the ride,
residents say. The dozens of small wineries that have sprung up on Long Island's
North Fork attract weekend tourists who like to shop at farm stands and who are
at least partly drawn by the idea of farm land itself, almost as a kind of a prop.
One resident is even pushing for a rule in the master plan that would require any
new homes built on farmland -- especially the clustered houses -- to look like
farm buildings, the better to fool the tourists.

That agricultural strength, in turn -- not to mention the tentacles it extends into
other aspects of the local economy, from restaurants to gas stations -- is what
gives preservationists here hope. Land on which people are making money, they
say, and in which farmers see a bright future, is simply less attractive to
development. Supporters of the farmer-led stakeholder plan say they hope to
permanently preserve up the 12,000 acres of farm open space, compared to
only 5,000 under the town's plan. About half of Long Island's total farmland of
34,000 acres is within Riverhead's borders.

''Preservation is terrific, but a strong agriculture industry is what's keeping this
area rural,'' said Timothy Caufield, a vice president at the Peconic Land Trust, a
conservation group.

And so, by such convoluted means and tangled trails, one of the last big
undeveloped coastal sections on all of the Sound may be saved -- not by the
dictates of an environmental regulator, but through the self-interested
give-and-take of the market.

''A relatively undeveloped Long Island Sound coastline is one of Riverhead's
largest assets,'' said Eve Kaplan, an environmentalist who helped put together
the stakeholder group.

Ms. Kaplan said she thinks there is an inevitable exchange for retaining the gift of
an undeveloped Sound. Development pressure is immense and cannot be
completely stopped. The things with highest priority are the ones that should be
saved, she said.

''You have to accept that some development is inevitable, and not everyone
wants to do that,'' she said.

Many people on both sides of the land conservation debate in Riverhead say that
much of what has happened here in rethinking how and where development
should occur comes down to one man, Richard Wines, 57, a soft-spoken former
Wall Street investor relations consultant. Even some people who vehemently
hate parts of the stakeholder proposal, like Mr. Amper at the Pine Barrens
Society and farmers like Mr. Binder, have only kind words to say about Mr.
Wines, even though he came up with many of the ideas.

Mr. Wines is a modest man who plays down his role. His strength, he said, is that
he can talk to all the power groups. As a former businessman, he said that he
understands the builders. As a small farmer, he knows that community as well.
But he also donated the development rights to his farm last year to the Peconic
Land Trust, which means that as long as there are lawyers to defend the claim,
the 15 acres of his little spread can never be built upon. That gave him capital,
he said, in talking to environmentalists.

Mr. Wines, sitting in front of his house a few feet from his potato field on a recent
afternoon, said he approached the land debate here in exactly the same way he
would have approached a deal-making conference on Wall Street: by making
sure that everyone at the table had an economic incentive to follow through.

''A business deal is most likely to succeed if all the parties benefit,'' he said.
''Land preservation needs to be the same way.''

Human Nature

Over many years of settlement, Long Island Sound has been a breadbasket and
a dumping ground, a private playground for the wealthy and a symbol of
environmental despair.

But when people reached for a new definition -- a repaired, restored, managed
Sound -- nature did not respond according to the rule book.

For every push to achieve a certain end, the whorls of the ecosystem have
pushed right back, often in unexpected ways.

This is the seventh article of a summer-long series on the evolving nature of
Long Island Sound. Part 8 will look for the imprint of the past, and the hints of
what may come. Research into the muck at the bottom and the web of life in the
water are producing some surprises.

Additional materials, including a preview of the last part of the series, are online
at nytimes.com/lisound.

CAPTIONS: Photos: Richard Wines, with his wife, Nancy Gilbert, knows about the
housing-agriculture debate in Riverhead. He has the perspective of being both a
businessman and a farmer.; Art Binder, a horse and bison rancher, is a
candidate for a seat on the Town Board in this fall's election. He opposes the idea
of higher-density housing in Riverhead. (Photographs by Angel Franco/The New
York Times)(pg. B8); With new housing sprouting up next to farmland in
Riverhead, N.Y., on Long Island Sound's southeastern edge, Rex Farr works
among his grapevines.; Customers examine the vegetables and delicacies at the
Harbes stand, part of the fifth-generation Long Island family farm. (Photographs
by Angel Franco/The New York Times)(pg. B1)

Chart: ''Green Acres''
By switching to higher-profit crops, Long Island farmers have increased their
income per acre.

Graph tracks cash receipts per acre from all farm products in Suffolk County
from 1994-2002.

(Source by New York Agricultural Statistics Service)

Map of Long Island highlighting Riverhead (pg. B8)

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Posted by dc at 03:38 PM | Comments (0)

September 08, 2003

Bad Schools

Unperforming schools:
Wyandanch,
Roosevelt,
Amityville,
Brentwood,
Freeport,
Central Islip,
Mastic Beach,
Valley Steam.

Questionable Schhols:
Port Jefferson,
Deer Park,
Middle Island.

Posted by dc at 06:40 PM | Comments (0)

September 07, 2003

Greenwich

THE downtown business district of Greenwich, a famously baronial community, has
always accommodated working people who are not millionaires. They have lived in
harmony in rental apartments over the shops, condominiums, midrise apartment
houses, modest single-family and two-family homes, and larger homes on ample
lots. ... But in the past...

IF YOU'RE THINKING OF LIVING IN CENTRAL GREENWICH, CONN.
A Town With a Little City at Its Heart
2003 August 24

By ELEANOR CHARLES

THE downtown business district of Greenwich, a famously baronial community,
has always accommodated working people who are not millionaires. They have
lived in harmony in rental apartments over the shops, condominiums, midrise
apartment houses, modest single-family and two-family homes, and larger
homes on ample lots.

But in the past couple of years, the small-town atmosphere has been changing,
with a cosmopolitan mix of residents moving in. They have been attracted by
the smart, citified neighborhood that invites walking to everything: a movie,
dinner, a drink, the 6:05 a.m. to New York, a stroll in the park, world-class
shopping, concerts, sailing, beaches, jobs in the corporations and shops.

Well-to-do young New York couples, older Greenwich residents scaling down
from large homes, and single people of all ages have discovered the little city
growing within the town of Greenwich.

Josh and Gillian Weisman, in their late 20's, moved into a town house off
Greenwich Avenue in July 2002. "You truly feel like you're a hundred miles from
the city," said Mr. Weisman, a former New Jersey resident who commutes to his
trader's post at Monness, Crespi, Hardt in Manhattan. "There's so much shopping,
phenomenal restaurants — it's like living in New York."

Mrs. Weisman grew up in Cheshire. "I never thought I would move back to
Connecticut," she said. "I love New York and didn't want to leave, but my
husband did. I can still walk to Saks on Greenwich Avenue and I'm amazed at all
this town has to offer. You go out for dinner and it's predominantly young couples
sitting around the restaurant, and a lot of single people. You walk down
Greenwich Avenue and you hear different accents and languages. Our friends
come out and we take them to the beach. It's like living in a resort."

THE demand for downtown space exceeds the supply, said Jean Crocco, who
founded Putnam Associates, a real estate firm, in 1969. As a result, she said, "we
are getting four condos where a house once stood, and prices have escalated
incredibly." Properties that were $300,000 and $400,000 five years ago are now
in the $800,000's and $900,000's, she said.

About 30 condos and 40 houses, some dating from the 18th and 19th centuries,
are listed for sale, she said.

Marty and Amy Kindler bought a new condo last September at Hamilton Way on
Hamilton Avenue after a six-month search for a larger apartment in Manhattan.
He switched jobs from New York to GlobeOp Financial Services in Harrison, N.Y.
— "an 11-minute drive without a light, 12 minutes with," he said. His wife
commutes to her banking job on Wall Street — "six-tenths of a mile to the
station," he said.

Theirs is one of 16 units built at the former site of two houses and a factory. The
condominiums sold out in the upper $800,000's. Among the downsizing buyers
from Greenwich's back country were two empty-nest couples and a widow with a
teenage son.

The developer, Jerry Effren, is now building 16 identical town houses set between
two subsidized housing projects on LeGrande Avenue, but priced in the high
$900,000's.

Scattered through Central Greenwich are pockets of narrow old curving streets
filled with small homes and businesses where cars navigate turns that were
meant for horses. On the other hand, homes on the three peninsulas that jut into
Long Island Sound south of the turnpike can be palatial and can cost upward of
$14 million. "There is nothing on the Belle Haven peninsula under $3 million,"
said Jackie Hammock, a broker at Coldwell Banker. The private Belle Haven
Yacht Club has a pool, tennis, beach and restaurant, and gives residents of the
gated Belle Haven community preference for membership.

Millbrook, an enclave of luxury homes, was built in the 30's on land that had
been part of the enormous Boss Tweed estate. The old gatehouse was converted
to a private home and overlooks the private Millbrook Club, which has a
nine-hole golf course, tennis, swimming pools and a restaurant. Two homes are
available at $1.3 million and $2.9 million, said Ms. Hammock. "But condos are
selling better than houses," she said, "and there is a premium for downtown."

Central Greenwich has most of the town's office buildings, and Greenwich
Avenue, six-tenths of a mile long, plus a few side streets and an adjoining
section of the Post Road are crammed with 180 retailers, restaurants, service
businesses, professional offices and two multiplex cinemas. So far Tiffany,
Baccarat, the Gap, Ann Taylor and CVS have not put the locals like Betteridge
Jewelers, Razook's women's clothes or Grannick's Pharmacy out of business.

When too much shopping is enough, Greenwich's Department of Parks and
Recreation offers all kinds of things to do. Hop a ferry to Great Captain's Island
or Island Beach, two of the town's four beaches, or try Greenwich Point, the
147-acre park and beach with wooded nature trails, pavilions and a sea-life
museum in Old Greenwich. Resident beach cards are $22 a season, $5 for
children, free for seniors.

Of the nine country clubs in the town, the Griffith E. Harris Golf Club is the only
public 18-hole course. Residents who are 18 through 64 pay $100 a season,
those under 18 pay $65 and those over 64 pay $55. In addition, there are
greens fees of $10 to $18, depending on the day of the week. Guests are
charged $48 a day.

The right to use more than a dozen tennis courts around town and a lighted
paddle tennis court cost $22 a season, $10 a day for guests. The Dorothy Hamill
skating rink, named for the hometown champion, offers public skating for $4 an
hour, $2 for children; group lessons; birthday parties; and ice hockey.

INDIAN HARBOR, one of three private yacht clubs, is at the tip of Steamboat
Road. Its 400 members are serious sailors. The residential Indian Harbor
Association (not connected to the yacht club) has been home variously to Donald
Trump, Mel Gibson, Diana Ross, Kathie Lee and Frank Gifford, Joan Lunden and
Michelle Marsh of Channel 4.

Permits for using municipal marinas at Grass Island, and outside Central
Greenwich at Cos Cob and Byram, are $55 a season, plus fees based on boat
size that vary from $170 to $340.

Well over 1,100 acres of parklands townwide are open to the public for
picnicking, hiking, in-line skating or just observing the flora and fauna.

Within Central Greenwich, Roger Sherman Baldwin Park is the site of free
summer concerts and a newly opened skateboard and in-line skating park with
jumps and ramps. Bruce Park has ball fields, a horseshoe pit, a pond,
playground, tennis courts and picnicking.

The nucleus of a large aggregation of cultural organizations includes the Bruce
Museum of Arts and Science, the Playmakers' full-scale shows, the Greenwich
Symphony Orchestra, Greenwich Chamber Players, Greenwich Art Center and
Greenwich Art Society.

Central Greenwich children are served by Central Middle School, Greenwich High
School and Julian Curtiss Elementary School, nicknamed "the United Nations
School" for having the most culturally, ethnically and economically diverse
student body in town. Of the town's total enrollment of 8,800 students in 11
elementary schools, three middle schools and one high school, some 1,400 are
dominant in a language other than English; 41 languages are represented.

Larry Leverett, superintendent of the public school system, says his mission
"is to add value to the performance range of the very successful student, the
children in the middle and those who are not succeeding."

"This is a diverse community with very high educational standards," Dr. Leverett said, "but communities that were once homogeneous are changing."

Scores on the SAT reasoning tests in 2002 were 549 in the verbal test and 567
in mathematics, exceeding the state average of 509 and 509 and the national
average of 504 and 516, respectively. Parents also have a choice of nine private
schools within the town, four of them in Central Greenwich.

Greenwich library is well known for its extensive services to the business
community, its computers for the public, homey lounge areas for reading,
seminars, movies, concerts, puppet shows and a cabaret series. It lends more
than 300,000 domestic and foreign books, paperbacks, videos, Books on Tape,
artwork, magazines and newspapers. Individual study rooms are available, as
are $125 annual memberships for nonresidents, who make up 4 percent of the
58,000 card holders.

In 1931 the main library was installed in the converted 62,000-square-foot
Franklin Simon department store, and in 1999 a 42,000-square-foot wing
designed by Cesar Pelli was built with a $26 million endowment from the
Clementine Lockwood Peterson Foundation.

Home seekers should be aware that relatively reasonably priced residences do
exist in Central Greenwich, said Ms. Crocco, the real estate agent.
Well-maintained condos built in the 50's are available at Putnam Park for
$340,000 to $415,000 and at Putnam Hill, where three-bedroom, two-bath units
cost $425,000 to $535,000, she said.

Lee Parfray, who is from Greenwich, England, lives in a similar complex called
Green Glen. She moved to Greenwich in 1969 when the New York company she
worked for pulled up stakes and settled where the company president lived.
"Everyone was doing it," she said, referring to the trend at that time for
businesses to leave big city crime, costs and crowds and follow the chief
executive to the country.

"It was just a sleepy town then, until Woolworth's was sold for $12 million," a
stunning price at the time for a five-and-ten-cent store, she said. "Nobody had
ever heard of such a price, in spite of the wealthy people who lived in the back
country. Today, Greenwich Avenue is taken over by the big national stores. The
chemist and shopkeepers who knew you by name don't exist anymore, but it's
still a very nice place to live and our taxes are a lot less than other places."

Ms. Parfray lives in retirement now in the same three-bedroom town house that
she bought in 1974 for $53,500. "Today it's worth $450,000," she said.

Posted by dc at 04:23 PM | Comments (0)

September 06, 2003

LIRR Port Jefferson line yard 1: At Huntington ?

longislandernews.com
The Long-IslanderRecordHalf Hollow Hills NewspaperNorthport Journal

The Long-Islander News

Residents from the Town of Huntington turned out in droves for a public meeting
with the town board on August 27. Residents were given three minutes to speak
on the record about concerns they have over the LIRR’s desire to build a
multi-track train facility within the town’s boundaries.

Long-Islander Photo/Brian Ferry

TOWN OF HUNTINGTON
It’s Everyone vs. The LIRR At Hearing

Town board, residents unanimous in opposition to rail yard

By Brian Ferry

On August 27, the Huntington Town Board met with an assemblage of residents
concerned with the MTA and LIRR’s interest in creating an Environmental Impact
Statement that would ultimately allow for the construction of an electric train
storage, cleaning, and maintenance facility. It was the first time the town board
addressed the public since meeting with LIRR Acting President James Dermody in
a closed-door session on August 20.

“We were clear with him that we thought both sites were very problematic,”
Councilman Mark Cuthbertson said of the earlier meeting with Dermody. “He told
us they’re very much listening to public input at this point, and they will have
their public meetings in the near future.” Cuthbertson said that a LIRR public
meeting may happen sometime this fall.

In the meantime, residents had to be satisfied with the town’s meeting — a
transcript of which is to be included in a package officials plan to send to the MTA
and LIRR to represent the town’s formal statement.

It was standing room only for the August 27 meeting. With a thick stack of yellow
cards in hand representing the number of public speakers, Supervisor Frank
Petrone opened the meeting by stating that the town board is unanimously
opposed to a train facility in the town of Huntington.

Of the agencies’ six remaining sites under consideration, two are within the
geographical boundaries of the Town of Huntington. According to maps provided
by the LIRR, site 2 is between the LIRR right-of-way (to the north) and East 5th
Street in Huntington Station, and site 10 is between the LIRR right-of-way (to the
south) and Pulaski Road, just west of Townline Road in East Northport. Another
three areas, site 11 and two designated as site 12, are in the Kings
Park / Commack area but remain within close proximity of East Northport
residents.

Numerous local and state elected officials attended the public meeting.
Assemblyman Steve Levy, who does not represent the area but is a Democratic
candidate for Suffolk County Executive, was careful to say that he didn’t condemn
the LIRR outright, but had many questions to pose to their officials, such as
whether or not the facility was definitely needed, whether or not the east-side
access project involving Grand Central Station was definitely happening. He
added that host communities should receive incentives should the facility be built
in their communities.

Suffolk County Legislator Jon Cooper called the LIRR’s interests “preposterous”
because of the lack of open space. “I am here to say the MTA is wrong,” he said.

“My opposition is not to the existence of a rail yard within the Town of Huntington.
My opposition is to the placement of a rail yard within a softball’s throw of a
children’s ball field,” Cooper said. “My opposition is to the placement of a rail yard
in the middle of a residential neighborhood that is already facing dramatic
economic challenges.”

State Assemblyman James Conte did not address the town board but did provide
to The Long-Islander a copy of a letter that he sent to LIRR’s Dermody.

“To me and many of the people I represent, site #2 has many fatally flawed
weaknesses including: Size and layout: Terrain and geology; Traffic; and
Conflicts with nearby properties,” Conte’s letter reads. “As you state in your April
30, 2003 letter: ‘The community of Greenlawn is exempt because of a decision in
2000 by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority not to build in that area.’ I
firmly believe that all of the reasons not to build in Greenlawn apply to a site
1/2-mile away in Huntington Station.”

Huntington Station resident Richard Rankin was among the first community
members to address the town board. He also sent a letter to the newspaper with
some of the questions he feels remain unanswered after all the meeting that
have occurred already.

“The need for a train yard is obvious,” he said at the meeting, going on to say,
“the complaints are all real issues and perhaps they can be dealt with.”

Mark Cuthbertson interjected between speakers to elaborate on one point. Alan
Leon spoke of concern with the East Northport, Commack, and Kings Park
impacts, and suggested that the necessary electrification of points east of
Huntington Station would create all new traffic problems for commuters and
residents alike. Cuthbertson said that Dermody made it clear at their meeting that
the MTA and LIRR are in no financial position to purchase additional “switching”
locomotives that could run on either electric or diesel power.

Manny Darwin, another Huntington Station resident, touched on many of the
common issues that others have brought up in the past and will continue to bring
up as long as their questions remain unanswered. These questions involve the
amounts of noise pollution, the storage and use of chemicals and fuels, the
gradient of the property, the use of lights, and more. However, Darwin also
addressed a major concern regarding the Huntington Station site that no one else
has directly made the connection with.

“The yard will virtually abut Manor Field with its tennis courts, baseball field,
children’s playground, and the Huntington Community Center currently
undergoing renovation and expansion,” he said. “Most importantly, the yard has
the potential to be an attractive nuisance. Children are naturally curious and the
proximity of Manor Field to the facility may well draw the more adventuresome to
divert their attention to the exciting things going on within the yard.”

Speaking directly after Manny Darwin was his wife Eileen Darwin. After the
meeting she added that it is her opinion that the MTA needs to approach this need
on a regional approach in order to best understand what options are available to
them. They also need to determine what the long-term needs of the LIRR are and
how the region can adapt accordingly. But the crowd favored her parting
comment, which came the night of the meeting. As the bell rang to signal the end
of her three minutes to speak, she concluded with, “200 years ago Benjamin
Franklin sent a kite with a key into the sky and discovered electricity. Sadly, the
MTA is still in the dark.”

Along with the submission of their formal statement, the Darwins included a
recent article from the East Hampton Star about how Montauk residents are
furious over LIRR diesel trains creating various types of pollution in their region.
The New York Times followed with their own account in the Long Island section
this past Sunday. There is both a train station and six-track rail yard located at
the Edgemere Road stop. Residents and business owners complain about 24-hour
noise pollution, the smell of diesel exhaust, as well as eyesores reported by the
Star to include “‘shanty-like’ temporary buildings, overflowing garbage
containers, old rusted equipment, and ‘suspicious’ storage containers.” The Times
reported that one condo, Montauk Manor, has lost thousands of dollars due to
refunds paid to residents who are bothered at night by the train engines. The
Times also reports that LIRR spokesman Brian Dolan insists the trains must sit
idle because the engines take several hours to warm up to operational
temperatures. Residents have formed an organization called the Montauk
Anti-Pollution Coalition to fight the LIRR and MTA.

Theresa Feeney, a resident of the Huntington Country Farms development located
directly across from the Manor Park site, said the MTA should consider sites other
than those in the towns of Huntington and Smithtown.

“It defies business sense and common sense for the LIRR to not consider other
viable sites,” she said. “We’re counting on you [the town board] to help us get
Huntington Station removed from the LIRR’s site list.”

Cuthbertson said, looking back, that the August 27 public meeting was very
helpful and called it a very solid outpouring of opposition to those proposed sites.

“I think we made a very compelling record to send the MTA about our feelings
concerning the rail yards,” he said.

© 2003 Long Islander Newspapers, Inc.
(631) 427-7000
322 Main Street
Huntington, NY 11743

Posted by dc at 07:52 PM | Comments (0)

September 05, 2003

Idling trains in Montauk

Sound Off About Noise
By Kitty Merrill

A new Montauk group is making noise about noise. Last week, members of the
Montauk Anti Pollution Coalition demanded that the MTA cease what they call "the
single largest source of industrial noise pollution" in Montauk -- the continuous
idling of the Long Island Railroad’s diesel engines. A law firm hired by MAP may
even pursue litigation if the noise doesn’t stop.

A hefty report prepared by MAP includes a CD of the noise, pictures of trains
stored at the Montauk station, and a petition boasting 1000 signatures. "The
noise levels created by long term idling engines pierce the air and invade closed
windows and door dwellings up to miles from the station," the petition states.

Letters of complaint about the noise from the Concerned Citizens of Montauk and
the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee are also included, as is a letter from
the general manager of the Montauk Manor, Janice Nessel. Noise has contributed
to the loss of thousands of dollars for the Manor, as guests who come to enjoy

Montauk’s beautiful sunset views and fresh air "are outraged at the sound levels
that go on throughout the night." They usually demand a room change or a
refund, Nessel’s letter reports. At the outdoor area of the Manor’s restaurants,
"First and only time customers complain of an excellent meal ruined by the nerve
wracking noise level."

The LIRR stores as many as seven trains at one time in Montauk, according to
MAP documents. They are permitted to idle indefinitely, and a number of them
don’t even provide service to Montauk.

MAP also takes issue with the condition of the LIRR site. "The area is garbage
strewn, with a variety of overflowing dumpsters, various old, rusted equipment,
and a general run down shanty-like appearance," the report states. Fifty
five-gallon drums, which appear to contain chemical or petroleum products, are
stacked haphazardly along the tracks, unfenced and open to access.

MAP provided the MTA with research, demonstrating that idling engines is both
unnecessary and inefficient. It also pointed out that the utility has ceased the
practice when confronted with complaints.

On Monday LIRR spokesman Sam Zambuto issued a statement in response to
MAP’s contention. It reads: "The Long Island Rail Road makes every effort to
reduce the sound coming from trains that are at Montauk Station awaiting their
return trip. The LIRR has implemented procedures, and has supervision
monitoring the trains at Montauk, to help limit the length of time that trains idle at
the station. We will continue to look for ways to reduce the sound coming from
trains while they wait to leave the station."

They better look hard. According MAP’s chair Tom Bogdan, "There’s been a
tremendous groundswell of public support for (the group’s efforts)." While the
problem has been around for a long time, complaints to the LIRR and MTA came
from "individual people who aimed too low and took ‘No’ for an answer," Bogdan
explained, adding, "We’re not going to do it."

from
http://www.indyeastend.com/detail.asp?cat=news&article=1188

Posted by dc at 09:57 PM | Comments (0)

September 04, 2003

TIP 2005: transport plan

A New Road Map For Transportation On LI

By Joie Tyrrell, Staff Writer

2003 August 30, 7:53 PM EDT

Video cameras to monitor traffic and alert authorities to disabled vehicles along
Old Country Road.

Construction of 37 more miles of bikeways and pedestrian paths on Long Island.

Resurrection of a commuter ferry from Glen Cove.

A third track on the main line of the Long Island Rail Road and a host of road
improvements in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

These are just some of the projects big and small identified in the 2004-2006
New York Metropolitan Area Transportation Improvement Plan for Long Island, a
list submitted to the federal government from local agencies in their quest for
transportation dollars. The plan, known as TIP, is a multiyear program to
prioritize transportation projects.

It is prepared by the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council, the planning
organization for the region, and must be approved by both county executives,
the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the state Department of
Transportation. Once approved locally, the plan goes before the regional group,
which includes the city and the mid-Hudson Valley, and then to the state before it
is forwarded to the federal government.

"It is the most important transportation planning document there is," said Mitch
Pally, vice president for government affairs for the Long Island Association, the
region's largest business group.

The U.S. Department of Transportation will not approve the use of federal funds
unless the project is identified in the plan. Past projects include construction of
the HOV lane on the Long Island Expressway and purchase of new M-7 rail cars
for the LIRR. Inclusion, however, does not guarantee funding.

In the 2004-2006 plan, more than $5.5 billion is earmarked for Long Island.

The plan was scheduled for a vote earlier this month, but none was taken
because Suffolk officials and local planners had reservations about two projects:
Route 347 and a rest stop at Exit 51 of the Long Island Expressway.

Suffolk County Executive Robert Gaffney initially declined to sign off on the plan,
county officials said, because expansion plans for Route 347 were not made
enough of a priority. The state DOT's plan for Route 347 calls for major
improvements to ease traffic from the Northern State Parkway through Route
25A in Mount Sinai, including building an additional lane.

"Route 347 has become the major east-west transportation corridor
on the North Shore of Suffolk County, where we have seen tremendous growth
in population and business," Pally said. "We have talked about expanding Route
347 for the last three years, and we are still talking and we are not doing anything."

Gaffney also balked at the plan because construction of a visitor information
center at Exit 51 off the LIE was not slated until 2007.

"The county was concerned about the schedule for both of them," said DOT
spokeswoman Eileen Peters. "We went over what was involved ... and we made
a firm commitment to them that we would look at the project schedule and
accelerate the schedules wherever it was convenient."

Bob Shinnick, director of transportation operations for Suffolk County, said the
county executive is expected to approve the plan. Ballots have recently been
mailed.

"It's our feeling as a county that the state has indicated a good enough
willingness to advance those projects," Shinnick said.

Other highlights of the 2004-2006 plan are several major bridge projects,
including replacement of the Roslyn viaduct and rehabilitation of the northbound
bridge on the Robert Moses Causeway over the Great South Bay. If approved,
the INFORM overhead motorist alert system will be expanded to include the
Meadowbrook State Parkway.

The plan also includes provisions for mass transit, emphasizing the purchase of
new equipment for Suffolk Transit and Long Island Bus. Suffolk Transit recently
kicked off an advertising campaign to increase its 4.5 million bus ridership by 3
to 5 percent.

"[The plan] does show a commitment for public transportation," said Lisa Tyson,
director of the Long Island Progressive Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy group in
Massapequa. " ... We would want more money going into public transportation."

For the LIRR, the plan calls for modernizing the signal system, investing in the
railroad's rolling stock and funding for an environmental impact statement as well
as a preliminary design for a third track on the main line between Bellerose
and Hicksville.

"That is the most important mass transit project on Long Island," Pally said of the
LIRR plans. "It will do more to improve the mass transit system than anything
else.

"It's only a first step but a very important first step."

Copyright © 2003,

Newsday, Inc.

Posted by dc at 09:52 PM | Comments (0)

September 03, 2003

Port Jefferson LIRR line yard

Port Jefferson LIRR yard planning will allow better service on the Port Jefferson line.

Posted by dc at 11:11 PM | Comments (0)

September 02, 2003

On Montauk

On Montauk portal.

Posted by dc at 07:38 PM | Comments (0)

September 01, 2003

Huntington LIRR yard

Huntington Slams MTA's Plan; Proposed rail yard riles town officials

By Alfonso A. Castillo, STAFF WRITER

2003 September 02

Huntington officials and hundreds of town residents gathered at a public hearing
Wednesday to slam a proposed MTA plan to build a 16-track rail yard in
Huntington Station.

At the same meeting, the Huntington Town Board voted unanimously to add a
$30-million open-space bond as a referendum on the November ballot.

The Huntington Town board held the meeting to compile testimonies from
residents that they hope will be useful in stopping the rail yard, which is part of
the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's continuing plan to extend
electrification to tracks east of the town.

Huntington residents hoped the threat of a rail yard was behind them after the
MTA pulled a similar plan to build a storage facility in Greenlawn in 2000. But in
April, MTA officials notified the town that they were considering two sites in
Huntington town - one in East Northport south of Pulaski Road and another
adjacent to the state armory in Huntington Station.

The meeting focused on the latter site, which residents said would be a terrible
choice for the rail yard because of its proximity to a park, a day care center and
a community with a high senior and minority population. They said the proposed
rail yard would hurt quality of life and property values because of noise and air
pollution.

"I think probably that they didn't realize the inequities of this site," said
Democratic town board member Susan Berland. "The site is really fatally flawed."

Residents and elected officials also criticized the MTA for keeping them out of the
loop in the site selection process and speculated that the agency chose the
Huntington Station site with hopes that the community, which officials say is
economically challenged and in the middle of a large-scale revitalization, would
not speak up.

"Do not allow the Town of Huntington to be pushed around and railroaded, per
se, by the MTA," Huntington Station resident Barbara Peterson said at the
meeting.

MTA spokesman Brian Dolan said the railroad included the Huntington sites only
because of size and proximity to the Port Jefferson line. Dolan said the MTA has
reached out to the town and to residents and will continue to do so with a series
of informational meetings, the first of which tentatively is scheduled for
November. He said a final site probably will not be chosen until 2005 and the
yard would not be operational until 2011. "We're still in the very early stages of
the process," he said.

Also at the meeting, the town board passed a resolution to let residents vote in
November on a $30-million bond act to preserve open space and seek
improvements in parks and the community.

The move comes at the halfway mark of a 10-year bond passed in 1998 that
allotted $15 million to open space and park improvements. Town Open Space
Committee chair Joy Squires said the town already has spent or earmarked
about 75 percent of that money in nine completed purchases, three that are
pending and four that are being considered.

"We have to act now. We can't wait," Supervisor Frank Petrone said. "Next year
it just really may be too late.""

With the help of county funds, the town has preserved about 126 acres of open
space and is looking to save about 56 more. Squires said the 1998 bond is
costing the average homeowner about $18 a year and, if approved, the new
bond will cost about $37 more.

Of the $30 million, $20 million will go for open space, $7 million for park
improvements and $3 million for community enhancements, including the
ongoing Huntington Station revitalization.

Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.

from
http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/longisland/ny-lihunt293438226sep02,0,7788584.story?coll=ny-linews-print

Posted by dc at 09:38 PM | Comments (1)