New York Wiki: MTA shortchanges eastern Long Island

January 12, 2004

MTA shortchanges eastern Long Island

M.T.A. Collects, Neglects Assemblyman Thiele proposes local authority

By Amanda Star Frazer

"Arrogant," "unresponsive," "not designed for us local folks," "the worst." East
End officials have no love for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the
quasi-public parent company of the Long Island Rail Road.

Just how public the authority is depends on who you ask. It collects millions of
dollars in taxes each year from the East End, but there is no guarantee any of
that money will be used to pay for trains to and from the two forks. Projects such
as the L.I.R.R. tunnels at Grand Central Terminal in New York are often a higher
priority.

State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. says that the five East End towns should
take matters into their own hands, particularly since public transportation is
becoming more critical as the roads are choked by traffic.

"The M.T.A. and the L.I.R.R. are perhaps the most unaccountable agencies in
state government," he said. "They're really almost immune from the Legislature
and the public."

Mr. Thiele has proposed a bill to establish a Peconic Bay Regional Transportation
Authority, which would either supplement or completely take the place of the
M.T.A. in directing East End transportation. He said he proposed the new agency
"because it was clear that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has no real
interest in solving East End transportation problems."

He is not alone in that opinion.

"One is not going to get cooperation from the M.T.A.," Southampton Town
Supervisor Patrick A. Heaney said. "That's an organization that has its own
mission that has nothing to do with public transportation. It marches to its own
drumbeat."

East Hampton Star

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M.T.A. Collects, Neglects Assemblyman Thiele proposes local authority

By Amanda Star Frazer

"The M.T.A. and the L.I.R.R. are perhaps the most unaccountable agencies in
state government," he said. "They're really almost immune from the Legislature
and the public."

He is not alone in that opinion.

Calling the M.T.A. arrogant, Mr. Heaney said, "It has made it very, very clear
that its mission is more about profit than providing trains to communities. This
agency is acting with total disregard for these communities. It's just wrong."

He suggested the authority had "to be leashed somehow, and that has to happen
at the state level." The supervisor added that he would give Mr. Thiele's bill
"1,000 percent of my support."

As would Southampton Councilwoman Linda Kabot, who tried to take the railroad
to task in 2002. "They're not really paying back into our community in terms of
service," she said.

Ms. Kabot had sent letters to the M.T.A./L.I.R.R. president, Ken Bauer, while
Southampton was in the midst of its own transportation study, encouraging the
Long Island Rail Road "to be a more energetic and cooperative player on the
East End."

She said the authority had been collecting half of all mortgage tax revenue and
"untold sums of money" from various telephone and energy surcharges on the
East End. In 2001, the M.T.A.'s share of mortgage tax from the East End alone
was $12.6 million, she said.

"The reality is they are investing this money in metropolitan New York," she said
later.

"We are shortchanged," agreed Mr. Thiele.

Mr. Bauer and representatives from the L.I.R.R. met with Ms. Kabot and Mr.
Heaney in 2002. While the meeting was cordial, Ms. Kabot said, it was fruitless.

"These railroad presidents come and go. Ken Bauer and his people recognized
our needs exceed what they can give right now. We need a better advocate, a
better voice that's getting to the railroad."

A Peconic transportation authority would do the job, she said. "You don't want to
form a whole 'nother super-agency, but if the super-agency you've got doesn't
work for you, you resort to these things."

Recommendations for improved rail service were included 10 years ago in
former Gov. Mario M. Cuomo's "Blueprint for Our Future." The document called
for additional railroad stations between Westhampton and Montauk, weekend
park and rail trains, an inter-hamlet rail shuttle, and integrated bus service.

None of it happened, Mr. Thiele pointed out. "Instead, the M.T.A. cut services.
Stations and ticket offices have been closed." And the authority still won't let
buses on its property.

Mr. Thiele said he had an idea why. "The L.I.R.R. still views itself largely as a
commuter railroad to move people in and out of New York. Consequently the
participation of the railroad in any East End transportation planning is zero.
They'll talk you to death but they do nothing."

L.I.R.R. officials disagreed. "We've made considerable improvements over the
last year," said Sam Zambuto, a railroad spokesman. He pointed to the
replacement of the diesel fleet, from mid-level to bi-level trains, improvements
at several East End train stations, and parking upgrades in Bridgehampton.

Of Mr. Thiele's legislation, he said, "We have not seen the bill so we couldn't
comment on that at this point."

Hank de Cillia, a transportation advocate with whom Mr. Thiele credited the idea
of an authority, said that in the New York area the railroad does its job fairly
well. "The L.I.R.R. credits itself as being the nation's largest commuter railroad.
It brings well over a million people in and out of the city every day."

On the East End, however, it is a different animal, he said. "Who knows, maybe
it's a numbers game. I can see why improvements on our end of the system are
always on the shelf or in the long-range plan. To be fair to them I don't think our
region has done a very good job communicating our wants and needs."

Like Mr. Thiele, he pointed to the Sustainable East End Development Strategies
initiative, which is exploring transportation possibilities with input from the five
towns and their villages. "Although SEEDS is moving painfully slow," he said, "I
still think it's the best chance we have."

Gerry Bogacz of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council said the
M.T.A. was indeed "at the table with SEEDS," whose concepts, he said, were
strictly in the idea stage. "Right now we're not looking at costs or hard
engineering," he said. "We're trying to get a sense of what everybody's willing to
look at for the future."

Jay Schneiderman, the former East Hampton Town supervisor who was sworn in
as a county legislator this week, said any M.T.A. improvments here would have
to be economically driven. "It's definitely going to come down to money. They're
going to tell you there's not enough ridership."

He said the railroad was designed to "bring people to the Hamptons from New
York but not to bring them back. It's not designed for any of us local folks."

"It's kind of like the L.I.R.R. missed the boat," he added. "Look at all the people
going to Manhattan by bus."

As town supervisor Mr. Schneiderman supported the concept of Mr. Thiele's bill.
With things the way they are now, "I just don't think anything will happen
because we want it to," he said.

Mr. Thiele said he expected to introduce the legislation in the Assembly next
week.