Commuters: Thumbs up to parking change

A Town of Hempstead plan to designate more spots at local Long Island Rail Road stations for town residents is drawing praise from commuters, who hope that it eases some of the parking crunch.

While the town isn’t adding more spaces, it is reallocating hundreds of existing ones at the Seaford and Wantagh train stations. In Wantagh, 455 more spots will be available for town residents, for a total of 1,446. Seaford’s total will increase by 425, to 1,108.

“It’s definitely going to be beneficial,” said Connie Conway, of Wantagh, who has been commuting from the station for about two decades. “You’re getting a lot of people that don’t live in the town parking there.”

Town officials said they are concerned that residents from the Town of Oyster Bay and Suffolk County are using lots that Town of Hempstead residents are paying to maintain. Wantagh and Seaford are among the most vulnerable stations for out-of-town parking because they are the first two along Sunrise Highway on the east end of the town. Wantagh also pulls in many commuters from Levittown, which does not have a station, but is part of the Town of Hempstead, so those residents would remain eligible to park there.

Conway, who regularly takes the 7:26 a.m. train, said that to ensure herself a spot, she gets to the station a half-hour early, parks and waits in her car. Once that train departs, she said, there is very little parking left. “You’re done,” she said of the people who take the 7:48 a.m. to Penn Station, or later trains. “There’s no more parking.”

Ken Nersesian, of Seaford, also takes the 7:26 from Wantagh, and said he is usually able to find a spot in the big lot between Beech Street and the firehouse. “Wantagh fills up pretty quick,” he said, adding that if he ever takes a later train, he has to get a ride to the station because there is no place for his car.

The town will be raising the price of the annual parking fee from $3 to $10 for the stickers, which go on sale next month and are good at the Seaford, Wantagh, Bellmore or Merrick train stations. Nersesian said he doesn’t mind the increase. “For $10, it’s a great value,” he said. “I want to know there’s going to be a spot for me to park.”