Parking remains a concern at LIRR stations

Parking remains a concern for Long Island Railroad [LIRR] commuters, said residents who attended the LIRR Commuters Forum at the Seaford Public Library on December 4. The forum, hosted by County Legislator David Denenberg, was an opportunity for residents to speak to MTA Long Island Railroad representatives about commuter issues including station cleanliness, LIRR service and parking.

“There’s not one spot left in the lot by 10:30 in the morning,” said one LIRR commuter, referring to the parking situation at the Seaford train station.

But the parking problem isn’t limited to Seaford. In Wantagh “car dealerships are using commuter parking,” said Legislator Denenberg. And, the problem is exacerbated by what goes on in surrounding communities. In Massapequa, the ongoing reconstruction project at the Massapequa train station has forced those commuters to go to Seaford.

In nearby Merrick, “there isn’t any restricted parking for Town of Hempstead residents,” explained Mr. Denenberg. “People know they can park at the Merrick train station and they come from other communities to park.”

One Seaford man suggested that “they open up parking in a lot along Brooklyn Avenue across from residences. It could be a temporary lot just until the Massapequa train station renovation is completed,” he said. Mr. Denenberg said he would inquire with the Town of Hempstead but cautioned that “residents may not want commuter parking on their street,” he said.

One resident asked if it was “possible to rent parking space from St. William’s Church.” But another resident said “the church may need the parking for its school.”

A final suggestion to address the parking situation was “to pave the green space on Sunrise Highway [in Seaford]; that would give us another block and a half of parking,” said another man.

But Peter Ruffner, a Seaford resident and President of the Seaford library, said “that is green space in front of the station and is identified as parkland. It’s not for parking.”

In other news, LIRR’s Babylon Branch Line Manager Pat Gerakaris said the LIRR was “attacking the pigeon problem in the eaves of many of the stations. In Wantagh there is a very long section, a viaduct that has cubby holes with pigeons. Although cars park under the viaduct, they keep a three foot clearing to keep droppings off the cars. To remedy that problem we have put up netting. That should keep the pigeons out.”

Additionally, Mr. Gerakaris reported that the station platforms have been power washed in an effort to keep the stations clean and attractive for patrons.

“The Seaford train station is our crown jewel,” said Mr. Gerakaris, but added that the waiting room, now open until 10 p.m., “has created issues. The rest rooms get dirtier, there are cigarette butts on the floor and there was an issue with the homeless.”

Last summer, between four and five homeless individuals were found sleeping in the Seaford train station early in the morning over a period of several months.

But Peter Ruffner said the problem had gotten better. “I have been pestering the railroad and the Seventh Precinct and in the last five or six weeks they have been doing a fantastic job. Occasionally you see one guy but not the four or five that were there,” he said.

Mr. Gerakaris said he has been working “to get a better understanding of the homeless issue in Nassau and Suffolk counties,”and was exploring resources to help homeless individuals including a partnership with the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless. “But there are very limited resources for homeless individuals and very strict criteria here in Nassau County. If you don’t meet that criteria, you’re out of luck.”

Although the police may ask individual to move out of the waiting rooms which are warm in the winter months, they cannot “arrest them. It is not a crime to be homeless in New York state,” said a representative from the MTA police. “There is the warm bed program. But some don’t want that. You can’t make people do things. We ask them what they want and we’re told they don’t want to go to the shelters.”