Call on Agency to Sign Agreement for Port Jeff LIRR Modernization Project
By Hank Russell
A group of elected officials, environmentalists and civic groups converged at the former Lawrence Aviation site in Port Jefferson calling on Governor Kathy Hochul to “compel” the state Department of Transportation (DOT) to sign the agreement between the Suffolk County Landbank and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) that would allow the electrification of the Long Island Rail Road station in Port Jefferson.
The Suffolk County Landbank Corporation and the MTA entered into a contract in 2023 that allows for a portion of the Lawrence Aviation property to be used towards the modernization of the LIRR’s Port Jefferson branch. The DOT has until June 30 to sign the agreement, or else, they said, the project would be derailed.
The modernization project will take place on one of three 40-acre tracts that have been remediated after being listed as a Superfund site. The first 40-acre section would comprise of a solar farm, and the second 40 acres would be preserved as green space.
“We need the MTA and the DOT to agree to allow for the train tracks to run on the property, to modernize it and update it,” said Andrienne Esposito, the executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment. “There’s a June 30 deadline and the clock is ticking.”
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said the state Department of Environmental Conservation “stepped up” by getting rid of the “dilapidated buildings. There were people who were sleeping there, getting murdered there and being assaulted there.”
The project, Romaine said, would allow the village of Port Jefferson to redevelop the rail yard property on the east side of the station and move the station so the grade crossing at Route 112 would be moved.
“So what’s preventing this opportunity? The DOT, who is telling us, ‘We are using [the property] for something else.’ That’s garbage.” He also told Hochul to “speak to the DOT, tell them to knock it off and get it done.”
Suffolk County Legislator Steve Englebright (D-East Setauket) echoed Romaine’s comments about the removal of the grade crossing, which Englebright called “deadly.” Another benefit of the modernized rail system would be the “[revitalization of] the business community.” He also agreed with Romaine about the DOT’s statement, which was “found to be baseless.”
Long Island Life & Politics reached out to the DOT for comment. In a statement, spokesperson Stephen Canzoneri said, “NYSDOT is in the process of delivering a free property easement to MTA in accordance with NYSDOT requirements and Suffolk County Resolution No. 980-2023 to facilitate MTA’s property acquisition from the Suffolk County Land Bank at the Lawrence Aviation site. This unique and complicated process will take several months.”
LILP also reached out to Hochul’s office but did not respond as of press time.
Charlie Lefkowitz of the Three Village Chamber of Commerce said the electrification project be “a beacon of economic development” that will “create good-paying jobs.”
“Lawrence Aviation once stood as a symbol of neglect and missed opportunities,” Lefkowitz said. “Now, we are turning the page.”
In addition, the modernization project would improve the environment as the electric trains would supplant the diesel engines, which spew pollutants into the air, as Port Jefferson Mayor Lauren Sheprow noted.
“The residents at Highland Condos have to shut the windows so the diesel [particulate matter] doesn’t go into their living spaces.”
Sheprow was asked by LILP what the plans are for the east end of the line. She said that will be discussed at a later time.
Chamber President Carmine Inserra said electrifying the trains would provide better service not just for Port Jefferson, but for St. James, Smithtown and Kings Park, all of which are on the Port Jeff-Huntington line. “Yoou’ll get more service and not have to make that extra changes at [the] Huntington [LIRR station], adding that people from the north shore are “driving to Ronkonkoma” to take the train there.
“This is something of a no-brainer,” Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico added. “The state [needs to get it] done, from words to action. By not doing, then it’s an impediment.”
“As the clock is ticking, we are now in the final sprint,” State Assemblywoman Rebecca Kassay (D-Port Jefferson) added. “I’m confident that we can get this done.”
If the DOT refuses to sign the agreement, “10 years of work goes down the drain, then we have to start over again,” Esposito said.