Community News

Plans in place to restore rusted train trestle at Baldwin station

LIRR, Nassau County close to finalizing project

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The deterioration of Baldwin’s trestle, the siding along the train’s platform at the Long Island Rail Road station on Sunrise Highway, has drawn complaints from people throughout the area. State Sen. Todd Kaminsky (D-Rockville Centre) wrote a letter to LIRR President Patrick Nowakowski on June 20 about the need to renovate the structure.

“I am contacting you on behalf of the Baldwin community, regarding the deteriorating condition of the Long Island Rail Road trestle,” Kaminsky wrote. “The trestle is rusted and in need of a fresh coat of paint.”

After a month without a response, Kaminsky wrote a second letter, on July 28. “This trestle resides at one of Baldwin’s busiest intersections and thus — and appropriately so — its appearance is the subject of a commonly made complaint to my office,” he wrote. “To improve the Baldwin community, and also to bolster the reputation of the LIRR, I ask that you send a maintenance crew to address this issue immediately.”


Following the second letter, Nowakowski contacted Kaminsky and explained the process by which repairs are made to LIRR facilities, according to Salvatore Arena, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman. Arena explained that the MTA responds to the most serious needs first before addressing cosmetic upgrades such as the ones found at the Baldwin station. Nowakowski informed Kaminsky that the bridge is functionally sound, and that all it needs is a fresh coat of paint, Arena said.

“Mr. Nowakowski promised the senator that the LIRR’s Engineering Department would schedule a scrape-and-paint makeover as soon as it could coordinate with Nassau County to arrange for a temporary traffic detour while the work is under way,” Arena said. “The railroad is currently in discussions with county officials to finalize plans for the project.”

Root of the problem

Rita Cavanagh, a member of the Baldwin Civic Association’s beautification committee, said that her group began “begging and pleading” for Baldwin to have a sign on the train platform facade a few years ago. Prior to Cavanaugh’s efforts, a advertisement for Mercy Hospital hung on the south side of the station structure facing Sunrise Highway.


They were able to negotiate with the MTA and then State Sen. Dean Skelos to remove the Mercy advertisement and replace it with a new “Baldwin” sign.

“When removing the Mercy Hospital advertisement to install our new sign, which was significantly smaller than the advertisement, we saw the rusty train trestle,” Cavanagh said. “So while most of the community was happy Baldwin finally had its own sign there were some who criticized the efforts because now the rusty trestle was visible.”

After the Baldwin sign was put up in June 2015, Cavanagh contacted the LIRR to see if the trestle could be painted. But she was told that the work would have to be funded by a capital improvement budget. She has continued to communicate with Kaminsky’s office about the trestle, and said they are confident it will be painted.

“They are working closely with MTA to make it happen along with some other train station issues,” Cavanagh said, referring to Kaminsky’s office.

“It is a sad blight on a very special community,” Kaminsky said of the trestle. “There’s no need for it, and I think we’re going to work together with the LIRR and the county to be able to get it done. I’m very excited for that, and I hope it can happen soon. For me, it’s a small thing that will go a long way.”