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Partly Cloudy Lynbrook station on LIRR’s ‘to do’ list
The Lynbrook train station was included in the Long Island Railroad’s five-year capital projects program, which allocated $3.7 million in yet-to-be-scheduled renovations to the platform canopy — which residents said has been leaking for years.
“It’s just a disgrace,” said Vincent Callagy, who has commuted to New York City via the Lynbrook station for 29 years. “When you get a hard rain, the water sits there,” he said, which he believed to be bad for the entire structure. Callagy said he’s even seen people using umbrellas underneath the canopy during rainstorms.
The Long Island Railroad’s capital program is broken down into five-year increments, and the Lynbrook station was identified as needing renovations in the 2010-14 plans. “Lynbrook has been on the list of the railroad’s things to do,” said Sal Arena, spokesman for the MTA. “The question is: when?”
Arena said that former Senator Dean Skelos was instrumental in securing funding for the project, but ultimate oversight is contingent upon Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s approval and the state budget. “The project is still in the planning stages, in terms of design and engineering,” Arena said.
Among necessary work identified in Lynbrook is replacing the platform canopy, roof drainage and lighting system. Most recently, the outdated Massapequa train station was fully renovated, Arena said, adding that the difficulty with capital projects at railroad stations is keeping the platforms functional while construction is taking place. It is still unclear as to when the Lynbrook train station’s renovations would take place, but Arena said, “The money is there.”
“We’ve been pretty lucky, we didn’t have a bad winter,” he said. “I remember times when snow started melting and then it would freeze,” which Callagy said would create dangerous patches of ice on the platform.”
A seven-year Lynbrook resident who declined to be identified, said that the leaky canopy at the station has been a problem every since he moved to the village. “If you slip and fall on one of those things … you’re on an elevated platform that makes it extra dangerous,” he said. Before moving to Lynbrook, he commuted to New York City primarily from the Stewart Manor train station, and said the experience was completely different — without any leak issues whatsoever. He said that in paying $242 per month to ride the train, the station could be maintained better.
“It’s a pretty big nuisance if you’re walking at the train station and you’re [getting wet] under the cover,” he said with a laugh.
