Seaford commuters mull new East Side access tunnels

Most Long Island Rail Road travelers, commuting home to the Seaford Train Station on a recent weekday afternoon, believe the East Side Access project is going to be good for commuters. Others knew little or nothing about the massive track work that’s planned.

This project: the building of a series of tunnels that “will serve approximately 162,000 customers a day, providing a faster and easier commute from Long Island and Queens to the east side of Manhattan in a new 8-track terminal and concourse below Grand Central Terminal,” according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Mark Millindorf of Seaford said he thinks the project is a great idea. He said it will be great to have a different set of tunnels going to the east side during a train delay, instead of heading to Brooklyn. “We always have problems with the tunnels we have,” he said.

Angelo Messina of Seaford said he believes the tunnels are a “good deal” as it will connect the trains to the east side. “People who work on the east side are going to have a lot easier access,” he said.

Ganiela Danau, LIRR commuter from Seaford, said she hopes the tunnels will make the commute to Grand Central shorter.

Nancy Losinno of Seaford said she “can’t wait” for the tunnels to be created. “I think it will be a great thing for Long Islanders and it will ease congestion at Penn,” she said.

The LIRR currently plans to purchase 160 new train cars, at a cost of $700 million, “to support ESA,” according to Aaron Donovan, the MTA’s deputy communications director.

There will be more options and opportunities for LIRR travelers to get where they need to go when the tunnels are built, according to a Wantagh resident who wished to remain anonymous. He said that sometimes there is a lot of traffic into Penn Station. The tunnels will allow for travelers to get to their destinations faster.

“They put a little more time and money into it recently,” he said. “Hopefully it will all be worth the efforts.”

A Westbury man who works in Seaford, said based off of the information given to him, the tunnels will allow easier access for commuters to travel from point A to point B.

Paul Liggieri, New York Labor and Employment Law Attorney at Derek Smith Law Group, PLLC, has a different opinion. Liggieri commutes into Manhattan from Roslyn along the Port Washington Line and, speaking about the project, said “the road to hell is paved with good intention.”

Liggieri questions why this project has been made the priority. He said “disgusting” conditions at places like Penn Station should be fixed up first.

“We [the commuters] are concerned for our safety,” he said. “Where is the money to protect the current commuters?”

Liggieri represents Wantagh resident Meredith Jacobs, who along with a Uniondale man, is suing the MTA and LIRR on behalf of a class of metro-card holders, for subjecting them to dangerous overcrowding at Penn Station and massive train schedule delays.

Liggieri also commented that the project is 10 to 14 years behind schedule and the price keeps rising as more money is being spent and more workers hired then are needed.

“I don’t see why the project is taking so long and so much money,” Liggieri said.

Liggieri said this project is not going to get done for a while and is a “bureaucratic mess” no matter what happens.

Contributed to by Scott Brinton