Lynbrook, East Rockaway residents struggle after N36 bus cuts

Jackie and Chris Stiansen were bewildered when they noticed their employee, Dan, walking to his job at Doughology in Lynbrook instead of riding his bike.

“We were confused,” Jackie recalled. “We were like, ‘Where’s your bike?’”

When the Nassau County Inter-Express bus service cut seven of its routes on April 9, it left Dan’s girlfriend, Natalie, without transportation to her job in Oceanside. The couple live together at Dan’s aunt’s house in East Rockaway, and Natalie relied on the N36 — one of the routes slashed — to get to work.

Seeing no other options, Dan gave his bike to Natalie and started walking to work. Since his job requires making doughnuts early in the morning, his bosses, Jackie and Chris, the owners of Doughology, knew what to do for their loyal, hard-working employee.

“We said, ‘Let’s go to the Lynbrook Bike Store and get him a bike,’” Jackie said. “Because with everything he does for us, there’s no way we wouldn’t do it for him.”

The Stiansens wanted to surprise Dan, who even walked to work in the rain. They bought the bike without telling him, and Jackie rode it to the store, parking it outside while Dan was in the middle of a shift.

Jackie and Chris called Dan to come outside, Jackie said, and — thinking he was in trouble — Dan was shocked and relieved to see the bike.

“He was ecstatic,” Jackie said. “It was like we got him a new Cadillac.” Jackie recounted that Dan, usually a shy person, jumped up and down and hugged her and her husband. “It was the most amazing thing,” she said.

While it was a happy ending for Dan and Natalie, who now each have a bike for transportation, many NICE bus riders who relied on the N36 — the only route that served East Rockaway — are not as fortunate.

Martin Severino, a retired East Rockaway Junior-Senior High School teacher and veteran of the U.S. Army, said he relied on the route to transfer him to other buses.

“To the elderly, the 36 Bus was very important,” Severino said. “It got them to other places from which they could take another bus.”

Severino said he would take the bus to Lynbrook and then transfer to Malverne, Rockville Centre and other places. He added that his only alternative now is to walk up Merrick Road or down to Main Street to catch one of the surviving bus routes, but he noted that option is difficult.

Severino acknowledged that there were many times he would get on the N36 and see empty seats, but he said he figured the booming business of the other routes could save it.

“There have been several times when I was one of only three or four people on the bus [during] off hours,” he said. “However, the bus has to be part of the local travel system, and other buses make up for it.”

The Nassau County Bus Transit Committee voted 5-2 to eliminate the N36 and other routes during a February hearing. NICE Chief Executive Officer Michael Setzer spoke at the hearing and said the cuts were necessary because the county reduced funding by $6.8 million. The decrease affected some 5,400 residents across the county.

According to Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos, however, the bus lines never should have been cut. Maragos, who is running for county executive, explained that the county could have taken the $6.8 million from its surplus. He said the county has $163 million in its reserves fund balance, money that rolled over from the previous year, some of which could still be used to save the buses.

“Only the Legislature can authorize expenditures,” he said. “So they have to decide in either a budget amendment — which they have the authority to do — or certainly in next year’s budget to put more money into buses. … They have the money.”

Maragos said that county legislators claim that there is no extra money, but he is certain there is. Calls to Presiding Officer Norma Gonsalves’s office were not returned as of press time. Legislator William Gaylor disputed Maragos’s claim. “There’s not enough money to restore all the bus lines, and it’s a shame,” he said, adding that “it’s doing a disservice to the residents.”

Maragos expressed optimism that the buses could return if county legislators allot the money for it. Until then, residents such as Severino will have to find other transportation.

“It’s a long walk for me to get to the main parts of Lynbrook, but as of now, do I have a choice?” Severino said. “… I hope it can come back.”