Saturday, April 26, 2025
Nassau County Comptroller Elaine Phillips called on the Long Island Rail Road last month for a full “accounting” of how it spends taxpayers’ $32.5 million each year for basic upkeep and service of its transit system.
With closer financial scrutiny of less than 1 percent of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s budget, Phillips aims to settle a question raised by her and fellow county Republican leaders: Are commuters getting their money’s worth?
Phillips is convinced the answer is no.
“With the money spent on this upkeep, you would think the MTA stations would be five-star hotels — not five-alarm safety hazards,” Phillips said at a news conference in Long Beach, as attendees held up photos of what she described as “crumbling infrastructure” at stations like Floral Park and Valley Stream.
While the comptroller’s call for accountability is well-intentioned, argues Rachael Fauss, a senior policy advisor at the government watchdog group Reinvent Albany, it is misdirected. If she were genuinely interested in whether commuters are getting what they pay for, focusing on the agency’s operating budget for everyday service and maintenance misses the mark on how station upkeep is funded.
That money mainly comes from the MTA’s capital plan — a massive, multi-year blueprint designed to pay for LIRR station repairs, as well as new trains and the restoration of aging columns and crumbling overpasses.
The LIRR has not drawn the short stick when it comes to capital plan spending.
Instead, it has been the MTA’s biggest winner over the last 25 years, raking in $36.5 billion — a whopping 19 percent of the agency’s funds despite serving just 3 percent of its riders, according to a new analysis by the NYU Marron Institute and Reinvent Albany.
Capital spending is used to ensure renovation and rehabilitation of the transit system and the biggest winner has been the Long Island Rail Road in the last 25 years.
Datawrapper illustrations created by Juan Lasso
That translates to $18.70 per rider annually, far outpacing Metro-North’s $10.20 and NYC Transit’s $2.57. The LIRR’s cash haul was fueled by large-scale projects like Grand Central Madison and the Main Line Expansion. But the LIRR has shifted its capital spending toward train station upgrades in recent years, particularly in the 2020-2024 capital plan, as the need to replace its aging train fleet has declined, the report added.
Though Phillips acknowledged her review didn’t include the capital plan, she didn’t appear to consider it a significant factor in the complaints she raised. She plans to use the findings from her review to assess all 58 stations with a transparent rubric. The criteria are still being finalized and may include potential rider surveys.
Her reasoning nevertheless baffled the MTA, who made little effort to hide its indignation at demands for accountability because of underinvestment.
“Where have these elected officials been the last five years?” spokesperson Laura Cala-Rauch said in a statement. “The MTA has made significant investments on every LIRR branch, and millions of dollars have been earmarked for improvement projects in the 2025-2029 Capital Plan – including a project to make the Bellrose LIRR station fully accessible.”
The Long Island Rail Road has consistently benefited from generous capital spending according to an analysis by NYU and Reinvent Albany.
Datawrapper illustrations created by Juan Lasso
The MTA, in its defense, also said “stations are cleaned daily, and infrastructure is regularly inspected. These investments speak for themselves - on-time performance is at a record high, and customers are overwhelmingly satisfied with LIRR service.”
But it’s not just a matter of money but of priorities, argued Phillips. “The question is: How is the LIRR managing its budget?” The fact that some stations still fall short reveals that LIRR commuters have benefited unevenly from capital and other investments. Not only are essential infrastructure repairs pushed aside for high-profile projects like Grand Central Madison, but basic cleanliness and upkeep are also being ignored.
“If we’re talking about just basic maintenance, we are hearing complaints of residents not being able to access waiting areas, homeless people sleeping in LIRR facilities, bathrooms being closed,” she said.
The Valley Stream station serves as a prime example, says Mayor Edwin Fare. “I’m glad they’ve invested in the capital plan for the station, but they waited until parts of the roof were missing. That’s unacceptable.”
Rusted overpass bridges and other evidence of crumbling infrastructure across the Long Island Rail Road are items the MTA hopes to tackle in the upcoming capital plan.
Tim Baker/Herald file photo
Out of more than half a dozen railroad overpasses in the Village of Valley Stream, only two have been repaired through the capital plan. Fare likened it to fixing just two broken windows in a house full of them.
But those uneven repairs, and their worrying vulnerabilities to the transit system, are widespread. Roughly 80 LIRR bridges, tunnels, and other structures are “at a critical point of deterioration,” in dire need of major repairs, according to the MTA. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli warned that the railway system is more vulnerable than ever to the increasing threat of severe weather events.
Contrary to the claims made by county Republicans, incomplete repairs to the LIRR’s infrastructure aren’t a result of fiscal mismanagement, Fauss argued. They’re rooted in years of chronic underfunding of its capital improvement plan. The MTA is stuck in a “political dance” over how much state, county, and federal partners are willing to contribute and must often answer to competing interests.
This time, however, the goal is crystal clear: repairing infrastructure. The MTA has proposed a historic $68 billion capital plan for 2025-2029, with $6 billion set aside for the LIRR, most aimed at bringing the sprawling system into good working condition with the MTA warning of further disrepair if funding isn’t met.
Have an opinion on this article? Send an email to jlasso@liherald.com.
