A meeting of the Long Island Rail Road Commuter’s Council (LIRRCC) was convened at 4:30 pm on May 14, 2009, in the 5th Floor conference room, Jamaica Control Center.
The following members were present:
Gerard P. Bringmann
Mark Epstein
Ira Greenberg
Maureen Michaels
The following members were absent:
Gary Babyatzky
Ronald Breuer
James L. McGovern
In addition, the following persons were present:
William Henderson – PCAC Executive Director
Janice Wells – PCAC Associate director
Ellyn Shannon – PCAC Transportation Planner
Karyl Berger – PCAC Research Associate
Holli Dunayer – LIRR
Matthew Kessler – Concerned Citizen
Inspector Kevin King – MTA Police
Approval of Agenda and Minutes
The agenda for the May 14, 2009 meeting was approved. The minutes of the April 2, 2009 meeting were approved.
Chair’s Report
The Chair’s Report is attached to these minutes. Bill Henderson noted that he has discussed setting up a quarterly meeting with President Williams, Maureen Michaels, Ira Greenberg and himself with the LIRR. President Williams has asked for these meetings to take place.
It was noted that there have been several emails about the limited availability of a one seat ride eastbound to diesel territory in the evening rush hour.
Mr. Bringmann said he is very concerned about the status of the East River Tunnels safety and emergency evacuation.
Board Report
Mr. Henderson announced that this month’s meeting of the MTA Board Long Island Committee will be held on the upcoming Tuesday and that as a result there is little to report.
Mr. Henderson noted that the Suffolk County Legislators feel that the fare increase is very unfair to riders from the East End of Long Island.
LIRR Representative’s Report on Pending Items
Holli Dunayer briefed the members on the list of complaints that PCAC staff has received. Ms. Dunayer indicated that all the items that she has been given have been addressed, including a letter from John Gould, which had been answered by the Rail Road.
Ms. Dunayer noted that the Rail Road is working on new regulations regarding the use of cell phones by operating personnel. She said that the new regulations are likely to prohibit operating personnel from having cellphones in their possession while on duty.
The members discussed the Huntington Station bathroom issue. Ms. Michaels said she was very disturbed that there appeared to be an agreement in place in advance of the conference call where the issue was to be discussed. Ms. Dunayer announced that the LIRR has agreed to install waste and water lines so that a bathroom can be built. She noted that they plan to get this work done very quickly.
Jan Wells noted that she and Mark Epstein, the newest LIRRCC member would represent the Council at the opening of the newly renovated Huntington station next Tuesday.
An email concerning an intoxicated passenger was discussed. Inspector Kevin King of the MTA Police said that where officers must intervene with an intoxicated passenger, the standard procedure is for the MTAPD to file an incident report. If the passenger in question continues to become intoxicated and require police intervention, the MTAPD can invoke Mental Hygiene Law 25, where they can transport the individual to a hospital for evaluation. The Police can also cite the individual for public intoxication.
The members briefly discussed the upcoming LIRRCC President’s Forum. Ms. Dunayer said that she would send to Jan Wells a list of responses that are outstanding from questions that were asked at last year’s Forum. It was asked whether the LIRR staff could put notices for the President’s Forum on electronic message boards in the system. Ms. Dunayer said that she would check into the possibility.
Old Business
Mr. Henderson briefly discussed the MTA funding legislation and the provisions in it that relate to the LIRRCC and PCAC. He highlighted both the establishment of the PCAC in state law and the new MTA Office of Legislative and Community Input. This office is required to respond to two classes of individuals: State legislators and PCAC members.
Maureen Michaels stated that it is important for the LIRRCC to have a legislative plan, particularly in view of the new powers that have been given to the PCAC members.
Ellyn Shannon stated that the new legislation gave the PCAC a great deal more power and influence than it had before its passage.
New Business
As a follow-up to President Williams’ statement, made in a meeting with Mr. Bringmann, Mr. Greenberg, and Ms. Michaels, that 50 percent of LIRR riders want to go to the Upper East Side, the members agreed that staff should send a letter to ask for clarification on this statement and the source of this figure. Mr. Henderson will send a letter about this issue.
The members discussed the double track proposal that President Williams has been promoting in recent weeks. Ira Greenberg noted the cost of this project is about $440 million.
Ms. Michaels noted that the LIRR was upset about the criticisms leveled in our Annual Performance Review report.
Ms. Michaels asked that staff obtain copies of current LIRR performance statistics and produce a summary of them.
Mr. Greenberg asked whether there was any word regarding the new Senate majority representative to the MTA Capital Program Review Board. The LIRRCC staff said that they had not heard anything definite.
Election of LIRRCC Officers
Maureen Michaels and Gerard Bringmann were unanimously elected Chair and Vice Chair, respectively, of the Long Island Rail Road Commuter’s Council for two year terms.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 6:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Karyl Berger
Research Associate
Long Island Rail Road Commuters Council Chair’s Report
I am so pleased to welcome Mark Epstein to our ranks. Mark lives in Melville and is a Partner in the law firm Pazer, Epstein, and Jaffe, which has offices in New York City and Huntington. Let’s go around the table and introduce ourselves
Please make a note of the change in day and date of the June PCAC meeting. It will be held on Tuesday, June 2 in the 5th floor Board Room at MTA Headquarters. The meeting will start promptly at 11:45 am to ensure that our guest, Richard Ravitch has sufficient time for his remarks. Please make every effort to attend this important meeting.
We’ll hear more on this at the PCAC meeting, but I want to note the changes in the status of the PCAC that were included in the recent MTA financing legislation passed in Albany. There are two main provisions of great interest to the PCAC. First, with this legislation the PCAC is officially established in State Law, and the members of the Riders Councils are officially named as members of the PCAC. Second, the legislation establishes in the MTA an Office of Legislative and Community Input. This office is to communicate information and receive comments, concerns, and recommendations from members of two entities, the State Legislature and the PCAC. This is a major step forward in having the PCAC recognized as the point of contact between riders and the MTA.
In March Bill sent a letter to Helena Williams calling on the LIRR to release environmental impact study data from the Main Line Corridor Improvement, or “Third Track,” Project. If the environmental process moves forward, the LIRR would release the environmental impact statement for the project through this process, but if the environmental process is not going to proceed, Bill called for the draft to be released independently. Bill followed up on this letter with Holli Dunayer, and she could not find a record of it having been received. Bill resent copies of the letter to President Williams and to Holli last week, and we await a response.
On April 9, I got a report of a train that had left Smithtown with its doors open and reported it to the LIRR. The engineer had received a signal to proceed and began to leave the platform, although there was no “closed door” light. The engineer stopped the train and the conductor recycled the doors, after which the crew received a “closed door” light. As a result, the crew was reinstructed on proper procedures involving “closed door” lights and giving signals to proceed.
I got a report of possible drug sales on trains out of Patchogue from one of my “train buddies” and passed it on to Bill. He emailed Chief Finneran of MTA Police about the issue and spoke with her on April 20 to follow up on the situation. She confirmed that there had been issues with drug sales on the Babylon branch. The problems started in the parking areas and have migrated onto some trains. The MTAPD are using plainclothes and undercover officers to monitor the line. She was very positive about us alerting her to issues on the Rail Road and encouraged the Council to contact her with similar information in the future.
On April 21st, Bill Henderson, Jan Wells and I attended the opening of the new LIRR exhibit at the Transit Museum in Brooklyn in honor of the Rail Road’s 175th anniversary. Bill Guild of NYCTRC was also there. The exhibit, entitled “The Route of the Dashing Commuter,” is an interesting collection of memorabilia and pictures from LIRR’s long history, including a 1961 caboose. In addition to the historical material, there were displays on the East Side Access construction project. Speakers included Helena Williams, President of the LIRR and Lee Sander, CEO of MTA. The exhibit will run through September 13, 2009.
In April 24th, Bill, Jan and I joined the formal celebration of the LIRR 175th birthday at the Jamaica Control Center Atrium at Jamaica Station. Many dignitaries were in attendance including four past presidents of LIRR. Malcolm Smith was the featured speaker. Senator Smith referred to the need for MTA reform, but spent a great deal of his time addressing issues that are not directly relevant to the LIRR, such as the State’s efforts to secure federal funding for high speed rail. A number of elected officials issued proclamations saluting the Rail Road’s 175th anniversary, and we’ll pass a copy of the official program around the table so you can take a look.
On Friday May 1, Maureen and I met with President Williams to discuss her plans to add a second track between Farmingdale and Ronkonkoma. She feels that this is a cost effective and achievable project that will improve the operations of the LIRR. We can discuss this further under New Business.
On Tuesday, May 5, Bill and Maureen participated in a conference call involving the LIRR, representatives of the Friends of Huntington Train Station, the MTA Police, and the taxicab operator at the station. The stated purpose of the call was to discuss the possibility of placing “port-a-potties” at the station to provide restroom facilities for taxi service employees and others when the station is closed. Bill Henderson had sent a letter to Helena Williams in April asking that these facilities be provided. It was clear early in the call that a decision had already been made not to supply the portable bathroom facilities, and this was confirmed when after the conference call Bill received a letter from President Williams, dated the day before the call, stating that the LIRR does not support our recommendation.
The solution that was discussed on the call is to have taxi employees travel by cab to a nearby restaurant to use the facilities when the station is closed, to have passengers use the restroom facilities on the trains, and in the longer term to construct a restroom in the taxi service office to accommodate the business’ employees. Neither Maureen nor Bill felt that participating in the conference call to hear the announcement of an apparent done deal was a valuable use of their time.
The next day, Wednesday, May 6, Bill, Jan, and I met with Joe Calderone and nine of his staff members to discuss the issues that we have been having with responses to questions and issues that we raise with the LIRR. Although Mr. Calderone did not expect that the speed of responses will increase as the LIRR cannot increase staffing in the Public Affairs area, we had a useful exchange and received a more detailed description of how inquiries are handled. As part of our efforts to improve tracking of the items that we raise with the LIRR, Holli Dunayer will report on the issues that have been raised at each LIRRCC meeting, starting with this meeting. We will make this a regular part of our agenda.
Finally, remember our President’s Forum will be held next Wednesday, in the first floor Atrium of the Jamaica Control Center building. I want to emphasize the importance of having members attend this meeting. Not only is it an excellent way to hear the concerns of the riders, it is also vital that the members be visible to the public and the LIRR.