Sign Petition Opposing Third Track

Please sign petition against 3rd Track on LIRR which will change our villages from Floral Park through Hicksville forever. Jen Sullivan of the Eastern Property Owners Association of Garden City initiated this petition and we are forever grateful to her. Thank you for your consideration. Here is the link to petition and my letter to the Governor!

Hello,
I just signed the petition, “STOP Governor Cuomo's proposed MTA/ LIRR Third Track project!.” I think this is important. Will you sign it too?
Here’s the link:
https://www.change.org/p/stop-governor-cuomo-s-proposed-mta-lirr-third-track-project?utm_medium=email&utm_source=notification&utm_campaign=petition_signer_receipt_rmp&share_context=signature_receipt&recruiter=693729818

Thanks,
Gerry

Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo

Governor of New York State

NYS State Capitol Building

Albany, NY 12224

Governor Cuomo

Garden City residents have spent the last six months reviewing various proposals, attending meetings and contacting our elected representatives with our concerns on the third track initiative. The proposal, a revise March 4, 2017 copy of a rejected 2005 edition, is not on any priority list for the LIRR, and not in the MTA or State capital plan. This lack of coordination with the Federal, State and local officials damages our rights to proper environmental vetting and Federal grants and programs.

Let us review your logic for pushing this revamped 2005 today.

• “All work” will be done in the right of way. In report after report we here of the severe impact of property values on homes adjacent to the LIRR proposal. Why? The number one reason is because of the uncertainly that you will take the time to respond to our concerns about contaminants in the soil. Seven Class B sites sit on the rails directly across from 18 Garden City homes. Furthermore, while I was playing football on the Garden City High School Fields (72-75 (we are the same age)), a few hundred yards away LIRR was spraying Agent Orange on the Right of Way. I have had friends, a brother and a teammate from my high school class die of cancer. I know this is an issue you care about deeply, yet the sense we are getting is the project will move forward regardless!
• “A retaining wall” will resolve the issue of sight lines and noise. This reminds me of the Italian Club In Little Italy, Delaware that put up a retaining wall around their property and the neighbors were enraged. As the District City Council representative I got a taste of my constituents fury (Trattare a pesci in faccia). I am asking you to rethink this aspect of your initiative and come up with something better than a retaining wall. The reality is, the State would have to purchase 25 properties in our section of Garden City to compensate owners for this initiative.
• “Streamline the project by relying on state funds.” In Delaware we had a top 10 list of dangerous infrastructure concerns. As a former representative in Wilmington, Delaware, I am seriously opposed to any plan that would not go through the proper vetting and priority of our elected leaders. I fought hard in Delaware to fix our failing bridges, target areas of federal transportation enhancement funds and coordinate with city, state and even private corporations (CSX, to replace failing infrastructure). The CSX bridges we replaced were in the top 5 of a list of dangerous bridges in the State. CSX paid for 80 percent of the funding with Federal dollars filling the void. Compare the cost to Delaware residents of this 4 million dollar project (0) with the cost of this initiative to Long Island residents (110 percent). Now, in your proposal, commuters and New York taxpayers will pay the cost of $2 billion.

As a former City Council member in Wilmington and Deputy Bank Commissioner for the State of Delaware, I do not understand the process, the rush to construction, and the absence of this initiative in any funding basket. Moreover, you made the decision to include a program of safety (New Hyde Park crossing) with an infrastructure proposal (3rd Track). This is a very, very unprecedented action that I have never seen in my years in government. When I worked for Beau Biden in the Attorney General’s office we caught bank after bank with lie after lie in faulty paperwork and process. Fortunately, like New York, we had a judicial process for foreclosures and helped many residents by tracking the filings. With all due respect Governor, your process is being called into question here. The DEIS the State presented is very vague and does not meet the requirements of the State Environmental Quality Review Act. All of the concerns brought up at a recent meeting, including the use of the LIRR of Agent Orange, would have been part of a usual town meeting with our state delegation. This never occurred because your initiative excluded both the State Assembly and State Senate.

I have had an opportunity in my Delaware government experience to work with three Governors, a very talented and wise Attorney General and one of the best Federal delegations for facilitating problems. Never before has a Governor circumvented a legislative body and the possibility of Federal funding. This is a precedent fraught with danger, financially cumbersome, and so I am asking you to stop this third track proposal immediately.

I am also asking you to respond to our Mayor and elected officials and issue a press release that you will take our comments seriously, respond to our concerns and issue an additional independently written Draft Environmental Impact statement that details the issues at all site B sites and shows a full analysis of impact on residential properties. The right of ways must be tested for all contaminants with deep soil analysis, air quality and also include soil testing of neighboring homes so any run off over the years is included.

The best course of action, of course, would be to cancel this project, and wait for the Federal dollars from the Northeast Corridor project. In my years in government, it is always wise to take care of the problems you have and not make new ones for future generations. Today, Garden City is aware of two plumes of pollutants below our surface (Roosevelt Field and Fulton Avenue). So we are now extremely cautious. Agent Orange, if attached to soil below the surface, has a half-life of 100 years. We deserve a response from your office and a full investigation of why questions we have will not be answered.

Thank you for your consideration. I leave you with an old Irish expression, Ní neart go cur le chéile.

God Bless you and our State.

Gerry Kelly

135 Stewart Avenue

Garden City, NY 11530 516-502-6710