FRANK RIZZO

frizzo@antonmediagroup.com

The MTA announced that the LIRR Expansion Project has been completed and all the outstanding issues have been settled.

Residents of Garden Avenue in Carle Place, adjoining the railroad station, beg to differ.

The hamlet has the most private residences adjacent to and affected by station operations in the expansion area. Garden Avenue homeowners said the changes have diminished their quality of life.

Forty-year Craig Hymanson said if he knew then what he knows now, he never would have bought his home, whose backyard abuts the station property.

Joanne Bordieri said her second bout with breast cancer has been made harder by what she sees as unresolved issues over the project. She moved to her house in 1979.

Maria Pasquarella pointed out that people climbing the stairs to the eastbound platform can peer into the backyard and even inside the rental house she owns.

Nadine Figueroa and her son Robert have witnessed criminals in action and have cell phone videos to prove it.

All have lived on the street for decades and could speak to the dramatic changes they have experienced. They affirmed that they have repeatedly asked MTA/LIRR representatives, the “community ambassadors” put in place to interact between the MTA/contractors and locals, and even their elected officials to help fix the problems. They have not gotten satisfaction.

Hymanson pointed out the security cameras on the platform with 360-degree views. After complaints, the MTA put up plywood (since replaced by aluminum) blocks to partially obscure the views. Hymanson said he believes these modifications did not fully solve the privacy problem.

The platform wall—at 4 feet—is too short, they said. In a document, the MTA stated that these were noise attenuation walls running along the length of the project. Neighbors had asked for a higher wall to provide more privacy and block the lights and security cameras.

Hymanson and Bordieri said that before the station renovation, noise was a minor nuisance, thanks to tall trees and thick foliage in the right of way. The platform speakers are too numerous and too loud, they claim.

Bordieri said that when the platform lights were first turned on, she called then community ambassador Margo Cargill, who told her that she had gotten many calls complaining about the brightness. Though they were dimmed, they still shine right into her bedroom window, she said, and contribute to her discomfort.

Robert Figueroa said that last fall, “Somebody came down the street with a bag full of tools and they were trying to saw off my dad’s muffler. I went outside and they took off and ran.”

He added, “I have footage I was showing my dad of someone [checking out] my car. It’s unfortunate, but it’s what’s going on.” Hymanson said, “We knew what we would have when we bought the house. But we didn’t know they were going to have speakers. We didn’t know they were going to have cameras looking right into our backyards. You have no privacy. This is where we live. This

is what we deal with.”

He added, “These are very easy fixes. We pay so much money to live here. You come home and you can’t sit in your backyard.”

Bordieri said, “This is the only station with a houses that are so close to it and they did not accommodate us.”

MTA spokesperson Joana Flores, in a statement, said, “The railroad always seeks to be a good neighbor and welcomes feedback from the communities it serves. The Third

Track Project modernized five stations, upgraded seven bridges, and eliminated eight railroad crossings, all of which significantly improved service reliability and public safety, benefiting hundreds of thousands of people for decades to come. The third track was key in boosting LIRR service at Carle Place by 90 percent and creating true bi-directional service for the first time—a win for the local economy.”

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