MTA set to release plans for dramatic expansion and upgrade of LIRR

Long Island Morning Edition

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's next five-year Capital Program, set to be released this month, will include plans to "dramatically increase" spending on new Long Island Rail Road train cars and to "expand and upgrade" the LIRR's branches, the head of the MTA said yesterday.

What's less clear, MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said, is how the transit authority will fund the spending plan, which a state comptroller's report estimates could cost up to $92 billion.

Alfonso A. Castillo reports in NEWSDAY that at a roundtable discussion with reporters at the LIRR's Jamaica headquarters, Lieber shared new details of the forthcoming capital budget, which will fund major infrastructure investments from 2025-2029. The MTA is required by law to submit its plan to the state for approval by Oct. 1.

While not releasing specifics of the proposal, Lieber said the MTA is planning a "substantial investment" in rail cars that would ensure the LIRR no longer has to resort to using 40-year-old trains.

"We're trying to get to the point where that will no longer be necessary," Lieber said of the continued use of about 100 M3 rail cars built in the mid-1980s. "I'm not going to talk about numbers, but we are committed to using this Capital Program to dramatically increase investment in rail cars."

LIRR president Robert Free said a "big focus" of the spending plan will be maintaining existing infrastructure, power systems, signals and aging bridges and tunnels.

The proposed plan, Lieber said, will "come out in the next couple weeks," after which state officials will have to figure out how to pay for it. Previous capital budgets have been funded by "little bits of lots of different taxes ... and fees," but the new plan will probably require "new funding sources," Lieber said.

A report this week by NYS Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli projected that the plan could range in cost from $57.8 billion to $92.2 billion.

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HarborFest, Sag Harbor’s annual celebration of its waterfront heritage, returns this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, September 14-15, with tasty food offerings, music, shopping, and numerous nautical-themed events, culminating in the annual whaleboat races at Windmill Beach….plus the weather will be delightful!

Full coverage of the weekend can be found in “Festival” magazine, which accompanies this week’s edition of The Sag Harbor Express.

Among the highlights will be a concert by the Nancy Atlas band and special guests that will kick off the weekend a bit early, at 7 p.m., on Friday, September 13, at the Old Whalers’ Church. The show will help raise funds for the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce’s “Save the Whale” fund to help restore the whale used in the whaleboat races. Tickets are $50 for general admission and $70 for VIP seats and can be purchased at nancyatlasharborfest24.eventbrite.com.

The waterfront — and some venues further afield — will be busy all day Saturday and Sunday, with food vendors and numerous local organizations setting up booths on Long Wharf, children’s activities, and an arts and crafts fair from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday in Marine Park.

There will be art shows at both the Eastville Community Historical Society’s Heritage House and the Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum.

The whaleboat races, which have their origins in the Old Whalers Festival, which began in 1964 as an effort to help drum up tourism during the sleepy fall season, are the major draw of the weekend. This year, the races will be held in boats that have been restored by the crew at Ship Ashore Marina. Races begin at noon on Saturday and 11:30 a.m. on Sunday and will culminate with championships awarded in the Men’s, Women’s and Firefighters’ divisions on Sunday afternoon.

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While median rent in 2023 rose faster than median home values nationally, the trend line on Long Island was mixed, according to U.S. Census Bureau survey estimates released yesterday. But the cost burden, or the money spent on housing and utilities, remains prohibitively high for Long Islanders, whether they are renters or homeowners, the data shows. Olivia Winslow and Arielle Martinez report in NEWSDAY that local housing experts say the gross median rents and median home values highlighted in the bureau's 2023 one-year American Community Survey are another indicator of high housing costs on Long Island that exceed national and New York State levels, putting great pressure on many families. The Department of Housing and Urban Development recommends monthly housing costs should not exceed 30% of one's monthly income. In Suffolk County, median rent has been falling for the past few years, while the county's median home values have been rising. And in Nassau, median rent increased while home values decreased. Both counties' trajectories differ from the national trend. Fair market rents on Long Island — as determined by federal guidelines — in 2023 ranged from $2,059 for a one-bedroom to $2,470 for a two-bedroom to $3,175 for a three-bedroom, according to RentData.org.

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Entertainer Justin Timberlake is expected to plead guilty to a lesser charge today in his drunken driving case in Sag Harbor Justice Court, sources familiar with the details of the case said. Timberlake, the actor-singer-songwriter, is expected to enter the plea in person before Sag Harbor Village Justice Carl Irace, sources tell Newsday. Grant Parpan reports on Newsday.com that Timberlake, 43, of Franklin, Tennessee, was driving a gray 2025 BMW with Florida plates south on Madison Street at 12:17 a.m. June 18, 2024 when he failed to stop at a stop sign at the intersection with Jermain Avenue, police and prosecutors said at the time. He also failed to keep right, police said. His eyes were bloodshot and glassy, he had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath, exhibited slowed speech and was unsteady on his feet, police said. The report noted Timberlake "performed poorly on all standardized field sobriety tests." Timberlake was arrested at 12:37 a.m. Records also show Timberlake refused a Breathalyzer test at 12:55 a.m. "No, I’m not doing a chemical test," he told police. Timberlake was charged with DWI and given two tickets for failing to stop and failing to maintain his lane. He was taken to East Hampton Town police headquarters and arraigned later on the morning of his arrest. Today will mark the second appearance Timberlake has made in person in connection with the case. He appeared virtually for a follow-up arraignment Aug. 2. Timberlake's career was launched at age 11 when he appeared on TV's "Star Search" and as part of "The All New Mickey Mouse Club." It was his role in the boy band *NSYNC that launched him to superstardom. Timberlake has been married to actress Jessica Biel since 2012; they have two children.

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A Shirley man charged with possessing the handgun fired in a drive-by shooting in October 2022 outside the home of then – U.S. Congressman Lee Zeldin pleaded guilty yesterday to attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon and conspiracy. Noah Green, 20, entered his plea in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead almost two years after prosecutors say he shot at three men, hitting two in the chest, outside Zeldin’s Shirley home. An agreement with prosecutors calls for him to be sentenced to 12 years in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release. Zeldin, who was the Republican Party’s candidate for governor at the time of the shooting, was not a target, but his daughters were at home during the shooting, prosecutors said. In a statement, Zeldin said the shootings were "traumatic for my family and couldn’t have hit any closer to home. I am thankful for Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, and the many law enforcement officials who swiftly acted to keep my daughters safe, transport the victims, and take the necessary legal action to hold Mr. Green accountable." Prosecutors said Green had boasted on social media about his gang affiliation and about committing the shooting. He posted photographs and videos of himself and other gang members with weapons and stolen vehicles, according to prosecutors.

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The League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island and the North Fork will host voter information tables from Westhampton to Montauk and on Shelter Island from Saturday, September 14, to Tuesday, September 17, in observance of National Voter Registration Day, which is September 17. The league will also host a forum on confronting misinformation and building trust in the 2024 election on September 24 at LTV Studios in Wainscott and three candidate debates in October. Christopher Walsh reports on 27east.com that the group will distribute voter registration forms and absentee ballot applications, information on ballot referendums, flyers with the Suffolk County early voting dates, sites and times, and information including the directory of public officials during Sag Harbor’s HarborFest this coming weekend September 14 and 15, and at the Southampton Town Anti-Bias Task Force’s annual Great East End Community Picnic in the Park, on Sunday September 15, from 1 to 5 p.m. at Red Creek Park in Hampton Bays. Voter registration forms are available at the State Board of Elections website, elections.ny.gov. Those with questions can contact the Suffolk County Board of Elections at 631-852-4500 or suffolkvotes.com. Election Day 2024 is on Tuesday November 5.

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With anger and frustration over extensive closures of a popular beach to 4x4 vehicles due to nesting piping plovers still boiling over in the halls of Southampton government, a veteran biologist from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service this week addressed the protections that the Southampton Town Trustees have put in place in recent years to protect the birds and the criticisms they have been bombarded with in return. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that Steve Sinkevich, a senior wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service said that many of the complaints he’s heard Southampton residents direct at town officials in recent weeks and years echo those of beachgoers from across Long Island where the tiny endangered birds have closed off or inhibited access to popular stretches of oceanfront. And his advice to them is the same: The best way to get beaches open is to help the plovers nest early in the season, see their eggs hatch, the baby plovers roam safely around the beach for 25 to 35 days and then learn to fly — after which they will depart with their parents and the beaches can be reopened. “The sooner the areas are protected, the sooner the plovers can nest, the sooner the eggs will hatch and they’ll be able to fly and they’ll leave the area,” Sinkevich, a senior wildlife biologist, told the Trustees on Monday morning. “Like it or not, they’re coming back, and if you don’t protect the area, the eggs can get crushed and then they’re going to renest and you’re just going to prolong the process. So the earlier the better.” James Duryea, who oversees Southampton’s plover protection efforts, said that 13 baby piping plovers were fledged from the sands inside the “Picnic Area” and the adjacent Shinnecock East County Park — which has also seen vehicles barred from its popular oceanfront campgrounds in recent summers. Plovers are listed as “threatened” by the federal government on the Atlantic coast. New York State categorizes them as endangered.