Proposal to move Long Island MacArthur Airport terminal near LIRR tracks hits snag
Travelers walk towards the main terminal at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma in 2023. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Islip council members blocked funding that would have jumpstarted a town-led effort to move the terminal at Long Island MacArthur Airport closer to the Ronkonkoma train station.
The town board voted 4-1 Tuesday to reject Supervisor Angie Carpenter's request to pay $1 million in airport-related expenses, including $872,000 in seed money to build a new terminal at the airport property's northwest section. Carpenter said the funds would have paid for engineering studies and to search for potential builders.
The idea is to move MacArthur's lone terminal north from its present location by Veterans Memorial Highway to an area near Ronkonkoma's Long Island Rail Road tracks. Backers of the North Terminal project say the move would encourage passengers to take the train to the airport and relieve traffic congestion in the area.
The vote doesn't mean plans for a new terminal are dead, officials said.
A new terminal that connects to the train station is also part of the $2.8 billion Midway Crossing project plan, which includes a convention center, hotel and health sciences offices on Suffolk County-owned land south of the LIRR tracks. The county-backed development is in the early planning stages and is expected to take about 15 years to complete.
Carpenter, a Republican, said she thinks Islip can relocate the terminal sooner and for less money. She did not provide cost estimates.
“As quickly as is practically possible, I’d like to see this happen,” Carpenter said in an interview on Friday. “The longer we wait, the more it’s going to cost.”
The funding would have come from a $15 million restricted fund reserved for airport expenses, Carpenter said. “It’s not costing the taxpayers a penny to embark upon this process."
The no votes came from three Republican councilmen — John Lorenzo, Michael McElwee and James O’Connor — along with a Democrat, Jorge Guadron.
McElwee said he is not convinced the terminal needs to be moved, noting it takes only about five minutes to drive from the train station to the current terminal.
“It was just essentially spending that we were not briefed or included in,” McElwee said Friday. “We don’t support [relocating the] terminal. We think there’s other options.”
In 2022, Suffolk County selected Chicago real estate firm JLL, formerly Jones Lang LaSalle, to serve as Midway Crossing's master builder. The county established a nonprofit local development corporation, Midway Crossing LDC, to oversee and fundraise for the project.
Supporters of the North Terminal idea said they are optimistic it will come to fruition.
“My assumption is the issue is not gone. The issue will come back,” Mitchell Pally, chairman of Midway Crossing LDC, said.
Islip could relocate the terminal before or after Midway Crossing is complete. “The town does not need Midway Crossing to have the terminal moved, and JLL does not need the town to move the terminal," Pally said.
Midway Crossing's chief engineer, John Cameron of Westbury, who serves as JLL's local spokesman, declined to comment.
In addition to the terminal relocation, the resolution that failed Tuesday also would have funded other airport-related expenses. The items included $15,000 for lawyers working on Midway Crossing; $15,000 for attorneys representing the town in a land dispute with a nearby aviation group; and $5,000 toward finding an airport fuel farm maintenance provider, town documents show.
McElwee said he would have approved funding for those items if they were not linked with the North Terminal proposal.
“The fact that it was bundled with North Terminal is basically why we shot it down,” he said.
The other council members could not be reached for comment.
Carpenter said she plans to reintroduce the funding measure as soon as next month or February, perhaps separating the non-controversial items from the terminal issue.
“Hopefully, [council members] will see the benefits of this and feel a little bit better,” she said.
With Brianne Ledda
Islip council members blocked funding that would have jumpstarted a town-led effort to move the terminal at Long Island MacArthur Airport closer to the Ronkonkoma train station.
The town board voted 4-1 Tuesday to reject Supervisor Angie Carpenter's request to pay $1 million in airport-related expenses, including $872,000 in seed money to build a new terminal at the airport property's northwest section. Carpenter said the funds would have paid for engineering studies and to search for potential builders.
The idea is to move MacArthur's lone terminal north from its present location by Veterans Memorial Highway to an area near Ronkonkoma's Long Island Rail Road tracks. Backers of the North Terminal project say the move would encourage passengers to take the train to the airport and relieve traffic congestion in the area.
The vote doesn't mean plans for a new terminal are dead, officials said.
A new terminal that connects to the train station is also part of the $2.8 billion Midway Crossing project plan, which includes a convention center, hotel and health sciences offices on Suffolk County-owned land south of the LIRR tracks. The county-backed development is in the early planning stages and is expected to take about 15 years to complete.
Carpenter, a Republican, said she thinks Islip can relocate the terminal sooner and for less money. She did not provide cost estimates.
“As quickly as is practically possible, I’d like to see this happen,” Carpenter said in an interview on Friday. “The longer we wait, the more it’s going to cost.”
The funding would have come from a $15 million restricted fund reserved for airport expenses, Carpenter said. “It’s not costing the taxpayers a penny to embark upon this process."
The no votes came from three Republican councilmen — John Lorenzo, Michael McElwee and James O’Connor — along with a Democrat, Jorge Guadron.
McElwee said he is not convinced the terminal needs to be moved, noting it takes only about five minutes to drive from the train station to the current terminal.
“It was just essentially spending that we were not briefed or included in,” McElwee said Friday. “We don’t support [relocating the] terminal. We think there’s other options.”
In 2022, Suffolk County selected Chicago real estate firm JLL, formerly Jones Lang LaSalle, to serve as Midway Crossing's master builder. The county established a nonprofit local development corporation, Midway Crossing LDC, to oversee and fundraise for the project.
Supporters of the North Terminal idea said they are optimistic it will come to fruition.
“My assumption is the issue is not gone. The issue will come back,” Mitchell Pally, chairman of Midway Crossing LDC, said.
Islip could relocate the terminal before or after Midway Crossing is complete. “The town does not need Midway Crossing to have the terminal moved, and JLL does not need the town to move the terminal," Pally said.
Midway Crossing's chief engineer, John Cameron of Westbury, who serves as JLL's local spokesman, declined to comment.
In addition to the terminal relocation, the resolution that failed Tuesday also would have funded other airport-related expenses. The items included $15,000 for lawyers working on Midway Crossing; $15,000 for attorneys representing the town in a land dispute with a nearby aviation group; and $5,000 toward finding an airport fuel farm maintenance provider, town documents show.
McElwee said he would have approved funding for those items if they were not linked with the North Terminal proposal.
“The fact that it was bundled with North Terminal is basically why we shot it down,” he said.
The other council members could not be reached for comment.
Carpenter said she plans to reintroduce the funding measure as soon as next month or February, perhaps separating the non-controversial items from the terminal issue.
“Hopefully, [council members] will see the benefits of this and feel a little bit better,” she said.
With Brianne Ledda
Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.
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