MTA plans Riverhead hearing on North Fork service cut

Responding to calls from East End leaders angered by a plan to severely cut Long Island Rail Road service to Greenport, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's chief Wednesday announced that a public hearing on the proposed cut will be held in Riverhead.

"I think they've made a strong point, and we will hold a hearing on the East End of Long Island," MTA chairman Jay Walder said at a Manhattan meeting of the MTA board.

The hearing is scheduled for March 8 at 6 p.m. in the auditorium of the Riverhead County Center on Court Street, said Legis. William Lindsay (D-Holbrook).

The announcement came a day after, Lindsay, presiding officer of the Suffolk Legislature, blasted the MTA for proposing elimination of the already sparse LIRR service between Ronkonkoma and Greenport, except for summer weekends, and scheduling the only Long Island hearing on the cuts in Carle Place.

"I think that it's important that their voices be heard on the issue, because I don't think the MTA is serving our county properly - certainly not for the cost that's put in for the MTA by Suffolk County," Lindsay said.