MTA to add police at Babylon LIRR station after complaints

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will increase its police presence at the Babylon train station after local officials requested it to monitor activities like aggressive panhandling and drug and alcohol use.

“We are increasing our police activity at the station, not just with uniformed officers but also plainclothes officers,” MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said in an email Thursday.

He didn't provide further details about when the increased presence would begin or what hours officers would be stationed.

Local officials met with the MTA in recent months and asked for additional resources to address complaints from constituents.

State Sen. Phil Boyle (R-Bay Shore) and Assemb. Mike LiPetri (R-Massapequa) sent Acting MTA Chairman Fernando Ferrer a letter Jan. 25, asking for a “permanent uniformed police presence."

"Over the years, there have been numerous reports of drug and alcohol abuse throughout the station, including, but not limited to, on the elevated platform, inside the waiting area and ticket room," the letter reads. "As a result, there has been an increased strain on the resources of the Babylon Village Fire Department and local hospitals."

Though the MTA is adding officers at the station, Donovan pointed to a recent MTA police announcement that crime is at a 20-year low.

Babylon Village Mayor Ralph Scordino said that for years an MTA officer has visited the station,  that he, too, wants to see a permanent police presence.

“I would like that . . .  my problem is that you do have the end of the line, you do have an abnormal amount of homeless around Babylon station and it’s also a burden to our fire department.”

Village code enforcement officers issue tickets for violations like smoking on the platform, but other infractions are the purview of the MTA police, and streets surrounding it are Suffolk County police jurisdiction. 

Scordino said a coordinated effort by agencies helps prevent major issues.

Aaron Stein, a Babylon resident and member of the Babylon Fire Department, said the department often respond to overdose calls at the station. 

“Any place that kids can hang out, or people can hang out and not be bothered is going to lend itself to being a problem,” he said. “But I really don’t think it’s worse than anywhere else.”

Some, like Tommi-Grace Melito, say they haven’t had issues there.

Melito grew up in Babylon and used the train “all the time” before moving to Great Neck in 2013.

“There have always been homeless people at the train station,” and she never felt unsafe, she said.