NYS to spend $150M in MacArthur Airport-LIRR connector

The state will spend $150 million to connect the Ronkonkoma LIRR station with a yet-to-be-built northern terminal at Long Island MacArthur Airport, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday — a move experts suspect will reinvigorate plans for that terminal project.

The connection would link two major transportation hubs in Suffolk County and would specifically adjoin the proposed terminal, according to officials.

“We’re redesigning the roadwork networks, and the parking garages and the utility systems, and also allowing the Town of Islip and Suffolk County to unlock the potential of 48 acres of land — and land is priceless, especially down here," Hochul said at the airport Wednesday morning.

The timeline for the connection is "as soon as possible," she said, and the funds will allow the town and county "to fulfill their vision of what they want" that land used for.

Hochul's announcement comes weeks after Suffolk County canceled plans for a $2.8 billion Ronkonkoma redevelopment that would have included the new air terminal and a link between it and the train station. The status of the project remains unclear. 

Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine, also at the event Wednesday, announced another $50 million for infrastructure but did not elaborate. 

Marc Herbst, executive director of the Long Island Contractors’ Association, said the governor indicated in her remarks that the project remained in local hands.

“This is a goodwilled gesture to help expedite and reinvigorate the discussion” about the northern terminal and potential development in the area, he said, adding he believes there will “be movement in the near future.”

In a news release, state officials touted the initiative as proof of the governor's "commitment to the development of a new terminal" at the Ronkonkoma airport, to which Hochul committed $40 million in 2022. 

The project, according to the state, will include a pedestrian walkway connecting the northern terminal and the train station and other infrastructure upgrades, including redesigned road networks. 

Development underway to the north

The transit link would serve about 19,000 Ronkonkoma residents, including those in the $1.2 billion Station Yards multiuse development currently under construction on the north side of the LIRR tracks, in Brookhaven Town. When completed, that development is expected to have up to 1,450 apartments and hundreds of thousands of square feet of retail and office space.

In December, Islip town council members voted 4-1 to table $872,000 that would have covered engineering studies and a search for potential builders for the northern terminal, Newsday has reported. Islip Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter, who cast the lone yes vote, said at the time that she'd like to move forward "as quickly as practically possible" to avoid potentially increased costs for the project, which would have pulled from a $15 million restricted fund reserved for airport expenses. 

On Wednesday, Carpenter said of the project: “It’s just a matter of making it happen.”

Last month, Suffolk County terminated Chicago real estate conglomerate JLL as master developer of the former Midway Crossing project, the $2.8 billion convention and health offices complex that had been proposed for county-owned land north of the airport and south of the train station.

County officials said the developer had not made significant progress toward arranging staff and financing for the project, which also would have included a hotel and the air terminal, Newsday has previously reported.

The county planned to seek a new developer and proposals for the 179 acres at that location, Newsday has reported.

'A generational opportunity'

When asked, Suffolk County spokesman Mike Martino said the governor's announcement does not signal the launch of new development plans for the site.

However, John Rizzo, an economist and Stony Brook University professor, called the announcement "a shot in the arm" for the proposed north terminal. 

"It makes the terminal more attractive and economically viable, which is why I suspect it’s being done," he said, highlighting the importance of improving transportation infrastructure, especially in mid- and eastern Long Island.

The influx of state funding represents a "generational opportunity to establish a preeminent transportation hub" by connecting the airport to the LIRR station, "as Amtrak continues to assess bringing its service there," Matt Cohen, president and CEO of business advocacy group the Long Island Association, said in an emailed statement. Cohen is also on the Town of Islip’s Long Island MacArthur Airport Advisory Board.

Newsday reported last year the Federal Railroad Administration had launched a $500,000 study aimed at extending Amtrak service from Moynihan Train Hall in Manhattan to Ronkonkoma.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority president Rob Free, in a statement Wednesday, called the Ronkonkoma air-train project "a unique opportunity to help take more cars off the roads,” adding a north terminal would "encourage people to take the train to the airport."

MTA spokesman David Steckel did not provide cost estimates for linking the train station and air terminal.

"It's really huge when you think about it to have a $150 million investment in infrastructure. The opportunities are endless," Carpenter said after the news event. It also shows "confidence in what we're doing here, not only in the town, the airport, but the impact that it's going to have on the region."

With Sam Kmack