North Hempstead moves ahead on Port Washington rail yard plan at last

Port Washington residents could have spent the last year and a half experiencing increased service, added trains and other benefits, as other Long Islanders saw when the Long Island Rail Road’s new terminal at Grand Central Madison opened in 2023.

Instead, they lost out because former elected officials refused to plan for the future. Thanks to years of inaction by the Town of North Hempstead on enlarging the Port Washington rail yard, the LIRR line lacked the capacity to expand service once Grand Central Madison finally opened.

Until now.

Recently, during a 15-minute special meeting, the North Hempstead town board finally — and unanimously — approved a memorandum of understanding between the town and the LIRR in which they “agree to take all such necessary actions as soon as possible” to make the rail yard expansion happen.

The agreement enables the MTA to set aside funds for the rail yard in its future capital plans. The MTA will need to undertake a study to develop the best game plan addressing key questions such as the impact on parking — including the potential elimination of parking spaces and any plans for how to replace them — one of the issues that caused the town’s past reticence.

North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena deserves credit for moving this much-needed improvement along. Problematically, the move comes as the MTA finds itself with a capital budget gap, after Gov. Kathy Hochul’s decision to pause congestion pricing. That introduces uncertainty the MTA — and North Hempstead — wouldn’t have faced if this got done years ago.

It is a lesson for all of Long Island. When elected leaders put off key decisions and fail to plan ahead, especially on critical issues like public transit, they windup hurting their residents.

It’s an important lesson for those involved in efforts to build a rail yard at the Lawrence Aviation Industries site in Port Jefferson Station. There, too, plans for a rail yard could pave the way for service improvements, including the possibility of electrifying the eastern tracks of the Port Jefferson line from Huntington. But there, too, roadblocks exist, including a still-unfinished agreement between the MTA and the state Department of Transportation over the need to divert a state-owned greenway trail that DOT might want to preserve for a possible emergency roadway. Now, officials have agreed to extend their deal-making deadline until December.

Suffolk County, the DOT and the MTA must learn from North Hempstead’s failures. By finalizing the Lawrence Aviation site deal, they’ll be ready for future big moves, including, someday, the holy grail of eliminating diesel engines. Then, Port Jefferson line residents will reap the benefits when the next big project is finally finished.