(Editor's Note: This letter was originally sent to Peter Palamaro of the Long Island Rail Road Public Affairs and is printed below at the author's request.)

The Garden City Bird Sanctuary, Inc. maintains and manages Nassau County Storm Water Basin No. 232 as a community nature preserve, bordering the LIRR Main Line and Tanners Pond Road in Garden City, in accordance with a Use and Occupancy Permit with the NCDPW. The board of directors is very concerned with continuing and proposed actions by the LIRR along the Main Line corridor.

We support the elimination of five grade crossings, particularly 1) Covert Avenue in New Hyde Park, 2) 12th Street in New Hyde Park, and 3) New Hyde Park Road in New Hyde Park and Garden City. We believe that these crossings are unsafe. However, we request information pertaining to the Denton Road railroad bridge in New Hyde Park and Garden City as we do not have any information on whether this bridge will be affected by grade changes due to the elimination of the crossings, or whether an assessment has been done to upgrade and improve the safety of this railroad bridge.

The board of directors opposes the planned construction of an additional track along the Main Line corridor as unnecessary based on current and estimated future passenger and freight use needs. There is already an insufficient separation of distance from the current track operations that threatens the safety of our neighborhood and our nature preserve. Even with the current track configuration, our site has experienced repeated damage due to sparks and spreading track fires. This spring, a malfunctioning freight train emitted a continuous and excessive number of sparks, which resulted in a series of brush fires at our preserve, and at many locations from Jamaica to Hicksville. The Garden City Fire Department, as well as the New Hyde Park Fire Department, both responded to the alarms and extinguished the fires at our nine-acre site. However, the Garden City Bird Sanctuary has spent thousands of dollars to prevent such damage from re-occurring. We are gravely concerned that the LIRR intends to add an additional track, especially as we have seen no significant actions by the LIRR to prevent repeat occurrences of fires.

In conjunction with the elimination of the New Hyde Park Road grade crossing, the Garden City Bird Sanctuary requests that the MTA/LIRR install a solid, permanent, fireproof barricade along the Main Line extending to the Denton Road railroad bridge. This will protect residents and the Garden City Bird Sanctuary from the continual fire threat from malfunctioning equipment. It will also have the benefit of reducing noise from LIRR and freight trains.

There is an added benefit to installing a permanent barrier along this stretch of the Main Line corridor. It will significantly reduce the number of children who trespass and endanger themselves by running across the tracks between the factories on the north and the Village of Garden City Nassau Haven Park and Garden City Bird Sanctuary on the south side of the tracks. Although the LIRR doesn't like to admit it, there have been pedestrian deaths in this area, and even the Bird Sanctuary site has reportedly been used by a medical helicopter to remove a victim.

The signal/electrical substation installed adjacent to the Denton Road railroad bridge is also a concern since the facility and access to it from Tanners Pond Road is poorly maintained. It is also an "attractive nuisance" that attracts children to trespass the area. What will be done to this facility and the wooden stairs to it as part of the Main Line corridor improvements?

The Garden City Bird Sanctuary supports the elimination of the grade crossing but opposes expansion of the tracks. We have serious concerns about track fires, security and current operations. Further, we support installation of a permanent barrier between the LIRR tracks and the Bird Sanctuary to prevent fires and trespass.

Robert Alvey

President, Garden City Bird Sanctuary