(The following was sent in response by New Hyde Park Village Mayor Daniel Petruccio to a Newsday editorial published on April 27 in support of Governor Spitzer and Mayor Bloomberg's stand on the LIRR Third Track Project and is published in The Illustrated at the mayor's request. mdw)

Response to Newsday Editorial 4/27

Where do the editors of Newsday reside? Do any of them live near or on Covert Avenue and New Hyde Park Road in the Village of New Hyde Park? To stand off at a safe distance and pontificate about politicians with the vision to allow a project that will force people from their homes is the height of hypocrisy.

The arguments in favor of the Third Track project are based on speculation and conjecture. The fallacy that there is a need to accommodate a reverse commute is clearly evident to anyone who looks at the statistics provided by the LIRR that indicate that ridership is down. Where are the workers that are waiting to commute from the city to Long Island to work in the dwindling manufacturing sector? The consequences of this project reverberate beyond the devastating loss of property and the displacement of residents from their homes, there will be increased noise pollution and vibration experienced along the entire length of this project. Increased commercial truck traffic through our community along Covert Avenue and New Hyde Park Road will have a permanent impact on our community that cannot be reversed.

Political officials on both sides of the aisle need to stop using an issue as significant as the Third Track project to further their political careers. Newsday needs to step away from the coattails of Governor Spitzer and serve the residents of Nassau County and not the special interests who will financially benefit from this project. Putting up Eliot Spitzer and Mayor Michael Bloomberg as role models for other elected officials is absurd. Most of the elected officials I come in contact with on the local level are balancing two jobs and a mortgage while serving the needs of their residents. Can Eliot Spitzer and Mayor Bloomberg really empathize with the middle class residents living on Covert Avenue who are in danger of losing their homes?

The opponents of this project are often accused of "Nimbyism"; this project is not coming through our backyard it is being driven through our homes. The plan that is being proposed by the MTA offers no alternative to the present design. The Village of New Hyde Park has made several requests for all of the information used by the MTA in deciding on this project. To date that information has not been forthcoming.

The Newsday editor writes about the need for growth on Long Island but fails to address the personal cost. This project needs to be judged on its merits and not on the political rhetoric being doled out by the editors of Newsday. The residents of New Hyde Park are tired of Eliot Spitzer and Newsday telling us what is in our best interest. Is it a coincidence that as of April 23 Eliot Spitzer has assembled a commission to explore the elimination of the layers of local government? With the villages out of the way projects which Eliot Spitzer deems good for our community will be railroaded down our throats with no opposition.

Big government does not know what is best for the local community.

Daniel P. Petruccio

Mayor of the Incorporated Village of New Hyde Park