(The following was submitted by the Village of New Hyde Park.)

Village of New Hyde Park Trustee Lawrence Montreuil officially responded to inaccurate comments made by an MTA board member at the Metropolitan Transit Authority's Long Island Committee's November meeting which grossly misrepresented the views widely held by the residents of New Hyde Park and the New Hyde Park Village Board of Trustees.

A sternly worded clarification was read by trustee Lawrence Montreuil at the Dec. 12 meeting at MTA headquarters, and delivered the official Village position regarding the removal of the at grade crossings and the Main Line Corridor Improvement Project.

At the November meeting, the MTA board member Mitchell Pally criticized the village for not appreciating the potential danger presented daily by the continued existence of the at-grade crossings and opined to LIRR President, Helena Williams that the railroad had done too much outreach to the community and suggested that no further efforts be expended to work with the village.

Committee Chair, David S. Mack inferred that perhaps gruesome pictures of the terrible Herricks Road accident of 25 years ago be provided as if to convince New Hyde Park residents of the danger that could await them. Mr. Pally reminded the committee that if at-grade crossings were not eliminated in conjunction with the main line corridor improvement project, they may never be.

The entire meeting is available for viewing at the MTA web site: www.mta.info/mta/webcasts/index.html

The statement affirms the village position that the at-grade crossings should be eliminated, but in a way that has the least impact to the community. Further, the statement explained that the village could not support the third track as presently proposed as it places a disproportionate burden on New Hyde Park, with little gain. The village also restated its desire to work with the Long Island Rail Road and the MTA Board to arrive at a solution to this most serious issue.

The Long Island Rail Road is expected to present a Draft Environmental Impact Statement to the Federal Transit Authority (FTA) in January, 2008, with public hearings to follow in the spring. The railroad will then be required to respond to the input collected at those hearings in a Final Environmental Impact Statement in order to achieve the approval to proceed from the FTA.

The LIRR suggested that construction on New Hyde Park Road at grade crossing could begin as soon as 2009, in advance of the Main Line project.

The New Hyde Park Village Board continues with its aggressive campaign to arrive at the best overall solution for New Hyde Park residents. Mayor Daniel Petruccio recently met with Ms. Williams and along with Deputy Mayor, Robert Lofaro, has represented New Hyde Park as a members of CARE (Citizen's Against Rail Expansion), a consortium of village officials along the main line that are not supportive of the railroad's plan. Mayor Petruccio commented that, "The Village of New Hyde Park will continue to take every reasonable step necessary to preserve and improve our suburban quality of life."

This recent meeting marks another effort taken by the board to deal with this situation. The text of the New Hyde Park Village Trustee Lawrence Montreuil statement is as follows:

"My name is Lawrence Montreuil. I am a trustee with the Incorporated Village of New Hyde Park, and I am speaking on behalf of the mayor and board of trustees of the Village of New Hyde Park, and for the citizens that we represent.

"I am here today to clarify the position of the Village of New Hyde Park regarding the elimination of the at-grade crossings and the project known as the Main Line Improvement Project.

"We felt it necessary to make this clarification after viewing the web-cast of the board's November meeting during which the position of the village regarding these projects was discussed extensively and inaccurately.

"At that meeting, members portrayed the village as opposed to the elimination of the at-grade crossings. Comments were made regarding a lack of concern for public safety regarding the grade crossings. Disturbing inferences were made to sharing photographs of the tragic fatal accident at the Herrick's Road crossing as if to shock the village to its senses.

"These comments were appalling and apparently based on a lack of understanding of the desires, intelligence and morals of residents in the Village of New Hyde Park. So to be clear and for the record, let me state that the Village of New Hyde Park favors the elimination of the at-grade crossings at New Hyde Park Road, South 12th Street and Covert Avenue. The village has not opposed the elimination of these potentially deadly railroad crossings and looks forward to the day when they will not present an obstacle to movement through our neighborhood.

"Our residents are keenly aware that the main line of the LIRR severs the Village of New Hyde Park and creates an unnatural physical barrier between the north and south side of the village. The people of New Hyde Park know better than anyone of the danger, inconvenience and disruption crossing the railroad represents to us. We see and breathe the exhaust fumes from so much traffic that backs up daily, clogging our neighborhood streets while the gates are down.

"These problems are particularly acute for our residents who live on the south side of the tracks. This residential area is virtually cut off from the rest of the village including the fire department, our retail district, churches, schools and our village hall. Many of these residents must navigate across the rails several times a day. It is impossible not to think of the risk each time the tracks are crossed; hoping the gates are working properly, hoping traffic will not stop suddenly, and becoming trapped on the tracks.

"The Village of New Hyde Park joins this board in its desires to remove these dangerous crossings. However, we are not satisfied with the plans that have been presented to date to do so.

"The plans that have been shared with the Village of New Hyde Park are too disruptive to the community and will have a long lasting detrimental effect on this small village. The taking of properties and leaving many, many others with a greatly diminished value, and rerouting truck traffic through residential streets will destroy the quiet suburban quality of life that is the essence of New Hyde Park.

"The fundamental reason the village finds it difficult to support the so called main line improvement project is that the project, while clearly an opportunity to increase capacity and revenue potential for the railroad, does so by placing a disproportionate burden and cost on New Hyde Park. The Village of New Hyde Park does not need additional capacity, and as we understand it, will not see additional trains servicing New Hyde Park. We will be the bypass lane, the express lane for the rest of the region to race through.

"Given that scenario and the increased number of trains, I say again that New Hyde Park agrees with the board that the at-grade crossing eliminations are inextricably linked to the additional track, and we favor the elimination of the three grade crossings in New Hyde Park in a way that does the least to harm the community.

"We maintain that if a third track is to be added, the most desirable solution is to either elevate or lower the tracks below grade. We are anxious to work with the railroad and this board to arrive at a solution that is agreeable to everyone."