TODAY'S PAPER
54° Good Afternoon
SEARCH
54° Good Afternoon

Month: April 2017

Your college admissions experience

Posted on by Erin Geismar
Print
Share Tweet Email

Tell us about your family’s college admissions experience

It’s that time of year when Long Island high school seniors’ attentions turn to their inboxes as they wait patiently for an email that will confirm or dash their hopes and dreams. The college admissions process is underway.

The journey to college acceptance is a long one that often involves the whole family and starts years before that fateful letter arrives. As families around the Island celebrate and console their high schoolers this month, share your experiences — from financial aid forms to campus visits; from the good to the bad — with Newsday readers.

Submit a response

Thank you for your submission. Check back soon to see if it was posted.

Please respond in 250 words or less. Your response becomes the property of Newsday Media Group. It will be edited and may be republished in all media.

How the New York state budget affects Long Island

Posted on by Erin Geismar

EducationBoost for LI schools; college tuition help

The budget approved over the weekend by the State Legislature includes a $1.1 billion increase in school aid that boosts funding by more than 6 percent statewide. Long Island schools will get an extra $129 million in state financial aid for the 2017-18 academic year. Statewide, the budget includes $800 million to expand half-day and full-day prekindergarten in high-need school districts. The budget also allocates $35 million in new funding to create 22,000 more spots in after-school programs in communities with high rates of poverty. The state budget also includes $400,000 to award to at least 60 teachers, for use in their professional development training. The budget contains Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s “college affordability” proposal, which will mean families with income of under $125,000 will get the balance of public college tuition paid after federal student aid is factored in, and private college students will get more Tuition Assistance Plan money. The plan requires the colleges themselves to cover some costs, and doesn’t cover room, board and fees. Also, SUNY tuition was increased by $200 a year for 3 years from the current $6,470. — SCOTT EIDLER

Criminal justiceShielding youth from adult prisons

The budget contains a provision to “raise the age” of criminal responsibility in New York from age 16 to 18 for all but the most violent crimes. New York and North Carolina had been the only two states that set it at 16, meaning suspects that young would be handled in adult criminal courts. Those who supported the change say that handling 16-year-olds in an adult court too often means they will wind up in adult prisons — such as Rikers Island — where they can be abused and be on their way to a life of crime, recidivism and neglect, without any real chance for rehabilitation and improving one’s life. Under the new provision, all misdemeanor cases involving 16- and 17-year-olds will start in Family Court. All nonviolent felonies will go to a newly created “youth court,” which will be a wing of criminal court. Unless a district attorney makes a motion to keep the case in youth court within 30 days, it will go to family court. Youth court will contain social-services representatives. Violent felonies will begin in youth court. But to stay in the criminal court system the case must involve either a deadly weapon, significant physical injury or criminal sexual conduct. Suspects in youth court can be sentenced as adults, although judges will be required to consider the age of the defendant in sentencing. — YANCEY ROY

EnvironmentLI clean water research gets funding

The budget includes $2.5 billion for the Clean Water Infrastructure Act, which will help local governments pay for wastewater and drinking water infrastructure improvements, including treatment systems to remove contaminants. The investment includes a $75 million rebate program to update and replace septic systems and cesspools, which contribute to nitrogen-loading and damage area waterways. The act also includes $110 million for land preservation aimed at protecting water quality, $130 million for hazardous waste cleanup and $20 million to replace lead pipes. The budget also gives $300 million to the Environmental Protection Fund, which pays for solid waste, parks, recreation and open space programs. It also funds climate change mitigation and resiliency programs. On Long Island, $1 million will go to the Center for Clean Water Technology at Stony Brook University to research methods to remove 1,4-dioxane from water supplies, $2 million to Long Island’s central pine barrens, $1.5 million for Suffolk County sewer improvements, $5 million to Nassau County for the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant and $250,000 for the Long Island Commission for Aquifer Protection. — EMILY DOOLEY

EnergyA focus on clean energy

The budget provides for $15 million in additional funding into an existing $30 million fund for communities statewide affected by power-plant closings, said Amy Paulin (D-Scarsdale), chair of the Assembly energy committee. The so-called electric generation facility cessation mitigation program is designed for communities facing closure of plants that pay millions in payments in lieu of taxes. The budget also includes a $500,000 plan backed by Assemb. Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) to bring green-energy funds to public housing to encourage a level of independence from the grid. The budget also includes an additional $2.1 million for a federal-state program to maintain a former nuclear-fuel processing plant in upstate West Valley, said Morris Peters, a state budget office spokesman. The budget includes $23 million for clean-energy tax credits to “encourage progress toward our energy goals,” said Assemb. Fred Thiele (I-Sag Harbor), while extending an Alternative Fuels and Electric Vehicle Recharging Property Tax credit for an additional five years. The budget also provides for establishment of an Indian Point Closure Task Force to “assess the various impacts of the plant’s closure . . . ,” Thiele’s office said. — MARK HARRINGTON

EconomyMajor overhaul to workers' compensation

Efforts to expand Long Island’s biotechnology industry got a big boost in the 2017-18 state budget, executives said. The spending plan committed $620 million in tax breaks and grants over five years to biotech startups, drugmakers and producers of medical devices across the state. Area leaders have identified biotech as a sector deserving of state support because of its high-paying jobs and the potential to form startups based on research from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Stony Brook University, Northwell Health’s Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and others. Some executives also lauded changes in the budget to workers’ compensation, which they said would reduce the costs to employers by more than $350 million per year. The changes, the first major overhaul of the comp system since 2007, include limits on temporary benefits paid to injured workers, updated guidelines for medical impairment determinations and ways to reduce prescription drug costs. Despite their earlier criticism, state lawmakers agreed to $750 million in state tax credits and grants to be awarded through Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development Councils process, now in its seventh year. An additional $100 million will be doled out in the second Downtown Revitalization Initiative. — JAMES T. MADORE

TransportationUber, Lyft authorized -- with a catch

The budget includes funding for several new transportation initiatives throughout the state and to save some Nassau bus service that was on the chopping block. The budget increased transit operating aid by 2 percent above Cuomo’s proposed executive budget, which kept it flat. The boost provides an extra $1.3 million to Nassau County — enough to spare three of the 10 NICE Bus routes previously pegged for elimination. The budget also authorized ride-sharing services, such as Uber and Lyft, on Long Island, but does not earmark user surcharges to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority or local transit agencies, as some advocates lobbied for. It also allows big municipalities such as Nassau and Suffolk to opt out of the ride-sharing authorization. Also included in the budget is $564 million to reconfigure the Van Wyck Expressway, including at the Grand Central Parkway; $700 million for the transformation of Penn Station and expansion into the Farley Post Office building across Eighth Avenue; $130 million to speed up planned improvements to the Nassau Expressway (Route 878) in Nassau, including to reduce flooding; and $120 million for various Long Island Rail Road improvements, including $80 million to renovate 16 stations. — ALFONSO CASTILLO

What Do You Really Know About Your Librarian?

Posted on by Erin Geismar

People may ask why librarians are needed, given all the information at our digital fingertips.

Here’s a thought from author Neil Gaiman: “Google can bring you back 100,000 answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one.”

Often the right one is vital, as increasingly librarians are providing social services types of support, such as helping patrons pin down accurate information on medical conditions, details on continuing education programs, resources for finding new jobs, said Kevin Verbesey, director of the Suffolk Cooperative Library System.

That may sound like private stuff, but not to worry. Privacy is near and dear to librarians, so no matter how sensitive the subject — infertility, addiction, bankruptcy, public assistance — they’re trained to keep your details confidential.

Librarians are also on the forefront of helping people of all ages develop information literacy – that includes the ability to tell “what’s real news and what’s not real news,” Verbesey said.

Of course, the “fun part” is also there, he said — when people come in mentioning a film or book and ask, “What else would I like?”

For these and many other reasons, librarians and their colleagues can take a sweeping bow on Tuesday, which is National Library Workers Day, part of the American Library Association’s National Library Week.

Do you know a librarian or two you can go and salute?

What they want you to know

Stereotyped years ago as prim scolds, passing out books and shushing people, librarians’ image today’s is more of service-oriented techno-wizards. One of their missions is to help people with all kinds of electronic and multimedia content, lend out digital devices –- even help patrons figure out how to turn them on.

Vital statistics

How many librarians on Long Island?

2,420

Librarians on Long Island, working in various settings

$53,770

Entry-level salary

$91,820

Experienced salary

How many library assistants on Long Island?

Library assistants help patrons find books and materials; answer basic questions; sort and shelve books and materials; and could also be driving bookmobiles.

1,520

Library assistants on Long Island

$19,750

Entry-level salary

$39,980

Experienced salary

Actually, “salaries vary quite a bit, depending on the kind of library and location,” said Thomas Walker, director of the Palmer School of Library and Information Science at LIU Post.

Source: Occupational Employment Statistics Survey

Where they work

Public libraries

Legal venues, such as the Nassau County Supreme Court

Schools

Historical societies

Colleges and universities

Companies (such as Estee Lauder)

Hospitals

In the hot seat

What’s it like taking calls, emails and texted questions from the public?

You never know what you’re going to get. “Anything from helping someone with homework to helping someone find housing,” said one librarian in Suffolk County.

It could be a:

-“what should I read next?” request;

-help with a tech gadget;

-career guidance;

-questions related to business, medical issue, history, social science.

Come again?

Librarians get a fair share of odd questions, too. The New York Public Library on Twitter and Instagram even tags regularly some of its oddest requests through the years with #LetMeLibrarianThatForYou, a hashtag also adopted by others.

We asked librarians at the Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library and the Port Washington Public Library – What’s the strangest question you’ve ever been asked?

My girlfriend left her three pigs at my house but is no longer talking to me. I do not know what to do with her pet pigs. Is it legal to keep pigs on my property in the Town of Brookhaven?

A patron explained that she was scheduled for surgery and was more worried about what would happen to her beloved cat if the surgery took a tragic turn. She asked for help writing a trust to ensure the cat would be taken care of.

I’m calling from Florida. I left my wallet at the Farmer’s Table in Boca last night. Sure hope they have it! Do you have their phone number? Do you ever get to Boca?

I lost power in my house. How long can I keep this defrosted chicken? How about the chili?

A patron came into the library with a bag of dead bugs and asked, “what are these?”

I need to prove that my son is in jail. Cablevision says he opened an account recently, and that’s not possible!

Resources used by the librarians to answer these questions, from top left: Requirements for pig permits at brookhavenny.gov; legal books and websites on trusts and wills for the care of pets; Google; Nassau County Department of Health (and the sound advice: “When in doubt, throw it out!”); insect identification guide; Nassau County Correctional Center.

What should I read next…?

What are librarians recommending as follow-up reading to “The Girl on the Train,” the most checked-out book in 2016 in both Nassau and Suffolk library systems?

“Try Not to Breathe,” Holly Seddon

“I Let You Go,” Clare Mackintosh

“The Widow,” Fiona Barton

“Behind Her Eyes,” Sarah Pinborough “Dark Places,” Gillian Flynn
“Gone Girl,” Gillian Flynn

“Losing You,” Nicci French
“The Collector,” Nora Roberts
“In a Dark Dark Wood,” Ruth Ware

“The Other Woman’s House,” Sophie Hannah
“The Pocket Wife,” Susan Crawford

“Watching Edie,” Camilla Way
“The Good Girl,” Mary Kubica
“The Woman in Cabin Ten,” Ruth Ware

Photos: AP | Recommendations by the librarians at Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library

Becoming a librarian

Most employers require a master’s degree accredited by the American Library Association.

In addition to that, it’s common for those looking to work in academic libraries, such as at colleges and universities, to have multiple degrees…including other master’s degrees, a J.D. or Ph.D, said Thomas Walker, director of the Palmer School of Library and Information Science at LIU Post.

School librarians, known in New York State as library media specialists, must have that master’s degree, along with state teacher certification, says the state education department.

Public librarians also need a certificate from New York State.

Who’s studying to be a librarian?

There are 266 students now in the Palmer School of Library and Information Science at LIU Post, with 211 of them in the Master of Science in Library and Information Science program.

About 30% enrolled at Palmer are students of color, said Thomas Walker, director.

About 82% of the MSLIS students are women.

As for age – most are in their 20s and 30s. But there are routinely students in their 40s and 50s. And some entering at retirement age.

Good news for career changers, he said – “a person can acquire an MSLIS after earning any bachelor’s degree.”

That’s because those from varying disciplines can contribute in some way. For instance, a former accountant might work with business materials in a public library or a geographer might work in a map library.

Other area schools:

-Division of Library and Information Science, St. John’s University, Queens

-Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, Queens College, CUNY

-School of Information, Pratt Institute, Manhattan

Last, but not least

Research assistance for this visual article was provided by Newsday librarians, especially Caroline Curtin.

What we know about the missile strike on Syria

Posted on by Erin Geismar

President Donald Trump ordered a missile strike early Friday on a Syrian air base in response to this week’s chemical attack, which marked the first time the U.S. has directly targeted Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.

The overnight missile attack was condemned by Assad’s allies in Russia and Iran but welcomed by the Syrian opposition and its supporters, who expressed hope it signaled a turning point in the devastating six-year-old civil war.

The bombing represents Trump’s most dramatic military order since taking office and thrusts the U.S. administration deeper into the complex Syrian conflict.

Here’s what we know about the attack and its implications:

Credit: Newsday / Rod Eyer

The details of the attack

About 60 U.S. Tomahawk missiles hit the Shayrat air base, southeast of Homs, a small installation with two runways, where aircraft often take off to bomb targets in northern and central Syria. The U.S. missiles hit at 3:45 a.m. (0045 GMT) Friday morning and targeted the base’s airstrips, hangars, control tower and ammunition areas, U.S. officials said.

They were fired from two warships in the Mediterranean Sea, in retaliation for Tuesday’s deadly chemical attack, which officials said used chlorine mixed with a nerve agent, possibly sarin.

The Syrian military said at least seven people were killed and nine wounded in the strike.

Trump’s statement

My fellow Americans:

On Tuesday, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad launched a horrible chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians. Using a deadly nerve agent, Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children. It was a slow and brutal death for so many. Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack. No child of God should ever suffer such horror.

Tonight, I ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched.

It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons.

There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention, and ignored the urging of the U.N. Security Council.

Read the full statement

Syria’s response

Assad’s office called the U.S. missile strike “reckless” and “irresponsible.” The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitor, also put the death toll at seven, including a general and three soldiers.

Syria has denied using chemical weapons.

Syrian civil war and U.S. response The U.S. attack on a Syrian air base came after years of heated debate and deliberation in Washington over intervention in the bloody civil war.

01 March 2011

March 2011

Protests erupt in the city of Daraa over security forces' detention of a group of boys accused of painting anti-government graffiti on the walls of their school. On March 15, a protest is held in Damascus' Old City. On March 18, security forces open fire on a protest in Daraa, killing four people in what activists regard as the first deaths of the uprising. Demonstrations spread, as does the crackdown by President Bashar Assad's forces.

01 April 2011

April 2011

Security forces raid a sit-in in Syria's third-largest city, Homs, where thousands of people tried to create the mood of Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of protests against Egypt's autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

18 August 2011

Obama responds

President Barack Obama calls on Assad to resign and orders Syrian government assets frozen.

20 August 2012

Summer 2012: Fighting spreads to Aleppo

Obama says the use of chemical weapons would be a "red line" that would change his calculus on intervening in the civil war and have "enormous consequences."

19 March 2013

Sarin nerve gas kills 26 people

The Syrian government and opposition trade accusations over a gas attack that killed some 26 people, including more than a dozen government soldiers, in the town of Khan al-Assal in northern Syria. A U.N. investigation later finds that sarin nerve gas was used, but does not identify a culprit.

21 August 2013

Another gas attack kills hundreds

Hundreds of people suffocate in rebel-held suburbs of the Syrian capital, with many suffering from convulsions, pinpoint pupils, and foaming at the mouth. U.N. investigators visit the sites and determine that ground-to-ground missiles loaded with sarin were fired on civilian areas while residents slept. The U.S. and others blame the Syrian government, the only party to the conflict known to have sarin gas.

31 August 2013

Obama lacks support for strikes

Obama says he will go to Congress for authorization to carry out punitive strikes against the Syrian government, but appears to lack the necessary support in the legislature.

27 September 2013

Syria ordered to destroy chemical weapons

The U.N. Security Council orders Syria to account for and destroy its chemical weapons stockpile, following a surprise agreement between Washington and Moscow, averting U.S. strikes. The Security Council threatens to authorize the use of force in the event of non-compliance.

14 October 2013

Syria becomes a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention, prohibiting it from producing, stockpiling or using chemical weapons.

23 June 2014

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons says it has removed the last of the Syrian government's chemical weapons. Syrian opposition officials maintain that the government's stocks were not fully accounted for, and that it retained supplies.

23 September 2014

U.S. airstrikes target IS

The U.S. launches airstrikes on Islamic State group targets in Syria.

07 August 2015

Reports of chlorine gas attacks

The U.N. Security Council authorizes the OPCW and U.N. investigators to probe reports of chemical weapons use in Syria, as reports circulate of repeated chlorine gas attacks by government forces against civilians in opposition-held areas. Chlorine gas, though not as toxic as nerve agents, can be classified as a chemical weapon depending on its use.

24 August 2016

Syrian government held responsible

The joint OPCW-U.N. panel determines the Syrian government twice used helicopters to deploy chlorine gas against its opponents, in civilian areas in the northern Idlib province. A later report holds the government responsible for a third attack. The attacks occurred in 2014 and 2015. The panel also finds that the Islamic State group used mustard gas.

28 February 2017

Russia, China stand with Syria

Russia, a stalwart ally of the Syrian government, and China veto a U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing sanctions against the Syrian government for chemical weapons use.

04 April 2017

Trump rebukes Assad

President Donald Trump issues a statement saying that the "heinous" actions of Assad's government are the direct result of Obama administration's "weakness and irresolution."

04 April 2017

Nerve gas attack kills dozens

At least 58 people are killed in what doctors say could be a nerve gas attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun in the rebel-held Idlib province. Victims show signs of suffocation, convulsions, foaming at the mouth and pupil constriction. Witnesses say the attack was carried out by either Russian or Syrian Sukhoi jets. Moscow and Damascus deny responsibility.

05 April 2017

Trump says Assad's government has "crossed a lot of lines" with the suspected chemical attack in Syria.

06 April 2017

U.S. fires missiles into Syria

The U.S. fired a barrage of cruise missiles into Syria Thursday night in retaliation for this week's gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians, U.S. officials said. It was the first direct American assault on the Syrian government and Trump's most dramatic military order since becoming president. Trump said strike on Syria in the "vital national security interest" of the United States.

Russia’s response

The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin believes the U.S. strike is an “aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law.” Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin believes the U.S. launched the strikes under a “far-fetched pretext.”

“Washington’s move deals a significant blow to the Russia-U.S. relations, which are already in a deplorable shape,” Peskov said. He added that the attack creates a “serious obstacle” for creating an international coalition against terrorism.

In the aftermath of the attack, Russia announced it would suspend the “deconfliction line” — the same information-sharing line the U.S. used to warn Russia about the attack ahead of time. It’s the first time the line has been severed. Russia still has several dozen warplanes and batteries of air defense missiles at its base near Latakia, Syria.

A Syrian child receives treatment after an alleged chemical attack at a field hospital in Saraqib, in Idlib province in northern Syria, on Tuesday, April 4, 2017. EPA photo.

What’s next for U.S.-Russia relations

Lt. Col. Michelle L. Baldanza, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said the U.S. military wants to continue to talk to Russia. “It is to the benefit of all parties operating in the air over Syria to avoid accidents and miscalculation, and we hope the Russian Ministry of Defense comes to this conclusion as well,” Baldanza said.

The U.S. maintains radar coverage and has other surveillance means to know who is in the air. However, ending the cooperation will mean U.S. and coalition pilots will be flying into Syrian airspace not knowing if Russian forces plan their own operations in the same places. Airwars, a nonprofit monitoring airstrikes in the war against the Islamic State group, noted that U.S.-led attacks typically focus on areas away from Russian activity, though ending the cooperation represents “a worrying development.”

What’s next in Syria?

The bombing represents Trump’s most dramatic military order since taking office and thrusts the U.S. administration deeper into the complex Syrian conflict. The Obama administration threatened to attack Assad’s forces after previous chemical attacks, but never followed through.

The U.S. had initially focused on diplomatic efforts, pressing the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution to condemn Syria’s suspected use of chemical weapons. But the vote was canceled because of differences among the 15 members.

The Security Council plans to meet Friday morning for a briefing on the U.S. strike.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said before the airstrike Thursday afternoon that Assad should no longer have a role in governing the Syrian people and the U.S. is evaluating an appropriate response.

Response from around the world

World leaders rallied around the United States after it launched a missile strike. Saudi Arabia and Turkey, which support the Syrian opposition, welcomed the missile strike, with Riyadh calling it a “courageous decision” by Trump. Iran called it a “dangerous” unilateral action that would “strengthen terrorists” and further complicate the conflict.

The British government says it was informed in advance about the strike and firmly supports the American action.

Prime Minister Theresa May’s office says the action was “an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical weapons attack launched by the Syrian regime, and is intended to deter further attacks.” France, Italy and Israel also welcomed the strikes.

A measured response from U.S. politicians

Amid measured support for the U.S. cruise missile attack on a Syrian air base, some vocal Republicans and Democrats reprimanded the White House for launching the strike without first getting congressional approval.

The politically diverse group ranges from the libertarian-leaning Kentucky GOP Rep. Tom Massie to Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat and Hillary Clinton’s running mate in 2016. They’ve told Trump the U.S. Constitution gives Congress sole power to declare war and said the president needs to convince them that they should.

What Syrian civilians have said so far

A survivor of the chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun told the AP he hopes the U.S. missile attack puts an end to government airstrikes, creating a safe area for civilians.

Alaa Alyousef, a 27-year old resident of Khan Sheikhoun, said the U.S. missile attack “alleviates a small part of our suffering,” but he said he worried it would be an “anesthetic” that numbs their pain and saves face for the international community.

“What good is a strike on Shayrat air base alone while we have more than 15 other air bases,” he said. Alyousef lost at least 25 relatives in the chemical attack.

See complete coverage

Opioid drug overdoses fueled by fentanyl

Posted on by Timothy Healy

In 2016 on Long Island at least 555 people died of opioid drug overdoses, with fentanyl being involved in at least 275 deaths. Here are details from the medical examiners in Nassau and Suffolk on overdose deaths where opioids were listed in the cause of death or mixed with other drugs that caused death. “Total opioid deaths” encompasses all deaths in which a single or multiple opioids, with or without other classes of drugs, is determined to have caused the death. Deaths may be represented in more than one drug’s row.

NASSAU2010201120122013201420152016
Total Opioid Deaths82109126132149177195
Heroin23323844536653
Oxycodone28364239444949
Hydrocodone7493555
Hydromorphone7551443
Codeine4141230
Morphine1101116231931
Buprenorphine0004738
Fentanyl75312152267
Acetylfentanyl—————97
Furanyl Fentanyl——————7
Methadone20262013172023
Oxymorphone—976882
Opiate(s) 101520121417
U-47700——————3
        
SUFFOLK2010201120122013201420152016
Total Opioid Deaths141220208200209259360
Heroin376585104118163144
Fentanyl111621142889208
Fentanyl and Heroin021184574
Oxycodone58916354484671
Cocaine213120414475104
Ethanol17392927152021
Benzodiazepines42506050594088

There was one death in Suffolk in 2013 that is not yet classified, three in 2014, 11 in 2015 and 16 in 2016. Nassau figures, issued in January 2018, were as of Sept. 15, 2017.

Javascript charts via amCharts

LIRR trouble: Tips for navigating delays and cancellations

Posted on by Erin Geismar

Train derailments are a big deal. Making repairs often entails lifting one or more 125,000-pound train cars and putting them back on the tracks, towing them away, and then repairing or replacing damaged track.

There’s often no telling how long it will take, especially if a derailment occurs in or near Penn Station, where Amtrak, and not the Long Island Rail Road, performs repairs and where spaces can be confined. Complicating matters, repairs often can only be conducted outside peak hours, when fewer trains are running. Then there’s more space to work, and more resources available.

Although Monday’s NJ Transit derailment did not affect the tracks or tunnels that the LIRR uses, it has given up access to some tracks during the rush hours, so that NJ Transit and Amtrak can operate. That means fewer LIRR trains running to and from Penn Station, extensive delays, and crowding.

Here are some tips to help commuters navigate the problems:

Traveling outside of peak hours

Upside: Your commute may very well be close to normal.

Downside: You’ll have to leave work very early or stay very late.

Even with fewer tracks available at Penn Station, the LIRR has enough capacity to run its normal off-peak schedule, which the LIRR defines as any time besides 6-10 a.m. and 4-8 p.m. on weekdays.

The earlier, or later, you can travel outside the rush hour, the better.

Trains will probably be more crowded than you would usually find during off-hours, but there’s less chance of disruptions — as long as nothing else goes wrong.

If you’re buying a daily LIRR ticket, traveling during off-peak hours is also cheaper, and it may be a little easier to find parking at a station.

Traveling to/from Atlantic Terminal

Upside: There are plenty of trains at this terminal.

Downside: You’ll likely have to transfer.

The Downtown Brooklyn station is the LIRR’s original New York City terminal, and its second busiest, with plenty of trains running during peak and off-peak hours.

Unless you travel on a few select lines that run directly to and from Brooklyn, including Hempstead and Far Rockaway, it’s likely you’ll have to transfer, but you can connect to any branch other than the Port Washington line at Jamaica.

Brooklyn trains may be more crowded than usual during a Penn Station service disruption, but it’s less likely they will be canceled or delayed.

This option might be especially convenient to commuters working in Lower Manhattan, which is a short subway ride from Atlantic Terminal on the 4 and 5 lines. New York City Transit is cross-honoring LIRR fares during peak hours on its 2, 3 subway lines, which connect Atlantic Terminal to Penn Station. Connections are also available to the B, D, N, Q and R trains. 

Traveling to/from Hunterspoint Avenue

Upside: Easy access for commuters from the East Side; double-decker trains.

Downside: This option only works during peak hours.

The LIRR’s little-used third New York City terminal may be a good option for some LIRR commuters, especially those working on Manhattan’s East Side. Grand Central Terminal is a short subway ride away on the 7 line, which is cross-honoring LIRR fares during peak hours.

However, relatively few trains run to and from the outdoor Queens station, and then only during peak hours — 6 to 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 to 7 p.m. Even fewer trains run to another station just west, Long Island City.

Because only diesel trains run to and from Hunterspoint Avenue, there’s a good chance you’ll have to transfer at Jamaica. On the upside, the double-decker diesel trains are more spacious and comfortable than most.

Traveling to/from Penn Station

Upside: More trains mean a better chance of getting on one.

Downside: Heavy crowds for trains means you might not get one.

Even with several rush hour cancelations, the LIRR still runs more trains to and from Penn Station than other stations. So, for some commuters, it may be their best option.

Expect heavier crowds than usual at Penn and on trains, and delays.

Riders should download the LIRR’s free Train Time app for real-time updates on delays and cancellations and sign up for email and text-service alerts at mymtaalerts.com.

Skip the LIRR altogether

Upside: Traveling via other mass transit is likely more predictable, and cheaper.

Downside: You’ll add hours to your trip.

Some commuters have other options including driving, taxis, ride-sharing services, the subway or, if they’re lucky, telecommuting.

If you’ve got the time, but want to keep the cost of your commute down, you can take the E, J and Z trains to Jamaica, Queens and connect to your LIRR train there. There are also several NICE Bus routes that operate out of Jamaica and offer free transfers from the subway for MetroCard users. They include routes serving Hempstead, Great Neck, Mineola, and other communities along the way.

Some buses even offer Wi-Fi connections and USB charging stations. Traveling by bus could add hours to your trip, but it may also be a little more predictable.

360 View: Mets Opening Day at Citi Field

Posted on by Mark LaMonica
Mets

360 View: Mets Opening Day at Citi Field

The scene at Citi Field before the Mets opened the 2017 season vs. Braves

Alt Video TextPlay 360° Video

Experience the Mets 2017 Opening Day with a 360-degree video of the sights and sounds inside and out of Citi Field. (Newsday / Jeffrey Basinger, Robert Cassidy)

Note: On mobile devices, the 360-degree video experience can be viewed only in the YouTube app.

Share on Facebook Tweet on Twitter