The state comptroller issued a report calling the 2017 on-time performance of the Long Island Rail Road “unacceptable.” It was, the report said, the worst in 18 years. Out of 248,215 scheduled train runs, 19,218 were late, up 19 percent from 2016. During the year, 1,377 trains were canceled, a 9-percent increase from 2016. You can read more here.
Here are some findings, based on LIRR data along with analysis by the comptroller’s office. All ‘riders” figures are 2016 estimates. (You can also see branch-by-branch data for the LIRR in 2017 and in January, here.
The most frequently canceled trains in 2017
They’re all from Penn Station, and they all depart in the evening.
Here are the details.
Destination
Departs
# Canceled
% Canceled
Estimated Riders
Wantagh
6:05 p.m.
45
17.7%
990
Great Neck
5:50 p.m.
44
17.3%
800
Seaford
5:40 p.m.
42
16.5%
980
Huntington
6:30 p.m.
31
12.2%
1,010
Wantagh
5:19 p.m.
31
12.2%
970
Babylon
6:33 p.m.
27
10.6%
910
Port Washington
6:11 p.m.
24
9.4%
1,100
Port Washington
5:26 p.m.
24
9.4%
760
Wantagh
4:57 p.m.
22
8.7%
570
Port Washington
7:01 p.m.
19
7.5%
1,080
Port Washington
5:11 p.m.
19
7.5%
720
The longest individual train delays in 2017
Trains listed by date and point of origin; delays measured in number of minutes.
Here are the details. Departure and arrival times are scheduled.
Date
Start
End
Depart
Arrive
Delay
11/19
Montauk
Jamaica
7:04 a.m.
9:56 a.m.
166
11/25
Jamaica
Montauk
12:10 p.m.
3:01 p.m.
158
1/3
Huntington
Penn
10:56 p.m.
12:01 a.m.
156
3/28
Babylon
Speonk
7:27 p.m.
8:27 p.m.
155
2/13
Ronkonkoma
Penn
3:15 p.m.
4:37 p.m.
149
4/9
Pt Washington
Penn
4:10 a.m.
4:55 a.m.
145
10/29
Jamaica
Montauk
9:41 p.m.
12:20 a.m.
140
6/29
Jamaica
Montauk
1:10 a.m.
3:57 a.m.
134
11/7
Pt Jefferson
Jamaica
4:06 p.m.
5:39 p.m.
130
11/23
Speonk
Babylon
2:05 p.m.
3:05 p.m.
128
12/16
Ronkonkoma
Penn
2:40 p.m.
3:59 p.m.
128
Worst on-time performance in evening peak for 2017
On-time percentage for each train, listed by destination. Ridership numbers in table below.
Origin
Destination
Departs
On-Time %
Riders
Penn
Babylon
5:59
63.0%
990
Penn
Pt Washington
7:01
64.6%
1,080
Penn
Oyster Bay
6:16
65.0%
630
Penn
Babylon
5:36
66.5%
1,040
Penn
Seaford
5:40
68.5%
980
Penn
Pt Washington
6:24
70.9%
1,010
Penn
Pt Washington
6:11
71.7%
1,100
Penn
Huntington
6:08
72.0%
1,200
Long Island City
Patchogue
4:27
73.2%
370
Penn
Huntington
4:31
73.6%
820
Worst on-time performance in morning peak for 2017
On-time percentage for each train, listed by origin. Ridership numbers included in table below.
Former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano and former Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto are defending themselves in federal court on charges that they abused their official positions for personal gain.
What should Long Islanders do to hold politicians accountable?
The overall unemployment rate on Long Island for January 2018 rose to 4.9 percent, 0.2 percentage points above where it was in January 2017, according to data from the state’s Department of Labor.
The rate in Suffolk was up 0.3 points to 5.3 percent and the rate in Nassau was up 0.1 points to 4.5 percent. You can
read more here.
Click on the bar chart for details, or check on the tables below.
While January and February are the heavy-hitter months for snow, March can also pack a punch, with this year delivering four nor’easters in three weeks (though the first was more of a sleety, rainy event), and a fourth on the way.
Here’s a quick look at March snowfall at Long Island MacArthur Airport, where records go back to September of 1963.
Top snowfall from a storm – 18.4 inches
March 21-22, 2018
Tagged by some as #foureaster, this was the fourth in a steady stream of nor’easters that had Long Islanders wondering if they would ever be able to store their shovels.
With 12 to 18 inches in the forecast, and light to moderate snow already falling, area residents were on alert, waiting and waiting all day Wednesday, March 21, for the heavy bands to come along.
And, did they ever come! One produced snowfall rates of 4 to 5 inches an hour, leaving MacArthur Airport digging out from 18.4 inches when all was said and done. Patchogue saw 20.1 inches; Terryville, 19.7; Plainview, 16.
Runner-up – 17 inches
March 21-22, 1967
This storm, Newsday reported, was unexpected and “left Long Island a tangled mess of deep drifts, stalled cars, closed schools in some places and cold, complaining residents.”
Long Islanders – and forecasters – were taken by surprise, as the expectation was for mostly rain.
In Selden, one driver skidded into a snowbank, followed shortly by another, then by a police squad car and then a highway truck, before “a heavy sand truck and two tow trucks arrived and pulled everyone free,” Newsday said.
It showed, too, that some people, given their professions, are better equipped to bounce back than others. One man harnessed his two elephants and got them to pull his car free. That was the elephant trainer with a circus that was opening the next day at the Long Island Arena in Commack.
Third place – 13.5 inches
March 1-2, 2009
“Start with a foot or more of snow,” Newsday reported. “Then throw in bitter cold and gusting winds. And you have a recipe for a highway chief’s nightmare.”
This system came on the heels of “weeks of balmy weather,” Newsday said in a story titled, “Beware the snow of March.”
One Melville woman stocking up on food at Waldbaum’s said, “It’s crazy. I come back from Florida and return home to 14 inches.”
And while March isn’t usually such a snowy time . . .
How March stacks up in average monthly snowfall:
chart created with amCharts | amCharts
. . . mid-March is no stranger to a significant storm.
Students from West Boca High School in Florida walked to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 20, 2018 in honor of the 17 students and staff who were shot dead there days earlier. Credit: Getty
Some students across Long Island — and the country — walked out of their schools on Wednesday to send a message in the wake of last month’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
The nationwide demonstration, planned for 10 a.m., was expected to last 17 minutes to symbolize the number of students and staff members killed in the Feb. 14 school shooting.
LI school districts performed a delicate dance as they worked both to allow and control student-led walkouts. We asked readers: Do you think students should face disciplinary action if they walk out of their schools Wednesday without their district’s support? Here are their responses.
On March 14, one month after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, thousands of students in schools across the country will walk out of their classes.
Several young activists on Long Island are planning to join the movement, walking out of their schools at 10 a.m. for 17 minutes to honor the 17 victims.
Some say they’re tired of Congress’s failure to pass gun control measures. Others knew people killed or injured in Parkland, Florida and fear a mass shooting could occur at their schools. And many say they were inspired by the activism they’ve seen from their peers in Florida and want to be heard.
Ahead of the demonstration, we spoke to some students about why they’re participating in the walkout.
Alexandra Weissman, senior at Roslyn High School
School administrators have organized a memorial for the 17 victims to take place on March 14, but Weissman, 18, is also asking her peers to walk out, she said.
“This day is supposed to be about students coming together and standing for something that they believe in,” Weissman said. “It’s our duty as students to do that and not necessarily administration.”
Andrew Goldman and Brooke Matalon, seniors at Syosset High School
“There’s a lot of anger and divisiveness, even at our school,” Goldman, 18, said. “But everyone is in favor of there being less school shootings, a greater feeling of safety and wanting to come to a sensible solution on this topic. That’s why we’re walking.”
Hayden Gise, senior at George W. Hewlett High School
Gise, 17, said the shooting “hit home” for a lot of his classmates who knew survivors in Parkland and Scott Beigel, a teacher who was killed while trying to save some of his students.
“We’ve all heard of these mass shootings but it’s different to actually know someone,” Gise said. “It’s why a lot of students in our school are passionate about this.”
There’s been a lot of talk about the demonstration, with some students worried about participating in an event that’s not sanctioned by the school, Gise said.
“They don’t want to break rules, but sometimes you have to break rules to do what you believe in,” he said.
Amritha Jacob, freshman at Sanford H. Calhoun High School
“Every generation has their own movement, this just happens to be ours,” said Jacob, 14.
Alexa Rapisarda, senior at West Islip High School
Rapisarda, 17, said the focus of the West Islip walkout will be to honor the victims of the shooting. She and others are planning a separate demonstration on April 20 to advocate for gun control.
“There’s been a lot of conversation about gun control, or what would happen if there was a shooting at our school. A lot of students are looking to get involved and have their voices be heard.”
Carson Termotto, junior at Sanford H. Calhoun High School
Termotto, 16, was one of a handful of students at a meeting to discuss the Hewlett walkout. Some considered shifting the focus of the demonstration away from politics, but Termotto insisted on staying focused on promoting “common-sense gun reform.”
“After the shooting, I think it became apparent that something in this country really needs to change. This happens again and again and again. There is a lot of reluctance to do anything in our Congress. That’s really what our walkout’s about — about action and change instead of thoughts and prayers.”
Lindsay Saginaw, senior at Huntington High School
“Schools are the one place that we’re supposed to feel safe. So when we’re walking out for 17 minutes, it’s to show state and federal government that this epidemic of gun violence needs to end now,” said Saginaw, 17.
Bennett Owens, senior at Ward Melville High School
“There are certain people [at Ward Melville] that are on the other side of the gun control issue and there are people who aren’t really politically active,” said Owens, 18. “But for the most part, people are pretty together on this one. Congress should do something about this.”
Samantha Koffler, junior at Sanford H. Calhoun High School
Koffler, 16, said seeing other young activists speak out has helped her find her own voice.
“I usually try not to get very political but as soon as this all started, I’ve been learning to become a lot more outspoken. To fight for our rights just like everyone else.”
Larry Norton and his 93-year-old mother haven’t been home since July, waiting for their canal-side house in Amity Harbor to be elevated. The contractor they originally hired to do the work in 2016, who had already repaired their flooded home after superstorm Sandy, is now charged with stealing their deposit.
The contractor that Michele Mittleman and her husband hired to demolish and rebuild their Sandy-damaged home in Freeport left them with an empty lot, she said. The Nassau County district attorney’s office has charged him with grand larceny and scheme to defraud for allegedly stealing a total of $394,500 from them and four other homeowners.
And Ian Freeburg says a contractor he fired before elevation work began on his Lindenhurst home never paid back his $44,000 deposit. That contractor is now facing charges of grand larceny and scheme to defraud based on the complaints of Freeburg and six other homeowners in Suffolk and Nassau counties.
More than five years after superstorm Sandy slammed into Long Island, disputes with contractors over repair jobs and storm-hardening elevations continue to thwart attempts by some homeowners to get fully back on their feet.need to decide if we’re talking about poor workmanship or outright theft or both with “disputes” here; the three people above are about money being stolen; the stats below just mention “fraud”?/alo From criminal cases, like those involving Norton, Mittleman and Freeburg, to simple mistakes and disagreements that sometimes end up in civil court, construction gone awry can spell years of delay, financial loss and psychological toll.Please, attribution here. homeowners say?mg
“The consuming emotions are stress, stress, stress, anxiety, frustration and fatigue,” said Norton, 68, who has been staying at his brother’s home in Bellport with his mother since July, waiting for a new contractor to begin elevating their house. Work finally began on Valentine’s Day.
My mother wants her life back. She wants to go home.
The October 2012 superstorm flooded or damaged nearly 100,000 structures on Long Island, according to federal statistics, including more than 38,000 with damage totaling more than 50 percent of their value. Property owners desperately sought contractors for needed repairs and,later, elevations of homes to raise them above the tidal surges of future storms. Most of those repairs went forward without allegations of misconduct or other legal issues
The New York Legal Assistance Group, a city-based nonprofit that represents New Yorkers who cannot afford lawyers in civil litigation, has worked on more than 500 cases in New York City and Long Island related to allegations of contractor fraud made by homeowners affected by Sandy, 313 cases on Long Island alone, said William Friedman, acting director of the group’s response unit. Other nonprofits and private attorneys handled many more. delete unless tauro numbers come through
Problems continue as homeowners elevate their homes, often using funds from federal grants disbursed by the state’s Office of Storm Recovery’s New York Rising residential recovery program.
“Five years later, the big issues now are definitely contractor issues, particularly on Long Island where the (NY Rising) checks went out with little guidance or control over the contracting process,” Friedman said.
We’ve been pursuing this all along.
Complaints filed with either the Nassau or Suffolk county consumer affairs offices lead to hearings where an attempt is made to arbitrate a settlement. If negotiations fail, a homeowner choose to pursue a civil suit. Where the contractor is found to be unlicensed or otherwise to have violated the law, complaints may be referred to county district attorney offices for investigation and possible prosecution.
Now, the five-year statute of limitations for larceny and fraud is starting to come into play for prosecuting alleged crimes committed by contractors in the aftermath of the storm.
“You can expect to see more arrests,” said Kenneth Heino, a deputy commissioner of consumer affairs for Nassau County, after a public hearing on contractor fraud in Long Beach in January that drew dozens of upset homeownersagain, property owners or homeowners?mg still dealing with Sandy-related contractor issues.
Ben Jackson is chairman of the government affairs committee for the National Association of the Remodeling Industry NYC/Long Island, a trade association, and sits on the Nassau County Home Industry Board, an advisory group whose members come from diverse trades.
“There were a lot of people who after the storm became contractors who should not have been allowed to,” said Jackson, the owner of Ben’s General Contracting Corp. in Freeport. “I would say there was a larger than normal problem because of the amount of work; it was harder to control.”
Complaints filed with either the Nassau or Suffolk county consumer affairs offices lead to hearings where an attempt is made to arbitrate a settlement. If negotiations fail, a homeowner choose to pursue a civil suit. Where the contractor is found to be unlicensed or otherwise to have violated the law, complaints may be referred to county district attorney offices for investigation and possible prosecution.
Now, the five-year statute of limitations for larceny and fraud is starting to come into play for prosecuting alleged crimes committed by contractors in the aftermath of the storm.
“You can expect to see more arrests,” said Kenneth Heino, a deputy commissioner of consumer affairs for Nassau County, after a public hearing on contractor fraud in Long Beach in January that drew dozens of upset homeownersagain, property owners or homeowners?mg still dealing with Sandy-related contractor issues.
We’d be back in and living life by now.
Ben Jackson is chairman of the government affairs committee for the National Association of the Remodeling Industry NYC/Long Island, a trade association, and sits on the Nassau County Home Industry Board, an advisory group whose members come from diverse trades.
“There were a lot of people who after the storm became contractors who should not have been allowed to,” said Jackson, the owner of Ben’s General Contracting Corp. in Freeport. “I would say there was a larger than normal problem because of the amount of work; it was harder to control.”
A contractor who takes money and doesn’t perform the work is more likely to face criminal charges than one who performs subpar work, he said. “The problem is it’s hard to prove shoddy work, and it becomes an expensive civil matter.”
Homeowners who prevail in court, either through a guilty verdict or a ruling in civil court, are also not assured of being made whole in cases where contractors have no assets available or within legal reach.
Nassau District Attorney Madeline Singas has urged homeowners who believe their contractors defrauded them by failing to perform the job they were paid to do to contact her office, where it could be determined whether the facts fit the legal definition of a crime her office can prosecute.
“Cases involving crooked contractors are especially disheartening because scam artists tend to target homeowners who are in dire straits,” she said in a statement issued after the recent arrests of contractors. “I encourage anyone who may have been victimized to reach out to our office and report the incident.”
David Lizzol of Shirley, the contractor in the Norton case, has pleaded not guilty to grand larceny in court proceedings in Suffolk First District Court. His attorney, John Maccarone, declined to comment.
In the meantime, Larry Norton said elevation work on his home was finally underway by a contractor overseen by NY Rising. The agency approved the Nortons’ application for additional elevation funds under a hardship waiver in April.
Norton said when he and his mother moved out in July, they had expected work to begin quickly. But plan revisions and approvals created more delay, he said.
“Relocating is very stressful for an elderly person,” he said. “My mother wants her life back. She wants to go home.”
Now, Norton is seeing her “come back to life,” he said. “I’ll keep my fingers crossed. Maybe by June we’ll be safely home.”
Richard Holowchak of Blue Diamond Construction Management of Mineola, the contractor charged with grand larceny and scheme to defraud in the case of Mittleman and her husband, Stephen Parke, pleaded not guilty. His attorney, Jonathan Scher, had no comment.
Mittleman, an attorney who was active in Sandy advocacy groups, said she and her husband had paid Holowchak to demolish their flooded house in the months after Sandy, which he did do, and had given him a $45,000 deposit to build an elevated home, which he didn’t do.
“We’ve been pursuing this all along,” she said after his arrest late last year.
Mittleman’s property was subsequently bought by NY Rising, which also granted her family a hardship waiver to compensate for the funds paid to Holowchak. The couple used the money to buy a home in Huntington, she said.
The contractors
Even when a contractor is charged with crimes, there may be a number of other homeowners who filed complaints against him whose cases were not included in the prosecution’s indictment.
Last year, for example, the Nassau County office of consumer affairs suspended the license of Lee Moser, of Capstone Remodeling Inc. of Smithtown, based on were these all sandy complaints or just a total number of complaints in general? and what has Suffolk done about his license, since he is based there?/alo. Only five were included in the indictment when he was charged in December in Nassau. He had already been charged in October in Suffolk for two cases there, including Ian Freeburg’s case, although other homeowners had also filed complaints against him with that county’s consumer affairs office. Moser has pleaded not guilty to the charges in both counties.
His attorney Brian Trodden said, in an interview conducted when Moser appeared in court in Nassau County, that his client was discussing making restitution to the two homeowners identified in the Suffolk indictment.
Freeburg said that he’d fired Moser before the actual elevation, but that Moser never returned his $44,000 deposit. Freeburg, whose house is now being elevated by another contractor, said, “Now that I see he’s done this to a dozen other people, of course I think he should go to jail.”Freeburg said he had fired Moser before the elevation, but Moser never returned his $44,000 deposit, which came from a NY Rising grant. NY Rising granted him a hardship waiver, restoring the lost money to him and his house is now being elevated by another contractor.
But Freeburg is still dealing with a house elevation he’d hoped to have completed long ago. “We’d be back in and living life by now,” he said.
County consumer affairs agencies on Long Island noted upticks in complaints about home-improvement contractors after Sandy. In Suffolk County, for instance, the office fielded more than 1,550 complaints over2013 and 2014, up from just over 1,200 in the two years before the storm. Officials in Nassau said they were still dealing with Sandy cases but could not break out specific statistics on home-repair contractors.
Jackson, the Freeport contractor said the Home Industry Board in Nassau, which he sits on, is proposing that contractors be tested before getting a license and participate in educational programs.
“Some of these guys get into business and they might be a good carpenter but know nothing about business or the legal end,” he said. “Instead of punishing people let’s educate them.”
The Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery and its NY Rising program, which distributes federal funds for storm repair and elevations, are not a party to disputes between homeowners and contractors, even if award money from the agency is at issue, according to its guidelines.
“That is a business transaction between the owner and the construction professional,” agency spokeswoman Catie Marshall said. “Anyone who thinks they have been taken advantage of needs to contact law enforcement first and GOSR second. We are not in a position to enforce the law or bring legal charges.”
Homeowners Jerry and Mia Vogt of Massapequa were hoping NY Rising would approve a hardship waiver for them after their contractor, Turnkey Constractor Solutions, lifted their house a foot lower than called for under the plans, which would prevent the couple from getting a certificate of occupancy. But their hardship claim to NY Rising was put on hold as they worked with Nassau’s Office of Consumer Affairs to negotiate a settlement with the contractor. Attorney Scott Agulnick initially represented Turnkey as it attempted to negotiate a settlement with the Vogts in the fall. At that time, Agulnick, who withdrew from the case early this year, said in an interview that the company concededthis is a troubling word can we just say had elevated and take out conceded? it had elevated the Vogts’ house lower than specified in their plan, and wanted to rectify it.
Now, the Vogts say they don’t know what will happen. Consumer Affairs suspended company owner Cody Lawrence’s license at a hearing on Jan. 31, and referred the case to the Nassau County district attorney. In a letter to clients, Lawrence said he was working to restructure his business, and as a result of losing his workers compensation coverage would be unable to continue working on projects. He referred clients to Heath Berger, a bankruptcy attorney, who was not available for comment.
At least two homeowners said that they had hired Turnkey to elevate their homes, which were now up in the air with no indication they would be lowered at any time soon.
“We have six months more worth of work and we’re at a standstill,” said one East Rockaway client who asked that her name not be used. “I thought I was six months away from being out of Sandyland. Now there’s no end in sight.”
Atara Sternman of Woodmere, another homeowner whose project was halted by Turnkey, said, “To date, we have given him more than $119,000. My home remains up in the air with no further work done at the present time. I do not know when I will be able to return to my home.”This seems to me an odd ending and loaded. something better here or way for prosecutors, state to wrap this up with something insightful.
