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Pols: Syosset LIRR station must be on list

BY KARLA SCHUSTER, EDEN LAIKIN AND JENNIFER MALONEY | Newsday Staff Writers

November 3, 2006

A top Nassau County legislator has accused the Long Island Rail Road of ignoring dangerous gaps at the Syosset station -- a stop that a Newsday analysis shows has had at least 34 gap accidents since 1989 and ranks seventh among all stations for gap-related falls over the past 18 months.

"Is there a reason why the Syosset Rail Road Station is exempt from your priority?" Nassau County Presiding Officer Judy Jacobs wrote in a letter Wednesday to LIRR acting president Ray Kenny.

She noted that Syosset is not on the railroad's list of stations slated for track adjustments to reduce platform gaps and has not yet been targeted for any other gap-related structural improvements. "I am baffled by your schedule of improvements and your lack of concern at the Syosset site," Jacobs wrote.

In August, when a Minnesota teenager was killed after falling between the platform and the train at Woodside station, Newsday measured gaps at several stations and found Syosset was among the widest, at 15 inches. The Woodside accident, and the gap problem, are the subject of local, state and federal investigations.

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so tonight's accident victim was a graffiti "artist". ONLY the NY Times cares! Send his "parents" the bill for tying up working people trying to get home!

Submitted by Tired of it all

9:56 PM EST, Jan 5, 2007

tonights incident is the equivalent of "snow days" in the public school system! viva la mexico! if you see something, say something!

Submitted by Freeport

9:49 PM EST, Jan 5, 2007

one "accident" strands 200,000 commuters in their tracks! Makes you feel REAL confident about the homeland security & evacuation plans we continue to pay for!!!!

Submitted by Freeport

9:47 PM EST, Jan 5, 2007

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In late August, the LIRR installed a $1.5-million system of surveillance cameras at Syosset to help conductors spot people who had fallen into the gap from the sharply curved platform that experts say exacerbates the problem. The station already has lights on the platform edge. Red "Watch the Gap" warnings will be stenciled along the edge within two weeks, officials said.

Syosset for several years also has had a platform conductor during the morning rush to guard against gap falls.

Even so, Syosset has a long history of gap falls and ranks seventh among the 123 LIRR stations for such accidents over the past 18 months, although it has fewer riders than the stations with more incidents, according to railroad and court records. Syosset had six gap falls between January 2004 and July 31 of this year. The only stations that ranked higher were Jamaica, Penn Station, Woodside, Mineola, Ronkonkoma and Shea Stadium, records show.

And a Newsday review of court records in Nassau and Suffolk counties identified 28 people who said they had been injured falling in the gap at Syosset between 1989 and 1996. Four times, more than one person was injured on the same day, according to court records. On Jan. 30, 1996, Richard Querni was the third person to fall into the gap there during the morning rush hour.

"It's sinful that they talk about anything other than fixing the gap," said Querni, who suffered a fractured back and says he still walks with a limp. He settled his suit against the LIRR for an undisclosed amount.

Railroad officials say that moving tracks at Syosset will not reduce the gaps because of the platform curve. They said they are looking at other solutions, such as retractable gap fillers. "We're looking at the technology that's out there," said LIRR spokeswoman Susan McGowan. "We're meeting with vendors."

Jacobs acknowledged the problems with the curved platform but said the railroad is moving too slowly to find other solutions besides the camera system.

"So we're going to watch you now?" she said of the cameras. "We're going to watch you what -- fall?"

State Sen. Carl Marcellino (R-Syosset), who helped secure state funding for the cameras, called them "a stopgap measure." He said "It was always only going to be a first step. Not the only step."