Deal for LIRR rail yard at Lawrence Aviation site in Port Jefferson Station collapses, setting back electrification effort

A deal between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Suffolk County to transform the former Lawrence Aviation Industries property in Port Jefferson Station into an LIRR rail yard has collapsed — setting back efforts to electrify the Port Jefferson Branch, officials said Wednesday.

Michael Martino, spokesman for Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine, on Wednesday told Newsday "the MTA has informed the county that it will not be moving forward with the purchase of the Lawrence Aviation property.”

The deal appeared to be held up by the MTA's concerns over a state-owned greenway cutting through the development site. A bill passed by the State Legislature granted the MTA a construction easement to build at the site but left open the possibility the State Department of Transportation could one day reroute Route 25A through the property via an overpass bridge that the MTA would have to accommodate, and potentially fund, in its yard design.  

John McCarthy, chief of policy and external relations at the MTA, said the county had set a Wednesday deadline to move forward with the deal, and the transit authority was not willing to do so without its concerns addressed.

MTA spokesperson Aaron Donovan said in a statement the Long Island Rail Road “remains interested in this property but has always made clear that for the purchase to move forward, the property cannot be encumbered by competing rights and privileges.”

Both the MTA and the county left open the possibility to revisit the deal. Donovan said the MTA looks "forward to working with partners in government to get this done.” 

Martino, in a statement, said "the county remains hopeful that the [state] legislature will address any concerns when it begins its next session." The legislature returns in January.

A blow to expanded service

The collapse of the deal, which had been delayed multiple times, deals a major blow to efforts by Suffolk County elected officials and transit advocates over the years to expand service on the Port Jefferson Branch — the LIRR's busiest in 2025, carrying 15 million riders.

In December 2023, the MTA entered into a tentative deal with the nonprofit Suffolk County Landbank Corp. to purchase a portion of the property with the goal of transforming the site into an LIRR rail yard. MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber has said the deal is a "necessary first step" for one day improving service on the Port Jefferson Branch, whose tracks are not electrified.

The diesel engines that serve Port Jefferson commuters are typically less reliable than electric trains, which make up the majority of the LIRR's fleet. Diesel passengers are often required to transfer at Huntington, where tracks are electrified, to get into and out of New York City. 

The Port Jefferson Branch is also hamstrung by only having one track — precluding the LIRR from running eastbound trains during the morning commuting hours and westbound ones in the evening.

Gerard Bringmann, chairman of the LIRR Commuter Council, a rider advocacy group, said news of the deal falling through was "extremely disappointing," as it could set back efforts to include Port Jefferson Branch upgrades in the MTA's capital budget, which is renewed every five years.

The MTA struggled for years to find a suitable rail yard location until the Lawrence Aviation site emerged.

"We need this now in our back pocket if we really want to get any kind of expansion of Port Jefferson service,” Bringmann said “This is a golden opportunity that we’re going to let pass.”

The authority's decision disappointed Brookhaven Town and Port Jefferson Village officials, who had hoped electrification would include moving the Port Jefferson train station to the new rail yard about a mile to the west. 

"It's been clear for a long time that the state agencies involved have not been dealing in good faith and don't see the urgency of the situation," Port Jefferson Mayor Lauren Sheprow said in a text message. "Now it's time for Gov. [Kathy] Hochul to step in and take charge of this situation to make sure this once-in-a-lifetime chance to advance electrification of the Port Jefferson Branch ... is not lost forever."

A former Superfund site

The MTA's move to drop out of the land acquisition plan is the latest twist in a long-running saga surrounding the 126-acre Lawrence property — a former state and federal Superfund site that underwent a $48.1 million cleanup that concluded last year.

Lawrence Aviation — a former aircraft parts manufacturing plant that thrived during Long Island's post-World War II aeronautics industry boom — closed in 2003, leaving a mile-long toxic plume between the Sheep Pasture Road property and Port Jefferson Harbor.

Lawrence Aviation and its late owner, Gerald Cohen, left behind 17,000 tons of contaminated soil, 2,500 containers filled with hazardous materials, and millions of dollars in unpaid property taxes and other debts.

The land bank, a nonprofit arm of county government, took possession of the property in 2023 and agreed to sell 40 acres to the MTA for just $10. But concerns over the DOT's property rights over the greenway have remained an obstacle, leading to several extensions of deadlines and a veto of land transfer bill in December by Hochul.