MTA purchase of former Lawrence Aviation Industries site in Port Jefferson Station delayed again

A plan to build a rail yard on a Port Jefferson Station Superfund site is once again delayed after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it reached an agreement for a six-month deadline extension to purchase the property.

An MTA spokesperson confirmed Friday that the agency’s deadline to acquire a 40-acre section of the former Lawrence Aviation Industries property has been extended to June 30, 2025. The closing on the purchase had previously been delayed from June 30 of this year until Dec. 31.

The latest delay comes days after Democratic leaders of the State Legislature rejected a $64.8 billion MTA capital proposal that would have funded major upgrades to the Long Island Rail Road, including work to electrify the Main Line to Yaphank and the Port Jefferson branch, Newsday previously reported.

Proponents of the rail yard project, which would potentially relocate the current Port Jefferson train station and is considered necessary for the electrification of the line, have said the area is in dire need of improved rail service.

Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico said Saturday he wasn’t surprised by the latest extension, given the capital proposal rejection.

“It’s just frustrating,” he said. “It’s frustrating for Long Islanders who feel, quite appropriately, that we’re not the primary focus.”

An MTA spokesperson did not respond to a request for additional comment Saturday.

'Ongoing' discussions

The Suffolk County Landbank Corp., a nonprofit arm of the county government in charge of disposing of brownfield properties, owns the 126-acre property. In January, Newsday reported the nonprofit had entered a contract to sell 40 acres to the MTA for $10.

Newsday reported in July that plans for the rail yard had been held up as state, county and local officials discussed moving part of a walking trail to accommodate the MTA yard. Doing so would impinge on a strip of land the New York State Department of Transportation has eyed for a potential roadway.

A spokesperson for the state DOT said Saturday that "discussions are ongoing."

Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine previously called the new rail yard a "transformative project." A spokesman for the county executive did not respond to a request for comment Saturday.

In November, Brookhaven Town completed a separate purchase of a 40-acre section of the site to preserve as open space. Another 36-acre section of the property is slated to become a solar farm.

Panico said the MTA should take the first step to acquire the property for the rail yard and then “collectively we can work toward the future.”

Herb Mones, president of the nonprofit Three Village Community Trust in Setauket, which focuses on "community-based planning" as part of its mission, said Saturday that “it’s continually disappointing” how the plan fails to progress.

“I think everybody is a bit frustrated, bewildered and frankly disappointed that it hasn’t been completed at this particular date,” he said.

He said the nonprofit has urged elected officials to “cajole or petition” Gov. Kathy Hochul to resolve outstanding issues.

“How and why it still remains on the table, I can’t figure it out,” he said.

With Carl MacGowan

By Joe Werkmeister

joe.werkmeister@newsday.com

Joe Werkmeister covers the towns of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.

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