Next stop: Retirement; LIRR president leaving

Daily Point

Rob Free's temporary replacement likely to be chosen amid search for new president 

Long Island Rail Road President Rob Free told The Point he is retiring.

Free, a Port Jefferson Station resident who started as an LIRR cleaner in 1992, has led the railroad for more than three years. He took on the role in October 2023 after a period of more than a year during which the LIRR and Metro-North Railroad had shared leadership.

Free, who will turn 57 on Tuesday, told The Point Monday that "the timing was right" for his departure.

"You do it for so long and it really is a labor of love," Free said. "I can't begin to tell you how much I love the organization, I love the craziness of it and what makes it more special is going through it with the people here."

Sources told The Point that Free had discussed an upcoming retirement for a while, but that it was delayed by several factors, including the bad winter weather early this year and the LIRR strike in the spring. Free was the face of the railroad at the time of the strike, playing a significant role in the negotiations with the holdout unions and often acting as the voice of the railroad in news conferences and Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board meetings.

More recently, Free and others at the MTA chose to wait until after last week's election to allow attention to remain focused on Gov. Kathy Hochul's reelection bid. But once the election was over, there was no reason for Free to wait any longer.

"I wanted to make sure there was stability here ... and I wanted to make sure none of that [the other factors] disrupted what we do, that there was continuity and that we continued to provide the high level of service we do," Free said.

It's likely that MTA Chairman and chief executive Janno Lieber will choose an acting or interim president for the railroad while a search is conducted. Sources told The Point that among those being considered for the job, in either an acting or a permanent capacity, is MTA chief of policy and external relations John McCarthy, who lives on the Island and has been very active in LIRR issues for years, from the Main Line's Third Track expansion and the opening of Grand Central Madison to this year's strike talks.

As of Monday morning, Free wasn't quite done yet, participating in a ribbon cutting and news conference at Grand Central Terminal to commemorate the opening of the terminal's Holiday Fair, where he noted that it was a moment when "the most magical time of year quickly approaches." He gave no hint as to his pending announcement.

But Monday afternoon, Free told The Point that he was starting to look back, noting that he had achieved several key goals, including reaching the highest on-time performance outside of the COVID-19 pandemic, and reaching more than 100% of 2019's ridership levels, while still keeping trains less crowded than they were when he ascended to the presidency.

"I'm leaving it definitely better than I found it — and that's not a knock on anybody, but that should always be the goal," Free said.

Free noted that over the past several years, he'd often ride the LIRR, checking the lights and the bathrooms, or randomly visiting stations to take a look at what worked and what didn't. He said he'd continue to ride the LIRR — but noted that people might now "ignore my emails" if he were to reach out.

Free doesn't have definitive plans for his retirement, though he's looking forward to spending the holidays with his family.

"I want to sleep past 4 a.m.," Free added.

On Monday, MTA Board member Sammy Chu told The Point that Free's "institutional knowledge is second to none."

"He has demonstrated an effective style of leadership that has become increasingly rare. He is humble, considerate and authentic," Chu said. "The MTA will miss him and I will personally miss working with him very much."

Added fellow board member Marc Herbst, who represents Suffolk County: "He was the ultimate professional. I was highly impressed with his dedication, compassion and integrity. I'm saddened to see him go." 

— Randi F. Marshall randi.marshall@newsday.com

Pencil Point

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Final Point

What candidates said about the election

It was a brutal election, prompting notable quotables from Long Island candidates and politicos.

• Nassau County GOP chair Joe Cairo: "The other team is better. You just accept it, and you try to do better in the future."
• Former Rep. Peter King, a Republican: "The day of Trump is over."
• Suffolk County Comptroller-elect Dan Losquadro: "... Democrats up in Albany wanted to move these ... elections to even [year] here because they want global issues to be drowned out by national issues. Unfortunately, we were a victim of that here this year, where a lot of national issues took center stage."
• Republican Rep. Nick LaLota: "One reason I survived the Blue Tsunami is that many Independents and even some Democrats understand I'm an American and Long Islander before a member of any party."
• Hempstead Town Supervisor-elect Joe Scianablo: "Big shout out to the Scianablo Movement for the dedication to this race. ... This win is for everyone who believes in transparency and government for the people."
• Hempstead Supervisor John Ferretti: "I am committed to continuing to work hard for neighbors, providing top-notch services at the lowest possible cost during the remainder of my term in office."
• Assemb. Doug Smith, who also serves as Islip Town's GOP leader: "After spending months running a negative campaign full of lies ... today we waited for the unsuccessful campaigns ... to issue statements conceding and wishing our candidates success in their victories. That did not happen."
• Nassau County Executive and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman: "I had two days off in 11 months. Two days off. I played 9 holes of golf in 11 months, not 9 rounds, nine holes. I dedicated my whole life to it."
• Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, writing in The New York Post: "We have seen a hollowing out of the Republican support ... while previous strongholds like parts of Upstate New York and Long Island have slipped away and are aging out. ... There was a sense of entitlement on Republican strongholds whether Upstate or on Long Island, and those slipped away."

— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com

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