(Newsday posted the following article by Jennifer Maloney on its website on February 7.)
NEW YORK — State legislators tomorrow will grill the chiefs of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Long Island Rail Road at a public hearing in Syosset on the LIRR’s dangerously wide platform gaps, state Sen. Carl Marcellino said.
MTA chief executive Elliot “Lee” Sander and LIRR acting president Ray Kenny are expected to answer questions on why the problem was left unfixed for more than three decades and what officials are doing to address the issue, Marcellino said.
At the state Senate transportation committee hearing, senators also will interview the manufacturer of mechanical gap fillers used at three New York City subway stations, Marcellino said.
The hearing is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Syosset High School auditorium at 70 South Woods Rd.
“Ultimately our concern is what are they doing to protect the riders,” Marcellino said.
State and federal officials began investigating wide gaps between platforms and trains on the LIRR after the August death of a Minnesota teenager who fell through a gap at Woodside station and crawled in front of an oncoming train.
A Newsday investigation found 882 gap falls on the LIRR since 1995 and dozens of lawsuits dating back to 1970.
The railroad plans to narrow gaps at some 100 of its 262 platforms at passenger stations.
Marcellino said the hearing would help legislators decide whether legislation is necessary to fix the LIRR’s platform gaps, which stretch as wide as 15.5 inches at some stations, according to LIRR measurements.
State Public Transportation Safety Board Commissioner Thomas Madison Jr. has submitted written testimony for the hearing.