HUNTINGTON: Huntington Town board members are demanding that the Long Island Rail Road reopen its recently shuttered Northport ticket office – and they are asking Gov. David A. Paterson for his help.
The location was among 20 closed across Long Island last week. The LIRR said it had to close the ticket offices – the least used of the system’s 50 open offices – to cut costs and save more than $2 million by the end of the year.
“Enough is enough,” town Supervisor Frank Petrone said as he stood in the shadow of the ticket office on Larkfield Road Wednesday with town board member Stuart Besen. “The MTA is quick to take money from their commuters and my taxpayers, but they certainly are not quick to provide a good service and be consumer-friendly, and that’s a big problem.”
LIRR president Helena Williams said while the railroad sympathizes with Petrone, the railway had to tighten its belt.
“At Northport, over 75,000 tickets are sold annually through the station’s ticket machines and less than 30,000 are sold in person,” she said. “We just can’t afford assigning personnel to Northport with this level of in-person ticket sales.”
Petrone said the closing is an inconvenience for casual and young riders. He said it is particularly hard on seniors who may not be familiar with ticket machines and might end up having to buy a ticket on the train and pay a fee.
Petrone sent a letter this week to Paterson and the MTA board urging them to reopen the office immediately. He cited the recent MTA payroll tax, which he said was supposed to stop service cuts.
He pointed out that signs at the station, including one announcing the ticket office’s closing, say the waiting rooms will be open from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, but there was no access at the Northport station Wednesday. “This is outrageous,” Petrone said.
LIRR spokesman Sam Zambuto said the railroad is looking into why the doors were locked.