Breaking Through How smart partnerships overcame decades of resistance to modernize America’s busiest commuter railroad By Elizabeth Moore By Elizabeth Moore March 11, 2019 Train Terraces: Incubating Urbanism in Westbury, NY. Design proposal for ParkingPLUS, a design challenge from the Long Island Index, a project of the Rauch Foundation. Design submitted by Paul Lewis, Marc Tsurumaki and David J. Lewis of LTL Architects. Breaking Through: How smart partnerships overcame decades of resistance to modernize America’s busiest commuter railroad Dear Reader, t is with great pleasure and pride that the Rauch Foundation has under- written this excellent case study by Elizabeth Moore that tells the long and complicated story of how the 3rd Track on the Long Island Rail Road finally came to be. This is a story that we hope will resonate with many other leaders around the country, as it reveals how a sustained, cross- I sector effort with business, philanthropy, education and research institu- tions, labor and numerous nonprofit organizations were combined with the power, leadership and determination of New York State’s governor Andrew Cuomo, to bring to fruition a project that was widely considered impossible. There were definitely substantial individual contributions: • New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who exercised the full range of his powers to make this happen, including and importantly listening to the concerns of the villages most impacted by the project. • Kevin Law, the President of Long Island’s major business group the Long Island Association and David Kapell, former mayor of Greenport and currently consultant to the Rauch Foundation, were a formidable team for developing strategy and orga- nizing the on-the-ground work as well as providing day-to-day leadership. • The Long Island Index Advisory Committee who provided wise counsel for more than 15 years. • Our researchers: Ann Golob, Director of the LI Index project for over 12 years, for her leadership, creativity and quality control over the entire Index project; and our researchers the Regional Plan Association and HR&A Advisors, who compiled strong, substantive reports. • And finally, Dr. Bruce Stillman, President of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, who was active on the Advisory Committee for 15 years and was the person to suggest that the 3rd Track project deserved a case study which would document why the 3rd Track effort, out of all our other reports, led to real on-the-ground success. As for the role of the Rauch Foundation, this project involved our utilizing the pow- er of a foundation to convene and to produce unbiased research. We also committed to funding this effort over many years, and this was a crucial factor for the effort. The report that follows is an excellent story of regional success for a region not known for its ability to collaborate. I hope that it will prove to be a useful model for others. Nancy Rauch Douzinas President, Rauch Foundation 3 MIDDLESEX Long Island Rail Road and Key Track Improvement Projects Fishers NEW HAVEN Island WESTCHESTER FAIRFIELD ROCKLAND East Orient Marion Greenport West Greenport Dering T Harbor Shelter Island ICU Shelter Island Heights ECT NN SHELTER CO RK Montauk YO Peconic NEW Southold ISLAND Springs North Haven Cutchogue EAST Napeague New Suffolk Sag Harbor HAMPTON Mattituck East Hampton BERGEN Laurel SOUTHOLD Noyack Northwest North Northville Harbor Amagansett Old Field Belle Terre Sound Baiting Shoreham Wading River Hollow Bridgehampton Y Setauket-East Setauket Beach Riverhead Aquebogue East Hampton K Asharoken Watermill E Port Jefferson East S R Miller Wainscott Stony Brook Rocky RIVERHEAD Jamesport R O Eatons Shoreham Lloyd Harbor Place North Sea Sagaponack E Y Port Jefferson Point Neck SMITHTOWN J Tuckahoe Stony Station W Centre Northport Mount Calverton Bayville Fort Nissequogue W E Huntington Brook Island Terryville Sinai Ridge Riverside SOUTHAMPTON E Salonga Kings Middle N Mill Neck Bay Centerport Head of University Hampton N GLEN Cove Flanders Lattingtown Cold Huntington the Harbor Island COVE Neck Park St. Selden Bays Shinnecock Spring Halesite Coram Northampton Hills nch James Centereach Southampton h Harbor ra East c Oyster Bay B East Northport BROOKHAVEN on NORTH n Matinecock Laurel rs Quogue a fe Commack Nesconset Lake Manorville r Glen Hollow ef Gordon Heights BRONX Sea B J Huntington SmithtownVillage HEMPSTEAD OYSTER ort Grove Yaphank Cliff y Head P of the Branch Farmingville Eastport Westhampton Manorhaven a Muttontown Station Lake B Roslyn BAY ch East r Bran Port Washington S Ronkonkoma nkoma Quogue e Harbor Upper Brookville HUNTINGTON Hauppauge onko Quioque t R Syosset U Moriches s Kings Point Flower N South Huntington Remsenburg-Speonk y West Medford Brookville F Islandia North Mastic Great Neck Hill O A Westhampton Beach NEW F Hills Old Dix Hills Bellport Moriches Roslyn East S Holtsville YORK Great Neck Thomaston Jericho O Brentwood Ronkonkoma Center Moriches West Westbury S Melville Hills L h Estates Manhasset Holbrook ranc Hampton A Deer Central Bohemia k B K Wheatley au Shirley n Branch North Hills Westbury North North ont Dunes ingto U Park Islip Patchogue M ash Manhasset Hills New Cassel Heights Bay Great East Brookhaven Mastic W North Herricks Baywood rt Bethpage River Sayville Blue Patchogue Po Hicksville North Babylon Shore Islip Beach New Hyde Park Point Salisbury East Bay Shore ine Garden City East Bayport n L Farmingdale Brightwaters East Islip QUEENS Mai LevittownNorth Oakdale Franklin Meadow Great Fire Massapequa West Elmont Square Hempstead Babylon River Island Massapequa Park Bay Shore Malverne Park West Hempstead Valley Oaks West Islip h West ISLIP Roosevelt ranc Stream Lakeview lon B East Babylon Baby Copiague South Valley Rockville Wantagh Massapequa Stream Centre Merrick Massapequa BABYLON Ocean Woodmere Hewlett Oceanside Saltaire Beach KINGS Harbor Gilgo-Oak Beach-Captree Inwood Baldwin Harbor Bellmore Island Barnum Park Lawrence Island HEMPSTEAD Harbor Atlantic Lido Beach Point Isle Beach Lookout LONG BEACH N Track Improvements PEWopulation density (people / sq mi) YO RbKy census tract, during the 2013-2017 period East Side Access s s 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Second Track e 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 l ,0 ,5 ,0 ,5 ,0 ,0 ,0 r 1 2 5 7 0 0 2 o - - - - 1 2 3 0 1 1 1 1 - - - 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 Third Track 5 5 ,0 ,5 ,0 0 0 0 1 2 5 ,5 ,0 ,0 7 0 0 1 2 0 10 20 Cartography by CUNY Center for Urban Research, 2019. Miles [ Data Sources: LIRR, U.S. Census Bureau, USGS, RPA. 4 MIDDLESEX Long Island Rail Road and Key Track Improvement Projects Fishers NEW HAVEN Island WESTCHESTER FAIRFIELD ROCKLAND East Orient Marion Greenport West Greenport Dering T Harbor Shelter Island ICU Shelter Island Heights ECT NN SHELTER CO RK Montauk YO Peconic NEW Southold ISLAND Springs North Haven Cutchogue EAST Napeague New Suffolk Sag Harbor HAMPTON Mattituck East Hampton BERGEN Laurel SOUTHOLD Noyack Northwest North Northville Harbor Amagansett Old Field Belle Terre Sound Baiting Shoreham Wading River Hollow Bridgehampton Y Setauket-East Setauket Beach Riverhead Aquebogue East Hampton K Asharoken Watermill E Port Jefferson East S R Miller Wainscott Stony Brook Rocky RIVERHEAD Jamesport R O Eatons Shoreham Lloyd Harbor Place North Sea Sagaponack E Y Port Jefferson Point Neck SMITHTOWN J Tuckahoe Stony Station W Centre Northport Mount Calverton Bayville Fort Nissequogue W E Huntington Brook Island Terryville Sinai Ridge Riverside SOUTHAMPTON E Salonga Kings Middle N Mill Neck Bay Centerport Head of University Hampton N GLEN Cove Flanders Lattingtown Cold Huntington the Harbor Island COVE Neck Park St. Selden Bays Shinnecock Spring Halesite Coram Northampton Hills nch James Centereach Southampton h Harbor ra East c Oyster Bay B East Northport BROOKHAVEN on NORTH n Matinecock Laurel rs Quogue a fe Commack Nesconset Lake Manorville r Glen Hollow ef Gordon Heights BRONX Sea B J Huntington SmithtownVillage HEMPSTEAD OYSTER ort Grove Yaphank Cliff y Head P of the Branch Farmingville Eastport Westhampton Manorhaven a Muttontown Station Lake B Roslyn BAY ch East r Bran Port Washington S Ronkonkoma nkoma Quogue e Harbor Upper Brookville HUNTINGTON Hauppauge onko Quioque t R Syosset U Moriches s Kings Point Flower N South Huntington Remsenburg-Speonk y West Medford Brookville F Islandia North Mastic Great Neck Hill O A Westhampton Beach NEW F Hills Old Dix Hills Bellport Moriches Roslyn East S Holtsville YORK Great Neck Thomaston Jericho O Brentwood Ronkonkoma Center Moriches West Westbury S Melville Hills L h Estates Manhasset Holbrook ranc Hampton A Deer Central Bohemia k B K Wheatley au Shirley n Branch North Hills Westbury North North ont Dunes ingto U Park Islip Patchogue M ash Manhasset Hills New Cassel Heights Bay Great East Brookhaven Mastic W North Herricks Baywood rt Bethpage River Sayville Blue Patchogue Po Hicksville North Babylon Shore Islip Beach New Hyde Park Point Salisbury East Bay Shore ine Garden City East Bayport n L Farmingdale Brightwaters East Islip QUEENS Mai LevittownNorth Oakdale LIRR Train Stations (in bold) and Villages along the Third Track Franklin Meadow Great Fire Massapequa West Elmont Square Hempstead Babylon River Island Bay Shore Massapequa Park Roslyn Harbor Malverne Park Plandome Port Washington West Hempstead Plandome Flower Hill Brookville Oaks West Islip Muttontown Valley West ISLIP Heights Syosset Roosevelt nch ra ch Lakeview B an Munsey Park Roslyn Stream lon East Babylon Br by Copiague Great ton Ba ing Rockville Neck ash South Valley Wantagh Massapequa t W Roslyn Por Centre Estates Stream Merrick Massapequa