Below is a copy of ReVAMP's (Resident Voters Against Monster Poles) response to a recent Newsday Editorial.

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Recently, Newsday suggested that Garden City knew it was getting 120’ monster utility poles feet from our homes, and that the fight over these poles concerned their being on the “wrong” side of the tracks. 

Nothing could be further from the truth.

In retrospect, MTA/LIRR/3TC promises to consider burying these lines appear hollow and their current placement predetermined, and the scant notice they now claim was provided was itself inadequate given the potentially neighborhood-altering health, environmental, aesthetic, and property-value-destroying consequences of these poles.

That public outcry has emanated primarily from Garden City should come as no surprise: as the apparent first victim in this pole positioning, we are the canary in the coal mine.  

Those living nearby bargained for the convenience of the once sleepy and beautiful surrounds of the Merillon Avenue station and had seen some benefit to many of the upgrades the overall project promised. But we never bargained for this.

Far from “minor,” these poles are 120’ blights on our landscape. Far from “important,” they have been described by the builders themselves as optional, cost-effective choices as well as redundancies to those utilities already buried along the ROW.

Moreover, the LIRR contracted with our Village, agreeing that its RFP would require its builder to bury utilities where feasible and that the LIRR would consult with the Village on utility line placement prior to any final determination.

On April 8, 2020, the Village wrote the MTA and LIRR explaining this didn’t occur, that the Village wasn’t consulted on poles installed west of Nassau Boulevard, and that their placement constituted a breach of contract. The Village insisted installations stop, but the MTA kept going.

On April 30, 2020, LIRR Project Executive Mark Roche responded to Garden City conceding that “[t]he Village is correct that initial design plans envisioned that the permanent utility poles would be installed on the north side of the Main Line in this area,” that a feasibility study concerning this issue had been conducted but apparently not yet shared with the public, and that changing the poles to their current location at the last minute "should have been communicated to the Village at an earlier date.”
The backdrop here is a NYS law passed and signed recently by Governor Cuomo stipulating LIPA not construct such poles without specific public notice. LIPA appears to be attempting an end-run around this law by allowing the MTA to “construct” the poles for later purchase by LIPA. We wonder if LIPA has been asked whether it thinks this an acceptable course of doing business on Long Island?

We believe that to maintain progress here, the MTA/LIRR/3TC have been operating under a well-managed and calculated veneer of public collaboration, while leaving for themselves the authority to do almost anything they want by means of concealment, confusion, and brute force.

Supervisor Clavin, elected only recently to his current office, should be commended for his swift action and leadership on behalf of constituents and the environment. His courage stands in stark contrast to the MTA/LIRR’s forgetfulness regarding who and why they serve.

Ultimately, no matter your side of the tracks, truth has a way of piercing through propaganda, and this one is simple: on this strip of railway, the MTA/LIRR/3TC chose profits over people.

-ReVAMP (Resident Voters Against Monster Poles)