A scathing new audit found serious safety and maintenance issues at 58 Long Island Rail Road stations, including crumbling columns and an overabundance of pigeon poop making life hell for commuters.
LIRR stations in Valley Stream, Lynbrook, Long Beach and Floral Park were particularly troubling, with rail riders fed up with trash and disrepair, according to the audit by the Nassau County Comptroller’s Office obtained by News12 Long Island.
“We’re seeing infrastructure, paint peeling, cracking columns that are literally eroding away,” Comptroller Elaine Philips told the outlet. “For maintenance, operation and use, are we getting our money’s worth? And the answer is no.”
Phillips said the MTA received $137 million from Nassau County taxpayers this year, with more than $36 million earmarked for LIRR maintenance and operations — and gave high marks to newly renovated stations under the MTA Third Track Project, including ongoing work at the Valley Stream station.
“Some of the stations are in great shape, by the way,” she said. “But we need all of the stations to be in great shape. We’re paying so much money.”
Commuters quizzed by News12 had plenty of gripes.
“Infrastructure deteriorates,” Valley Stream LIRR rider Beth Ward told the outlet. “If money’s not put into maintaining it, this is what happens. Surely, it is something that can be improved.”
MTA officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.
But in a statement to News12, a spokesman called the report “a political audit.
“We are running the best service in the history of LIRR and the recently approved 2025-2029, $68.4 billion capital program is the most ambitious investment in [the] state of good repair ever made,” David Steckel, a rep for the railroad, told the outlet.
The post LIRR stations plagued by crumbling columns, nasty pigeon infestations as riders pay ‘so much money’: report appeared first on New York Post.
