The senior hypocrite from New York made it to Long Island last week to demand crossing gates or flashing lights at a seldom-used road-rail crossing near Garden City. All it took, in fact, was this photo (posted on the Facebook page of a Rockville Centre attorney) to get Senator Chuck Schumer to Garden City and in front of a microphone. He insists the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration underwrite the cost of so equipping this crossing.
Let’s think about it for a moment. The cost of installing even flashing lights is at least $170,000. The Garden City News describes traffic on this Long Island Railroad spur (called the Garden City-Mitchel Field Secondary) as light, principally to get track-maintenance equipment to LIRR’s Garden City yard. That’s a rail train you see in the snapshot, by the way. I would be surprised if one train a day goes by this spot.
Yet Senator Schumer wants the FRA to sit down with the folks from the Garden City Eastern Property Owners Association and come up with a solution to what does not even appear to be a problem. “So far there has been no evidence of any accidents here but we need to do all we can to prevent that from happening,” said Schumer.
You bet, senator. We’ll send the administrator of the FRA to Garden City right away. Oops, there is no administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration because Senator Schumer and the other three senators from New York and New Jersey won’t permit a vote on the nomination of Ronald Batory to run the agency. They have nothing against Batory. They’re just miffed that the federal government won’t pony up the $30 billion needed by Amtrak to build new tunnels under the Hudson River.
Again, the hypocrisy of it all. Senator Schumer’s Gang of Four wants action by the Federal Railroad Administration. But they don’t want the FRA to have permanent leadership. Senator Schumer wants to run the Senate starting in 2019, and Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey clearly wants to be President in 2021. But wouldn’t it be nice, before such time, if they would display an ounce of sincerity? – Fred W. Frailey
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