Bethpage-Tribune_1988-03-17

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VOL. 32 NO. 43 March 17.1988March 23, 1988 20 CENTS PER COPY
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The Long Island Railroad's Jamaica Station building was completed 75 years ago.
It was first opened to the publici on March 9,1913. The first train passing through
the station was the 4:47 AH newspaper train from New York to Speonk.(Photo-
Win A. Boerckel)
It was 75 years ago, on March 9, 1913,
that the Long Island Rail Road first
opened Jamaica Station to the public.
Today, a ceremony sponsored by the
Long Island Rail Road Historical
Society was held to mark that event in
the lobby ot the Jamaica Station Build­ing.
LIRR President Bruce Mclverwas
among the featured speakers. Other
participants included Dan Caufield,
LIRR Vice President -Captial Con­struction,
Vincent Seyfried, LIRR his­torian
and Dick Kelly, age 91, a retired
train director who joined the LIRR the
year the Jamaica Station Building
opened.
"The Jamaica facility works, and
works today just as it did 75 years ago,"
said LIRR President Bruce Mclver.
"Today we honor the designers who
conceived Jamaica and the workers
who built it. 1 see Jamaica as a stage,
where for 75 years dedicated, excep­tionally
skilled railroad workers have
performed miracles day after day."
Early in this century Jamaica was the
major commercial hub of Queens
County, and the LI RR station provided
a center for the Jamaica Business Dis­trict.
At that time, all of the LIRR
tracks in the Jamaica area were at
grade, causing many accidents involv­ing
horse-drawn vehicles and pedestri­ans.
The LIRR and the city of New
York were concerned about the safety
of the public and so a plan to elevate the
tracks between Richmond Hill and
Jamaica was drawn up. The project also
involved moving Jamaica Station 1800
feet west of its original site, a subject ol
controversy at the time. Construction ot
the entire project was begun in 1910.
Work on the Jamaica Station Office
Building began in June 1912. The new
station opened to the public on Sun­day,
March 9, 1913. Sunday was delib­erately
chosen to minimize confusion
for the travelling public. The first train
through the station was the 4:47 AM
Newspaper Train from New York to
Speonk.
Through the years the Jamaica Sta­tion
complex has performed well. The
station itself has served as a major
transfer point and the complicated sys­tem
of tracks and switches has provided
a channel through which eight of the
LIRR's nine branches dre funnelled.
Presently, over 500 trains pass through
Jamaica Station each day.
"The designers of the Jamaica com­plex
had the foresight to anticipate huge
passenger increases," according to Dan
Caufield, LIRR Vice President-Captial
Construction. "What they built 75 years
ago serves quite adequately today."
However, major changes are in the
works for Jamaica complex near capac­ity.
Ihe LlRR's present capital plan
calls for improvements at Jamaica to
(Continued on Page 8)
Gulotta Announces Master Plan
for Nassau County 7 0 0 0 '
Nassau County Executive Thomas S.
Gulotta today announced plans lor the
development of a Nassau County Mas­ter
Plan designed to provide a blueprint
to plot the future of Nassau County to
the year 2000 and beyond. Gulotta
declared the "The challenge for the bal­ance
of this century is to continue for
future generations the hope and oppor­tunity
which this County has afforded
to so many in the past. That hope and
opportunity can best be achieved
through controlled growth and the pro­tection
ol our enviornment and our
natural resources. The master plan
would provide the blueprint for future
planning in Nassau County designed to
insure controlled growth while preserv­ing
our enviornment and natural
resources;"
"The success story of Nassau County
...whereby our County has received
nationwide recognition as a leading
area to live, work and raise a family .. is
most impressive," Gullotta said.
Nassau County Executive Thomas S.
Gulotta answers questions from repor­ters
folowing his announcement that the
County is arranging for the develop­ment
of a comprehensive Master Plan.
"However, one of the by-products of
this success has been legitimate concern
for many of our resources...water, hous­ing
, open space and transportation...to
name a few\ While the problems we face
today in Nassau arc, to a great extent, a
product ol our successes, we cannot be
content to just sit back and allow these
issues to be addessed in a piecemeal
lashion. What is needed...and what \vc
intend to do in our master plan...is to
develop coordinated policy on these
major issues which will guide us
through the crucial years ahead."
"While the adoption ot a realistic
Nassau County Master Plan should
have been done 20 years ago. its absence
does not give us the right to deny its
value tor the future. It is even more
critical today, f heretore, ! have today
directed the establishment of a senior
staff committee to select a planning
consultant tirm to begin developing a
Nassau County Master Plan."
Gulotta emphusi/ed that the new
master plan would be a cooperative
etiori designed to identity achievable
goals and objectives. "Too many so-called
master plans in the past have been
riddled with unrealistic and unachieve-able
goals. I envision this plan to be a
cooperative ellort among all levels of
government designed topro\'idc a lead­ership
level through practical attainable
goals tor the tuture."
The County Executive stressed that
all segments of the County would be
brought into the develoopmental stages
of the plan. "We will seek input from all
corners of the County, and from all of
our residents and interested parties. For
this plan to be most ettectivc. we will
need the assistance of our residents
from all walks of life."
Some of the aspects of the Gulotta's
Master Plan proposal are:
• Ihe county will work closely with
and seek considerable input from the
County's compositve Villages, Cities and
Townships to insure that the final pro­duct
is as complete as possible.
* In the same vein, the input of local
community groups, civic associations,
chambers of commerce, environmental
groups, industry and labor leaders and
other similar groups will be an impor­tant
part of the plan's development.
(Continued on Page 8)
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