Serving New Hyde Park, North New Hyde Park, Herricks, Garden City Park, Manhasset Hills, North Hills, Floral Park
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Friday, March 23, 2018
Vol. 67, No. 12
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PAGES 33-40
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Fitzgerald, Cheng win again in Floral Park Village election sees relatively high turnout for uncontested trustee race for two-year terms BY R E B ECC A KLAR Floral Park Trustees Archie Cheng and Kevin Fitzgerald were re-elected to two-year terms on the village board on Tuesday in an uncontested race. Fitzgerald received 259 votes and Cheng received 257. The voter turnout was high compared with some villages across the island with uncontested races. In the Village of Thomaston, two uncontested trustees
PHOTO BY REBECCA KLAR
Hempstead Town Supervisor Laura Gillen, left, and Nassau County Executive Laura Curran were two of four women honored by the League of Women Voters of Nassau County on Sunday. See story on page 24.
each received 19 and 30 votes. In the Village of Roslyn Estates, two trustees each received four votes. Fitzgerald and Cheng both ran as members of the Citizens Party. Cheng was appointed as trustee in February 2016 after the death of Trustee James Rhatigan. Fitzgerald was first appointed to the village board in 2011 and was made deputy mayor following Rhatigan’s death. Fitzgerald first got in-
volved in village government as a member of the Third Track Task Force, fighting the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s plan for a third Long Island Rail Road track in the mid-2000s. Cheng was tapped to lead the committee when the MTA revived the proposal. Efforts to reach Cheng and Fitzgerald were unavailing. Fitzgerald previously told Blank Slate Media he thinks the board functions well because of the diverse perspecContinued on Page 59
LIRR service worst in 18 years: comptroller BY JA N E LL E CL AUSEN The Long Island Rail Road had its worst on-time performance in 18 years last year, according to a new report from the state comptroller’s office. More than 21,000 trains were late, canceled or terminated in 2017, the report says, and the on-time rate fell to
91.4 percent — a far cry from its 95.2 percent on-time rate in 2009. Millions of riders were adversely affected and nearly $75 million in productivity was lost, the report said. “In total, 21,362 trains were late, canceled or terminated in 2017, nearly onefifth more than in 2016,” the report said. “Performance was affected by an increase in Am-
trak-related incidents (Amtrak owns and operates Pennsylvania Station), as well as an increase in incidents attributed to the LIRR.” The report noted that a commuter train is considered “on time” by the LIRR if it arrives less than 6 minutes after its scheduled arrival, meaning only a small portion of LIRR trains were late or canceled. Continued on Page 60
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