Suffolk County gets $150 million to connect Ronkonkoma station with proposed MacArthur Airport terminal
RONKONKOMA, N.Y. — Gov. Kathy Hochul has announced a major investment to help bring planes on Long Island closer to the trains.
Suffolk County is getting $150 million for the infrastructure to connect the Ronkonkoma train station with the proposed North Terminal at Long Island MacArthur Airport.
The new funding is in addition to $40 million the governor pledged in 2022 for the North Terminal.
Long Island officials say new development can boost local economy
Hochul's funding boosts an Islip town proposal to move the airport terminal closer to the train station, linking them with a pedestrian corridor.
"It would be building a terminal on the north part of the airport adjacent to the train station," Islip Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter said. "If they can get out of the train and walk to the terminal, that's huge."
"The places have to be next to each other and connected to each other, and just telling somebody, 'Well, you can get in a taxi and drive around three miles,' that's not a connection," said Mitch Pally, chairman of the Airport Advisory Committee.
Officials in both parties say long-stalled development in the vast acres between the train station and current terminal can boost the local economy. Those acres are currently occupied by multiple parking lots.
Suffolk County is also investing.
"We will put at least $50 million into infrastructure. We want to create good-paying union jobs," Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said.
Suffolk officials have also talked with Amtrak about bringing service to Ronkonkoma. The goal is to make it a transportation hub that could give millions access to faraway places without having to further congest New York City.
