Port Washington Yacht Club hosted their annual Junior Sailor Regatta (See

COLUMNS Happy 58th Birthday For Federal Funding Of Long Island Public Transportation

Last month marked the 58th anniversary of federal government support for public transportation. Its success can be traced back to one of President Lyndon Johnson’s greatest accomplishments which continues benefiting many Americans today. On July 9, 1964 he signed the “Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964” into law. This has resulted in the investment of several hundred billion dollars into public transportation. Millions of Americans daily utilize various public transportation alternatives. They include local and express bus, para transit vehicle, ferry, jitney, light rail, subway and commuter rail. All use less fuel and move far more people than conventional single occupancy vehicles. Most are funded with your tax dollars, thanks to LBJ.

We have the MTA and its various operating agencies, including New York City Transit subway, bus and Staten Island Railway, Long Island Rail Road, Metro North Rail Road, MTA Bus along with Nassau’s Inter County Express (NICE) system and City of Long Beach bus systems.

Chartered by the state legislature in 1965 as the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Authority, it was created to purchase and operate the bankrupt LIRR. The MCTA changed its name to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in 1968 when it took over operations of the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA).

Previously, in 1953, the old New York City Board of Transportation passed on control of the municipal subway system, including all its assets, to the then-new NYCTA. In 1973, Nassau County purchased equipment, routes and facilities of private bus operators, most of whom were experiencing financial difficulties. These included Bee Line, Rockville Center Bus Corporation, Utility Lines, Schenck Transportation, Hempstead Bus Corporation, Jerusalem Avenue Bus Lines, Universal Auto Bus, Roosevelt Bus Lines, Stage Coach Lines, Hendrickson Bus Corp., etc.

That same year, the county entered into a lease and operating agreement with the MTA to continue providing local bus service. This resulted in creation of the Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority. The MSBA was followed by Long Island Bus and NICE.

Suffolk County has Suffolk County Bus and Town of Huntington Area Rapid Transit Bus.

There is also New Jersey Transit, Port Authority Trans Hudson (PATH) subway, New York City Departments of Transportation Staten Island Ferry and Economic Development Corporation private ferries. Using MTA Metro or OMNY Cards provides free transfers between the subway and bus. This has eliminated the old two-fare zones making public transportation an even better bargain. Purchasing a monthly LIRR or MTA subway/bus pass reduces the cost per ride and provides virtually unlimited trips. Employers can offer transit checks which help subsidize a portion of the costs. Utilize this and reap the benefits. It supports a cleaner environment.

Many companies allow employees to telecommute and work from home. Others use alternative work schedules which afford staff the ability to avoid rush hour gridlock. This saves travel time and can improve mileage per gallon. Join a car or van pool to share the costs of commuting.

The ability to travel from home to workplace, school, shopping, entertainment, medical, library etc. is a factor when moving to a new neighborhood. Economically successful communities are not 100 percent dependent on automobiles as the sole means of mobility. Seniors, students, low and middle-income people need these transportation alternatives. Investment in public transportation today contributes to economic growth, employment and a stronger economy. Dollar for dollar, it is one of the best investments we can make. What better way to honor the late President Johnson and all that has been achieved these past 58 years in public transportation by continuing funding the federal Highway Trust Fund and Mass Transit Account.

Happy Birthday.

PENNER STATION

Larry Penner

Lyndon Baines Johnson

(Public domain)

Larry Penner is a transportation advocate, historian and writer, who previously worked for the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 New York Office. This included the development, review, approval and oversight for billions in capital projects and programs for the MTA, NYC Transit, Long Island Rail Road, Metro North Rail Road, MTA Bus along with 30 other transit agencies in NY & NJ.

Many Long Islanders have returned to celebrating weddings at catering halls with large crowds. We’ll soon celebrate our son Kevin and his fiancé Arielle’s nuptials on the water at the Piermont in Babylon.

As the Father of the Groom, I don’t have a lot of official responsibilities. Other than hosting the rehearsal dinner and possibly making a toast, my primary responsibility to date seems to have been writing a few checks.

There is a clearly defined role for the Mother of the Groom, who gets to dance with her son to some sappy song that might make people weep. Of course, the Father of the Bride has even more responsibilities. He walks his daughter down the aisle and hands her to his soon-to-be Son-in-Law. Then he dances with his daughter to an even sappier song, and there won’t be a dry eye in the house.

But what do I do about this toast thing?

You would think as a published author and weekly columnist, writing a simple toast to congratulate the newlyweds would be a piece of cake. But it’s not.

How do you encapsulate 30 years into just a few minutes?

As we approached the reception, I couldn’t help but think of how Kevin had grown over the years. My thoughts drifted to all the good times we had as he grew into the man he is today. We’ve spent many days together on various adventures. Some involved the whole family, others with his brother. But sometimes, it was just the two of us.

You can try and plan to have a great day, but they don’t always turn out that way.

We’ve had some really good days. When he was a kid, the two of us would head to Adventureland in Farmingdale and spend a few hours (and a lot of quarters) in the video arcade playing games all afternoon in the winter. The 2013 All-Star game at Citi Field and the Home run Derby was a good day. We saw the Mets win a playoff game against the Dodgers in 2006 and a bunch of playoff and World Series games in 2015.

There was the first time we saw The Who at Jones Beach. It was just the two of us. We watched the show from our nosebleed seats,

Hoping For Great Days Ahead

LONG ISLAND LIVING

Paul DiSclafani

pdisco23@aol.com

Karl V. Anton, Jr., Publisher, Anton Community Newspapers, 1984-2000

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Celebrating 38 YEARS

IN BUSINESS 1984-2022

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As a former state legislator who spent 23 years in Albany, I can’t help but feel a great deal of sadness when I watch the daily antics of the current U.S. Congress. I come from a time when bipartisan handshakes were common and we got things done. We did our share of debating on the floor of both houses, but at the end of the day, the people came first and there was none of the meanness that dominates the corridors of Congress.

There are two current examples of the political divide that hurts the average citizen in countless ways. For more than 10 years, efforts have been made to pass legislation that would grant benefits to soldiers who served in Afghanistan and Iraq. The issue is injuries from so-called burn pits. Burn pits were used by the military to dispose of various types of toxic waste, which includes plastics, rubber, rotten food, ammunition and unexploded ordinances.

Burning all of these objects was an effective way to get rid of unwanted waste but it caused plumes of smoke that spread to barracks and other camp facilities. The vapors from the fires caused multiple cancer cases. The bill before Congress was aimed at providing benefits for sick veterans and families of deceased soldiers. After passing once and needing an amendment, the Republican minority was able to block its second passage. While this bill will have passed by now, there was no logical reason to torture the families affected by the burn pit discharge.

Another bill of significance deals with America’s shortage of computer chips. If you go to buy a car these days, there could be a six-month wait because of the shortage of computer chips. Most of our supply of chips comes from China and Taiwan and those countries sell most of their chips to cell phone companies, which is a more lucrative deal. A bi-partisan bill to provide $52 billion for U.S. companies to produce computer chips and give tax breaks to a domestic industry, passed the House by a vote of 243-187. Why would 187 Republicans vote against a bill to promote U.S. Industry?

It seems that the House Republican leadership was upset over the fact that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va) had agreed on a bill to deal with climate change, inflation and eliminating tax benefits for wealthy companies and the minority didn’t like the idea that there was such an agreement. It seems petty and it is. Government is supposed to be in the business of helping people ad not settling personal scores. That is just two examples of partisan treachery, but two is too many.

COLUMNS Meanness Abounds In Washington D.C.

INSIDE POLITICS

Jerry Kremer

Former State Assemblyman Jerry Kremer is a columnist for Anton Media Group and partner at Ruskin Moscou Faltischek in Uniondale. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the publisher or Anton Media Group.

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

but it wasn’t until we snuck down to the floor-level seats for the encores that it turned into a great show. Kevin was nervous that we would get kicked out, but I’ve done it a hundred times and was pretty confident no one would care.

Then there was the time we went on vacation at Universal Studios in Florida. Kevin was maybe 9 or 10 years old. His brother James had gotten sick with a temperature, so my wife stayed inside the hotel room with him in the morning. We weren’t sure what to do and were considering if we should just cut our losses and head home. We had driven down in our Astro Van, so we didn’t have to worry about plane tickets.

I decided to take Kevin and we spent the day in the parks together. We had VIP passes thanks to the aunt of one of Kevin’s friends. She was the executive secretary at Universal Studios. But this wasn’t just any pass. At every attraction, we presented the pass to a team member, and they ushered us through the back doors and passed all the people in line right to the front. We never waited for anything.

We must have gone on the Spiderman ride 10 times. Same thing with the Men in Black attraction. We kept passing the same people in the line and waving to them. We ate hamburgers and fries at the Monster Café. There was the “Twister” attraction and the “Muppets” show. We did the “Terminator” and the “Fear Factor” shows.

It turned out to be a great day.

So raise a glass for Kevin and Arielle, wishing them a lifetime of great days.

Paul DiSclafani’s new book, A View From The Bench, is a collection of his favorite Long Island Living columns. It’s available wherever books are sold.

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