Out in the cold: Station waiting room hours

Whether your train is on time or not, waiting at a station for your ride to arrive is often not pleasant.  While Long Island has great weather for much of the year, in the cold of winter or summer heat waves, standing out in the open on station platforms can quickly become unpleasant.  While many people try their best to minimize how much time they spend waiting for trains, in lots of cases (whether you are getting dropped off/picked up, waiting for a bus connection, or train service is disrupted), waiting is unavoidable.

The recently restored Stony Brook station house (Photo: MTA)

Many of the LIRR's stations have waiting rooms, with 93 of these facilities across Long Island (covering about three-quarters of LIRR stations).  Waiting rooms often provide a conditioned space where you can wait for your train out of the elements, seating and restroom facilities, and, in some occasions, ticket windows for the handful of stations that still have them in service.

But while three out of four stations have waiting rooms, you may frequently have trouble actually getting inside to wait due to very limited opening hours at many stations.

Of the stations that do have waiting rooms, they are open to the public an average of 70 hours per week, which works out to an average of 11.8 hours per weekday and 5.5 hours per weekend day.  While the LIRR purports to be a "24/7" railroad, waiting facilities at just two stations: NY-Penn Station and Jamaica are open around the clock.  Copiague station has the most restricted hours, open only from 6a to 10a on weekdays.  Eight stations, including Far Rockaway, Country Life Press, Riverhead, Greenport, Mastic-Shirley, Amagansett, and GC-Merillon Avenue, have station houses but are permanently closed to the public.

Most station waiting rooms that are open to the public will open towards the start of the morning rush hour and will close at some point either in the early afternoon or later in the evening.  For many stations, that means doors are locked by 2:00p, but a large number stations are open until as late as 10:00p, after waiting room hours were extended at some stations in 2012.

Restricted waiting room hours mean that facilities at just 68 LIRR stations are open for the whole AM rush period (just over half of all stations, or 73% of stations if you exclude the ones that have no waiting rooms at all).

During the PM rush, waiting rooms at just 39 stations are open for the entire rush period, which is less than a third of all stations systemwide or 42% excluding stations with no waiting rooms at all.  The lack of waiting room availability during the PM rush is particularly disappointing considering the large gaps in reverse-peak service on many branches.  This is a simple but important thing to address if the LIRR is seriously committed to growing reverse-peak ridership (or perhaps the railroad thinks its reverse-peak commuters are more weatherproof than their traditional Manhattan-bound counterparts).

For weekend travelers, the story is similar.  55 of the LIRR's station waiting rooms are locked up tight all day on weekends, leaving only 38 open for passengers.  Those that are open on weekends usually close by the early afternoon, leaving just 22 stations (or about one-sixth of stations systemwide) with open waiting facilities for passengers on weekend afternoons.

Only the waiting rooms at NY-Penn Station and Jamaica are open past 10:00p, meaning if you are returning home late and need to wait for a taxi or to get picked up, you're out of luck.  All but these two waiting rooms are closed by time the "last train" pulls in.

While the LIRR does adjust and modify waiting room hours from time to time (usually for renovation projects), the table below shows waiting room availability and weekly opening hours as of the end of last year.  The table has been updated to reflect the elimination of the station waiting room at Pinelawn, which was demolished as part of the Ronkonkoma Branch Double Track project.

Station	Waiting room?	AM rush?	PM rush?	Wknd PM?	Last train?
NY-Penn Station	Open 168 hours per week	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Woodside	None
Forest Hills	Open 45 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Kew Gardens	Open 45 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Brklyn-Atlantic Term	Open 119 hours per week	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Nostrand Avenue	None
East New York	None
Long Island City	None
Hunterspoint Avenue	None
Jamaica	Open 168 hours per week	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rockville Centre	Open 112 hours per week	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Baldwin	Open 40 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Freeport	Open 40 hours per week	No	No	No	No
Merrick	Open 56 hours per week	No	No	No	No
Bellmore	Open 40 hours per week	No	No	No	No
Wantagh	Open 64 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Seaford	Open 85 hours per week	Yes	Yes	No	No
Massapequa	Open 48 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Massapequa Park	Open 48 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Amityville	Open 45 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Copiague	Open 20 hours per week	No	No	No	No
Lindenhurst	Open 88 hours per week	Yes	Yes	No	No
Babylon	Open 105 hours per week	No	Yes	Yes	No
Boland's Landing	None
Locust Manor	None
Laurelton	Open 53 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Rosedale	Open 83 hours per week	Yes	Yes	No	No
Valley Stream	Open 85 hours per week	Yes	Yes	No	No
Gibson	Open 30 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Hewlett	Open 43 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Woodmere	Open 80 hours per week	No	Yes	No	No
Cedarhurst	Open 88 hours per week	Yes	Yes	No	No
Lawrence	Open 45 hours per week	No	No	No	No
Inwood	None
Far Rockaway	Closed	No	No	No	No
Hillside Facility	Closed	No	No	No	No
Hollis	None
Queens Village	Open 63 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Belmont Park	None
Bellerose	Open 90 hours per week	Yes	Yes	No	No
Floral Park	Open 45 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Stewart Manor	Open 73 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Nassau Boulevard	Open 80 hours per week	Yes	Yes	No	No
Garden City	Open 80 hours per week	Yes	Yes	No	No
Country Life Press	Closed	No	No	No	No
Hempstead	Open 62 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Bethpage	Open 85 hours per week	Yes	Yes	No	No
Farmingdale	Open 108 hours per week	No	Yes	Yes	No
Pinelawn	Demolished	No	No	No	No
Wyandanch	Open 45 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Deer Park	Open 58 hours per week	No	Yes	Yes	No
Brentwood	Open 120 hours per week	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Central Islip	Open 125 hours per week	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Ronkonkoma	Open 114 hours per week	No	Yes	Yes	No
Medford	None
Yaphank	None
Riverhead	Closed	No	No	No	No
Mattituck	None
Southold	None
Greenport	Closed	No	No	No	No
Lynbrook	Open 103 hours per week	Yes	Yes	No	No
Centre Avenue	None
East Rockaway	None
Oceanside	Open 112 hours per week	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Island Park	Open 48 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Long Beach	Open 108 hours per week	Yes	No	Yes	No
Bay Shore	Open 48 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Islip	Open 48 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Great River	None
Oakdale	Open 88 hours per week	Yes	Yes	No	No
Sayville	Open 48 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Patchogue	Open 59 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Bellport	None
Mastic-Shirley	Closed	No	No	No	No
Speonk	None
Westhampton	Open 119 hours per week	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Hampton Bays	None
Southampton	Open 119 hours per week	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Bridgehampton	None
East Hampton	Open 119 hours per week	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Amagansett	Closed	No	No	No	No
Montauk	None
East Williston	None
Albertson	None
Roslyn	Open 114 hours per week	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Greenvale	None
Glen Head	Open 63 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Sea Cliff	Open 45 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Glen Street	Open 66 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Glen Cove	Open 67 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Locust Valley	Open 64 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Oyster Bay	None
New Hyde Park	Open 75 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Merillon Avenue	Closed	No	No	No	No
Mineola	Open 109 hours per week	Yes	Yes	No	No
Carle Place	None
Westbury	Open 103 hours per week	Yes	Yes	No	No
Hicksville	Open 109 hours per week	Yes	No	Yes	No
Syosset	Open 68 hours per week	No	No	No	No
Cold Spring Harbor	Open 78 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Huntington	Open 106 hours per week	Yes	No	Yes	No
Greenlawn	Open 86 hours per week	Yes	Yes	No	No
Northport	Open 93 hours per week	Yes	Yes	No	No
Kings Park	Open 70 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Smithtown	Open 90 hours per week	Yes	Yes	No	No
St. James	Open 85 hours per week	No	Yes	No	No
Stony Brook	Open 116 hours per week	Yes	Yes	No	No
Port Jefferson	Open 65 hours per week	No	No	No	No
Mets-Willets Point	None
Flushing-Main Street	Open 31 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Murray Hill	None
Broadway	Open 45 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Auburndale	Open 38 hours per week	No	No	No	No
Bayside	Open 55 hours per week	No	No	No	No
Douglaston	Open 30 hours per week	No	No	No	No
Little Neck	Open 85 hours per week	Yes	Yes	No	No
Great Neck	Open 123 hours per week	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Manhasset	Open 126 hours per week	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Plandome	Open 119 hours per week	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Port Washington	Open 112 hours per week	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
St. Albans	None
Westwood	None
Malverne	Open 35 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No
Lakeview	None
Hempstead Gardens	None
West Hempstead	Open 45 hours per week	Yes	No	No	No

The opening and closing of most, if not all, of LIRR's station houses are done automatically using time locks.  It's one area where the railroad is up to speed with technology...the doors unlock automatically at the opening time, and shortly before closing an alarm sounds signalling it's time to get out, and the doors lock automatically at closing time.

The LIRR's constrained waiting room hours have never made much sense to me...in the age of modern fire/security alarm systems and CCTV, there's practically no reason they really need to close at all (especially since the stations themselves don't close).  The railroad has to heat the spaces around the clock during winter no matter what, so pipes don't freeze...and every waiting room I've seen after hours remains fully lit around the clock, so there is little cost savings to be gained from shutting early.  The majority of stations are 100% unstaffed, so you do not need to pay to keep people on hand when hours are extended, and since doors are automatically locked, there doesn't need to be someone on duty at 2:00a to drive around to all of the stations to lock them up.

Photo of the restored Farmingdale station house (MTA)

Limited waiting room hours have grown even more curious after the MTA's Enhanced Station Initiatives program and other projects have invested millions into restoring and improving a number of the railroad's station houses, including Brentwood, Deer Park, East Hampton (before photos, after photos), Farmingdale, Hicksville, Northport, Port Jefferson, Stewart Manor (photos 1, photos 2), Stony Brook (pictured above), and Wyandanch (photos).

The restored and enhanced station houses look terrific, and include some good new features, but to spend all of that money to lock it up tight at 2:00p sharp and all day on weekends does not seem to be the wisest utilization of these resources.  The new facilities should be there for passengers to use, not to admire from outside a locked door...  Seven of these recently renovated stations: Brentwood, Deer Park, East Hampton, Farmingdale, Northport, Port Jefferson, and Stewart Manor close by 2:00p on weekdays, according to the MTA website (Port Jefferson remains open until 7:15p on Thursdays only), and only East Hampton, Port Jefferson, and Stewart Manor are open at all on weekends.

To fully utilize these station houses, they should conceivably be open and available whenever there is train service.  It should really only be necessary to close for a half hour or so overnight so people don't take up residence in the station houses...  Opening at least a half hour before the first AM peak train and not closing until a half-hour after the "last train" the next morning should allow the vast majority of riders to take advantage of these facilities.

Addressing loitering and vagrancy issues

Often one of the top reasons the railroad gives riders who ask about limited waiting room hours is loitering and vagrancy issues.  We all see it...whether at NY-Penn Station, on the subway, or even at many of the outlying stations on LI...extending waiting room hours is often thought of as extending an invitation for people to come and encamp.  Homelessness continues to be a significant issue across the region, and while it is a difficult situation that needs to be managed with great care, it should not fall on the backs of transportation providers (or its riders) to solve.

Concerns related to panhandling and loitering/vagrancy have been raised often by passengers in the past, it even came up a couple of times at the last round of Customer Conversation events with railroad management, and it's an area where the railroad must do better.  Whether it is having MTA Police increase patrols of stations during opening times, involving local police in the area to regularly check on stations as well, or increasing homeless outreach efforts (which received poor marks in a recent audit by the Office of the State Comptroller), loitering/vagrancy can't be used as an excuse for denying paying passengers access to waiting facilities.

Addressing loitering/vagrancy should not come at the expense of amenities in station houses, either.  At Long Beach, for example, benches in the station waiting room mysteriously disappeared recently.  I asked the MTA Friday if the seats were removed for an upcoming project and are expected to return, or if the station will be standing room only for the foreseeable future, but the MTA declined to respond.

The @LIRR @MTA couldn't control loitering at the @LongBeach11561 station so they removed the benches instead. @johnasbury @liheraldnews #LIRR #LongBeach pic.twitter.com/0rPPCtrsmt

— Jeff Wice (@JeffWice) March 19, 2019

Expansions in station waiting room hours

While the LIRR will keep station waiting rooms open around the clock during snowstorms or periods of exceptionally cold weather, so people can have a place to wait for their train no matter the time of day.  While this is welcome relief during these cases, this is only really done during the winter when conditions are exceptionally severe, not during any of the other times of the year when the weather is bad, and there does not seem to be a particular standard or guideline to which this policy is applied.  During cases of extreme heat, heavy rainfall, or just ordinarily freezing cold days (and not very, very freezing cold days), station waiting rooms are kept as normal, forcing people out into the elements.

I asked the MTA Tuesday if there were any plants to meaningfully expand waiting room hours at stations, however no response was received by press time on Sunday.  In the past, the railroad has resisted calls to expand waiting room hours over concerns of loitering/vandalism issues.  In 2012, the LIRR extended waiting room hours to 10:00p at 20 stations on a pilot basis (Bellerose, Bethpage, Brentwood, Douglaston, Farmingdale, Great Neck, Kings Park, Little Neck, Lynbrook, Merrick, Mineola, Oakdale, Oceanside, Patchogue, Roslyn, Sayville, Stony Brook, Valley Stream, Wantagh and Woodmere) and closely monitored conditions.  The railroad determined that extending hours did not result in significant additional cleaning or vandalism issues, so extended hours at 21 additional stations, but there has not been a large scale expansion since then.

Expanding waiting room hours would be a smart thing to do on a railroad where off-peak ridership continues to grow considerably.  In the railroad's heyday its station houses would often be the anchor points of downtown communities, connecting towns to the rest of Long Island and New York City.  While the rise of the auto further suburbanization has pushed most people out beyond walking distance of train stations, station houses can again become focal points in communities as the railroad works to try and spur development near transit and attract new riders.  Let the passengers in!