Cover photo – Concept art for the new LIRR station (Credit – Town of Brookhaven)
The little-used Yaphank Long Island Rail Road Station is finally slated for relocation.
The station is currently located off of Yaphank Avenue, just south of Exit 68 off the Long Island Expressway. Work is expected to begin in a “couple of months” according to Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico (R-Center Moriches), with the new location projected to be inside the industrial park off of William Floyd Parkway.
“Our Planning staff have been working with officials from the LIRR for years on this project, which began through a casual conversation I had with current Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches) about the idea after I would pass an empty Yaphank station almost daily on my way to work, back when he was the town supervisor. Ed liked the idea and championed it over the years, which will augment our bustling industrial park,” wrote Panico in a Facebook post on his public Town profile.
Panico added that the platform relocation will “give area residents an easier method of utilizing the Ronkonkoma line,” adding that while the line will not be electrified, “it is their [LIRR] hope that it will be someday.”
The LIRR is now seeking suggestions for the name change, one that will likely reflect the comprehensive area it’s set to cover. They are currently considering East Yaphank, Upton, and a “couple more,” according to Panico. Name suggestions are open to the public.
“A special acknowledgement to former MTA board member Mitch Pally, who was an unwavering supporter of the Long Island region during his tenure, and current board member Marc Herbst for seeing this through,” added Panico on Facebook.
Comments have endorsed the name “Upton,” referencing the historic Camp Upton that was utilized as a base for World War I soldiers. The hamlet of Yaphank is the subject of a classic Irving Berlin musical revue Yip Yip Yaphank. Berlin wrote the Broadway musical in 1918 shortly after he was drafted in the U.S. Army, serving in the 152nd Depot Brigade at Camp Upton. Upton soldiers actually performed the revue on base before the show moved to Central Park West’s Century Theatre.
The show earned the Army $80,000 – $1.6 billion in purchasing power today – for Camp Upton’s Community Building, although it was never constructed. The play was performed by students of Longwood High School in 2018 to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the show.
Camp Upton is now the current site of the Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Other name suggestions include East Yaphank, South Haven, Brookhaven, along with a suggestion that it should be named in honor of Brookhaven Laboratory.
Commenters also suggested “bigger problems” relating to the LIRR in the Tri-Hamlet area, including a bridge over the grade crossing at William Floyd Parkway and Montauk Highway in Shirley, as well as more rail crossings, as the current number contributes to traffic congestion.
“It’s [the Yaphank station] not more important. The crossings are far more important, but that is at the behest of the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) and the MTA,” said Panico in a reply to an original comment. “I have continued to push for additional crossings, but do not control either entity in NYS.”
The number of grade crossings in the Shirley-Mastic area was also a subject of discussion at last month’s public meeting on the Neighborhood Road Revitalization Area (NRAA), in which a plan is currently being developed to create a Downtown Mastic Beach on Neighborhood Road. At the meeting, concerning the lack of rail crossings, Panico held the same position, adding that he has been trying to convince the NYSDOT and MTA to build additional crossings.
“Upton makes the most sense. Give Upton more purpose and recognition than just BNL. A lot of people never even heard of Upton,” wrote one commenter.
With several months ahead of the project, the Town of Brookhaven and the LIRR will accept name suggestions for the new station, one that officials hope will be more utilized and more central to surrounding communities.
