News

First Suffolk juror train pulls into Riverhead

By Vera Chinese

VERA CHINESE PHOTO
Suffolk County Commissioner of jurors Michael O’Donohoe (right)
and juror candidate Nicole Hirschman took a train into
Riverhead Monday morning arriving in time for jury duty on the
first day of the MTA’s systemwide schedule change.

A train pulled into the Riverhead train station Monday morning carrying for the first time ever people headed to jury duty at nearby courthouses.
Part of the systemwide schedule change enacted this week, the Long Island Rail Road now has a train arriving in Riverhead at 8:55 a.m. allowing people to walk to the nearby Supreme Court or the county’s criminal court building in Riverside and arrive on time for jury duty.
Monday’s train pulled into the station about three minutes late, something Suffolk County Commissioner of jurors Michael O’Donohoe said would not be a problem as long as juror candidates showed their ticket stubs when reporting for jury duty.
Mr. O’Donohoe, who took the Long Island Rail Road from the Ronkonkoma station that morning himself, stepped off the platform along with two juror candidates on their way to court.
“It was easy,” said potential juror Nicole Hirshman of Stony Brook. Ms. Hirschman boarded the train at the Ronkonkoma station instead of taking her car.
“I didn’t want to deal with parking,” she said.
Suffolk County Legislator Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches) waited at the platform to greet Mr. O’Donohoe and the mass transit riding jurors.
He said he and Mr. O’Donohoe had lobbied for the modified train schedule for years.
“As we get more publicity for this, more and more people are going to take this line” Mr. Romaine said.
Mr. O’Donohoe, who lives in Northport, said the $14 round-trip was so easy, he plans to incorporate it into his daily commute to Riverhead. He added that he hopes state officials can lobby in the assembly for a discounted fare for jurors.
Under the new schedule, the train will leave Deer Park at 7:45 a.m., make stops at Brentwood at 7:59, Central Islip at 8:03, Ronkonkoma at 8:10, Medford at 8:21 and Yaphank at 8:29, and arrive in Riverhead at 8:55. Trains will depart Riverhead at 1:21 p.m. and 3:58 p.m.
Earlier this year, the MTA proposed eliminating most all train service between Ronkonkoma and Greenport, a move that was intended to help close a $400 million budget shortfall. In March, after resistance from residents and public officials, the MTA decided to keep the line running.
The MTA will still suspend weekend LIRR service east of Ronkonkoma during non-summer months.
[email protected]

Vera Chinese has been the editor of northforker.com and northforker magazines since May 2014. Prior to that she spent two and a half years as a staff reporter for the New York Daily News. She joined the Riverhead News-Review as a staff writer in January 2010 and was named Associate Web Editor nine months later. She previously worked for the Southampton Press Western Edition and was named the third place 2008 Rookie Reporter of the Year by the New York Press Association. She graduated from Wagner College in 2006 where she received a bachelor's degree in English. She earned a master's degree in English education from New York University in 2007. She is a 2002 graduate of Eastport High School and has lived on the East End for more than 20 years.

Looking to comment on this article? Send us a letter to the editor instead.

Related Content