BREAKING NEWS: Packed house at MTA hearing

The MTA has “failed the people of eastern Long Island through acombination of taxes that stifle the region’s economic developmentand wholly inadequate transit services, according to lawmakers andothers who spoke at a public hearing Monday to discuss thecash-strapped authority’s proposed service cuts.
“We begin to wonder if the MTA has outlived its usefulness, saidcounty Legislator Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches), whose districtcovers the North Fork. “You have failed as a public agency.
“The MTA is broken and can’t be fixed, added Rebecca Molinaro, whowas representing state Assemblyman Fred Thiele (I-Sag Harbor).
At least 55 people registered to speak during Monday night’shearing at the Suffolk County Center in Riverside, which drew acrowd of nearly 200 people. The main topic at hand: the MTA’sproposed rail service cuts to the North Fork.