Renovations planned to make 2 LIRR stations in Nassau fully accessible

Two Long Island Rail Road stations, one in Bellerose and the other in Floral Park, will undergo renovations as part of an infrastructure upgrade to make stations fully accessible, officials announced on Wednesday.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Gov. Kathy Hochul said the upgrades were the result of the first accessibility award from the MTA's 2025-2029 Capital Plan.

When improvements at Floral Park, Hollis, Forest Hills and Bellerose are completed they'll bring the LIRR into 95% compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements systemwide, according to the MTA.

The MTA has 126 stations in total and all but nine stations are ADA compliant, officials said.

In addition to work underway, officials have proposed improvements in the coming years at Douglaston, Cold Spring Harbor, Mets-Willets Point, East New York and Hunterspoint Avenue. 

Work is also needed at Kew Gardens to be accessible, MTA officials said. 

The announced upgrades include the installation of a new elevator at the Bellerose station and the replacement of a noncompliant escalator at Floral Park, which will see the installation of a new 32-inch wide escalator.

Accessibility upgrades

The Floral Park station previously received accessibility upgrades with the installation of three elevators that went into service in 2021 as part of the Main Line Expansion Project, officials said.

The 2025-2029 Capital Plan provides for the investment of $7.1 billion to make "dozens of station newly ADA-compliant," the MTA said. That includes the installation of new elevators, while modernizing existing elevators and escalators.

Upgrade work at Floral Park and Bellerose was awarded to Scalamandre Gramercy JV II, a joint venture between Peter Scalamandre and Sons Inc. of Freeport and the Wantagh-based Gramercy Group Inc.

"This historic contract allows the Long Island Rail Road to deliver on its promise to make 98% of the rail system accessible by the end of the 2025-2029 Capital Plan," LIRR President Rob Free said in a statement on Wednesday.

Also in a statement on Wednesday, Hochul said: "I am proud that New York is investing in MTA accessibility like never before and building on the historic upgrades we have delivered to improve and increase LIRR service, from the completion of Grand Central Madison to the opening of the Third Track. The 2025-2029 Capital Plan represents the most ambitious plan to upgrade our transit system in state history, and projects like these at Floral Park and Bellerose will make the LIRR more accessible and reliable to the communities that rely on it."

MTA plan

As part of the plan the MTA said both stations would undergo "significant structural rehabilitation" and "State of Good Repair" work.

That includes the rebuilding of station waiting rooms, new and rehabilitated stairs and ramps, handrails and guardrails, new lighting, and upgrades to security and video surveillance systems, the MTA said.

Three bridges near the Floral Park station — Carnation, Tulip and Tyson Avenue — will also undergo "minor structural modifications and repairs."

The MTA said increased track capacity between Hicksville and Floral Park because the Grand Central Madison and Third Track projects resulted in service increases of 14% at Bellerose and a staggering 68% at Floral Park — the latter seeing an average of 3,257 weekday riders.

Floral Park is served by the Hempstead and Port Jefferson branches.

"We got a head start back in 2019, leveraging the opportunity to bring elevators to Floral Park during Third Track construction," MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said in a statement. "Now, we're going to tackle the rest of that station and add new accessibility to Bellerose to finish the job."

Newsday's John Asbury contributed to this story.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press, Society of the Silurians and National Headliner Awards for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing. He is the author of “Swee'pea,” about New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. His debut crime novel, “For Nothing Is Hidden,” rooted in 1950s Long Island, was released in October 2025.