By Kathianne Boniello
With some last-minute landscaping still on tap, the renovation of the Bayside railroad station was set for completion sometime in June, a spokesman for the Long Island Rail Road said last week.
The Bayside station underwent major renovations last year, including platform and overpass repairs, new stairs on the north side of the station, new handicap ramps and a reconstructed ticket office with new bathrooms.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the railroad, is considering different uses for the long-empty freight house on the south side of the station facing Bell Boulevard, said LIRR spokesman Sam Zambuto, who would not elaborate.
Zambuto said rehabilitation of the Bayside station “is substantially complete,” with exception of landscaping work.
Workers could be seen in April and May on the north side of the station along 41st Avenue planting trees and adding new plantings, concrete sidewalks and benches to an island in front of the station's drop-off area.
Zambuto also said some decorative lighting was scheduled to be added to the westbound platform before the project was finished.
The renovation may be completed “in the following month,” Zambuto said.
The station's ticket office has been open since March 1999 and the westbound platform opened to rush hour travelers in May 1999.
Some work has been done to the station's freight building, a small two-story building on the south side of the station facing Bell Boulevard.
Zambuto said exterior work, including some new roof tiles, brick work, new doors and windows, had been done in the last few months.
He said the MTA's real estate department “is exploring options for use of the building.”
Zambuto would not elaborate about any potential uses of the building.
