Chamber paints abandoned building

The building is abandoned and scheduled to be demolished, but still got a paint job.

“After many years of neglect by the MTA of the Shirley train station, our Chamber of Commerce will be painting the long-abandoned building this Sunday,” said chamber president Beth Wahl. 

The MTA, she said, will eventually be demolishing the old ticket booth building after many years of it being vacant. 

Still, she said, “We feel by painting it, the view people get while getting on or off the train will be one of a building that looks better than it does now.”

However, Wahl said that the fix is just a Band-Aid to the overwhelming condition of the overall station. The railings need to be painted and the platform needs to be maintained, she said.

“There are holes in the eves of the building and the MTA probably hasn’t used it in over 20 years,” Wahl said, hoping to see it demolished. “They said a year; we’ll see.”

The chamber originally requested access to the building for use as a chamber office and tourist center; however, after years of bureaucratic red tape, they gave up. Thankfully, though, the chamber recently was given approval for power washing and painting the building. Premium Power Washing donated their services and power washed the building prior to painting.  Home Depot donated all the paint.  Efrain Santos Jr., who is a member of the chamber’s board of director’s, owns Essential Painting Plus, and they donated their time to paint the entire building.

“Through my advocacy, I have received assurances that the MTA has the funds to do the necessary work and repairs to the Mastic-Shirley train station by the end of the year,” said Sen. Alexis Weik. “I will continue to advocate for the residents of the tri-hamlet community to ensure this project gets done as quickly as possible.  The residents of the Mastic and Shirley area have waited far too long for a safe and welcoming train station in their community.” 

According to the LIRR, they have determined that the former Mastic-Shirley station building, which has been out of service for many years, requires demolition.

“LIRR will be utilizing a third-party consultant to undertake a hazardous-materials survey and abatement plan, and then to develop a demolition plan,” explained a spokesperson.

However, no timeline was given.