By Jacqueline Hlavenka
Last week, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority released a statement banning the consumption of alcohol on Long Island Railroad trains on March 17, St. Patrick’sDay.
Long Island Rail Road officials announced in a March 12 statement that “in an effort to maintain orderly travel for our customers attending the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, alcoholic beverages will not be permitted. Alcohol will be banned on Saturday and Sunday, until 4 a.m.” Any type of alcoholic beverage found by an LIRR conductor or employee would be confiscated by an MTA police officer, and, if a rider failed to comply, the commuter would be subject to removal from the train.
In order to prevent accidents and potential harm to other riders, the LIRR has banned alcohol in the past during New Year’s Eve as well as St. Patrick’s Day, and the on-going debate on whether the MTA should ban alcohol altogether on the LIRR becomes a prevalent issue for daily commuters.
“They have a bar car on the LIRR trains during the week, so they allow some drinking. I know it has a tendency to get rowdy, and we should want to maintain some semblance of decorum,” said Maureen Kane-Harrison of Queens Village, decked-out in a green scarf and shamrock-embroidered pants at the Mineola LIRR station. “Even though there’s a ban, people are going to find a way to drink no matter what.”
Although the MTA released the statement before the holiday, some riders were unaware about the alcohol, and observed that the enforcement on the ban was relaxed.
“I didn’t know about the ban, but I’m used to seeing intoxicated passengers on the trains home in the wee hours of the morning. On Saturday I was taking a train home at 6 p.m. and saw several people with poorly concealed bottles of beer,” said Cheryl Curry, a junior English major. “I also started to smell smoke from a drunk person sitting in front of me, and the conductors came crashing onto the train and removed him. It seems it took a more serious crime of smoking on a train to bring in the authorities.”
However, according to the Rules and Regulations of the LIRR, t no person in a terminal, station or train should “drink any alcoholic beverage or possess any opened or unsealed container of alcoholic beverage, except in premises or areas allowing the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages, such as on trains or platforms or in bars or restaurants.” Therefore, riders of legal drinking age can purchase alcohol in Penn Station and on bar-carts designated to sell liquor daily, but if the rider violates the rules of the LIRR, the rider could be removed from the train, and legal action can be taken.
Due to the influx of riders on St. Patrick’s Day, more trains were added traveling west to Penn Station, Jamaica and Flatbush Avenue and eastbound to Long Island in order to accommodate the holiday crowd. However, handling more commuters caused problems for railroad employees.
“I was taking the train home at 2 a.m. [and] the conductors were so backed up that my ticket wasn’t even checked. At least now I have a free ticket from Penn Station to Mineola,” said Shannon Curtis, a sophomore who spent the day in Manhattan.
As of November 2006, the MTA and the LIRR had a record of 4.75 injures per million customer rides, called the “customer injury rate”-making the train service in general terms, safe for riders. Banning alcohol on heavy-drinking holidays is an extra initiative to ensure rider safety and minimize harm.
“Besides the LIRR, the city is really cracking down on underage drinking in general-like in the bars, clubs, after so many accidents and killings have occurred recently,” said Forest Hills resident Taryn Rosenberg, a commuter at the University.
The MTA police had no further comments regarding the holiday alcohol ban.
The LIRR banned the consumption of alcohol on St. Patrick’s Day until Sunday at 4 a.m.