
Last week, New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo, delivered a speech to the Long Island Association in Melville.
In his speech, the Governor describes his experience at the Long Island Expressway (LIE) rest stop 51 as a “nightmare from hell.” Cuomo recalled the time he spent waiting on a tow truck the rest area after his classic car broke down.
Cuomo told media:
“It was like being in some movie of Land of the Lost, where you saw things that you were not supposed to see in life.
He furthered:
“I mean, you would have liked to have lived your whole life and not had seen these things or experienced them, because then you can’t get them out of your mind once you’ve seen them. I mean it was terrible.”
Listen to the Governor’s account of his rest stop experience:
(Skip to 22:40)
Although the Governor was vague about what he witnessed, he explained:
“The criminal activity that went on in the open,” he said. “The total lack of services. The truckers who are staying there wind up being very creative in their finding uses for the functions that they need to fulfill. I’m telling you there was prostitution there. There were drug sales there, because I saw it, and I mean I was there.”
According to Long Island Press, the Governor related this story to explain the motivation behind his plan to build a 15,200 square foot, Welcome Center and rest area which would promote tourism.
The new rest stop will have 30 bathrooms, electric car charging, satellite police offices, 24-hour security cameras, parking for 135 cars, and a Taste New York kiosk offering local goods. The rest stop will open on the eastbound side of the LIE between exit 51 and 52 in Dix Hills in October.
This is an artist’s depiction of the new welcome center.
However, the center will not allow semi trucks or bus parking. The old rest area was cleared to make room for construction. Buses and trucks have since been parking at Exit 56 on the westbound side.
Truckers have been given a “compromise” as trucks and buses will be routed further east with access to lots with portable toilets. The construction for the truck stop is expected to take fewer than five months. It will not sell gas or serve hot food.
CBS New York reported that residents became concerned when NYSDOT began construction without notice.
Concerned residents in the area told media:
“Who knows when they put a food thing right there, who will it attract? What’s going to go on in the middle of the night?”
Residents reluctantly agreed to back down from their threatened lawsuit regarding their concern that the federal government could one day force the state to allow trucks and buses in that area.