New Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano delivered his first State of the County address last week, calling the County “deeply troubled”  and discussing the need to cut spending. But he sidestepped pressing transportation issues, endorsing a pie-in-the-sky plan for a private highway tunnel to Connecticut while ignoring impending cuts to Long Island Bus.

LI Bus riders are facing the elimination of 11 routes, but the County Executive’s only mention of the agency was an announcement that the county and LI Bus had found some savings by shortening the time old buses sit in junkyards.  This is good news, to be sure, but will Mangano come through for riders and restore the $1.4 million in annual LI Bus funding that was cut by the previous administration?

Mangano spoke extensively about the need to jump-start the redevelopment of the mixed-use Lighthouse Project in Hempstead, to invest in transit-oriented development, and to secure increases in state brownfield redevelopment funding and target those dollars to “main thoroughfares,” good policies which will help curb suburban sprawl.

However, he did not mention the need to work with NYSDOT to improve the walkability and bikeablity of these same thoroughfares.  With Nassau County home to the most dangerous road in the region for pedestrians, the County Executive should make it his administration’s priority to create safer streets for all users.

Mangano also called on Governor Paterson and the State Legislature to repeal the MTA payroll tax, at least for new hires.