The Setauket Greenway and the Lawrence Aviation Land: A Dated Account of 2026

ByPawli Paola Meyer
Greenway trail in autumn woodland

On September 30, 2026, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority took ownership of a little more than 46 acres in Port Jefferson Station for $10, buying the parcel from the Suffolk County Land Bank. The land belongs to the former Lawrence Aviation Industries property, a Superfund site, and it adjoins the Setauket–Port Jefferson Station Greenway, a 3.4-mile paved trail that links the Three Village area to Port Jefferson Station. Less than four months before the closing, that same sale had been canceled, and in between, the Governor signed a law giving the Greenway permanent protection. Reports from the period use different acreage figures and different framings, so this account follows the record in date order and says where the sources disagree.

The short version

  • Under a law signed in July 2026 (bills A10341 and S10161), the Greenway is covered by a perpetual conservation easement that keeps it from being converted into a road.
  • The MTA’s September 30 purchase covers more than 46 acres at 100 Sheep Pasture Road, and the price was $10.
  • The law preserves the MTA’s option to build a rail yard on part of the site. If one is built, the state Department of Transportation would relocate the affected section of trail.
  • The Governor’s own release states that no funding or plan currently exists for the Port Jefferson Branch work that a rail yard would support.

Where the land came from

The corridor under the Greenway was acquired by the state decades ago for a proposed Route 25A bypass that never materialized, according to Assemblywoman Rebecca Kassay’s office. Residents later pressed for a trail in its place, and more than $7 million in public money paid for the paved path. The state Department of Transportation still owns the land the trail crosses, TBR News Media reported in 2025, a detail that explains much of what followed.

Beside the trail lies the 126-acre property where Lawrence Aviation Industries manufactured titanium sheet metal for the aviation industry from 1959 until 2003, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Solvents including trichloroethene and tetrachloroethene, along with acids, oils and metals, reached the soil and groundwater, and the site joined the federal National Priorities List in March 2000. The EPA installed two groundwater pump-and-treat systems, one on the property and one near Old Mill Pond, then handed their operation to the DEC in 2020 and 2021. A 2023 DEC fact sheet scheduled demolition of the old buildings to begin that fall and finish in early 2024.

Acreage is where the reports part ways. Coverage through the July signing, including the Governor’s own release at the time, spoke of 40 acres headed to the MTA, while the September 30 announcement says more than 46. The 2025 TBR report also described Brookhaven Town as having bought 40 acres of the property for open space and the county as having bought 40 acres for a solar farm. None of the sources reviewed explains why the MTA parcel grew from about 40 acres to more than 46, so the closing announcement’s figure is the one used here.

How 2026 unfolded

The year had a prologue. At a June 2025 site visit, local officials urged the MTA and the DOT to reach agreement as a third deadline approached, and Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine asked the DOT to stop blocking the sale, TBR reported. In a March 24 letter, the report added, the DOT told the Land Bank it had no plans to reconstruct Route 25A to the property.

Cleared industrial lot with vegetation growing back

The 2026 sequence, in order:

  • June 9. LongIsland.com reported that Kassay’s Greenway bill had passed both houses of the Legislature unanimously and awaited the Governor’s signature.
  • June 10. The MTA canceled its planned purchase after seven contract extensions, Metropolitan Airport News reported, because the DOT held an easement originally set aside for future roadway expansion and the MTA would not close until the overlapping land claims were settled. News 12 reported the next day that the Suffolk County Executive’s office considered the electrification plan “in limbo.”
  • July 6. The Governor’s office announced that she had signed the bill. TBR News Media placed the signing at Caleb Smith State Park Preserve in Smithtown.
  • September 30. The Governor announced that the MTA had acquired more than 46 acres from the Land Bank for $10.

What the law does

The legislation authorizes a perpetual easement over the Greenway corridor. That easement prevents the trail from being converted into a vehicular bypass and keeps it a non-vehicular, multi-use route. Kassay sponsored the bill in the Assembly, State Senators Monica Martinez and Anthony Palumbo carried it in the Senate, and Romaine and County Legislator Steve Englebright publicly backed it, according to Kassay’s office.

The same law cleared the land-use conflict that had stalled the MTA sale, and it keeps the rail yard option alive. A built yard would not erase the Greenway; the DOT would relocate the trail and its easement elsewhere on the parcel. At the signing, Kassay said the measure “should eliminate entirely the anxiety about the future of the Greenway,” as TBR News Media reported.

What remains undecided

Closing on a property does not approve a project. The Governor’s September 30 release says there are no current plans or funding for the Port Jefferson Branch improvements that would need a rail yard, and News 12 reported that the MTA’s current capital plan contains a study of possible branch upgrades rather than construction. The branch runs diesel trains today, which TBR described as louder and more polluting than electric service. Governor Hochul said at the signing that she would like to see an electrified Port Jefferson line in her lifetime and hoped it could happen during her time in office; her September release attaches no schedule.

Diesel train arriving at a station

Officials framed the purchase as an opening move. Kassay called it “the first in a series of investments necessary to electrify the line,” and Romaine said “this community blight is transforming into a clean energy and transportation asset.” Gerard Bringmann, chairman of the LIRR Commuter Council, told News 12 the acquisition is extremely important, though he described a second track as the largest improvement and said electrifying without one would offer little benefit.

The trail’s future route is also open. A 2023 DEC fact sheet anticipated that a rail yard might require rerouting about 2,200 feet of the Greenway, and none of the 2026 announcements says where a relocated section would run.

What it means around Setauket

Kassay’s office describes the Greenway as a corridor tying together neighborhoods, schools, shops, houses of worship and LIRR stations, which makes it a daily route for walkers and cyclists as well as a recreation space. The easement answers a question that had worried trail users and neighbors, namely whether the state could someday build a road on the corridor. It leaves a different question unanswered: whether a section near the former Lawrence Aviation land will move if a rail yard is ever built.

Walkers beneath a railroad overpass

Anyone weighing a home near the corridor can ask their attorney how a survey and title search treat recorded easements and state-owned land, since that falls to a licensed professional rather than to a blog post. For the road side of this story, the post on Route 25A planning in the Three Villages covers why that corridor has moved slowly, and the rail side connects to the broader coverage of Long Island commuter rail expansion plans. Readers still sorting out the hamlet names in this part of Brookhaven can start with Setauket, East Setauket, and South Setauket.

Questions people ask

Is the Greenway protected now? Yes, through a perpetual conservation easement under the law signed in July 2026, which bars conversion of the trail to a road. The law still permits relocation of the affected section if a rail yard is built.

Is the Port Jefferson Branch being electrified? No project is approved or funded as of the Governor’s September 30 announcement, and no date has been set.

Why do some reports say 40 acres and others 46? Earlier coverage and the July announcement used about 40 acres, while the closing announcement says more than 46. The reports reviewed do not explain the change.

Who owns the land under the trail? The state DOT owned the land the trail crosses, per TBR’s 2025 reporting, and the 2026 law adds the conservation easement on top of that ownership.

Figures and project status here reflect reporting through October 9, 2026 and may change. This is for informational purposes only — consult a licensed attorney or financial advisor for your specific situation.

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