Long Island Greenway: Suffolk ready to break ground on 175-mile walking and biking path from Manhattan to Montauk

For Don Pupke, a Malverne resident who recently walked across New York State, Long Island was the most treacherous part of the 700-mile trek.

He set off from the shore of Lake Erie in early July, following the Empire State Trail, a mostly off-road recreational path that stretches from Buffalo to Albany and down the Hudson Valley to New York City. By the time he reached Manhattan, he said, he’d worn out four pairs of sneakers and endured a heat wave, wildfire smoke, heavy rain, numerous ticks and two bear sightings.

But on the remainder of the journey to Montauk Point, there was no trail to follow. Pupke, who ran a fundraising campaign for his local American Legion post, walked along sidewalks and — more often — shoulders of busy roads. Sometimes he found himself standing between speeding traffic and guardrails marked with "car paint from side-scrapes — and you’re thinking, this is not good," he recalled recently as he walked the final leg of his odyssey in Deer Park.

Future hikers and bikers might traverse the Island much more easily if a plan to build a 175-mile recreational trail across Queens and Long Island comes to fruition.

The concept has percolated within certain outdoors and conservation circles for decades. But plans for the so-called Long Island Greenway have gained momentum since 2020, when the Empire State Trail, which it would connect to, was completed.

Suffolk County plans to break ground on the first 12.3-mile section, from the Nassau-Suffolk border at Bethpage State Park to Brentwood State Park, in the spring. Ninety percent of it will be off-road; except for a half-mile stretch on private commercial land, it will use existing public property, following underneath Long Island Power Authority power lines and skirting the Pilgrim Psychiatric Center. Expected to cost $21 million, construction is mostly funded through a $16.4 million federal grant, according to County Executive Edward P. Romaine’s office. Design and planning funding also came from New York State and federal earmark requests from Sen. Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

The overall route, which is projected to cost $114 million, is being coordinated by the Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit that has built trails in Dallas, Chicago and Atlanta.

Getting the rest of the trail built will require further funding, approvals from state and federal agencies and support from other local governments, civic groups, businesses and residents, according to TPL.

While Suffolk County is on board, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s office did not respond to a request for comment on whether it supports the project. It is also unclear whether federal funding will be available for future segments; the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which funded the competitive grant program that financed the first segment, is set to expire next month without a replacement.

The trail has been met with skepticism from some residents who have raised concerns about safety and privacy for nearby homes. But organizers of similar, smaller-scale projects on Long Island like the 3.5-mile Setauket Greenway and the 10-mile North Shore Rail Trail say initial opposition faded after the projects were built and people began using them.

Proponents point to the Long Island Greenway’s potential health, environment and tourism benefits.

"We need to preserve as much of our green spaces as possible, and the best way to do that is have people use them," Romaine told Newsday. "The Greenway does that, and will link the island to other trails that we have. I want to see people outdoors and enjoying what this island has to offer." 

He added that while Nassau officials are free to make their own decisions, "I would encourage them to to seriously consider being part of the Greenway."

Parts will be paved, while others will use crushed bluestone or compact gravel suitable for biking.

"The look and feel of the trail will depend on the surrounding environment," said Tamar Renaud, TPL’s New York director, adding it will pass through "pristine, natural environments" as well as densely populated areas where people "biking through can stop by and have a cup of coffee, or go to work or go to school."

Romaine’s office said the county plans to complete the Brentwood-Bethpage section by late 2028, which will be maintained by a "combination of town, county, utility and volunteer organizations," with costs "minimal." Next it will move on to the Riverhead-Montauk part, eventually finishing the entire Suffolk County portion of the trail by 2035.

TPL said it does not plan to focus on Nassau County until Suffolk’s portion is complete; while the proposed route in Nassau is far from final, it has held some public engagement events there.

At one such information session, hosted by the Levittown Community Council at the public library in October, some residents raised concerns about safety and privacy.

A woman who declined to give her name said she liked "the idea of a trail" but the proposed route is "right over my back fence" and worried about who would "hang out" along the trail. Recently, a homeless man had been living along that section of LIPA right-of-way, she said.

One man said a trail was unnecessary because there were already plenty of sidewalks and parks to bicycle or walk, although a younger attendee disagreed.

"I think a fact that's often ignored is there's a lot more traffic and cars on the road than there used to be when you guys were growing up," said David DeRienzo, 23, adding that a classmate’s sister had been killed while crossing Hempstead Turnpike when he was in school.

While instances of crime do occur along suburban trails — a man was murdered near the Setauket Greenway in 2021, more than a decade after it opened — Renaud told Newsday that in TPL’s experience, crime generally drops after greenway trails are completed. She cited a theory by the 20th century urbanist Jane Jacobs that more "eyes on the street" — or in this case, on a disused public property — can deter misbehavior.

To address privacy concerns, she said that in certain locations, hedges or other screens might be installed along the greenway.

Newsday spoke to several residents who said they love living near the North Shore Rail Trail, which opened four years ago along an abandoned extension of the Port Jefferson railroad branch between Mount Sinai and Wading River.

John Reilly, whose backyard abuts the trail in Mount Sinai, said his wife uses it for physical therapy and his grandkids ride over on it to visit him.

"They're not near 25A — so you don't have to worry about cars that much," he said. "What’s not to like?"

His neighbor Bill Dwyer, a retired high school teacher and track coach, said the trail is "incredible" for cycling and running: "I've seen people who, as they get older, they give up the running, but now they are biking the trails."

Sarah Anker, a former Suffolk County legislator who pushed for the North Shore Rail Trail, which was mostly federally funded, said initially, some residents voiced similar concerns as those heard at the Levittown meeting. But she worked with residents, businesses and civic groups for years to build support, "sort of like a bucket filling up with water, one drop at a time."

Romaine’s office said public support for the Long Island Greenway has been "strong," adding it has been engaging residents, business owners and environmental and civic organizations to support the effort.

Though the federal grant for the Bethpage-Brentwood section of trail has already been approved, the Trump administration has clawed back similar grants for recreational trails in New Mexico, Illinois and other states since last year. It justified some of the changes by saying it wanted to instead focus on "projects that promote vehicular travel."

Romaine said Suffolk County has not encountered any such issues.

"And I would say this: If the federal government has made a commitment, budgetarily and otherwise, to undertake whatever trails, whatever else, it should keep its commitment."

He added, of the Greenway, "I think it benefits Long Island in the long run and it connects us."