A legal dispute between the MTA and Garden City Village is threatening to delay the LIRR’s Third Track project and drive up costs of the $2.6 billion effort.

The MTA filed a lawsuit in June saying the village is refusing to issue the needed permits to reconstruct the Denton Avenue Bridge in order to make the Third Track project possible.

It’s the latest legal battle in an ongoing feud between Garden City and the MTA.

Earlier this year, the village sued the MTA over the placement of giant steel utility poles that are 120 feet tall at the Merillon Avenue station as part of the Third Track project. That lawsuit is in appeal after being thrown out by a state Supreme Court judge in July.

“And now I guess as leverage they’ve opted to withhold the permit that’s required to replace the bridge,” says David Kapell, the executive director of the Right Track for LI Coalition.

He says a delay in the Third Track project could end up costing all LIRR riders more to ride the rails.

“Anybody who uses the railroad is going to end up paying the freight for this controversy unless it’s resolved quickly,” Kapell says. 

Garden City Village Mayor Cosmo Veneziale did not respond to News 12's call for comment. He posted to the village’s Facebook page about the permit dispute, citing concerns from residents over “potential changes to the roadway and bridge design.”

The MTA issued a statement that says in part, “We hope Garden City officials will step back from their NIMBY position and stop holding up this final bridge replacement that was long planned and designed in consultation with the village."

Lou Bieler, who lives across the street from the Merillon Avenue station, says he hopes both sides work it out and get the project back on track.

“I think it's helping the neighborhood. It's going to look a lot better when they finish it. It's just a matter of when,” he says.