Facing a possible LIRR strike, riders weigh bad options

Long Island Rail Road riders on Friday said they faced long bus rides, lost customers and the unpleasant prospect of driving into Manhattan with sky-high gas prices if a strike shuts down the nation's busiest commuter railroad on the May 16 deadline.

At the LIRR Huntington station, some riders believed the two sides would come to an agreement.

Joseph Alexander, 47, of Smithtown, said he thought the strike threat was a bluff that would force the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to arrive at an agreement.

"They'll reach a deal because Long Island and New York City depend on them," Alexander said, calling the LIRR "the biggest monopoly on Long Island."

Unions, he said, "know they can crush Long Island and the city because everyone depends on them to get around, so they threaten a strike to get what they want."

Some riders at the Shirley station sided with the workers.

Pete Landon, 74, of Sayville, has been using the train recently because of car trouble.

"I think with the way things are right now — with prices and everything — I think they should get what they need," he said.

Kathii Longley, of Mattituck, said the train is the easiest way for her and friends to travel locally and avoid traffic, and as a waitress and bartender, she relies on day-trippers to the East End.

Longley said, "I think anyone who goes to work and has to put up with the public deserves a lot of money."

Idling in his cab at the Shirley station on Friday, Trevor Hardin said his job relies on rides to and from the station, but without any LIRR service, there might be more people needing a taxi.

He doesn't believe LIRR workers need a large raise. 

"I'm always for the working man over the company man," Hardin said. "But you can't pay someone more than they're worth."

At Penn Station on Friday afternoon, Manhattan resident Tom Katzenmeyer was heading to a weekend home in Fire Island, but "probably just wouldn’t go" if the LIRR weren't running.

Getting on and off Long Island without the LIRR "would be a total mess. It would be a total disaster," Katzenmeyer, 58, said.

Scott Ahlborn, who lives on Fire Island full time, took the LIRR into Manhattan Friday to renew his driver’s license at the DMV.

"Without the railroad ... I would have missed those appointments," said Ahlborn, 68, who dreads the possibility of having to drive into Manhattan. "I would do what I have to do, but I don’t think it should come to that."

Malverne resident Jim Alger said he rides the LIRR only about once a week for his consulting job, and expects he’ll be able to work from home full time during a strike. But, if it came to it, he’d be able to get to Manhattan relying on Nassau Inter-County Express buses and city subways.

"I did that many years ago because I was cheap. That adds another hour on to the commute. It’s terrible," Alger, 67, said. "They need to do something about it. If it takes state involvement, I don’t care."

The MTA's contingency plan for a LIRR union strike would provide shuttle buses between six locations on the Island and two subway stations in the Bronx.

The MTA last month announced that weekday rush hour bus service would be provided at train stations at Mineola, Hicksville, Ronkonkoma and Huntington, and at Hempstead Lake State Park. MTA Chairman Janno Lieber announced Friday that a sixth location, the Bay Shore LIRR station, had been added.

"A lot of people are going to work from home," Lieber said. "There will be adequate capacity for folks that really need to get into town."