If they go on strike next friday, I think I'll be ok as long as there aren't any huge storms or anything.
EDIT: I mean how will it affect you as a new yorker!

Yeah, well, we wont have the out if the weather gets really nasty.

I feel sorry for the folks in the Rockaways who take the A-train. For me, the strike makes little difference. My commute is not into NYC. I go there once in a while.

I didn't anticipate a subway strike when I bought my commuter this past summer, but now I'm doubly glad I did. It's already a little easier for me to get to work on my bike than underground so it won't have that much impact, at least in terms of getting to work. However, I work in the film industry and I have heard that the city will cancel all location permits for the duration of any strike, so one effect is that I will probably lose a few days of work.

I'm rather torn about what to think about the whole thing. On the one hand, I have a lot of sympathy for the TWU. The MTA have zero credibility when it comes to what they tell the public about their finances (witness the miracle surplus that "suddenly" appeared after the last gubernatorial election). And they chose to spend their budget surplus this year on holiday fare reductions instead of reinvesting it in the people who keep the system running, and are asking for huge reductions in worker benefits to boot, which is a total slap in the face.

On the other hand, NYC will grind to a near-complete halt without the subways or buses. Many many people will be severely inconvenienced, and the effect on the economy, coming as it may during the high shopping season, will be devastating.

I'm really hoping something gets worked out.

um, my dad wont get paid.......he works in mta subway management.

traffic would be a nightmare though, if alot of people couldn't take the train whre they'd have to rely on thier cars, cabbies, or other road going vehicles.

i'd doubt there would be a strike though, they'd work out a deal before hand, the city couldn't allow the loss of the mta during the holiday season.

I think alot of people in the outter boroughs will suffer from the strike because the weather is cold this year and taxis' will not carry the load. Maybe some of those living in Queens can take the LIRR or Metro North but for the most part, it's really a huge problem. Maybe the can catch independant buses or those illegal minivans into the city.

I don't think the strike will last long but it makes me feel good that I take the Path and walk to work. Bike commuting in this weather will be rough as temps are hovering just above freezing. Wind chill factor on a bike in this weather must be below 5 degrees below zero.

Nah, it's not THAT cold. I did more miles last week than I did most weeks over the summer, and I was never uncomfortably cold. If we get sleet, then I'll sympathise with people complaining about the weather - but cold and clear just takes a little preparation!

If there's a strike, it'll screw up my life only insasmuch as there will be even more pedestrians and drivers doing stupid things than usual. And I'll ahve to be more dedicated about carrying extra tubes and whatnot if I lose my catch-a-train option in case of unexpected mechanical trouble. But that's all.

If it ices up, then I guess we're screwed... if not, eh. Cold is fine..

would be a bonus for us bike taxi drivers

Yeah you don't have to worry about falling you damn 3-wheelers. :beer:

I remember the last strike in 1980. Lots of people on roller skates, bikes and carpooling. Of course, it was in the summer. If they strike, I'm hoping that a few months after the strike ends, people will be throwing away or selling really cheap the bikes they bought. Hopefully, there'll be some treasures among the trash.

Especialy in the manhattan craigslist.
"Some kind of bike, it says colnago on it, very uncomfortable, my feet barely touch the ground, it looks like it's made of some kind of fabric, feels light and flimsy. $100"

Dream on.
It was the last one left, so it only has one gear, and the coasting mechanism was broken when I bought it.

Could affect me a lot since I will be working in the city the first part of '06. But I'll be skiing for the next 3 weeks, so...I'm not sure I care.

If it's not worked out by the end of January that would be a bummer since I never have anywhere to lock up or change and I usually have to wear pretty nice clothes at work.

bk

At first I couldn't care less until I considered that the added congestion, walkers/cyclists on the bridges especially, will add a lot of time and aggravation to my commute.

I watched something on the news about this. The holiday fare reduction will amount to a tiny fraction of what the surplus is. In the end they may end up getting more revenue do to greater ridership, but their costs won't be going up because of it.

I'm not looking forward to a strike and I hope they settle before friday. Don't worry though if they haven't settled before Thursday though. The union really has nothing to gain by settling before then and having the strike loom over the heads of officials. The strike is always the bargaining tactic for more gains. If they settled beforehand, the heads of the union would get flak that they could have gotten more from management. The city, besides the Taylor law preventing strikes from public workers (10,000 ft view, please don't cite chapter and verse), doesn't have a bargaining chip.

Anyway, see you on the road.

I hope it scares off tourists from Europe. Last year, Manhattan was mad house. Besides that, it would just mean more walking and having to drive to Brooklyn to see my sister's new place. I don't think I'm going to bring my bike with me just 'cause the MTA won't pay up.

It's not the city, or the state for that matter, on the other side of the table, it is the MTA. Public authorities are their own semi-autonomous beast.

According to the contract, the strike would be illegal and would cost striking workers money in terms of fines for illegally striking. A long term strike would be economically disastrous during the holiday season and making shopping a nightmare since so many people ride the subways w/ all their shopping bags, including me. If anything, the TWU won't strike or will call a short wildcat strike for a few hours as a sign of solidarity or whatever.

If the MTA does strike, I'll rollerblade to work instead of bike in order to share in the misery w/ my fellow commuters.

The Taylor law would cost the striking workers little or no money as the city would have to "forgive" the fines in order to get the workers back. The Taylor law is nothing more than a bargining chip that's brought to the table after the fact. This law will not prevent a strike because it cannot force city employees to work.

I remember as a kid, watching my sister get dressed and put on sneakers and walk to the East Side for her job. It was funny seeing all those business execs on TV wearing suits and ties in the middle of the summer riding a bicycle and then having to work all sweaty!

won't affect me much. at least not for work since i take the PATH train to new jersey everyday.

It ain't gonna affect me none. I figure this will probably end up the same as past strike threats anyway.
They'll get what they want at the last minute. The media-induced panic up until that point will keep the public simmering and scared. Remember the last time we almost had a strike a year or two back?

Hey, and what was up with the "two sets of records" the transit people kept?
One was the numbers they released to the public, and then they had another set of more accurate records, correct? What ever happened with that?

Mob