LIRR strike: Long Islanders sit in traffic, buses, or work from home on first work day of shutdown

They traveled by car, bus, ferry — even scooter. Anything but the LIRR. 

A once-in-a-generation strike by railroad workers shut down services Monday on all branches of the nation's busiest commuter railway. Alternatives such as shuttle buses were in place but it meant commuters had to be up earlier, possibly pay more and sit in traffic to the outer reaches of Queens and Brooklyn to take subways they don't regularly use. 

Late Monday, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on X that a deal had been reached to end the work stoppage and gradually get the trains rolling again Tuesday. Welcome news for commuters but not enough to erase what they went through on the strike's first workday.

'A horrible day'

Long Islanders who would have normally commuted in and out of New York City and other points west on the LIRR spent Monday adjusting to the break from their usual workday routine. By the evening, they were tired and confused after what one commuter described as "a horrible day."

"I’m exhausted," said Mel Santos, of Hicksville, as he got off the MTA shuttle bus Monday afternoon at the Ronkonkoma LIRR station. The 50-year-old substitute teacher boarded the wrong bus at Jamaica back to Long Island.

"It’s been a horrible day and this has made it a bit worse ... I’m about an hour away from where I’m supposed to be," Santos said.

"Horrible" was also how Peter Caterina described his experience taking the shuttle from Jamaica to Howard Beach and back to the Hicksville train station, which took more than two hours.

"Normally I would’ve been at home, at dinner, relaxing for the evening," said Caterina, of Wantagh, who takes the LIRR to work in Manhattan everyday. His employers allow him to work from home at times during the week, Caterina added, but he was concerned he'd have to go through the same process Thursday if the strike is not resolved.

"I don’t need to be traveling two hours plus in the morning and then over three hours back," he said. "That’s five hours of traffic. If anybody thinks they’re doing us a favor by striking, they’re not."

Out of options

Many don't have the option of remote work. Nurses, teachers and other essential workers who needed to report to work in-person told Newsday they had little choice but to prepare for a new commuting routine.

As it turned out, it would be brief.

"Tonight, the @MTA reached a fair deal with the five LIRR unions that delivers raises for workers while protecting riders and taxpayers," Hochul posted Monday night on X. "I’m pleased to announce that phased LIRR service will resume beginning tomorrow at noon."

At least for one day, riders like Xiomara Sorto, 20, a student at CUNY in Harlem, faced an added stresser to the often pressure-packed daily commute. Sorto was forced to travel three hours to take an anatomy exam.

"It's final season. I usually study on the LIRR," Sorto said as she and others waited on Hillside Avenue between 181st and 182nd streets for NICE bus service to Mineola. 

Jean Joseph, 45, a nurse manager at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, was also out of his regular routine. On a typical day, he leaves his house in Levittown at 5:40 a.m. to get to the Bellmore LIRR station. With the trains down, he instead boarded a bus in Hicksville shortly before 5 a.m. so he could catch the subway in Howard Beach to get to Columbus Circle. 

"It's a lot of stress, to be honest with you. I didn't sleep all night. I was thinking about how to get to work," Joseph said. "It is what it is. I understand they have to do what they have to do because they have a family to feed too."

'I can’t stay home'

For Maria Raniolo, of Massapequa, working remotely also was not an option. "I’m a teacher," Raniolo said, "so I can’t stay home."

To get to her classroom in Washington Heights, in upper Manhattan, she took the A train from Howard Beach after a shuttle from Hicksville. The bus wasn't as comfortable as the train but Raniolo said: "I was trying to figure out what I was going to do today and see how this went."

Joel Atwell, a commercial porter on Manhattan’s East Side, usually starts work at 6 a.m. but was delayed on the subway's F line during the second leg of his journey. 

Atwell, 44, started in Central Islip and took a bus from Huntington to Jamaica, which he said was "faster than expected," though it would likely turn his usual two-hour commute into a three-hour trip.

He said he supported the LIRR workers and was willing to accept some inconvenience if it meant they'd get pension and pay benefits.

Motorists had aggravations of their own Monday — rising gas prices, potholes on the roads and gridlock on the Long Island Expressway.

Frustration and sympathy

At a Mobil gas station on Old Country Road in Plainview, Long Islanders shared a mix of frustration and sympathy. 

Diane Winkelman, of Northport, said she left early for a 7:30 a.m. appointment at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park, but still ran into heavy traffic.

"It was bumper to bumper. Even the HOV lane was equivalent — there was no saving time in that," Winkelman said. 

She had to "leave a lot earlier, and now I’m late for work as well. I hope it’s over soon."

While Long Islanders are already renowned for having some of the longest commutes in the country, the added delays compounded their stress. 

The strike turbocharged Ayoub Elmahmoudi's commute from as little as 90 minutes ordinarily to as long as four or five hours. He needed to go to New Jersey on Monday.

Elmahmoudi, 19, would typically ride the LIRR on the Port Washington Branch from Bayside, Queens, where he lives, to Penn Station, then go via PATH to Jersey City. Total trip time, between 90 minutes and two hours.

Now, he must do something he has rarely done — ride a bus — so he relies on Apple Maps — to Jamaica, Queens, then the E subway line to Penn Station. Total trip time, four to five hours.

As an in-person fundraiser for Project Hope, a nonprofit that raises money for children and families in war and natural disasters, Elmahmoudi cannot work from home.

"I'm pretty mad about it," he said