LIRR strike highlighted Long Island's dependency on the rail system

The elimination of Long Island Rail Road service for 84 hours during the strike that ended noon Tuesday tested residents’ and workers’ ability to adapt. It also demonstrated the Island’s dependence on the nation’s largest commuter rail system, which carries about 270,000 passengers on a typical weekday.

Despite predictions of gridlock caused by the displacement of riders onto roads, the strike did not significantly worsen traffic. According to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, vehicle crossings on East River bridges went up 2% Monday compared with the prior week, while the state Transportation Department said "conditions were generally consistent with a typical rush hour" on Long Island.

A calculator on Newsday’s website showed commute times were considerably longer than "typical," but it was comparing the times to traffic-free conditions.

Still, experts predicted the strike’s impact would surely have been worse had it bled further into the week. And compared with the last time LIRR workers struck, in 1994, Long Island has become even more dependent on its railway, they said.

"This strike was a two-edged sword," said Lawrence Levy, dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University. "It reminded [Long Islanders] how critical the railroad is to the economy and to their families and to themselves. By the same token, it also reminded them of its vulnerability and occasional lack of reliability."

Below are some takeaways gleaned from Newsday’s extensive coverage of the recent strike, interviews with former officials and a dive into our reporting from previous strikes.

Zoom, work flexibility eased the strike for many

During an 11-day LIRR strike in 1987 — the railroad’s longest — articles in Newsday scarcely mentioned employees attempting to work from home, a concept that was still decades from widespread acceptance.

Employers reported "little absenteeism due to the strike, albeit much tardiness," according to an article from Jan. 21, 1987.

However, some firms did allow employees to work closer to home — one Wall Street brokerage reportedly let Long Island staff work out of its Jericho office.

By contrast, on Monday, "a lot of employers listened to the message from the governor and the Long Island Rail Road and implemented remote work for employees that can do that," said Stacey I. Sikes, acting president and CEO of the Long Island Association business group.

"The advent of Zoom and remote work gave people far more flexibility than they had back 30 or 40 years ago," said Lou Riccio, a former New York City transportation commissioner who now teaches at NYU's Stern School of Business. "We've gone through the pandemic, where we learned how to adapt."

Others may have taken advantage of Monday’s warm "perfect beach and golf weather" for a break, he added.

The shutdown was harder on other commuters

First responders, healthcare workers and other essential workers, of course, could not work from home.

Some hospitals, such as NYU Langone, arranged ferries and emergency lodging for their workers, while others, like Northwell — the state’s largest private employer — organized private shuttle buses for staff.

The MTA also offered free shuttle buses on Monday and Tuesday from Bay Shore, Huntington, Ronkonkoma, Hempstead Lake State Park, Hicksville and Mineola into Queens. The shuttles were designed to accommodate about 13,000 passengers daily, but the MTA said only about 2,200 riders used them Monday and just over 3,000 did so Tuesday.

Some shuttle users told Newsday they ran smoothly, but others said they were inconvenient because they only stopped at a handful of locations, requiring multiple modes of transit to access them. One eastbound commuter took a pair of ferries from Astoria to Rockaway, two subways to Howard Beach and then a two-hour MTA shuttle ride to Bay Shore.

The weekday-only shuttles also did not help those who worked over the weekend — such as skilled tradespeople who spoke to Newsday in Hicksville and Holtsville.

Sam Schwartz, another former New York City transportation commissioner who now teaches at Hunter College, said that had the strike continued, he believes shuttle ridership, as well as carpooling, "would have grown over time."

Private buses such as the Hampton Jitney and ride-hailing apps such as Lyft and Uber offered other alternatives, but for some, they were just too expensive.

"I can’t afford an $80 ride," Andrea Gray, a home healthcare aide in Locust Valley, told Newsday.

Some riders reported spikes in ride-hail app prices during the strike — including a $350 fare from Manhattan to North Babylon. Spokespersons for Uber and Lyft told Newsday they use dynamic pricing, which fluctuates with demand in order to attract more drivers.

And for people with disabilities, the strike presented its own set of challenges, advocates said.

While Nassau County residents could still rely on NICE Bus and Able-Ride vehicles to get them to subway stations in Queens, "if you live in Suffolk County, you can’t go anywhere," Christopher Greif, president of the ADA Accessibility Transportation Group, told Newsday.

The strike showed how dependent the Island is on the LIRR

Schwartz said Long Island is more dependent on its commuter rail than ever.

Ridership has largely rebounded after plunging during the pandemic, and is about 5% higher than at the time of the 1987 strike.

The LIRR’s importance has also grown with the introduction of service to Grand Central Madison in 2023, Schwartz said.

And as Long Island’s population has grown in recent decades, some local governments have encouraged high-density, transit-oriented housing near train stations in Ronkonkoma, Patchogue, Wyandanch and elsewhere.

Though the strike may have led some to question the reliability of the railroad, Levy said he does not believe it lasted long enough to raise any serious doubts.

"Right now the reputation of the railroad, its ability to have built back its ridership after the pandemic, is pretty strong," he said.

By Peter Gill

peter.gill@newsday.com