'We're praying the strike doesn't happen'

Dr. Lori Escallier, who works at Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, said she prefers the LIRR to get between Southampton, where she has a home, and the city. The train costs her around $10 from Ronkonkoma, compared to the more than $100 cost of using an Uber and the Hampton Jitney.

The LIRR is also faster due to avoiding Manhattan traffic, which can take 1½ to 3 hours to her trip, she said.

"We're praying the strike doesn't happen," she said.

Ron Savage, of Patchogue, said he rides the train four days a week and thinks the workers should get the raises they've been demanding.

"I've seen a lot of dedication, a lot of loyalty in what they do, I believe they should get what's coming to them," he said.

Earlier, at the Hicksville LIRR stop, Jawairia Rohail was busy selling coffee and lottery tickets to customers at the station's concession stand.

Farhat Qureshi, of Hicksville, said she owns the store and another at the LIRR station in Baldwin. She said whether they stay open will depend on how many people take the shuttle —

Hicksville is one of six locations on Long Island from where the MTA will operate shuttles into the city.

"We'll wait and see for a couple of days, how the response is, how the people are moving then only we'll take the decision" whether to temporarily close, she said.

Sitting in the Hicksville LIRR station with his earbuds in, Wilmy Murcy said he had not heard about the potential strike. He depends on the train to get to work in Brooklyn Bridge Park, where he works in sanitation — not work one can do from home. He shares a car with his mother, who also needs it to get to her job.

He checked his phone to see how long it would take to get a NICE bus to work. "That's going to take forever," he said, before hopping on a train to Jamaica.

By Peter Gill

peter.gill@newsday.com