A dearth of customers at Hicksville station coffee shop
Business was slow late Tuesday afternoon at Farhat Qureshi’s coffee shop and convenience store at the Hicksville train station.
Normally she would be upset. (Well … she was a little upset.)
But it was still better than Monday, Qureshi said.
“It is better, but not that good,” she said while filling orders for soft drinks and snacks. She was open on Monday, “but business was zero.”
Qureshi said she didn't bother opening Tuesday morning, knowing the trains still would not be running, even after the end of the LIRR strike was announced late Monday.
She opened the store around noon Tuesday, about the time limited service resumed.
Still, no customers.
“But until 4 [p.m.], it was nothing. After 4, it was something,”
Her boss told her to open the shop on Saturday, even though the strike had begun a minute past midnight that day.
“Saturday, I was here whole day. I made $114 for 14 hours,” Qureshi said.
But at least she was working, instead of “sitting at home on the couch.”
“I would be home and watching TV all day,” Qureshi said. “This is better.”
Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.
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