At Mineola, concerns about widespread impacts
Mary Ellen Villalta comments about the potential upcoming LIRR strike Thursday morning. Credit: Newsday/Howard Schnapp
Mary Ellen Villalta, manager at The Chefs Corner Café, around the corner from the Mineola train station, said she supports the striking unions, but a strike would make it difficult for her workers — four of whom commute to the restaurant by LIRR.
She said she has been getting some orders from the hospital to cater for emergency workers in case they have to stay over.
“You want fair wages, but yeah, this is gonna affect us,” she said. “If it is couple days, I'll figure it out.”
Moin Haque, of Williston Park, said he depends on the LIRR and NJ transit — which also went on strike recently — to get to work in New Jersey. The systems are “critical for me, because driving is just not practical.”
Waiting for a train at Mineola, Haque said he works for a company that does research and development related to manufacturing and needs to work in person at least two to three days per week. If there's a strike, he said he'll reluctantly take his car, leaving earlier in the morning and later at night to avoid traffic.
