Clock strikes midnight. Will strike follow?

A midnight deadline for MTA managers and LIRR union leaders to strike a deal came and went with no announcement on Friday.

LIRR workers were set to strike as early as 12:01 a.m. Saturday, shutting down service for hundred of thousands of commuters.

Just before midnight, an MTA source told Newsday that the unions had left the talks at MTA headquarters in lower Manhattan, after more than 12 hours at the negotiating table.

With Alfonso A. Castillo