Emotions at Woodside
The LIRR platforms at Woodside station stand deserted Saturday morning. Credit: Joseph Ostapiuk
The platforms were mostly deserted at Woodside, where digital signs that normally display train times offered a conspicuous lack of information: “Listen for announcements or call us at 718-217-LIRR.”
Viviana Alvarez, of Ecuador, descended from the subway platform at the station with a physical LIRR ticket in hand — looking to get to Woodmere to visit family.
She stood on the platform for a moment, looking around for other passengers. When she was told by a Newsday reporter the LIRR wasn't running, she got emotional.
“Oh no,” she said, before asking questions in Spanish. She took the steps back upstairs, phone in hand, looking for another way out to Long Island.
At the 61st-Woodside platform for the 7 Train, there wasn’t any signage notifying riders about the strike.
Joseph Ostapiuk covers the Town of Oyster Bay and the city of Glen Cove. He joined Newsday in 2023 after spending more than six years at the Staten Island Advance.
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