LIRR strike triggers a first for Setauket resident
Maryellen Hughes, of Setauket, is a new fan of the AirTrain. Credit: Newsday/David Olson
When Maryellen Hughes needs to catch a flight from Kennedy Airport, she usually drives there from her home in Setauket.
With the long drive to the airport and the parking such a hassle, Hughes on Thursday for the first time took the LIRR to the AirTrain to get to her Seattle-bound flight to visit a friend. She’s now an AirTrain fan.
“It was quite easy,” she said. “I was hoping to do it on the way home. But it didn’t happen.”
Instead, Hughes, 57, paid $100 for an Uber to the Hicksville LIRR station, where she was waiting for a friend to pick her up and drive her home. She didn’t want to overly inconvenience the friend, so she suggested Hicksville as a meet-up point.
“I was going to wait at the airport until noon,” when some trains are scheduled to begin running, Hughes said as she sat on a green metal chair inside the station with a foot propped up on her suitcase, a cup of coffee in hand. “But I couldn’t do it after a red-eye flight. I didn’t have the energy.”
Hughes doesn’t know the details of the contract dispute, but she supports the workers.
“I’m in a union,” she said. “I know what it’s like to negotiate with management. So I support them without a doubt.”
David Olson covers health care. He has worked at Newsday since 2015 and previously covered immigration, multicultural issues and religion at The Press-Enterprise in Southern California.
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