Riders heading home on rails, still aggravated with strike's inconvenience

As LIRR service returned to mostly normal at Penn Station Tuesday, the end of the strike had mixed reactions from passengers waiting in the terminal.

For Bill Axmacher, 65, the East Northport native wasn’t a fan of the LIRR even though he was grateful to head home on the rails.

He drove in to Manhattan Sunday night to stay with family but was still bothered by how the strike impacted him and other residents.

“I had things to do in Long Island so it was super inconvenient,” he said.

He also wasn’t a fan of the LIRR union because he noted that workers have what he called “a golden ticket” with their contract.

“I’m relieved...it was a big inconvenience,” Axmacher said, eating a scoop of ice cream.

It was a different story for Maddy Holt of Massepequa. To beat the traffic Tuesday, she left home at 5:40 a.m. and drove one hour into the city to avoid traffic. She was worried about the shuttles taking perhaps 90 minutes so she decided to leave earlier than usual.

It also meant spending time at Starbucks to kill time before starting her job at a local school.

“It was totally different. The traffic was good down the West Side Highway,” Holt said.

Still, she was glad to be at Penn Station along with other passengers. While she appreciated a different way to work and downtime getting coffee, Holt was glad for the familiarity of her usual commute and the LIRR running again.

“So happy to be waiting here to go home,” Holt said.

By Evan Barnes

evan.barnes@newsday.comevan_b

Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.