'Complete all travel before midnight'

The TrainTime app, where most LIRR riders buy their tickets, warned of the possible strike, as well as the limited trains due to Thursday's fire in a Penn Station Amtrak tunnel.

The app is not allowing passengers to buy tickets for any trains Friday night out of Penn Station. LIRR ticket takers and staff at Grand Central Madison said they were not aware of any outbound trains running out of Penn.

The app also warned travelers “to complete all travel before midnight.”

The advisory noted “any trains in service before midnight will continue to their final destination,” listing the final trains in and out of Penn, Grand Central, Jamaica and Atlantic Terminal.

Meanwhile, Ejiah Santiago, 29, of West Hempstead waited in Grand Central for a train Friday as public announcements made the same warning as the TrainTime app.

An Army recruiter, he usually takes the train to Jamaica but if there’s a strike, he says he can figure out how to get to work.

“Soldiers look out for each other,” Santiago said. “I can always car pool, or use a government vehicle to get to work. It’s an inconvenience.”

Santiago said he hopes the “higher ups” negotiating will “figure it out.”

If there’s a strike, “it’s going to be chaos,” Santiago said. “The buses are going to be packed, no one’s going to get anywhere on time.”

— John Asbury and Ted Phillips