60-HOUR TRANSIT STRIKE IS OVER. The following is from the New York Times:

Transit officials said limited
subway and bus service could resume within hours, though normal service
could take up to 18 hours to restore.

"This was really a very big test for our city and I think it’s fair to say we passed the test with flying colors,"  ,Mayor Bloomber said at a City Hall press conference. "We did what we had to do to keep the city running and running safely."

The
order to return to work came after executive board of the Transit
Workers Union, Local 100, voted 38 to 5 with two abstentions to accept
a preliminary framework of a settlement as a basis to end the walkout.

The
Metropolitan Transportation Authority had already agreed to the
framework, which was devised by state mediators after all-night
negotiations with the union and the authority.

"We thank riders
for their patience and forbearance," President Roger Touissant said
outside union headquarters this afternoon. "We will be providing
various details regarding the outcome of this strike in the next
several days."

A few minutes earlier, one of the executive board
members, George Perlstein, who said he had voted against the settlement
plan, angrily told reporters that the union had not achieved its goals.

"We got nothing," he said. "Absolutely nothing."

The
strike forced New Yorkers, who are heavily dependent upon public
transportation, to walk, bike, hitchhike and endure traffic jams as
early as 3:30 a.m. to get into Manhattan for work. Weary commuters
welcomed the end of the strike.