WRITE ABOUT THE STRIKE FOR OTBKB

from Lamentsoftheunfinished.blogspot.com

Ah, the Good Ole Days

The C train that can’t be on time to save its life

Being yelled at by female MTA workers

Double-fares

Missing a train by 1 second meaning I’ll be at least 15 minutes late

Waiting…

Freezing for 20 minutes on the outdoor platform in Astoria, Queens

Hot stations in the summer

Cold stations in the winter

Three trains passing on the opposite platform before your train arrives

Overcrowding

Broken escalators

Riding taking as long as walking

Not getting your money back when the train doesn’t show up

Drippy, wet stations

Rats

The smell of garbage at 125th Street

WRITE ABOUT THE STRIKE ON OTBKB #6

A strike story by Zeebahtronics.typepad.com

I’m so freaking spacy and exhausted. It’s about 10 miles round-trip from my house to work… am I a total lame-ass, out-of shape piece of crap that I’m so tired? I don’t know, but I can tell you that I was glued to the couch from the moment I got home to the moment I crawled into bed at 8:30 pm , a full three hours earlier than normal.

Well, I was glued to the couch except for the five minutes that I yelled through the phone at the Fresca Tortilla guy. When I called to order, I had the sneaking suspicion that something would get screwed up when I had to repeat and spell my address several times, but they advertised that they had motorcycle delivery, so I chanced it. Forty-five minutes later, Lauren calls to ask about our order, and he tells us he can’t deliver to us….

WRITE ABOUT THE STRIKE FOR OTBKB #5

This one’s mine:

A friend and I drove over to Fifth Avenue near 9th Street to do some shopping.

Earlier we’d been talking about feeling guilty because we haven’t really suffered because of the strike. We share an office in Park Slope and can easily walk to work.

When we got back to her car, which was parked in front of Hollywood Video, a Chinese woman asked my friend if she could have a ride. My friend said ‘yes’ without hesitation.

“You don’t mind if we give this woman a ride, do you?” my friend asked. “Who is she?” I asked. “I don’t know. She just asked me for a ride.”

The Chinese woman was incredibly polite. She kept saying: “How far are you going? You can just let me out anywhere.” At first we were just planning on driving her 20 blocks or so but after a few blocks we decided to take her the whole way. “Where exactly are you going?” my friend asked the Chinese woman, whose English wasn’t very good. “I am going to 41st Street, Fifth Avenue. But you can stop anywhere,” she said.
“No, I want to take you home,” my friend said.

We drove beyond the commercial stretch of Park Slope’s Fifth Avenue and Green-wood Cemetery. At the Jackie Gleason Bus Depot on the outskirts of the Green-Wood Cemetery we saw a picket line of striking TWU employees. Farther up we saw elaborate inflatable Christmas decorations and small houses festooned with red and green lights.

We asked the woman how she had gotten from Manhattan to Fifth Avenue and she said she’d hitched rides and walked a bit. She seemd tired. She said she worked in a school near City Hall.

Around 35th Street or so, there was a nice flag of lights spelling Sunset Park. The woman said she could get out anywhere. Clearly, she was embarassed by our willingness to drive her wherever she wanted to go. “Where are you are going,” my friend said again.

“I hope you are going in this direction. Do you live up ahead,” she asked. “No, we live way in the other direction,” I said. “Oh no,” the Chinese woman said.

At 41st Street the woman got out. “God bless you,” she said. And we did, indeed, feel blessed

This just in. A moving story from last year’s transit strike.

 I will always remember the transit strike from last year.  I was still living in San Francisco
and I got a call from my mom saying that my dad was in the hospital
getting prepped for triple bypass surgery. They were in "the city" and
because of the transit strike, they had to walk from Penn Station to
their evening activities – the theater, the restaurant. My dad was
quietly not feeling well but went along with the evening. He stopped
for some tums along the way. After the play, he told my mom that he’d
like to take a cab back to Penn Station. My mom, ever-thrifty, said,
"You know it’s $10 a person because of the strike?" He said, "I don’t
care." Knowing something was completely out of whack, she then asked
him if he’d rather go to the emergency room and he said yes. The
doctors said if he went home that night, there’s no telling whether he
would have survived the night.

So, in conclusion, because of the transit strike, my father’s heart
was under just enough strain to get it checked out but not enough to
send him into a full blown heart attack. His surgery on December 24th
was successful. He now feels like he has a new birthday on Christmas
which gives my family of Jews a real reason to celebrate!

 

From the Mediation Panel:

Pursuant to the Taylor Law processes, mediation has commenced. Over
the last 48 hours we have met separately with both the TWU and the MTA.
While these discussions have been fruitful, an agreement remains out of
the parties’ reach at this time. It is clear to us, however, that both
parties have a genuine desire to resolve their differences. In the best
interests of the public, which both parties serve, we have suggested,
and they have agreed, to resume negotiations, while the TWU takes steps
toward returning its membership to work.

It is evident to us that the pension changes suggested by the MTA
are extremely difficult for the TWU to accept. It is equally clear to
us that the MTA’s legitimate need to address its long term financial
challenges must be addressed in these negotiations. It would be
inappropriate, at this time, for us to ask the MTA to withdraw its
pension proposals, without an assurance that the TWU is willing to
review alternative means to address those challenges, such as the
rising costs of health benefits. The MTA has informed us that it has
not withdrawn its pension proposals, but nevertheless is willing to
discuss whether adequate savings maybe found in the area of health
costs.

It is on this basis that we have requested the leadership of the TWU
to take the actions necessary to direct its membership to immediately
return to work, and they have agreed to take such actions. This will
protect its membership’s economic well being in the short term by
returning them to a paid status, will permit the TWU leadership to
focus its energy on reaching a negotiated resolution, and will restore
services to the City’s riding public. We have contacted the ATU
leadership to inform them of our recommendation, and are hopeful they
will abide by it as well.

We will continue to assist the parties in their effort to reach a
negotiated settlement and have committed to being immediately available
for intensive sessions, as needed. However, for these negotiations to
be swift and successful we believe that an immediate media blackout is
essential to provide an environment that is conducive to a swift
negotiated settlement.

To facilitate these continued negotiations, we have asked, and the
parties have agreed to, a self-imposed media blackout for the duration
of these discussions. We have requested that both parties strictly
adhere to their commitment.

Richard A. Curreri, Director of Conciliation,
NYS Public Employment Relations Board, Albany, New York

Martin F. Scheinman, Sands Point, New York

Alan R. Viani, Dobbs Ferry, New York

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.

This just in from Little Light. And to read more of her take on life in NYC go to Laments of the Unfinished

Ah, the Good Ole Days

The C train that can

Here’s another strike story by my new friend,  Zeebah

I’m so freaking spacy and exhausted. It’s about 10 miles round-trip
from my house to work… am I a total lame-ass, out-of shape piece of
crap that I’m so tired? I don’t know, but I can tell you that I was
glued to the couch from the moment I got home to the moment I crawled
into bed at 8:30 pm, a full three hours earlier than
normal.

Well, I was glued to the couch except for the five minutes that I
yelled through the phone at the Fresca Tortilla guy. When I called to
order, I had the sneaking suspicion that something would get screwed up
when I had to repeat and spell my address several times, but they
advertised that they had motorcycle delivery, so I chanced it.
Forty-five minutes later, Lauren calls to ask about our order, and he
tells us he can’t deliver to us….

Read what happened next at Zeebah. And check out her photographs. They are really cool.

This one’s mine:

A friend and I drove over to Fifth Avenue near 9th Street to do some shopping.   

Earlier we’d been talking about feeling guilty because we haven’t really suffered because of the strike. We share an office in Park Slope and can easily walk to work.

When we got back to her car, which was parked in front of Hollywood Video, a Chinese woman asked my friend if she could have a ride. My friend said ‘yes’ without hesitation. 

"You don’t mind if we give this woman a ride, do you?" my friend asked me. "Who is she?" I asked. "I don’t know. She just asked me for a ride."

The Chinese woman was incredibly polite. She kept saying: "How far are you going? You can just let me out anywhere."  At first we were just planning on driving her 20 blocks or so but after a few blocks we decided to take her the whole way. "Where exactly are you going?" my friend asked the Chinese woman, whose English wasn’t very good. "I am going to 41st Street, Fifh Avenue. But you can stop anywhere," she said. "No, I want to take you home," my friend said.

We drove beyond the commercial stretch of Park Slope’s Fifth Avenue and Green-wood Cemetery. At the Jackie Gleason Bus Depot on the outskirts of the Green-Wood Cemetery we saw a picket line of striking TWU employees. Farther up we saw elaborate inflatable Christmas decorations and small houses festooned with red and green lights.

We asked the woman how she had gotten from Manhattan to Fifth Avenue and she said she’d hitched rides and walked a bit. She seemd tired. She said she worked in a school near City Hall.

Around 35th Street or so, there was a nice flag of lights spelling  Sunset Park. The woman said she could get out anywhere. Clearly, she was embarassed by our willingness to drive her wherever she wanted to go. "Where are you are going," my friend said. "I hope you are going in this direction. Do you live up ahead," she asked. "No, we live way in the other direction," I said. "Oh no," the Chinese woman said.

At 41st Street the woman got out. "God bless you," she said. And we did, indeed, feel blessed.

The owner of Greenjeans, a shop on Seventh Avenue between 15th and 16th wrote this about the strike:

Today the city’s mass transit workers went on strike shutting down all
subways and busses in all five boroughs. People trying to get into the
city had to either car pool, ride their bike, or walk, making for a
fairly dramatic morning commute. Granted it has been extremely
inconvienent for people, but in another respect it’s kind of chic —
practically like living in Paris!

Where we are in the southern
end of Park Slope, Brooklyn, many people opted to skip work today
rather than hike the several miles through the cold to their offices in
Manhattan. But evidently, rather than stay home, they came out in force to holiday shop.

This
was good news for Brooklyn shops like Greenjeans. Sales in Manhattan
may have been down dramatically today, but us Brooklyn shops had
nothing to complain about! In terms of foot traffic, today was the
busiest day we’ve ever had. There was hardly a minute that passed when
there wasn’t someone in the shop looking around. Many said they were
glad to have the opportunity to check out the local shops, and we’d
have to agree with them.

We hope that the transit workers and
the MTA are able to come to an amenable agreement very soon so that
everything can get back to normal. But in the meantime, we hope local
residents will take this opportunity to continue to enjoy the
neighborhood. Because shopping locally is always chic.

Here’ another strike story from a friend:

Three years after his achiles tendon rupture, an able
bodied Brooklynite reassured his hyper vigilant mother
with this email: "Breathe Easy. Sonny Boy made it to work, albeit
knucklewalking his frostbitten leg  stumps over the
last 3 miles of tundra while senior citizens in
spandex power walked past him dropping nickles in his
coffee cup."

Here’s strike advice from Zeebah 

Brooklyn Bridge is the glamorous bridge politicians go to when they
want to "cheer New Yorkers"! I like my bike commute on the
Williamsburg- quiet and business-like…. much more suited to the
situation, I think.