So I got a memo today from the firm’s office manager. The firm is apparently making arrangements to provide alternative transportation to employees who live relatively far away. So attached to the memo was a survey which lists various boroughs, requesting each of us to list our transportation needs.
Every borough except Manhattan.
Fair enough, a lot of people who live in Manhattan can walk to work. Believe me, I wish I could. But as many of you know, I live in the island’s Frozen North, only about twenty blocks from the Bronx. So I called my office manager, who I already have an extremely poor working relationship with.
“Well, the last time this happened, people were walking over the Brooklyn Bridge to get to work.”
While I could easily turn this into a rant about the rancid bitch who sits two floors from me, I would rather just take a little poll.
What are you going to do if transit workers effectively shut down our city? If the firm won’t provide transportation, I have two options. A three hour walk in the middle of December, both to and from the office, or at least $50 in cab fares, assuming I could actually get a cab uptown in the middle of a transit strike.
Neither of these alternatives are looking good for me right now.
What’s your predicament going to be? Will you be seriously affected?
We will be inconvenienced, but not terribly affected.
My wife will end up driving me to the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge in Camden Plaza and then I would walk over. I work about three minutes from the bridge.
The traffic to the bridge will be a pain, and both my wife and I will get to work later than usual. I’ll also have to arrange for similar transport home, where my wife will have to pack up all three kids to come pick me at the foot of the bridge again.
Seriously, if you dress appropriately, riding a bicycle is not an impossible proposition.
My wife and I live on the UWS, and she works in far downtown, and she is planning on riding, should the union exercise their right to strike.
If you equip your bike with appropriate tires and fenders, and dress warmly, you could ride your bike to work. From Inwood to downtown might be a little much, even if you’re a competent cyclist, as it would take probably 75-90 minutes, by bicycle. But as a last resort, it will beat walking, hands down.
In your case, if your work wants you there, I think they’ve got to provide some reasonable accomodation.
If you want more tips on bicycle commuting, drop me a line; I’ve been doing it for years.
Wouldn’t affect me, happily, I take NJ transit into the city, then walk the 20 blocks or so to work. Would make it inconvenient getting to the dentist or various get-together places, but that’s about it.
Our big plan so far is to let people, if they wish, work staggered hours, so they don’t have to compete for cabs/car service at rush hour. $50 in carfare actually might be worth it if it means I can sleep in.
Is telecommuting at all an option, at least for part of what you do? Or perhaps they could reassign you to things that are telecommutable?
I count myself extremely fortunate: I walk to work now, and it usually takes at least two weeks to use a $15 Metrocard. Like Eve, the main effect will be on my social life …such as it is…. <grin>
I don’t know. There may be a car pool starting up. Since I work on the Island I thought all I needed to do was walk to the Flatbush station. My conductor said that the last time there was a NYC transit strike, the closed Flatbush station (apparently LIRR rents that space from NYC MTA-- even though they both are run by the same umbrella organization).
So I’ll have to find my way to Jamaica station. Or hope that one of my Brooklyn co-workers with a car will pool for those of us without a car. Or maybe I’ll just quit. It’s too much freakin’ trouble getting all the way out here.
BING! And we have today’s Blue Ribbon Understatement! Man, I ain’t getting anywhere NEAR a car for the duration of the strike.
My wife schleps from Park Slope, Brooklyn, to her office in the West Village by bicycle, usually loaded down with manuscripts. There’s a possibility they’ll let her work from home but it’s not likely, as most of her co-workers are middle-aged singletons with depressing studio apartments walking distance from their jobs.
The biggest problem will be getting the kids to and from school in Brooklyn Heights, about 2 1/4 miles door to door. Biking will be a frigid pain in the arse, so I suppose we’ll hoof it.
Nope, not really. I have to work with the attorneys here and deal with the constant document flow. Unfortunately, I don’t actually produce enough to make working at home a real option.
I would probably to and from work. It’s not close-close, but it’s not impossible. And that would be the proper punishment for paying for my gym-membership month after month, but never ever going.
I’ll work from home as much as inhumanly possible. I’ve no idea how I’ll get into the office otherwise. Maybe drive in at 6AM. The transit workers have us by the short and curlies, and they know it. The MTA brass walks around with their heads far up their rectal openings and are not giving an inch. The city stands to lose tens to hundreds of millions daily.
Biggirl can you get to Jamaica on non-MTA buses? When I worked in midtown, my alternate was always the Q60, which is a different union.
Another Queens resident here and for the first time I am happy we have our crappy private bus lines (Q60, Q18, Q67 et al).
There is an express bus I can get not too far from home that will take me all the way downtown (1 block from work). Of course it is more expensive and may cut into my Christmas fund. Not to mention the amount of people that will use it.
FYI, the ones I can think of right now are:
Green Bus Lines (green stipe - go figure)
Triborough Coach (red stripe)
Queens Surface (orange stripe)
You may want to check to see if there is an express bus not too far from you. I am not sure if any of these have service in other boroughs (other than Manhattan).
Hopefully the traffic in Manhattan will not be too congested. They are suppose to enforce a restriction on passenger cars with fewer than three people below 96th (I think) street, allow taxis to pick up multiple fares and allow Livery cars to pick up hailers (not that they haven’t already done this). Will any of this help? We’ll have to wait and see. Or hope we don’t have to find out.
Oh and I forgot to mention an even more expensive way to get into Manhattan, Ferry Service
I used the NY Waterways Downtown ferry during it’s first week (free parking and ferry) and it was a great time saver. However, parking is now $4 a day and the ferry is now $5 each way (cheaper in bulk but not much). Which is way too much to spend on a daily commute. FYI Queens and LI people, the ferry terminal is just beyond the entrance to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. Near the Waterfront Crab House if that helps. There is a free shuttle bus from the LIRR’s Hunters Point Train station too. Their website (below) has directions if you are driving. They have ferrys to midtown (34th st.) and downtown (pier 11).
There is Bklyn service to Downtown from Bklyn Army Terminal. It says FREE but you might want to check that. The Queens ferry was free for its first week only. They might have not updated their website. Although if it is always free I am going to be quite upset.
My part of the Beautiful Bronx is five blocks from the Yahnkuz border. Usually I take a MBTA bus to the subway and get someplace more interesting in about 1 hour 15 during rush.
My other two options are: Get Dad to drive me. Shyeah right. Not only will the traffic be ten kinds of impossible, but his schedule will be screwed over too. Of course, I don’t own a car because–all together now–I live in a city with great public transportation!! Many of us outer-borough types will be in the same fix, as well as Manhattanites north of Harlem and all. Jersey transit might work for me–zipping over to Hoboken or Weehawken for the ferries or PATH–but all the bridge crossings, Hudson and East, will probably be parking lots too.
Conrail goes down to Grand Central, and it’s only about 20 minutes from my house. However, there are times I can’t get on because of the crowding, and I don’t mean that I’d just have to stand, I can’t physically fit on the train. During a strike, all those folks from lower Westchester who usually take the Beeline buses to the subway? On the train, ahead of me. Plus, 3x more expensive.
Liberty Lines buses will also be wicked crowded, although at least I can get on at the end of the line. But how long it’ll take to creep over the bridges, through Harlem, and down Fifth Avenue will be able to be measured in lifespan-of-Galapagos-tortoises years.
Not to mention the secondary ripple effects on the entertainment industry, the tourist, the medical, etc. etc. I just made an appointment for a major job interview next Monday and if there’s a strike, I’ll have to leave my house before dawn or something to try to figure out how to get there. Never mind how to get home.
I was a student at Columbia back in 1980, when New York’s last big transit strike took place. Columbia provided private buses within Manhattan, but you had to get to midtown Manhattan before you could ride them. I had to walk from my home in Astoria to the Queensborough Street Bridge, walk over the bridge, and grab a bus around 59th Street.
