Metro

Slog to work (if you’re lucky)

The Battery Park underpass is completely flooded after Sandy slammed the city yesterday. Water rushes into the Hoboken, NJ, PATH station (above). (AP)

LAKE LA GUARDIA: A passenger ramp at a La Guardia Airport terminal leads to nothing but water yesterday after Hurricane Sandy left the tarmac swamped. La Guardia and Newark will remain closed today, while Kennedy Airport will reopen for only a few flights.

LAKE LA GUARDIA: A passenger ramp at a La Guardia Airport terminal leads to nothing but water yesterday after Hurricane Sandy left the tarmac swamped. La Guardia and Newark will remain closed today, while Kennedy Airport will reopen for only a few flights. (
)

Getting to and from work during the next several days will be so harrowing that commuters will wish they had their crowded subway trains and traffic-choked tunnels.

Officials began the slow restoration of transit systems yesterday, but there are still weeks of work left before everything is back to normal.

For the next several days, drivers will have an easier time than those who take subways, buses, and commuter rails.

“I can say unequivocally the MTA [Monday] night faced a disaster as devastating as it has ever faced in its history,” said agency Chairman Joseph Lhota.

“Sandy wreaked havoc . . . in every single borough of the city and every single county.”

The storm was so powerful a 40-foot boat ended up deposited across the Metro-North tracks in Ossining.

The feds have stepped in to help — the Army Corps of Engineers will be in New York to clear flooding in the PATH train tunnels and the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel.

TRAINS

The subway system could be shuttered for up to five days — and when it does return, it will be on a line-by-line basis.

“Rather than talk about restoration of the system, it’s going to be more a conversation of restoration of parts of the system first,” Gov. Cuomo explained yesterday.

The MTA said it will hold a midday briefing today to discuss a timetable for restoring service.

When asked how long the subways would be off limits, Mayor Bloomberg said a “good four or five days, I think. At this point, we don’t know.”

Downtown stations will likely be the last to open, because they suffered the worst damage.

The No. 1 line’s new $500 million South Ferry station, for example, filled with water up to its ceiling.

Officials said every subway tube under the East River was flooded. The Joralemon Street tunnel, which handles 4 and 5 trains, was being pumped yesterday and should be cleared soon.

As for the commuter railroads, the MTA says it will restore partial LIRR service today.

The current plan is to bring westbound trains to Jamaica, where buses would take riders into Manhattan.

Officials are also trying to bring limited service back to the Metro-North today but are unsure whether it’s possible because of serious damage.

The storm tossed a 40-foot power boat across four of the railroad’s tracks.

NJ Transit will remain offline with no date set for service.

Amtrak said last night that it would run modified service between Newark and points south.

The Port Authority’s PATH service was crippled, too, with the main tunnel completely filled with water yesterday.

It could take three or four days to clear the water from all tunnels.

Col. Paul Owen, of the Army Corps of Engineers, compared the PATH flooding to what he saw following Hurricane Katrina.

Jennifer Fermino, Sally Goldenberg and David Seifman

BUSES and CARS

The main mode of mass transit for the next several days will be buses and shared cabs.

The MTA yesterday rolled out all bus lines that have Sunday service, and officials expect to have full service running in time for the morning rush hour today.

The rides will be free today, and will stay that way until the region recovers from the storm, Gov. Cuomo said.

Popular lines like the M34 and the M57 began service early yesterday evening, even as huge swaths of major thoroughfares like the FDR Drive and the southbound West Side Highway remained closed.

The MTA is also considering using buses to supplement the shuttered subway system.

“If, in fact, we have some part of the subway system not working, we’re going to take the bus system and use it to help complement and supplement those services,” said MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota.

Meanwhile, the city instituted a ride-sharing program for cabs.

Taxi & Limousine Commission officials have instructed cabbies to charge the first passenger on a trip the fare on the meter.

Drivers can then pick up a second fare headed in the same direction. That passenger will have to negotiate a fare with the driver before the trip continues. The city recommends $10 as a starting point for the second trip.

The city also authorized “Black Car” services, luxury limos and liveries to accept street hails. Normally, only yellow cabs can pick up passengers from the street.

Because those cars normally do not have meters, the fares must be negotiated and drivers are required to quote fares up front.

The TLC recommends $15 for trips within Manhattan below 96th Street, as well as for trips that stay within Manhattan above 96th Street.

Borough-to-borough trips should cost about $25, the TLC said.

Cabbies who worked through the storm said most New Yorkers were grateful.

“If the meter said $10 they gave $15 and said, ‘You’re working very hard,’ ” said Tanzir Chowdhury, 28. “They were very appreciative.”

Kevin Fasick and Jennifer Fermino

AUTOMOBILES

The good news for drivers is that nearly all area bridges are already open.

And that’s where it ends.

In addition to downed trees, debris and dangling street lights, drivers yesterday were forced to contend with a scarcity of operating gas stations, thanks to widespread power outages.

The Brooklyn Battery and Queens Midtown tunnels suffered serious flooding, with no reopening dates in sight.

At the height of Hurricane Sandy, the Battery tunnel was filled with 86 million gallons of water.

It suffered such extensive damage that the US Army Corp of Engineers was dispatched to help clear the tubes.

Officials could not be certain when either tunnel would reopen.

All of the city’s major bridges reopened except for the Cross Bay to Rockaway. The Marine Parkway Bridge, however is open.

The opening of the bridges won’t solve all problems. Many streets that surrounded them have been closed because of storm damage, including parts of the FDR Drive and the West Side Highway.

At one point, water on the West Side Highway was 5 feet deep, Gov. Cuomo said.

“We did not anticipate water coming over the Hudson River, coming over the banks, being 5 feet deep on the West Side Highway,” he said.

The New Jersey Turnpike had been detouring traffic around Exit 14, but reopened most of the turnpike late yesterday.

Most parkways on Long Island were open.

Mayor Bloomberg said he expects many of the road problems to be fixed by the end of today.

“We certainly think the roads . . . will be clear and free of water,” he said.

Even after clearing debris and flooding, many street and traffic lights will likely remain out due to power problems.

City officials canceled all alternate-side parking and suspended metered-parking fees.

Jennifer Fermino

AIRPORTS

Airline passengers trying to escape — or get into — New York will be grounded for days.

Heavily damaged La Guardia Airport will not reopen today, though JFK and Newark will have limited service, officials said.

Some airlines said they won’t operate at any of the metropolitan area’s airports until at least tomorrow.

“US Airways operations at La Guardia, JFK and Newark will remain idle until at least noon on Thursday,” the airline’s chief operating officer, Robert Isom, told employees, according to Bloomberg News.

La Guardia in particular was hit hard, with flooded runways and ramp areas. Stranded passengers were removed by bus.

A photo of the airport on JetBlue’s blog showed its “Welcome to New York” sign surrounded by water.

Many passengers rented cars.

Upstate Stewart Airport was open, although most airlines suspended service there.

Kirstan Conley and Jennifer Fermino