The union honcho leading the Long Island Rail Road negotiations with the MTA loudly boasted on Friday how he’s ready to order up a strike beginning July 20 that would strand hundreds of thousands of commuters.
“We’re staying strong,” Anthony Simon told two other union members as they munched on a breakfast buffet at the Hilton’s Above restaurant. “Our guys, we wouldn’t let them work. We’d shut down the whole system.”
His blustery remarks at a $26 buffet breakfast at the hotel where negotiators are camping out were a far cry from a rosy statement he released hours later.
“At the current time, LIRR labor union leaders are devoting all of their efforts in preparing for continued negotiations with the MTA,” he said. “Labor remains focused on working toward a fair resolution for its members, while doing everything possible to avert a strike.”
Simon later denied making the system-shutdown quotes and claimed he said he “did not” want to disrupt service.
There were no formal talks Friday, but the MTA and the union coalition held informal discussions, officials said.
Meanwhile, riders learned from the MTA on Friday what their doomsday commute will look like in the event of a strike.
Riders who want to use the free shuttle service will have to pack into 350 school buses, many without air conditioning, at seven LIRR stations and Nassau Community College.
The stations are in Freeport, Bellmore, Seaford, Manhasset, Deer Park, Ronkonkoma, and Hicksville.
The buses will run to the A-train subway station in Howard Beach, the Mets-Willets Point No. 7 line subway stop at Citi Field, and the Woodhaven M and R subway station.
We’re staying strong. Our guys, we wouldn’t let them work. We’d shut down the whole system.
- Anthony Simon, Chief LIRR Union Negotiator
There will be no off-peak shuttle service, and the buses will serve only about 15,000 people.
There will also be a free ferry service from Glen Cove, LI, to Midtown, which could handle about 1,000 people.
The MTA is urging commuters to avoid the shuttle service by working from home or carpooling. Almost 20,000 Long Islanders have told the MTA in surveys that they can telecommute.
The HOV lane on the Long Island Expressway also will require three or more passengers in a vehicle during the strike, instead of the usual two.
Stranded straphangers can use the website 511ny.org/rideshare to find carpools.
Commuters who drive into the city can use two park-and-ride lots at Citi Field and Aqueduct Racetrack. The lots will have 7,000 free spaces available that will be guarded by the MTA Police, NYPD and other law-enforcement agencies.
There are also 100 private and public parking lots near Queens and Brooklyn subway stations that riders can use, the MTA said.