December 20, 2005
The Most Inconvenient Commute Contest!
Sure, we're a city of complainers, but Gothamist wants to see how our readers can top each other by telling us about their commutes to work today. We want to hear about carrying a baby, a sack of potatoes, and scooping dog poop as you make it to your 9AM meeting. Or how you had to rent three mannequins from a local store in order to get your car in. Or how you paid $100 for a $5 LIRR ticket or else your boss would have had your ass. Or how you had to bypass a phalanx of camera crews at the Brooklyn Bridge. Tell us in the comments!
And the prize is...a monthly Metrocard! Retail value $76, should the subways and buses go back to working, you can use it as many times during a month as you want! Gothamist is nothing if not secretly optimistic.
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far from the worst, but at least for posterity ----
because i work 2a-10a, I'm planning my reverse commute after (chelsea to bay ridge) to be a walk to wall street pier 11 and then the water taxi. we'll see how that works out. I think the wait at the pier will be horrendous.
there was a pretty funny moment a few minutes ago on Good Day NY, when the ever-perky Jodi Appelgate asked the Office of Emergency Mgmt. guy, "Is it safe to get in a car with strangers?".
His response: "New Yorkers are a special breed." or something to that effect.
The great news is that I have my digicam. so my flickr should be fun later tonight.
straight butta....fort greene to tribeca in less than one hour over the manhattan bridge. could've gotten a ride from ppl desperate to have 4 ppl in their car, but the walk over and experience was worth it.. check the blog for the transit strike of 2005 real estate photoblog..
i walked from red hook to the local "carpool staging area," which was deserted save for two parks dept employees. so i walked up and over the brooklyn bridge where i slipped and fell in someone's vomit. (i almost punched marty markowitz standing there with his bullhorn: "c'mon brooklyn, we'll get through this. let's get this resolved quickly." really helpful marty, you are a saint.) anyway, then up broadway through to the village for work.
total time: 2 hours. not too bad, i'm sure someone will top it.
Or how about stories of how you've been working in the subway your whole life, breathing noxious fumes and coming home covered in soot every night, and how people who work in cushy office jobs (as well as many of your brainwashed working-class brethren) turn against you when you demand a fair wage, health benefits and good retirement program in return?
Easy. All I did was walk from World Trade PATH over the BK Bridge to DUMBO. I guess I don't win sh*t.
i walked half a block to GCT, got on the metro north up to conneticut, and now im sitting at my cube...like i do every single damn day. dammit.
Sure, I had to talk from Second and Houston to Houston and Bowery, and wait a couple of minutes for a cab there, but once I was in the cab, traffic flowed freely, and we dropped off and picked up with regularity. Hell, when one of the passengers (willingly) tried to overpay, the cabbie refused, saying "too much!" Sure, it cost me $15 rather than $2 to get to work, but no problem at all.
Bring in the national guard to drives buses!
It was kind of a pain, and very cold, to ride my fixed-gear bicycle from SoHo to 72nd and York. The real kicker was I had a 9AM meeting so I had to wear nice clothes. Toussaint can kiss my ass.
Under-reported facts about this strike:
1) The TWU has enormous internal dissent, and the need for competing leaders to act tough is one factor that created the strike. Note the head of the national union refusing to back the strike. He and Toussant are from rival factors.
2) The TWU was granted a huge pension enhancement, outside collective bargaining, by the state legislature in 2000, a big factor in the MTA's fiscal problems. As after 1966, the MTA wants to make up for richer benefits for those cashing in and moving out cutting pay and benefits for future workers. This cycle has repeated itself several times.
3) Based on my anectdotal observations, the average TWU memeber would estimate the pay of the average worker, the share with health insurance, and the share with pensions to be much higher than it actually is.
Ha, I have you all beat. I wrote an email to my boss saying that it was too cold to bike in and then I went back to sleep. I just woke up and walked to my dining room table to "work from home". Now I am emailing away while listening to NPR and drinking nice tea, all of this in my birthday suit.
Ha, some guy being interviewed on channel 7 about his feelings on the strike just said, "this union doesn't take any shit."
IMO, the big story about the citywide "experience" of this strike will undoubtedly be telecommuting.
Flaming City - I'm staying home, too (though I'm clothed). I can work from home without a problem and plan to for today, at least. I feel for the people with presence-intensive jobs who had no choice but to show up today.
I actually had a nice easy walk - FROM BATTERY PARK TO TIMES SQUARE! Is the TWU board in jail yet?!?!?
Toussaint and his band of union thugs should be jailed. The workers are barely skilled and are as replaceable as a Bic pen. Eventually they will all be replaced by robots. They are but cogs in the machine. They will be crushed.
Note to TWU members... shoulda paid better attention in school and get a real job.
Telecommunting will make this illegal work action a moot point.
Fine 'em. Jail 'em. Fire 'em.
Homer Fink
Publisher, Altruist, AMERICAN
Maybe not the worst, but challenging. I'm getting ready to walk out the door in Washington Heights (187th) and I have to go to W21st for work. After work I have to walk on down to Chinatown to catch my Bus to DC for Christmas! Total miles walked today....12!
Try walking 34 blocks and 8 avenues from the UES to Julliard with a cello on your back and a backpack on your stomach... yes... i really wish i played the flute instead right about now.
I suppose Non-drivers in two fare zones have it the worse.
Me, I'm lucky: As long as my Broadband works, I Telecommute while I listen to Corrinne May's "Fly Away" Album. You can hear her latest Album here
Highly recommended...
I rode the bike into work today from Park Slope into Midtown. Overall, it wasn't a bad experience. Cold, but not bad.
What I can say however is the behavior of the people on the BRooklyn Bridge was extremely prototypical of the selfish pricks who inhabit this city. Hundreds of people were walking in the bike lane even though there really weren't many people on the bridge, compared to a typical summer weekend day. The huge numbers of media types, the endless parasites that perpetuate and glorify human suffering, was shocking.
I wanted to slap Marty Markijew and his filthy grandstanding.
Yes, this city sucks and most of the people here will live miserable lives and die alone and forgotten.
If I ever meet somebody in a bar who says they maintain a photoblog, I'm going to punch them in the throat.
nothing like some French Chocolate for christmas..
I live a 30 second walk from the 242nd St. station in the Bronx. Normally, I hop on and it's a straight shot down to Midtown West. But today, the station just mocks me.
So, instead, I am walking from 242nd to 225th, passing 3 subway stops along the way (all unwelcome to me), to take the Metro North which will take me to Grand Central, and from there I have to walk to Rockefeller Center. And the elevators in my building are being repaired, so, it's a walk up 50 floors of stairs for me. OK, the last part was a lie, but I'm inconvenienced big time!
FU, TWU!
i was going from 14th and 8th to 60th and 3rd...so i knew i had a trek. i saw a group of business people standing on the corner of 14th and 8th piling onto a private coach bus provided by their company..so i figured i would try to blend in and pile on with them..but they kicked me off, so i walked across to 3rd and took a cab from E23rd to 60th...i bet if i got ahold of some crutches people would pick my sorry looking ass up...if it's still on tomorrow i'm taking my longboard.
Living in Brooklyn, 10 minutes from my job, makes for an easy commute. I am sitting at work, with nothing to do, becasue no one is coming here today. However my worry is for the LIRR. I may be taking the train back home for the holidays this thursday, and if it's anything like it is today. That's gonna suck.
Ran from Park Slope to midtown, about 8 miles. Very suprised how few bikes I saw on the Manhattan Bridge at 6:30am. I can handle it for a couple of days, but not sure I'd be able to handle several weeks of this.... 80 miles of running per week? I'd be up there with the Kenyans ! Keep the strike going, and I'm going to the Olympics ! The sweaty pile of clothes in the corner is also stopping people coming over to my cube.... nice.
I started walking from my place in the East 80's going to Bowling Green. Around E. 35th St. some shuckster was yelling "Water Taxi" and for a little $5 fare, I'm in my cube. Sometimes, by subway ride is longer.
The extent of our inconvenience should highlight the value of the service the MTA workers provide.
Woke at 6. Out the door by 6:30. Walked from Cobble Hill to 42nd and 5th, so about six miles. Got to work five minutes late. Passed Marty Markowitz (put down your bullhorn), saw Bloomberg (I blame the MTA and TWU equally for this), and wrapped my head up in a scarf and fedora to avoid the news crews and the never-ending line of people taking pictures. Met some nice people. (Met some crazy people.) Almost run over by bikes about four times. (I'm sorry I was in the bike lane, but we'll see if I die alone, buddy.) Best of all, got a cute guy's phone number, and we're meeting at a (nearby) bar after work!
2 hour walk from Prospect Lefferts Gardens to Houston and Broadway. Probably could have gotten a ride, but decided to go for it.
Holy fucking shit, it's cold.
"The extent of our inconvenience should highlight the value of the service the MTA workers provide."?
That's actually very true, but I must admit, I've never thought of it that way. I suppose the value of Mass transit could be given a Dollar amount based on how much alternative transportaion costs.
I was looking forward to biking to work (Fort Greene to Penn Station), but since I own a minivan, I became the Brooklyn Shuttle for my coworkers. In two hours I drove from Fort Greene to East Williamsburg to S. Park Slope to Park Slope to Brooklyn Heights. The Manhattan Bridge was empty of traffic - we couldn't believe it.
I am in full support of the TWU. If all this surplus money should either go to fare reductions, infrastructure maintenance, or to the workers. MTA executives are some of the most notoriously crooked fuckers around. I can't stand all of the racist/classist jerks who complain about the strike. The workers provide a valuable service, and they should be able to raise a family with their wages, just as teachers, police officers, city workers, garbagemen, etc. Are some of them lazy, bad workers? Of course! These people exist in every profession. But that doesn't mean that there shouldn't be a modest degree of financial security for blue collar workers. Just like in South America, it's time for the working class to take a stand.
Go TWU. I'll keep driving 2 hours each way shuttling my coworkers for as long as it takes.
We have same every year in France. It's not a big deal !
I'd like to add that I am very disapointed by the headlines in the papers today. Don't you all think the Post let us down with the lack of creativity? If I am going to walk 97 blocks to work, I want a great headline to great me there.
Well, today I stayed home, but I can't afford to use all my sick days on this strike. I live in Alphabet City & work in the South Bronx. My NORMAL commute is bus to train to bus and then a five block walk. My options for tomorrow are:
1. Walk to Grand Central, MetroNorth to Yankee Stadium, have a colleague with a car pick me up at Yankee Stadium. Harder, but cheaper.
2. Walk to 23rd, meet another colleague who lives on 18th St., share a cab to 87th to meet two other colleagues who are carpooling. Easier, but more expensive.
really easy commute. Just walked from Upper West Side (W74th) to midtown.
No one is saying that the TWU employees work is not valuable and no one is saying that TWU employees should not have decent wages. However, what they are asking for is absurd. We live in a country where 40 million people have no health insurange and the TWU is whining about a 1% contribution for new employees. Gimme a break, they should decertify the union and hire all the workers back with wages commensurate with private sector employees.
My normal commute is the 9:16 LIRR from Forest Hills to Penn Station; 16 minutes. Today I walked over a little earlier, there was a half empty train waiting that left as soon as I took my seat. I was at work early today.
Bloomberg needs to secede from the state, take control of NYC Transit, fire the workers, and start from scratch. Then we re-instate the commuter tax, and charge Pataki, Bruno, and Silver rent for all the bullshit they drop in NYC.
6:00--gypsy cab from 207th St. in upstate Manhattan to Penn Station, shared with two people we picked up on the way. $20 a head. Some absolutely silent guy, and a Swiss woman who just spent her first night in the city--welcome to NY!
I'll be taking Metro North home and back and forth as long as they are running. I'm 75% on the side of the MTA workers and 25% on the side of the MTA management--both sides have their points but the people with the crap jobs breathing fumes and soot all day win my vote for most agggrieved. Unfortunately, I think Bloomberg et al. is going to break the back of the union no matter what it takes. I think the union could end up settling for less than they were offered last night, and that's truly unfortunate.
We live in a country where 40 million people have no health insurange and the TWU is whining about a 1% contribution for new employees. Gimme a break, they should decertify the union and hire all the workers back with wages commensurate with private sector employees"
Actually we should switch to a system of universal health insurance. Not only should everyone be entitled to this but, then, we would never have to worry about that issue effecting labor discussions, and causing a strike.
this union needs to be broken. they do not deserve more money. there would be plenty of others including myself that would be willing to take their job!
Chris Johanesen:
boo fucking hoo.
What I can say however is the behavior of the people on the BRooklyn Bridge was extremely prototypical of the selfish pricks who inhabit this city. Hundreds of people were walking in the bike lane even though there really weren't many people on the bridge, compared to a typical summer weekend day.
deal with it, Eryximachus...not everyone is accustomed to walking in designated lanes, and people tend to naturally walk to the right. would it KILL you cyclists to walk your bikes across the bridge for a day? I really think pedestrians take precedence today.
Walked from Greenpoint to Wall St over the W'berg bridge. Not too cold if you dress right and keep moving. It took about 1 hr 20 mins. But I think tomorrow I will be "working from home".
gabyu - "Every year" in france? Don't you mean "every week"?
Why do American unions never consider the type of one-day muscle-flexing work stoppages you see in Europe all the time, anyway?
Cyclists, please use the Manhattan bridge. It is MUCH better for cycling, and there is less pedestrian traffic. The Brooklyn Bridge is TERRIBLE for cycling at any hour. Bikers who complain about pedestrians in the bike lane need to get a clue. No one pays attention, that's just the way it is. I'm a biker, and I hate it too - that's why I stick to the Manhattan bridge.
Ha...you mo-fo.s have it way too easy - Battery park to Times Square...Childs Fucking play. I don.t have work today, but it.s my girlfriend.s last day in the city and we we.re supposed to throw a christmas party.....so I.m walking from 200th street all the way down to Fulton. Maybe I.ll catch a car at 96th, but fuck man...I.m going to kill someone.
Here's a nominee for stupidest commute of the day, walking 2 miles downtown to take a bus 4 miles uptown:
Yvette Vigo, a Citibank employee, was waiting for a company-run shuttle bus that would bring her from Wall Street to 42nd Street. Her teeth were chattering despite a hooded parka and gloves.
"I'm not happy about this," said Vigo, who had walked a couple of miles downtown from her home on the Lower East Side. "It's too cold to walk this far."
20 minutes door to door on bike from 110th to 56th. Faster than when the trains are running! Hmm...
As for the TWU... Those workers make a hell of a lot of money with that GED. Maybe we should all retire at 50. No, that won't cripple every municipal and federal program.
Toussaint is a tool. All my final exams are rescheduled for the winter intersession. Nice fucken vacation.
Could have been worse, could have been better.
At work they arranged a carpool but the poor woman has to drive from all over Brooklyn picking up five people before crossing into Manhattan. Traffic was horrible, but as soon as we got to the bridge then onto FDR it was pretty quick. I was an hour late today so we are getting an early start tommorrow.
Rode my bike from the LES to Midtown East, like I always do. Thank goodness it's not going to rain this week.
And as for pedestrians walking in the cycling lanes -- if you want to take things into your own hands and run the risk of getting hit by a bike, that's your problem. Bike lanes exist for a reason, you know.
walked from yankee stadium to columbus circle in about 1hour and 45 minutes. Pretty much unenventful I don't know how I'll get back home.
I think the workers are going about this wrong. 50 to 60K is alot more than alot of other hard working people make. And frankly the MTA employees I've dealt with have been downright nasty so they should have some displinary oversight. Then again if the MTA is sitting on a billion dollar surplus some of that should be reinvested in their employees.
The MTA surplus should be reinvested in the system. There's not much for employees to do if a fire in a switching room full of 100 year old equipment shuts down an entire line, is there?
Really, picture yourself, working at 62, underground, going up and down the dusty subway system?
Is Bloomberg realistic? Do I want a ride a train conducted by tired ol 62 year olds? We are in the year 2000, not back in the 1950's slavery time...
I always ride my bike so today is like evry day, except at night will miss the movie, and the friend I was supposed to see.
I hope there is a realistic negotiation,. But hey did I get it right? Do these guys have to pay their benefits basically out of their raise?
I picked the right week to come New York for the holidays.
******TODAY HAD TO BE THE WORSEEEEEEEEE DAY EVER TO HAVE A STRIKE FOR THE MOST PART I WOKE UP AND REGRETED THE PATH AHEAD OF ME I COULDT BELIEVE THAT I WAS GOIN HAVE TO MAKE MY WAY TO WORK WITH OUT USING A TRAIN OR BUS,, AFTER A QUICK BONG HIT AND BOWL OF FRUITY PEBBLES I WAS OUT THE DOOR RIDING MY 1978 ROLLER SKATES HANDED DOWN TO ME , I SKATED FROM METROPOLITAN FRESHPOND TO BEDFORD AND METROPOLITAN WHEN IT HIT ME WAIT I DONT HAVE A JOB!!!! =0)
To HURRAY: the MTA backed off of the 62 retirement age. They had agreed to keep it at 55.
Gotta say, biked down 5th Ave today and it was GREAT. Cold, but great.
Why don't they shut down 5th every day? Ambulances were getting through in seconds, so were emergency vehicles, and there were lots of buses. Seriously, during rush 5th Ave should be limited to those vehicles. That'd be a great lesson to take from this.
I had to walk one meeelion miles to work on the mooooon!
I can't say i want to work at 62, but I can also see how it's harder for the MTA to pay for benefits when people are living 30+ years beyond retirement age. When this style of retirement system was first put in use, people lived till 60-70 max.. Now 80-90 is normal. How can people expect the same money (2%) to cover 30 years when it was originally for 10?
Since I went to bed around 11am waiting to hear any info I was a little groggy this morning at 3AM when my boyfriend told me that yes there would be a strike. I packed a bag of some clothes and all the christmas presents I had bought and we headed for the car. We drove through brooklyn then staten island and finally ended in Jersey city where I took the path. I got off at 33rd street (Manhattan Mall) and walked to 43rd and lex needless to say I arrived at 6:45am 3 hours early for work.
(Really, picture yourself, working at 62, underground, going up and down the dusty subway system?)
You bet I picture it. Only half of all private sector workers have any retirement plan at all, and most of those have a 401K will less and less contribution by their employer.
Slavery time? When current TA workers are retired at 55, everyone else will be slaving away to serve them while they kick back.
I woke up at 430 am checked the news, looked at the temp. at 17 degrees, called into work, and changed my voicemail then went back to bed. My bike has two flats, and there is no way in i was HOOF'n from red hook to columbus circle. did it once during the black out won't ever again...
what's the deal with water taxis and Fulton landing ???
(We live in a country where 40 million people have no health insurange and the TWU is whining about a 1% contribution for new employees. Gimme a break, they should decertify the union and hire all the workers back with wages commensurate with private sector employees"
Actually we should switch to a system of universal health insurance. Not only should everyone be entitled to this but, then, we would never have to worry about that issue effecting labor discussions, and causing a strike.)
Here's someone who understands. Understand this -- the TWU benefits from the uninsured, because its members would have to pay higher prices or higher taxes if the uninsured were covered by their employer/the government. That's why the unions don't push universal coverage -- why pay for others to have something they already have? And why the union movement has split -- into unions with health coverage and rich pensions and those without.