It’s a case of so near yet so far…..

Breakthroughs in talks,

No Timetable Is Announced on Resumption of Service

After meeting with both sides through the night, state mediators have devised a preliminary framework for a settlement of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority contract dispute that would allow strikers to return to work later today, according to four people close to the negotiations. [….link….]

The earlier graphic was conveying what was in a way a practical implication. The TWU and MTA are agreeing to continue negotiations, while keeping the subways and buses running.

Strike, Day 2

Braved the walk to work this morning. Wasn’t so bad. What I’m not looking forward to is doing it again this evening. You know, if anyone had fears that NYC was losing its edge, a transit strike the week before Christmas is about as edgy as it gets.

Home, 63rd Street: This is not so bad. Not too cold out here. It’s been colder.
59th Street: Okay, I’m now glad I put on my leggings.
52nd Street: Oh yes! Totally forgot there would be random NYPD all over the place. Looks like this walk won’t be too terrible after all.
45th Street: There is a surprising lot of traffic for carpools-only allowed in the city.
42nd Street: 20 down, 30 to go.
38th Street: Just saw a guy on a razor scooter.
33rd Street: Mmm…more NYPD. Just what I ordered for breakfast.
24th Street: Wishing I had learned how to Rollerblade a little better.
18th Street: I’m officially a Sallycicle.
13th Street: Thank god for egg sandwiches and hot coffee.

Now I get to thaw out for a couple hours before setting out again tonight.

One thing I’ve learned from the strike: I need new sneakers.

On the way home, not too much more eventful, other than noticing that drunken tourists need to be extricated from the city during this strike. Or pushed onto 3rd Avenue traffic. They’re fucking up my stride, yo.

Here’s an incredibly grainy crap picture (taken via phone) of the loveliness that was 42nd Street this evening (looking west).

And now for something that has nothing to do with the Transit Strike:

In the last week and a half we added two more Metroblogging Cities:

#38 - Paris - http://paris.metblogs.com
#39 - Singapore - http://singapore.metblogs.com

Stop by and say hi to our new neighbor!

Anyone wanna bet if we wil make it to 40 cities by the end of the year?

Last night my boyfriend’s band Jody Shelton and the Something-or-Others did play at Arlene

If we’re going to suffer through this, we might as well enjoy what we can.

One of the best things to take advantage of during the strike are restaurants. Get yourself over to that spot you’ve been dying to go to, but refuse to wait months to get into.

I heard a report this morning that restaurants (like Mario Batali’s Babbo) are experiencing serious cancellations… around 60% for some. So, eat well and then walk it off on the way home.

I also heard that they are selling discounted tickets to Broadway shows, so you can take advantage of that too if you’re a theater person.

Of course, for all you last minute holiday shoppers… the stores are fairly quiet for this time of year (did my share of shopping yesterday on my day off). One thing to keep in mind is that they’re short staffed - so some things may take longer. I heard that Macy’s corporate staff has to help out by working the floor. Ha! What a rude awakening that has to be for some of them. Oh, and get to the stores early. I found that a lot of them were closing early - some at 7pm because they were short staffed.

Enjoy the lulls!

The second day of commute in the current transit strike seems to have started bright and early. It does not help that the temperature is in the 20’s all around. But New Yorkers are ready for the cold and the walking.

New paradigms of distance estimation are being set. A walk from Grand Central to Astor Place is 35 minutes. Could be a bit less, if there weren’t so many people on the sidewalk. But, then they would not be there if there was no strike. Oh what a conundrum this world is !!

On the telly today morning, people were not venting out as was the case yesterday. It was more of how they had worked out a plan to beat the inconvenience.

The 5 AM to 11 AM High Occupancy rule for cars should be extended to the evenings too. It took a friend 2.5 hours by car to get from the East village to the other side of Brooklyn Bridge at 4:30 pm last evening. It was a parking lot on the Brooklyn side of both the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridge.

As the mayor and the governor continue their “illegal” tirade, the union is sticking to its guns. Roger Toussant had a very interesting point to make in an interview last nite. He said that the reduction in pension and health benifits that the City wants to thrust on MTA workers will have larger implications on other city workers. If the City can succeed in pushing it through on to the MTA, then the Sanitation workers are next and so on, every city agency will fall in place. Its like the flood gates would open. I dont know how true that is, but it does raise a valid point.

All in all another day starts at work. There is 100 % attendance, and people in our office come from everywhere…..all the 5 boros and from Jersey and Conneticut. All in. Thats the NYC spirit.

Fuck the subway !!

One of new favorite blogs, Cocaine Corner, just weighed in on how the transit strike affects your (his) chances for scoring some Bolivian Marching Powder. Here

Around my neck of the woods (the Yorkville area of the UES), things seem pretty run of the mill. The road block set up at 96th St. prevented the area from being flooded with traffic. And, for the most part, I gather that most of the working people up here stayed home today, while others are close enough to work to just walk only a couple miles or could afford more expensive means of transportation.

At 4 p.m. my heart was broken upon discovering that the local Jamba Juice closed at 3:30 p.m. so that employees had time to get home. For the better I suppose, I really can’t afford Jamba right now anyway.

But, I fear today is really no predictor of the way this city will continue to handle the strike. Most people made their own contingency plans JUST for today, with little thought about how to handle the situation long-term. People drove to work today knowing that it isn’t possible tomorrow and the next day, and the next. And, I think there’s an even greater number of people who stayed home today but won’t be able to stay home tomorrow.

We’re handling it, though. For now.

It will be interesting to see how this really affects people’s holiday plans. Some of the horror stories I heard today were from friends who had an incredibly difficult time getting to an airport to fly home. I’ll be spending Christmas here solo, so I’m not that concerned about all that. I suppose I should be grateful that I can be such a passive observer during this time.

I’m sure everyone has their little tales of woe related to sub-zero temperatures and lack of transportation. I, however, do not, because I’m a whiny little princess who has decided to work from home rather than brave the pedestrian masses.

In staying home, however, I realize I’m missing out on potentially great run-ins with other pietons, so tomorrow I’m going to be a self-imposed martyr and put on my leggings and walk the 60+ blocks to work.

A full report to follow tomorrow.

A Brooklyn judge slapped the transit workers union with a $1 million a day fine, as a mediation session aimed at stopping the walkout is slated for this afternoon.

The politicians have been in full flow when it comes to doling out invectives.

Bloomberg

a cowardly attempt by Roger Toussaint and the TWU to bring the city to its knees to create leverage for their own bargaining position

Pataki

“They have broken the trust of the people of New York.”They have not only endangered our city and state’s economy, but they are also recklessly endangering the health and safety of each and every New Yorker.”

Peter Kalikow

“a slap in the face” to all New Yorkers,

And every radio station has the same story. Outraged opinions from the citizenry. People on both sides, standing their ground. Lawyers from each side spewing out scripted boring reactions, while charging their clients a shit load of money. And radio talk show hosts adding their own dose of trash to be gobbled up by us listeners. While station surfing on radio, I just came across this talk show by some screwed up charlie Ellis Heniken. Why do they subject us to such pathetic people. Why cant they waste everyone’s time, money and energy and make such people shut up and keep their equally stupid opinions to themselves, and not skew public opinion more.