The night before I was praying that they would hold of the transit strike for at least one additional day, until I was gone. I had been in denial and had not made the proper preparation in order to find a ride for my flight, which was to happen on Tuesday night around 8 pm. To make matters worse, I had lost one of my credit cards and it was supposed to be delivered to my bank in Times Square on Tuesday also. Another reason that I had to go to my office. When I finally went to bed at 12:30 am on Monday night, Roger Toussant, the head of the Transit Workers Union, had left the Hyatt with no agreement.
So I woke up in the morning listening to WNYC on the latest from the transit. There was a strike. I had made the decision to go into work, but not bring my luggage because I was not sure
if I would have been able to grab a cab or I was going to have to walk 50 blocks. Luckily, I live at 91st street. At 96th street between the hours of 5 am and 11 am every car entering Manhattan, whether it be via Queens, Brooklyn, the Jers, Staten Island, or Harlem had to have 4 passengers (Funny side note: If you were pregnant, you counted as two, seriously. I wonder if you were having triplets, would you not need to have any passengers?). I decided that my best bet is to head to 96th street and get in a cab. I was not sure exactly how much, but it was going to be a share a ride, and I figure it not to be astronically high.When I walked up to 96th street, they had police
checkpoints at every avenue entering the city surrounded by blockades. People would get out at 96th street and others who were going into Manhattan were getting in. I hopped in a taxi minivan and the cab driver instructed us of how much it would be. It all depended on where you were going in the city. Because I was only going to 42nd street, my fee was $15. It was a very joyous cab ride. In a city that is sometimes so cold from a personal standpoint, people were quite festive and upbeat considering the circumstances. As I arrived at my destination about 30 minutes later, I wished everyone a happy holidays and good luck.Most of the people were at work by the time I was there. If you did not live in one of the five New York City boroughs, then you had a much easier and cheaper manner of arrive in Manhattan. I was hoping to get out of work by 1 so I would not have to worry about getting to the airport at night. I was stressing out a little bit. I had been on literally every mode of transportation to the airport and to no surprise, everything was unavailable. You could get a cab, but it was $30/person to get to LaGuardia, but because I wasn't travelling with someone else, my odds were not going to be as good of getting a cab. You see from the cabbie's point of view, he could make much more money in the city, which would be a much shorter distance than heading to the airport, which is in Queens. I knew I would have to do a little negotiating when the time came.
I finally left work at 4:00. I was pressing my luck. I was able to find a cab a few blocks away from my work. My flight was still at 7:50, so I still had plenty of time. Traffic was a little slow at first. I was talking to the cab driver and he said that it took him and hour to get from 72nd and Broadway to 42nd and Broadway. I was a little more stressed. We had picked somebody up along the way and traffic was running a little smoother. Less stressed. I live at 91st and 3rd, she was at 51st and 1st. No problem, since I figured it would be easier to go up 1st Ave anyway. Once we dropped her off, traffic started to hit us. I was starting to get stressed again. I was hoping that it was the traffic for the Queensboro Bridge, which was at 59th street. It was. Once we hit 61st street, we were flying! Stress level down! Now all I had to worry about was hailing a cab to go to the airport.
I grabbed a slice of pizza on the way home and made sure everything was packed. It was 4:45. I wanted to be outside by 5:30, just in case I had a hard time hailing a cab. I met my deadline and headed downstairs. Roy wished me luck and Merry Christmas. I did the same, luck that he did not have to endure this transit strike too much. One guy stopped and he told me $60. I passed because I still I had plenty of time. The same thing happened again about 10 minutes later. It was cold outside and I didn' t have the patience at that point, so I agreed. I arrived at the airport with plenty of time and I was off to the D. So long transit strike, hello hometown!
I have attached a link that you can check out other people's stories.
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/20051220_STRIKE_MAP_READERS.html
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