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Queens: Can't Win for Losing
December 19th, 2005

How are people in Queens feeling about the transit strike now that it’s come first to their doorstep? Picked on, dissed and coming in last — even when they come in first. And that goes for some of the union members, too.

“[R]iders pointed out the cruel irony of the news yesterday that they had finally been put first: they would be the first mass transit users in the city to feel the effects of a transit strike this year,” writes Corey Kilgannon.

While waiting for a bus in Jamaica yesterday, before workers at the private line went on strike, one rider asked, “Why is it always these lines that get the worst treatment?” A union leader who agreed with the strike nonetheless felt about the same way. “It’s like using the rowboat to tow the battleship,” he said of the tactical practicality of having Queens workers strike first.

By Hilary Russ on December 19, 2005, 11:42 am
In category: Transportation | 1 Comment »

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One Response to “Queens: Can't Win for Losing”

  1. Larry Littlefield Says:
    December 19th, 2005 at 2:44 pm

    If people in Queens feel screwed now, wait until tomorrow if there is a strike.

    Last time a strike was threatened, the LIRR planned to bypass Queens to ensure that crowding wouldn’t burden those riding in from Nassau and Suffolk. This time, special LIRR shuttle trains were announced, so I thought that attitude was gone.

    Wrong! The only stop in Queens on the Port Washington line will be Bayside. All other stops in the city will be skipped (but all stops in Nassau will be made). Why? Because not a lot of Queens residents will be able to get to just one stop in Queens (unless it was Shea Stadium, which for some reason it wasn’t) because there will be nowhere to park. This smacks of a way to say you are serving Queens without actually doing it (perhaps as a way to avoid refunds on the monthly).

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