N.Y. Prepares Itself for a Transit Strike

With a threatened transit strike six days away, New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on Monday outlined a series of contingency plans -- including a virtual ban on single-occupant commuter automobiles in Manhattan -- should the city’s 34,000 subway workers and bus drivers walk off the job.

“New York will not be brought to its knees by an illegal, irresponsible strike,” the mayor said, announcing emergency guidelines under which all highways, bridges and tunnels into Manhattan would be restricted to cars with four or more people during the workweek, and two or more riders during the weekend.

Bloomberg, who frequently takes the subway to work, said he would bicycle to City Hall if a strike shuts the nation’s largest public transportation system. “People in this city are tough,” he said at a City Hall news conference, flanked by commissioners and agency heads. “They’ll figure out how to cope.”

New York’s transit workers voted overwhelmingly last weekend to authorize a strike beginning Sunday, when their contract expires. Union negotiators and the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority remain far apart; the Transit Workers Union is seeking a 24% raise over three years, and state officials are offering a wage freeze next year, with anyfuture raises tied to increased productivity.

Although state law specifically forbids strikes by public employees, union chief Roger Toussaint has refused to rule out a work stoppage. Bloomberg blasted that stance Monday, saying a transit shutdown could cost the city $100 million to $350 million in daily economic productivity and cause disruptions for the estimated 7 million people who use public transportation every day in New York. Gridlock could also choke city streets and endanger lives by stalling emergency vehicles in traffic, he warned.

“We will do everything in our power to stop such a strike, and we will not let a strike stop us,” Bloomberg said. “A strike would be more than inconvenient; it would endanger human life and devastate our economy. We will fight this using every legal means available to us.”

Three years ago, then-Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani moved to block a similar strike, hours before TWU workers were set to walk off the job. He secured a court order authorizing draconian fines of $25,000 per day or more on individual workers and escalating, multimillion-dollar fines against the union for each day of the strike. The TWU reached a three-year wage agreement with negotiators at the last minute.

But not all strikes have been averted. During the spring of 1980, an 11-day stoppage played havoc with nearly 600,000 students who use public transportation, and millions of New Yorkers scrambled for alternative ways to get to work. Bloomberg has said the potential damage might be greater this time, because it would come during the middle of the busy holiday season, affecting untold numbers of tourists.

“We hope that calmer heads will prevail and that there will be no strike,” he said. “But meanwhile, we simply have to prepare as best we can.”

Beyond workday restrictions on private automobiles, Bloomberg outlined expanded taxi and ferry service that would operate during a strike, plus restrictions on weekly street sweeping programs and hours during which trucks can make deliveries on city streets. In addition, key streets like Madison and Fifth avenues would be largely reserved for emergency vehicles. The mayor said further restrictions would be unveiled later this week.