New York grinds to a halt as transit workers strike

SUBWAYS and buses across New York shut down this morning as transit workers walked off the job after failing to agree with management on a new contract, stranding millions of travellers.

Commuters, scrounging for alternatives on a freezing cold day, lined up for taxis and gathered on designated spots throughout the city for company vans and buses to shuttle them to their offices. There were carpools, and cyclists, and hundreds of people walking to work - including Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"It doesn't seem right to tie up the cultural and investment centre of the world," said Larry Scarinzi, 72, who was waiting for a taxi in Manhattan.

"They're breaking the law. They're tearing the heart out of the nation's economy."

City officials estimate that the strike will cost New York €334 million a day, Mr Bloomberg said.

It also will strand more than seven million commuters a day - a transit service estimate that might overstate the number of daily users because it counts each fare but doesn't take into account that many riders log two fares a day in their round-trip commute.

It is the city's first transit strike since 1980, when workers stayed off the job for 11 days. However, that year the strike was in balmy April instead of frigid December.

All the while, transit workers took to the picket lines with signs that read "We Move NY. Respect Us!" as they forced the 24-hour-a-day bus and subway system to shut down.

The union and Metropolitan Transportation Authority had worked furiously to reach a new contract to replace the one that expired on Friday. It is illegal for mass transit workers to strike in New York, which means the 33,000 bus and subway employees will incur huge fines - two days pay for each day on strike.