STRIKE! Day One

It's not a unusual for me to walk the 40 blocks to work, as I did this morning, but normally I wouldn't have done it in 25-degree weather. But the Transit Worker's Union went on strike this morning at 3am, so there are no buses or trains running. At least it's not snowing.

Some observations:

New Yorkers are very good at evincing a "we're all in this together" attitude. Everyone I saw on the way to work this morning looked relatively sanguine about the inconvenience. We'll see how long that lasts.

There is a lot of vomit in the gutters; frozen vomit. 'Tis the season.

Why are there so many limousines with only one rider in them? Surely they could stop and pick up a few more people.

No one I've heard is sympathetic to the transit workers, who seem to be making unreasonable demands. Maybe their PR just isn't as good as the MTA's, but it does seem strange to think in this day and age that a person should be able to retire with a full pension at age 50.

Really, though, it's almost nice how empty the streets are. Because of the High Occupancy Vehicle restriction zone, there are fewer cars on the streets -- at least in the zone; apparently there is a lot of congestion getting into the zone -- and traffic is moving quickly.