Nassau County Legislator David Denenberg, of Merrick, who is running for New York State Senate, held a news conference at the Bellmore train station on Monday morning to decry what he called the lack of a workable strike contingency plan. “Most people don’t know what the contingency plan is,” Denenberg said. “…If there is a strike, right now it looks like there will be chaos.”

Denenberg passed out fliers from 511NY.org, which helps inform New York commuters about their transportation alternatives. It’s a free service of the state Department of Transportation.

Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray held a similar news conference at the Bellmore train station on June 24 to criticize the MTA’s preliminary contingency plan, which called for commuters to be bused from six LIRR stations, including Bellmore. Murray called the plan “ill-conceived.” (For more, see “Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray lambastes MTA.")

On Monday, the authority had been reviewing a union counteroffer to its proposed 17 percent pay increase over seven years before talks stalled. The unions had previously rejected a seven-year timeframe, saying that a Presidential Emergency Board had recommended a 17 percent raise over six years.