By:Angela Marshall
When the convention opens on Monday, Aug. 30, at Madison Square Garden, four of Penn Station's six entrances, used by thousands of commuters every day, will be closed.
"I'm working at home that week," said Cynthia Chambers of Rockville Centre. "I don't need the stress." Chambers doesn't even travel through Penn Station on her commute, but her stop, Hunterspoint Avenue, is one of three alternative routes the Long Island Rail Road has suggested that commuters consider. The other stations are Flatbush Avenue and Jamaica.
Brain Dolan, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said that LIRR officials are expecting normal service that week. The two exits remaining open -- the Amtrak entrance at 32nd Street and Seventh Avenue and the Long Island Rail Road entrance at 34th Street -- are used by 75 percent of Penn Station customers. He also stressed that the subway entrances will not be affected.
The convention runs from Aug. 30 through Sept. 2, with most of the sessions in the evening, from 8:30 to 11 p.m. The only daytime session is on Monday, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. MTA employees will be spread throughout Penn Station to answer questions and give directions. Temporary signage will be put up a few days before the convention begins.
Dolan said that the last week in August is traditionally less crowded for commuters because of vacations, but this year the Mets will be playing at home and tennis's U.S. Open will be in town, so he expects the trains to be busy.
The MTA Police Department is working closely with local police and federal law enforcement to ensure the safety of mass-transit riders, Dolan said. He would not outline plans because of security issues, but said the MTA is taking all necessary steps.
Dolan urged those who must take briefcases or bags into the city to make sure they keep them with them at all times. Bags found unattended will have to be searched, and the trains will have to be stopped while that is happening, which could cause extensive delays.
"If you have to go into the city, you have to expect the delays, which are inventible," said Jim Gustus of Oceanside. "You should leave your watch at home and go with the flow in the name of safety." Gustus would prefer it if the convention were held somewhere else, but he said he understands that it is a good revenue boost for New York City. Mayor Michael Bloomberg predicts the convention will raise $250 million.
As for the potential terrorist threat the convention brings, Gustus is concerned, but will not allow it to keep him home. "The average commuter lives with terrorism every day," he said. "The possibility of terrorism is tucked in the back of your mind every day, and while you have to be conscious of what's going on around you, you can't let it deter you from letting you live your life as normal as possible.
"You have to go about your business. Otherwise, that's how they win."
Paula, a commuter from Rockville Centre, said she is taking the week of the convention off to avoid the stress of crowds, but added that if New York becomes a ghost town like Boston during the Democratic National Convention, she would go in.
Others, like Mike Basila of Rockville Centre, haven't even thought about how to deal with the convention. While he's sure "it's going to be an inconvenience," Basila said the convention is just too far away to think about yet.
Several streets around Penn Station will also be closed for certain times from Sunday, Aug. 29 until the convention ends, and buses will be rerouted on both Seventh and Eighth avenues.
More information is available at www.mta.info.
