Thursday, November 5, 2026
Day 3 of the Long Island Rail Road strike is the first day of a new work week and nearly 300,000 commuters had to find another way to get their job or do their work from home.
At the Far Rockaway station where the A train begins and ends it 36-stop, trains were running every 15 minutes. Some passengers were rushing to get on the trains despite the wait times are clearly identified on a monitor.
Several commuters could be heard asking if they were getting on the right train and where they could get off. A few even asked a reporter.
Kevin Fernandes, a Long Beach resident, commutes to Grand Central Station, where he’s a recruiter. Fernandes said it took him almost 45 minutes longer to commute from Far Rockaway, as opposed to the Long Beach station on Park Avenue.
“It definitely makes it a lot harder,” Fernandes said, noting the $30 Uber he had to take. “The shutdown complicates things, and you have to work around and temper your schedule to the situation.”
Rodwell Ellbers, who lives in Queens Village, uses the LIRR to commute across Long Island for work as a home health aide through a private practice. Ellbers said he was on his way to a doctor’s appointment in Brooklyn, but because of bus delays, he was forced to spend $18 for an Uber — ultimately missing the doctors appointment.
“I hope they can start putting things in place so commuters can travel like normal.,” Ellbers said. “Everything is just messed up now.”
Barry Rauch, who commuted by car to the station from Oceanside, said it took him 30 minutes to reach the Far Rockaway subway station. Rauch, who works in hospitality in midtown, said he doesn’t know what the future holds, for both his day-to-day commute and life at home.
“Other than half an hour on the subway, we’ll see,” he said.
For others, it’s just an ordinary day.
Sam Smith, who lives in Far Rockaway, uses the subway to attend high school in Brooklyn.
“The railroad strike hasn’t really impacted me,” she said. “I normally take the subway.
On the other side of Long Island, at least NYU Langone healthcare workers how have a temporary lifeline: Glen Cove’s ferry terminal. New York Water Taxi is helping those employees to get to work
Glen Cove hasn’t run regular commuter service since the “Summer of Hell: in 2017,” as massive disruptions caused by accelerated track and switch repairs at Penn Station resulted in what was considered a transit crisis.
At Hempstead Lake Park in West Hempstead where shuttle buses were taking people to Howard Beach /JFK Airport to cath the A train, Malverne resident Gia Numa missed the buses.
"I support the strike, but I have things to do," said Numa, who though she works from home goes into the city on occassion. She noted she has to reschedule. "I also have plans with friends I've committed to," she added about the strike's inconvenince.
As of press time, the five LIRR unions on strike and the MTA remained far apart, but talks were expected to continue.
Additional reporting by Noah Peretz.
