The strike is long done, of course. And now there's even a contract, too. The transit union's executive board approved it last night by a huge margin; the membership is expected to do likewise.
So Bloomberg's been getting crap for saying during the transit strike that union leaders were behaving "thuggishly." But perhaps no more. Reports today's Newsday:
Five things we now know:
Can't understand how the transit workers and the MTA could finally break through their impasse and come to a deal on a new contract? Someone on Craigslist has the answer, naturally:
It's the most beautiful NYTimes.com headline we've ever seen.
Never before had a Times headline made us quite so happy.
With no fewer than 10 reporters on just one strike story today, the mind can't even fathom how many will be necessary for tomorrow's coverage. If only for the sake of the Metro desk, please, Roger Toussaint, end this madness now.
Oddly enough, not everyone on Craigslist today is using it to search for strike sex. Some are using it, instead, to make political points. Like in this terse message, posted late this morning:
The strike started a little after 3 o'clock this morning, and, frankly, we're a little disappointed it took nearly eight hours for the first email to arrive flacked some oh-so-clever transit-strike memorabilia. Here's the first t-shirt you might be interested in:
We know today is a sucky one for everybody, but, truth is, it doesn't really affect us at all. (We never leave our houses during the workday, anyway.) But what about you? How's your strike day shaping up?
We've been meaning all morning to take a good look at the TWU's strikeblog — and, more interestingly, the 300-odd kvetchy comments that have been posted so far this morning — but we haven't been able to motivate to sit and read 300-odd kvetchy comments. (Mostly because poking ourselves repeatedly in the eye with a dull pencil sounds more fun.) Yet one more reason to love the Observer's Ben Smith, however, is that he did it for us. Some comments highlights from The Transit Worker, as excepted by The Politicker:
Because non-blogging blog publishers are free to dick around with "real life" all day, Jossip publisher David Hauslaib hit 9th Avenue at 8am to try and hail a cab:
The view down Broadway from 116th Street.
We know you're annoyed at the transit strike, but what, we wonder, do the common, late-night Craigslist trolls think of the situation?
While it's hard to think of any silver linings today, at there's this. Apparently it's much easier than usual today for Brooklynites to get a free cup of coffee. Two emails we received this morning report amenities for both Heights bobos and 'Burg hipsters:
At about 3 AM last night, the Transportation Workers Union officially began their strike against the MTA, shutting down the city's subways and bus lines and transforming New York from a functioning metropolis to a dripping shitbag of inconvenience. Or, for those of you who don't have to trek into the office: SNOWDAY!
Meantime, on the West Side, overworked cliches at the NY1 headquarters are considering a walkout of their own.
Bad news for Queens commuters: The Transit Workers Union strike has officially shut down the Jamaica and Triboro bus line, leaving thousands of little old Greek and Italian ladies with no choice but to totter in the cold. If the Union and the MTA fail to reach an agreement by midnight tonight, Union president Roger Toussaint says city transportation will face a "complete shutdown."
• Mort Zuckerman pulls the plug on Radar; hearts are broken, dreams are shattered, and business cards are destroyed.
• The Transit Workers' Union goes on half-strike, which means we'll continue to wait for news on when shit gets really inconveniencing.
• Now that Michael Cooke has ditched the Daily News, editorial director Martin Dunn is so inconvenienced to act as editor-in-chief. Meanwhile, Orla Healy returns from the Post and Lloyd Grove finds himself an innocent, new fluffer.
• There's no time like the holidays for some serious, ass-kicking lay-offs.
• We never thought we'd see the day, but Andrew Krucoff is finally, technically, a man.
• MediaLand continues to celebrate the season with boozy staff parties; New York magazine goes so far as to bring out the Karaoke torture device.
• Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. gets a gentle spanking while Judy Miller hits the high seas.
• PETA continues to cheerfully annoy Anna Wintour.
