The Long Island Rail Road strike could cost the region $61 million in daily economic activity, according to state comptroller Tom DiNapoli.
DiNapoli said the impact of the strike, now in its third day, would be felt not just by commuters struggling to get to Manhattan from Long Island, but businesses that depend on the free flow of people in both directions, particularly as the summer vacation season commences.
“ If the strike goes on and on, and you don't have workers coming into the city, not spending money at the local shops and restaurants, if folks can't come in for Broadway, if tourism is down, all of this has a multiplier effect in a negative way,” DiNapoli told Gothamist.
The strike was called by a coalition of rail unions after negotiations with the MTA came to an impasse. The work stoppage brought service to a halt at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, impacting 275,000 commuters. Negotiations were set to resume Monday morning, according to union officials.
DiNapoli said the strike is just one additional burden for area residents, on top of rising prices, the cost of gas and the impact of tariffs.
More than 320,000 residents of Long Island worked for New York City employers in 2024, according to the Regional Plan Association, with an average wage of $131,000 and a combined earnings of $42.4 billion.
Not all of those workers, however, take the LIRR.
Ten percent of commuters on Long Island use public transit to get to work, while 75% either drive alone or carpool and another 11% work from home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The average commute is 34 minutes, a figure that is likely to rise considerably for those struggling to get to work during the strike.
“ It's probably relatively easy with technology these days to say, ‘Hey, you know, it's Monday, I'm going to work from home.’ But if this strike lasts into a number of days, that option may not work for everybody. It may not work for every employer or every workplace.”
The strike could hurt the region in other ways, he said, including the Long Island tourist economy.
DiNapoli said that with Memorial Day “just around the corner” and the summer season revving up, the economic impact of a sustained strike could be felt by businesses on Jones Beach, in the Hamptons and other Long Island destinations that depend on tourists.
“They’re going to be impacted by this, and that's going to have a negative impact on sales tax revenue and spending in Nassau and Suffolk County,” DiNapoli said. “So it's going to impact the city's economy and the Long Island economy as well.”
