Yes, Virginia, There is a Transit Strike

The Big Apple is in a big mess this morning:

Subways and buses across the nation's largest city shut down Tuesday morning as transit workers walked off the job following days of acrimonious labor talks, stranding more than 7 million daily riders and threatening the city with a $400 million a day financial hit.

"It doesn't seem right to tie up the cultural and investment center of the world," said Larry Scarinzi, 72, a retired engineer from Whippany, N.J., waiting for a cab outside Penn Station. "They're breaking the law. They're tearing the heart out of the nation's economy."

Authorities began locking turnstiles and shuttering subway entrances shortly after the Transport Workers Union ordered the strike at 3 a.m., and the city began bracing for a rush hour filled with disorder. At one subway booth, a handwritten sign read, "Strike in Effect. Station Closed. Happy Holidays!!!!"

Commuters, scrounging for ways to get to work, lined up for cabs outside Penn Station and gathered in clusters on designated spots throughout the city for company vans and buses to shuttle them to their offices.

At Penn Station, "there were hundreds of people waiting for cabs, pulling doors left and right. I had to make four stops," said taxi driver Angel Aponte, who left his meter off and charged $10 per person.

It makes me glad I live in an area where people routinely reject union-operated mass transit systems in favor of the freedom of their own vehicles. I'll take traffic anytime.