Long Island Rail Road service remained suspended for Monday’s morning rush hour after the MTA and a coalition of unions for striking workers failed to reach a deal on a new contract overnight.
Transit and New York state officials urged Long Island commuters to work from home if possible. The MTA is providing limited shuttle bus service between six locations on Long Island and subway stations in Queens, but the capacity is only a small share of the railroad’s typical passenger volume.
Negotiations were expected to resume at 7:30 a.m. Monday, according to union officials.
Some residents did not have the option to stay home and said they were upset about the shutdown.
Lorna Reid, 69, said she walked for two hours to get to the Hicksville LIRR station to catch a bus to Howard Beach, where riders can access the subway.
“It's chaos and I wasn't expecting this. I'm tired,” said Reid, who works in home care and was heading to the Upper West Side. “I’m not a young person anymore.”
Dozens of LIRR workers set up a picket line outside the Hicksville station, waving banners that said “equal work equal pay” and “solidarity forever.” Some drivers passing by honked in a show of support.
“Everybody’s just trying to go out and make a living,” said Joe Kessler, a 34-year-old LIRR worker. “I’m hoping it ends today. I'm hoping that they come to the table and, you know, they can come to some sort of agreement.”
Crowds of commuters outside the Jamaica-179th Street station in Queens anxiously waited for a shuttle bus to Long Island to arrive. There were two stops alongside Hillside Avenue, labeled with signs to Huntington and Ronkonkoma.
The morning sun added to the pressure on the MTA to get people where they needed to go, as many commuters began to sweat on the street.
“Oh my God, it's so difficult,” said Laney Rizardo, who anticipated an hourslong commute between Queens and Huntington. “I want it to be resolved.”
The two sides were summoned back to the bargaining table by the National Mediation Board late Sunday afternoon after an almost two-day impasse in negotiations, according to a spokesperson for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers union.
Now, the service’s 275,000 daily commuters will need to find other ways to travel until an agreement is reached.
MTA officials said they plan to issue prorated refunds to May monthly ticketholders for each day LIRR service is suspended because of the strike. They said such a move will require approval from the transit agency's board, which is scheduled to meet on Wednesday.
Striking LIRR workers gather near the Hicksville station on May 18, 2026.
What happened at the negotiations on Sunday?
Federal mediators stepped in Sunday evening after nearly two days without negotiations, union officials said. The National Mediation Board summoned both the MTA and the coalition of striking unions back to the bargaining table in Manhattan to spark talks.
Details of those discussions were not immediately clear.
Earlier in the day, both sides blamed the other for the stalled talks, with union leaders saying they were waiting for the MTA to reach out and MTA officials saying the unions should take the initiative because workers walked off the job.
Subway riders leave the Jamaica-179th Street stop in Queens toward LIRR shuttle buses.
Gov. Kathy Hochul publicly urged both sides to return to negotiations.
“We didn't want you to leave. You left. You are welcome to come back,” Hochul said Sunday morning. “I'll provide refreshments, whatever you like. Just come on back.”
What does this mean for commuters and traffic?
Officials strongly encouraged anyone who can work from home to do so. The MTA announced plans for limited shuttle bus service from some LIRR stations to Queens subway stops during the morning and evening rush hours, but those buses can only carry about 13,000 riders, which is a fraction of the railroad’s normal weekday ridership.
Union leaders and state officials warned commuters to expect heavy traffic and delays on Monday morning.
Entrances to the tracks at the Hicksville LIRR station are closed on May 18, 2026.
City Hall said officials were planning to deploy traffic agents near major bridges and tunnels from Long Island into the city, along with extra police officers at subway stations expected to see heavier crowds.
James Tallman, who lives in Ronkonkoma and usually takes the LIRR into the city, said he was planning on driving into Manhattan and leaving home around 4:30 a.m. to avoid the worst of it.
“It's gonna be a nightmare, no question about it,” he said. “Parking is gonna be an issue because everybody has to go to work. We have a couple of friends here that are head of big companies, and they have no choice. They have to go to work."
Kaitlyn Dellegar landed in Queens from Ronkonkoma on Monday morning after riding a shuttle bus for about an hour.
“The commute was kind of nice, I got to say,” she said. “We just sat on a bus and chilled.”
Dellegar added that her bus wasn't busy and she could commute by shuttle for a few more days if necessary.
What about people thinking about Uber and Lyft instead?
Commuters over the weekend told Gothamist they were dreading the expected surge pricing.
They should probably expect higher prices and longer waits, with demand expected to spike. Lyft said it was preparing by trying to get more drivers on the road and encouraging riders to book ahead.
Commuters wait for a Long Island-bound shuttle bus near the Jamaica-179th Street subway stop in Queens.
Transit officials said the best option will probably be some combination of shuttle buses, the subway and Nassau County NICE buses.
However, Transport Workers Union International President John Samuelsen also urged NICE Bus workers not to help the MTA work around the strike, telling employees in a social media post not to let “the bosses alter your routes.”
Mevon Grant, who got off a NICE bus in Jamaica on Monday morning, said it took 30 minutes for the bus to pick her up in New Hyde Park, and questioned why the shuttles weren’t running more frequently.
“I understand the unions’ demands,” she said. “I also understand the MTA administration as well."
Grant said she is in a union as an occupational therapist. When asked if she could work from home, she said, “Oh no. I have to be there with my patients.”
What has the political reaction been like?
Hochul on Sunday pressed both sides to get back to negotiations while also telling commuters to prepare for the worst.
Meanwhile, Republicans on Long Island were pointing fingers at her, with Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who’s also running for governor, blaming Hochul for not striking a deal before the deadline.
“ There are a lot of people on Long Island that work in New York City. There's a lot of people in New York City that work on Long Island, so they'll all be disrupted,” he said. “It's bad for business. It hurts business. It will cause all kinds of traffic delays. It is a complete nuisance and it didn't have to come to this point.”
He also called for congestion pricing to be suspended during the strike because he expects many more people to drive into Manhattan.
Hochul said that’s legally impossible under the current federal agreement.
This is a developing story and has been updated with additional details.
