LIRR Alerts Help Riders Navigate Messy Commute

Gripes about the work commute are a common office ice-breaker, but some commuters stepping off the platform with tired smiles Monday evening were glad they hadn't postponed their trip. Instead, the in-the-know workers, alerted to potential delays by updates provided by Long Island Railroad, cut their usual work days short to catch less crowded trains.  

"I get text messages from LIRR, so I know when it's gonna be a mess," said Barbara Strautman, after leaving her marketing office an hour and a half early to beat the rush.

David Sumersille, a Windows administrator from Bellmore who works in Jersey City, said he left his office around 3:10 p.m. instead of 5 p.m. to take the Port Washington line to Great Neck, where his wife's aunt picked him up. He said that the extra half hour in commute and the hours he might have to make up were worth the early exit.

"I can't imagine if I had to do it now," said Sumersille, speaking by phone around 5 p.m. "I probably wouldn't be back 'til at least eight or nine o'clock."

Eschewing his usual 6:11 or 6:24 p.m. trains home to Port Washington, investment banker John Cotronis said he also received e-mail alerts from the MTA, and left his Midtown office after wrapping up a meeting at 4:30 p.m.

"I assumed it would be a mob scene," said Cotronis after arriving in Port Washington on the 5:11 train, which pulls in at 5:47 p.m. "Actually, it wasn't bad at all. I found a seat, no problem."

Before and during the 5:47 p.m. arrival, the Port Washington station seemed unaffected by any fire-related delays: inside the waiting room, a pack of lanky teenagers lounged on two benches across the room from a booth offering magazines and candies. The scene was punctuated by a sole man in a grey suit and pink shirt, a black backpack strap over one shoulder, who entered to ask the vendor if trains were running, and then where to find the ticket machine.

The vertically scrolling marquis announcing hours of departure and arrival was on temporary hiatus, flashing "Port Washington" to no particular beat. Outside the station, facing above-track screens imitating that pattern, Strautman emphasized that today's commute was "not a nightmare."

"It just adds a little more stress onto your day," she said.