By Hank Russell
The strike by the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) union workers may have ended, but the back-and-forth by Governor Kathy Hochul and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman continues. Blakeman fired the opening salvo, accusing the governor of “incompetence” and allowing the strike to occur and demanding that MTA Chairman Janno Lieber be fired.
As previously reported in Long Island Life & Politics, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS), the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), and the Transportation Communications Union (TCU) ended the three-day strike on May 18 after reaching a tentative agreement with the MTA. Details were not disclosed.
It was also reported that Hochul and Blakeman pointed fingers at each other. The governor said the strike was “the direct result of reckless actions by the Trump Administration to cut mediation short and push these negotiations toward a strike.” Blakeman, who is running against Hochul for governor, said she “failed to do her job” by letting the strike happen.
During the strike, Blakeman and Assembly Minority Leader Ed Ra (R-Franklin Square) attempted to push through an emergency bill that would suspend the congestion pricing tax. The proposed legislation would have automatically frozen and suspended the tax during any MTA strike, work stoppage, or major transit delay lasting more than 24 hours. The bill would have also mandated that the MTA provide immediate, pro-rated refunds to all monthly ticket holders for every day they are stranded without service. The MTA announced on its website during the strike that refunds may be given, but it would need board approval.
When asked by Channel 2 News if she would suspend the congestion pricing tax, Hochul replied, “There’s actually no legal mechanism to do that. Anyone who tells you they can doesn’t understand federal law.”
According to Blakeman, the region lost $180 million in revenues during the three-day strike. He also said that Hochul “acted like a bystander” as 3,500 LIRR workers walked the picket lines.
“Hochul owes a massive refund to the small businesses who lost their foot traffic, the hourly workers who lost their shifts, and the families who got completely screwed by her incompetence,” Blakeman said, adding that she “allowed the strike to derail our economy.”
“New Yorkers pay the highest taxes in America for the weakest leadership in America,” Blakeman continued. “Hochul could find billions of taxpayer dollars to give migrants luxury hotel rooms and a bailout for Zohran Mamdani, but when the largest commuter rail network in North America stopped dead, she went completely missing in action. Hard-working suburban commuters got stranded, local shops lost their foot traffic, and Hochul acts like a bystander.”
But Blakeman didn’t stop there. He also placed the blame on Lieber, who vowed as governor that he would Lieber would be “fired on day one.”
LILP reached out to the MTA for comment and is still waiting to hear back.
“Nobody should take lessons in fiscal management from the county executive,” Hochul spokesperson Gordon Tepper said. “If he’d had his way, Long Islanders would be on the hook to pay for a bad deal. Not on Governor Hochul’s watch. By fighting for a fair deal, she has protected Long Islanders from fare and tax increases.”
“While Governor Hochul focused on affordability, protected commuters, and got trains running again, ‘100% MAGA’ Blakeman did what he always does: root for dysfunction and higher costs so he could score political points with Donald Trump,” Hochul campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika added. “Blakeman spent years jacking up property taxes and making Long Islanders’ lives more expensive — New Yorkers can’t afford his leadership, and neither can his own constituents.”