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Your e-mails: Creative commutesCNN.com readers on the New York City transit strike
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YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS(CNN) -- Millions of New York City commuters found new ways around town amid a transit strike that brought the country's largest public transportation system to a grinding halt. CNN.com asked readers to e-mail their travel stories. Here are a few of their responses, some of which have been edited: I decided to bring a little "Southern Hospitality" to New York during this recent transit strike. Having recently come to New York to work from Atlanta, everyone thought that I was crazy for bringing my vehicle here, and told me that I would never need it. When I learned that the strike was continuing again this morning, I decided to drive in to work again, and I offered a group of people near Central Park West a free ride downtown. Not only were we able to get pass the road blocks that required a 4-person minimum per vehicle to get below 96th Street, I made some new friends and was able to help someone make an appointment on time. While this strike may not sit well with everyone, it has forced many New Yorker's to do things that I haven't really seen since I've been here like share, negotiate or say "Hi"- even if they don't really mean it! On Monday morning I left my apartment on 30th Avenue in Astoria Queens at 6 a.m. I was prepared to walk across the 59th Street Bridge. I had been walking for about 10 minutes when a car carrying a man and young woman pulled up and offered me, and another man who had been walking ahead of me, a ride. What a pleasant surprise. These Good Samaritans were father and daughter. They couldn't have been nicer. They offered to take me home in the afternoon and pick me up every morning until the strike ended. I offered them money for the ride but they would not accept. The young woman said "We're all New Yorkers and we're all in this together." I am grateful for their kindness. I live in Manhattan but had to go to work from my girlfriend's house at Brooklyn yesterday. My work was flexible so I waited for the rush hour to get over. I took the LIRR from Flatbush to Jamaica. It was crazy, the ride was free and I have never seen anything like that. At Jamaica I stood in a line for 30 minutes and then boarded the LIRR train to Penn Station. In the evening I walked back home from work - 32nd/Broadway to 78th/1st on the UES. It took me over an hour. I walked the same distance this morning to work. So far it has been okay, but it is wearing me down slowly. I think at the end of day it comes down to attrition in who will break first - the union, MTA or us. I live in Park Slope and work in Times Square. Yesterday, I spent a hellish morning at the LIRR station in Brooklyn and got into work four hours late. Going home, having an inkling that Penn Station would be terrible, I walked all the way back to Park Slope. It took me two and a half hours - that's an hour and a half less than it took for me to take the train that morning. This morning I got a ride with some nice Brooklynites from the carpool area in my neighborhood. I am unsure how to get home because I don't think I can walk again tonight. My wife and I stayed at a friend's on 113th and walked to midtown on Tuesday morning. Facing the long walk back, we tried to hail a cab, but they were all taking single fares; meanwhile my hand was growing numb from waving it at nothing. An SUV picked us up. The driver was an MTA motorman, coming straight from the picket line and off to pick up his wife. Honestly, I didn't agree with the strike before this NY moment. When he dropped us off at 110th, I slipped him a twenty, but he and his wife utterly refused. I am convinced the strikers do care about New Yorkers, and aren't a pack of greedy wolves like the media/politicians are portraying them to be. Yesterday, my wife got to Manhattan by bus, then by ferry and then by bus again. All this compliments of the corporation she works for. Although it took her three and a half hours, she still had a good sense of excitement. Today, I promised to walk with her from Park Slope. After walking for five minutes in 7th Ave. a couple in a car stopped us and asked "are you guys going to Manhattan?" We nodded and rode with them and another guy. We had a wonderful conversation; they just visited our country so we built rapport real quick. Amazingly, as they went through the Battery Park Tunnel, we got in Manhattan in five minutes and they offered to drop us right at where we needed to go. Isn't NY amazing? I commend the Union to keep their strike going and fight for their rights. We, commuters, will figure it out. I became a true New Yorker this evening, walking across the Williamsburg Bridge on my way home from work. I can not say that it wasn't beautiful, because the city at night is breathtaking. It is a blessing that I was forced into seeing the amazing view. I work on 29th St. on the West side, which is very inconvenient to any bridge going to Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The walk was freezing, and took a good 3 hours. This strike has caused many inconveniences, and distress for many, but it has also brought about a sense of appreciation for things that are too often taken for granted. It gives many of us the opportunity to see much of life from above ground. Through out these past days, I have developed sore feet, but also an appreciation for what I thought was so horrible. Happy Holidays to all. I am fortunate that I only have to walk a little over 20 blocks (30 min), however many of my friends are not as fortunate. During my walk, I have seen an ambulance trapped in traffic (as I passed it on foot) and could only hope that the patient inside would survive the trip. I have seen the elderly nearly get trampled in the morning rush of walkers. And last night, in the height of the Christmas season, a number of the little boutiques my neighborhood is famous for were closed. My commute took less than 30 minutes from Jersey City. I took the NY Waterway boat to 38th Street via the Hudson River with the sun rising over the NY skyline. From there, the NY Waterway had a free bus waiting for us that took us cross town on blocked off streets that left me two blocks from my building. I will be using this route from now on even when the strike ceases, what a great way to start the day. And for all the people complaining about how miserable it is, get real. It could be a lot worse, ask the people in New Orleans how their commute to work was today! If it wasn't this, it would be something else you would be crying about, so suck it up and deal with it. As a new Upper East Side resident (since July), I have commuted for six months either by subway or bicycle from East 81st street to my job at Baruch College/CUNY at East 25th street. Now, with the strike, 5th Avenue has been closed to all but emergency vehicle traffic, effectively making 5th Avenue into a 4-lane bike path with Central Park on one side. It's as though for a moment the city were choosing to regard non-automobile transport as legitimate, and we bike commuters, helmets, scarves, and all, are suddenly feeling, well, very European (they have real bike paths in downtowns there!). Best of luck to all for safe holidays and a peaceable resolution to the strike. 
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