As of right now, no one knows whether there will be any transit service in New York tomorrow. The Transit Workers Union is threatening a massive strike, crippling the city, if the MTA does not offer them an acceptable contract. I'm not going to get into the politics of the situation, but I'm mostly behind the TWU on this one.

That said, I'm slated to head out of NYC and back to Pennsylvania tomorrow via the Port Authority Bus Terminal on 42nd Street. Getting from my apartment to the PABT is usually the easiest of all possible movement. I leave my apartment, get into the subway entrance conveniently located directly across the street, get on a train, and sit there until it pulls directly into the Bus Terminal itself. Easy as pie. If you were to map the route, it would look like this:

Of course, with all subways and buses sitting around at their terminals, that becomes an impossibility. Time for plan B. Due to an incredible twist of good fortune, my apartment is slogging distance to a Long Island Rail Road station, the Flatbush Avenue Terminal. I can get down there and get on a LIRR train, backtrack all the way out to Jamaica, Queens, switch trains, and head back in to Penn Station, which is slogging distance to the Port Authority. THAT trip would look something like this:

Which of these options do you think would be more fun for a guy with a growing head cold in sub-freezing temperatures?

Uh huh. Well, it'll be better than dealing with the zoned, carpool-only taxis.