Look back at LIRR’s first day of the ‘summer of hell’

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After months of planning and dread, the “summer of hell” has arrived on Long Island.

Want to join the chatter? Use the hashtag #SummerofHell on Instagram or Twitter.

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6:46 p.m.   Penn Station

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6:30 p.m.   Mineola

Nick Ward, 30, lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and commutes to Mineola for his job at Dealerweb, a fixed income brokerage in Garden City. He’s been doing the reverse commute, which takes an hour and 10 minutes “on a good day,” for three months. The trip Monday morning was smooth, but Ward said “today is the first day of service changes, but not the first day of commuter headaches. Every day it’s something.”

— Ken Schachter

6:30 p.m.   Hunterspoint Avenue

6:11 p.m.  

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5:50 p.m.  

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5:10 p.m.   Atlantic Terminal

4:52 p.m.  

4:30 p.m.  

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"I think it will be good for business. Today I got a lot of rides in from many different train stations. Most pick-ups were in #Nassau County. I prefer doing shorter rides around the Island to doing longer rides to the city but I wouldn't turn those down either. I've only been doing Uber for a short time since it became legal. But it's my side job, my extra income, so yeah I'm looking forward to any and all extra business. I think today might have been slow because from what I've heard a lot of people decided to take the #LIE and instead of crowded trains, today there were crowded roads." Uber driver Michael Burnett, 35, who said he earned $32 on a trip from Valley Stream to the City. #summerofhell #uber #longisland #LIBusiness #LIRR #LongIslandFailRoad #LongIslandRailRoad #newsday #newsdayreporter

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A line was brewing outside the LIRR tracks Monday afternoon at Atlantic Terminal — but not for a seat.

A few minutes before hopping on the 4:16 p.m. train to Babylon, Ken McLellan, 47, bought two Coors Lights at the terminal’s bar. Usually he’ll grab one. “I don’t know how long the ride’s going to be. I want to be prepared,” the Manhattan attorney said.

Justin Miata, 26, an accountant from Elmont, was headed home from Atlantic Terminal on the Hempstead line and bought a Coors Light at the bar. He had an appointment in Brooklyn Monday, but said he would head to the Hunterspoint Avenue station during the summer to avoid the crush of commuters at Jamaica. “I know it’s going to be hectic, and I’d rather get a different train away from the chaos at Penn. The beer, he said, is refreshing after a hot day.

Nearby, Valerie Purcell, a social worker heading to St. Albans, was sipping on a vodka and tonic as she waited for her train. “It’s going OK,” she said, calling the LIRR civilized. “Where else can you come for cocktails and read your books?”

— Scott Eidler

4 p.m.  

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"Every action has a reaction. Every negative, a positive. I think it might still be too early to tell but for businesses like mine, it's not such a bad thing if people have to hang out by the train a little longer and if the trains are for some reason canceled or delayed, it means less time to get home and cook. I mean, people have to eat, you can't quit eating. And me, I never close. I was open for Sandy, bad weather, storm? I'm always open. We're very close to the train station and have even incorporated it into our decor but we've been here 34 years. We have strong ties to the community. We"ll see how the summer goes but I'm hoping it goes well." #Lindenhurst resident and Gino's Pizza owner, Keith Dahmen, #summerofhell #babylon #businessreporter #businessjournalist #ginospizza #ginospizzababylon

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3:40 p.m.   Penn Station

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