New York city bus drivers report for work at the Michael J. Quill bus depot on Manhattan's west side after a three day transit strike ended Thursday afternoon, Dec. 22, 2005. In the meantime, talks will resume with the transit agency. Union leaders could have been sent to jail if the strike continued.
Roger Toussaint, the combative president of Transport Workers Union Local 100, reacts as he leaves the union hall Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005, in New York. The city's crippling three-day mass transit strike ended Thursday after union leaders, facing mounting fines, possible jail terms and the wrath of millions of commuters, voted to return their 33,000 members to work without a new contract.
A New York City police officer helps morning rush hour commuters get into cabs outside Grand Central Station in New York on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005. The city's crippling three-day mass transit strike ended Thursday after union leaders - facing mounting fines, possible jail terms and the wrath of millions of commuters - voted to return their 33,000 members to work without a new contract.
Trains line the Casey Stengel Depot in the Queens borough of New York on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005. Striking bus and subway workers agreed Thursday to "take steps" to go back to work while their union and the transit authority resume negotiations, a mediator said.
Commuters wait for the bus into Manhattan outside the closed entrance of the 71st Avenue subway stop in Forest Hills in the Queens borough of New York on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005.
Two transit workers discuss the strike as colleagues picket outside the closed entrance of the 71st Avenue subway stop in Forest Hills in the Queens borough of New York on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005.
Joe Penna, who took Metro North from his home in Greenwich, Conn., puts his folding bike together outside of Grand Central Terminal in New York on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005, before riding to his job in lower Manhattan. New York commuters began Day 3 without subways and buses, and union leaders faced a court date to explain why they shouldn't be held in criminal contempt for halting the city's mass transit system.
Rush hour bike riders cross the Manhattan Bridge in New York on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005, on Day 3 of the transit strike. With union leaders under mounting pressure to end the strike, negotiators with the union and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority returned early Thursday to the hotel where talks had been held before the walkout.
New York state mediators, from left, Martin F. Scheinman, Richard A. Curreri and Alan R. Viani address reporters during a news conference in New York on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005. The mediators announced that transit workers will take steps to restore service to New York's buses and subways while the union and transit authority resume negotiations after a three-day strike.
Morning commuters line up for cabs outside Grand Central Station in New York on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005.
Dawn breaks over New York as ferries carrying rush-hour commuters into Manhattan navigate the East River on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005. New York commuters began Day 3 without subways and buses Thursday, and union leaders faced a court date to explain why they shouldn't be held in criminal contempt for halting the city's mass transit system.
Commuters walk off ferries in lower Manhattan early on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005.
The American Red Cross hands out beverages and cookies to commuters on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005.
Vehicles and pedestrians make their way down Fifth Avenue in New York on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005, as the avenue reopened for the first time since the transit system strike began.
A morning rush hour commuter walks past someone sleeping under the Metro North Ticket windows in Grand Central Station in New York on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005. The three-day-old strike halted transit service for millions of people and cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues.
Morning commuters line up to buy Metro North tickets at Grand Central Station on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005. New York commuters began their third day without subways and buses, and union leaders faced a court date to explain why they shouldn't be held in criminal contempt for halting the city's mass transit system.