A potential Long Island Rail Road worker strike that could have begun as soon as 12:01 a.m. this coming Thursday will be delayed at least for months after LIRR union leaders requested the Trump administration intervene in contract negotiations yesterday. Peter Gill and Alfonso A. Castillo report in NEWSDAY that the announcement comes after five unions, representing about half of all LIRR workers, rejected a three-year contract that several other unions accepted. At a news conference in Manhattan on Monday morning, the leaders of the holdout unions announced they have asked or will ask President Donald Trump to appoint a panel to mediate the dispute, which could delay any potential strike until the spring.

"This action does not mean a strike won't happen, but it does mean it won't happen now," said Gil Lang, general chairman for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen. President Trump is expected to appoint a Presidential Emergency Board of mediators to consider both sides’ arguments and issue nonbinding recommendations to resolve the dispute.

Union officials said the process would delay a potential strike until mid-January, at the earliest. Additional public hearings, federally mandated "cooling off" periods, and the possibility of a second Presidential Emergency Board could push that date until mid-May, according to the unions.

If there's no agreement and a strike happens, it’s impossible to say for sure how long it would last.

The last LIRR strike, in 1994, lasted three days until the railroad agreed to certain union demands. Before that, an LIRR strike in January 1987 lasted for 11 days, until Congress passed emergency legislation and mediated the dispute.

In 2014, the LIRR came within three days of a strike, but it was called off after an eleventh-hour settlement between union leaders and then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

Is the president required to intervene now that a request has been made?

The Railway Labor Act states that upon request from either party in a commuter railway labor dispute, or from a governor, "the President shall create an emergency board to investigate and report on the dispute."

Samuel Estreicher, a professor of labor law at NYU Law School, said the law is not optional — it obligates the president to move forward with creating an emergency board.

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Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico says town officials are nearing a decision about the future of the town-owned zoo in Holtsville that some animal welfare activists want to see closed.

Carl MacGowan reports in NEWSDAY that Panico said town officials were weighing “whether or not the town should be in the animal sanctuary space” and hinted a resolution could come by the end of the month.

He did not say what options he was considering but said the resolution could be tied to Brookhaven Town's 2026 budget.

“The seminal question is, number one, whether or not [the zoo] is germane to the operation of town government and, number two, … is Holtsville the best place for these animals?" Panico told NEWSDAY on Friday.

Calls from animal welfare activists to close the facility escalated last November when an American black bear named Honey was euthanized at the site. Critics said Honey had been mistreated. Town officials denied the allegations.

A Newsday investigation last year found some animals were kept in filthy enclosures, medical problems were ignored for weeks or months, and surgical procedures were performed without anesthetic by staff who lacked formal veterinary training or licenses, according to seven former employees who spoke to the paper.

The zoo, which houses more than 100 animals, including foxes, a bison, a bobcat, birds of prey, cows and chickens, is part of the town's Holtsville Ecology Site, which also includes swimming pools, hiking trails and picnic areas. The property, a former landfill, is run by

Shuttle buses linking to Queens subway stops will run out of just three Long Island Rail Road stations if railroad workers go on strike next Thursday morning, and only during rush hours, MTA officials said yesterday. Alfonso A. Castillo reports in NEWSDAY that a week removed from a potential shutdown of the nation’s largest commuter rail system, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials offered new details of their plan for dealing with nearly 300,000 displaced riders — the majority of whom, they hope, can work from home. "We couldn’t possibly replace the full service that the LIRR runs everyday," Shanifah Rieara, chief customer officer for the MTA said at a Penn Station news conference Thursday afternoon. "But we are trying our best to accommodate those essential workers in an effort not to leave anyone stranded."

In the event of a strike, which could commence by 12:01 a.m. Thursday, the LIRR would operate buses every 10 minutes during the weekday rush hours between three railroad stations — Bellmore to Howard Beach, JFK Airport A train station, and Hicksville and Ronkonkoma stations to the 7 train station at Mets-Willets Point. MTA officials also encouraged commuters to consider Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) Bus routes linking to Flushing and Jamaica, where they can connect to subway lines.

The threat of the first LIRR work stoppage since 1994 follows an impasse in contract negotiations between the MTA and five labor organizations representing just under half all LIRR union workers. The MTA wants the unions to accept the same three-year deal with 9.5% in raises already accepted by most LIRR workers. The unions say those raises don't keep up with inflation or with what other railroads throughout the United States are paying their workers.

In a statement yesterday, Kevin Sexton, vice president for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, said the unions’ demands are "exceedingly reasonable, essentially the status quo when it comes to the cost of living."

Federal mediators last month declared that a voluntary settlement was out of reach, opening the door for a legal strike next week unless the White House intervenes by forcing both sides back into mediation. So far, neither the unions, the MTA nor New York Gov. Kathy Hochul have requested such intervention from the Trump administration.

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Riverhead Town officials called for the return of national unity during a prayer service commemorating the 24th anniversary of the al-Qaeda Islamic terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and the Americans who bravely responded. Alek Lewis reports on Riverheadlocal.com that Riverhead Town Clerk Jim Wooten led yesterday’s morning service with roughly 40 people gathered at World Trade Center Memorial Park in Calverton. Wooten reflected on how the attacks united the nation in grief. Nearly 3,000 people were killed…497 from Long Island…and more than 6,000 others were injured in the 9/11 attacks. “In the days that followed was shock, anger, disbelief, hysteria and the solidarity of the American people rarely seen in a lifetime,” Wooten said. “There was a common pride in mobilization of support groups and charity fundraising to do what we could to relieve the pain and the loss of our fellow Americans.” Riverhead Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard echoed Wooten’s theme of unity. “In the days following 9/11, our great country came...

Bells will toll in memoriam. Crowds will gather at ceremonies. Names of the dead will be recited one by one.

Nearly a quarter century after almost 3,000 people died when al-Qaeda, an Islamist extremist group hijacked jetliners that crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania…a region, a nation and the world will mark another anniversary of what happened 24 years ago today…on Sept. 11, 2001.

Matthew Chayes reports in NEWSDAY that even as memories fade and the date itself recedes into the past, more and more first responders and others who lived, worked or studied near the rubble in the months after are getting sick and dying from the airborne toxins unleashed by the explosions.

Approximately 497 Long Islanders have died as a result of the 9/11 attacks.

Nearly three dozen ceremonies have been scheduled for today through Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Here's a list of some commemorations across the east end:

• The Town of Riverhead will host a prayer ceremony to honor the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks at 10 a.m. at the Riverhead World Trade Center Memorial Park at the corner of Riley and Edwards Avenues in Calverton.
• This evening, the Sound Park Heights Civic Association will host its annual Candlelight Walk and Remembrance. A procession will begin at 6:00 p.m. from Marine Street in Reeves Park and proceed to the 9/11 Memorial Park on Sound Avenue.
• The Flanders Fire Department also holds an annual memorial service at the Flanders Memorial Park on Flanders Road and Fanning Road at 6:30 p.m.
• The Southold Town Fire Chiefs’ Council’s Southold Town Firefighters’ Memorial and Remembrance Ceremony will be held today at Jean Cochran Park on Peconic Lane in Peconic. Attendees will gather beginning at 5 p.m., with the official ceremonies starting at 6 p.m.
• The Southold 9/11 Memorial Committee and members of the community place 2,977 American flags throughout the park prior to the ceremony in honor of the people who were killed in the terrorist attacks.

During the ceremony, members of the Mattituck, Cutchogue, Southold, Greenport, East Marion, Orient, Plum Island, Fishers Island, and Shelter Island Fire Departments will pay their respects and lay wreaths honoring the fallen.

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This coming Saturday, September 13, the Long Island Divers Association plans to dive down and explore the wreck of HMS Culloden, a British ship that ran aground near Montauk in 1781 while pursuing French blockade runners.

Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that all are welcome to attend Saturday’s event, but only certified divers — or those accompanied by a diving instructor — can take part in the dive. Divers will meet at 12:30 p.m. and enter the water during high tide at 2 p.m. this Saturday.

On January 23, 1781, HMS Culloden encountered severe weather conditions while trying to intercept the French ships, which were bound for Newport, Rhode Island. The ship ran aground at what is now known as Culloden Point. The crew made it off, but they were unable to save the ship.

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A Riverhead gun shop will be in violation of New York State law if it holds a rifle raffle next week to raise money for a high school volleyball team, a state Gaming Commission official said yesterday. Carl MacGowan reports in NEWSDAY that state law says only "religious, charitable and nonprofit organizations" are allowed to hold games and raffles to raise funds for charitable endeavors, according to gaming commission spokesman Brad Maione.

JJ Armory in Riverhead is raffling off a semiautomatic weapon to raise money for the Riverhead High School volleyball team. The drawing is to be held Sept. 20.

"This entity is not authorized," Maione said. "Any operation of a raffle [by an unauthorized company] is considered unlawful — even if well-intentioned."

The Riverhead...