Thompson estimated that the economic cost to the City is about $1.6 billion for the first week of a strike, with costs highest on the first day. The Comptroller indicated that most of the impacts of a strike emanate from cancellations of economic activity that cannot be replaced, such as ticket sales to entertainment events and restaurant meals.

Corporations may relocate employees to satellite offices during the strike, conferences may be cancelled, and people who do make it to work may work shorter hours or be preoccupied with making transportation arrangements, leading to lost productivity.

The Comptroller’s figures take into account offsets by the economic activity generated by a strike – people staying in hotel rooms who would otherwise go home, consultants helping firms with crisis planning, and bicycle sales, to name a few examples.

• The following is the breakdown of the estimated cost impact:

First day (Tuesday): Net cost of $400 million. The most serious damage will occur on the strike’s first day, because many people will just take the day off and hope it is no more than a one-day strike. The disruption will be great.
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Next three days (Wednesday/Thursday/Friday): Net average cost of $300 million per day. We expect that many people will have figured out how to get to work, and businesses will have had time to implement telecommuting options and make other adjustments. But, given the proximity to the holidays, many people will decide to take off and many people will not travel into the city for holiday purposes.
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Weekend: Net cost of $100 million for the weekend. Less economic activity takes place on the weekend. Because this weekend includes both Hanukkah and Christmas, it normally would be a much slower weekend, so the additional impact of strike would be much less.

• Next week: The net impacts would be considerably less. This tends to be a slow week, as many people will already be off on Monday and on vacation this week. We expect the net cost of $200 million for Monday.

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