Ronkonkoma Station Yards eateries hit with drop in business amid LIRR strike

Monday morning usually means a bustling start to the week for the businesses adjacent to one of Long Island's busiest train stations. But this week, before Gov.Kathy Hochul announced late Monday that a deal to end the Long Island Rail Road strike had been reached, it was drastically different. Many eateries at Station Yards in Ronkonkoma were experiencing a decline in business since the strike went into effect Saturday, with some projecting losses of thousands of dollars per day.

Mohammed Babu, store manager of the Dunkin' coffee shop adjacent to the Ronkonkoma station, said the store went from serving 300 customers on an average day down to 15 during the Monday morning peak commute hours due to the strike. The station still saw some commuter traffic, as it served as one of the hubs for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's shuttle bus service, which ran from 4:30 to 9 a.m. 

Kennedy McArthur, who works at the nearby Central Station Market, opened at 6 a.m. Monday, and within 40 minutes had only served two people. "Saturday, when the strike started, only seven people came until 12 o'clock," he said, adding that the decline in business was among the worst he's seen in his 21 years working at the market. 

Eateries within the $1.2 billion Station Yards development began to see a decline over the weekend, when the LIRR strike left roughly 270,000 daily riders who travel from Long Island to New York City without train service. 

The popular Tex-Mex chain Lucharitos, which opened in December 2024, was down as much as 20% in earnings by Monday morning, owner Marc LaMaina said. He projected losing up to $2,500 a day through the week should the strike continue. "A strike during a beautiful sunny weekend is one thing," he said. "But during the workweek when that foot traffic is cut more than half, then we have some major problems to try to figure out." 

It was a similar, though not as significant, drop for Toast Coffee + Kitchen. The popular all-day brunch spot at Station Yards saw a 3% drop in business over the weekend "at first glance," said manager Sonia Figueroa.

"We usually get a lot of commuters," Figueroa said. "I didn’t see any of that this weekend. We still had normal takeout business, I would say either from the apartments or from the surrounding area and Uber, but those quick walk-ins that we could pinpoint that they were the train-goers, I absolutely saw a dip in that."

Picketers came in to buy drinks but, "I don’t think that evened out," said Figueroa.

Despite the warm weather, some customers were reluctant to use the eatery's outdoor seating.

"They didn’t really want to hear the yelling or the horns, I guess that made them uncomfortable for whatever reason," she said, adding that half the customers left, while some did return.

Benedetto LoManto, owner of neighboring Vespa Italian Kitchen and Cocktails, said it’s too early to tell what the impact will be. He said this weekend they were busy with graduation celebrations.

“I’m thinking this week we’ll be affected by it,” he said, “But I won’t know until it passes, it’s kind of too soon to really tell.”

Drew Alexander, owner of Cornucopia Natural Foods, which opened in Station Yards in late 2025, also said it’s too soon to gauge the full impact of the strike. However, the store's Sayville location on North Main Street took a hit, with sales down about 10% Saturday and Sunday, Alexander said.