As I file this column, it is unclear whether a transit strike will cripple the city starting early Friday. It was 1966 when transit union workers first learned the fine art of extortion, and they have practiced it at regular intervals ever since. The secret of their success has been the knowledge that New Yorkers can endure hardships with zest and ingenuity, but that after two weeks, the whining syndrome kicks in – big time.

The leader of the ’66 strike was the diminutive TWU chief Mike Quill, who had the temerity to refer to Mayor Lindsay as Mr. Lindsley. It was the first transit strike I witnessed, and for a short time it was strangely invigorating. I was then living in the Carver housing project on East 102nd Street, and I worked on Lexington Avenue and 51st Street. What had been a 15-minute train ride was transformed into a 90-minute hike.

Traffic was at a standstill as commuters car-pooled into the city, so workers began using bikes, skates, and even skis – many wearing business suits while on their way to Wall Street. Women began carrying their spike heels in tote bags while striding along in sneakers. City dwellers invited coworkers who don’t live in Manhattan to bunk in during the workweek. Some companies booked hotel space for their employees. For a short while, it appeared that we would all tough out the illegal, burdensome strike, but then the whining began. “Settle the strike,” came the frantic pleas, the letters to editors, and the calls to City Hall. “We’re losing money,” the merchants cried, and so on, until “Lindsley” caved and the precedent was established. The fare at the time was, I believe, 15 cents. Guess who paid for that settlement?

It’s hard to find any sympathy for transit workers who earn more than firemen and police officers, but we’re more likely to be affected by their absence, as we deal with them on a daily basis. I say this even though a family member is a transit worker. He is not in favor of this strike at all, and feels he’s fortunate to have landed such a cushy job.

So why this threat of a strike, and why did the workers vote for one? Surely that vote was not a unanimous one, and if not, it should have been. Workers not only risk huge fines if they go through with this illegal strike, they could lose their jobs. If Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Pataki have any guts at all, they should follow Ronald Reagan’s lead and fire the strikers, as an op-ed by The New York Sun’s Alex Storozynski suggested last week. He reminded us of the illegal Air Traffic Controllers strike in 1981 that got 11,000 workers fired. Why risk the transit workers’ jobs, you may ask?

Maybe because the Transit Workers Union president, Roger Toussaint, knows that the real battle occurs in the public eye and New Yorkers have become so used to having their creature comforts safeguarded and indulged that principles and logic are easily ignored.

I have always loved this city and for the most part I’ve been very proud of being a native New Yorker. Never was I so proud of my hometown than after September 11, 2001. The city responded with the same courage and fortitude as the Londoners during the blitz in World War II. New Yorkers were volunteering at ground zero, donating blood, comforting one another, and getting on with our lives with a stiff upper lip. That lasted about two weeks, and then all I heard were complaints. “Funerals for the firemen and policemen are blocking up traffic”; “My phone service is still out”; “I didn’t get my check”; “I’m calling my lawyer”; “It’s Bush’s fault.” I heard all these comments while the ruins of the World Trade Center were still steaming and the smell of the dead still drifted over Lower Manhattan.

This is a city of enormous wealth and opportunity. We have services unparalleled in other countries, and yet we never cease to take it all for granted. If there’s a snowstorm, we yell if our street isn’t cleared fast enough or if our trash isn’t removed from in front our homes in due time. Mr. Toussaint and the Transit Workers Union don’t care that the city will lose $600 million a day. They don’t care if they’re breaking the Taylor Law, because they know that complaining New Yorkers will pressure Messrs. Bloomberg and Pataki to cave in to their demands.

Because we’ve developed whining to a fine art, we’ve become vulnerable to extortion by our local union leaders.