b'Bridge wouldnt do it. And he wouldnt leave the bridge. He was screaming. So, Frank Scarpinato [former Local 237secretary-treasurer and Citywide director] got on the phone with him. He finally left, but Danny Gibson and his ABO [assistant bridge operator] had to open the bridge after the people already knew there was a strike on. He had all kinds of trouble getting to his car in the parking lot, and they were cursing at him.There were two cops on the bridge when Danny got there, but they didnt interfere. They said, youre opening thebridge? and they walked away. Because they knew the action, the strike, was also for their benefit, because of the pensions.Echavarry was okay. Echavarry did the Pelham Bridge. The Pelham Bridge, all you really affect is the City Island area.In Brooklyn, because some of the guys wouldnt do it, they had to call in union guys [who didnt work there] to opentwo or three of the bridges. There was tremendous damage. They had to rip out the wires. [One] bridge didnt workfor weeks after.Barry Feinstein estimated that there were only 13 operators that did everything. You got to remember, some guyshad a lot of years on the job. They were just scared. Its hard to put it into wordsbut youre messing with the public.It was not an easy thing to do. It took a lot of courage.After the strike was over, every bridge had two cops assigned around the clock for two solid months because of thethreats we were getting. Some guys had their car windows smashed.When did you go back to work?Two days later I lost two days pay. I worked seven and a half hours of that eight-hour shift and they docked me for it.Plus, they gave me a punishment day. I opened [Unionport Bridge] at 6:20 [on the day of the strike]. They worked on that bridge right away. By 9:00 thatnight they finally got the four leafs down. They called in the Army Corps of Engineersfor the first time ever in the historyof unions.But by that time, it didnt matter, the damage was done. City employees got the day off with pay because busescouldnt run, nothing ran.The Army Corp of Engineers didnt know how to operate the bridges. They took the leafs down with cranes, one at atime. When we went back, we brought back the fuses and the handles. And then the bridge operated normally. . . .They talked about that for years. When Barry went to the International, he got a standing ovation from the Teamstersunion, from all the groups.It was really for you guys, for you guys who did it.Right. Well, we shut down the city of New York. Barry used to like to sayhe used to always want me at his dinnershe would say, With 13 guys we shut down the city of New York, and I got one of them sitting here tonight.What happened after the strike, in the courts?Right after the strike, about two or three days later, we got called down to the grand jury. Im talking about theBronx; only the Bronx got involved. Me, Danny, and our ABOs got called down. I gave them my name and address, andthen they started asking me questions. I didnt tell them nothing. I kept saying, I invoke the Fifth Amendment, I got nothing to say to you. So, they let me go. . . .Then about a month after that, Lenny said, Danny, I got bad news for you: youre being indictedyou, Danny, and116 '