In New York City, the city is gearing up for the possibility of a transit workers’ strike that could begin Friday. With a contract deadline set for midnight tonight, negotiators with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the transit workers’ union warn they are at a standstill. The biggest differences center around an MTA proposal to create a two-tier pension and health insurance plan for the workers. Mayor Michael Bloomberg is also pushing for severe fines that would force the union to pay $1 million dollars and individual transit workers $25,000 dollars on the strike’s first day — with those fines doubled each successive day.