How about just taking PATH (from either Newark or from 33rd Street/6th Avenue Manhattan) to 9th Street station in Greenwich Village? That's about as close as you can get to the Lower East Side by rail right now, and you might have an easier time getting a cab down there. Have any other OTer's had any experience getting cabs in Greenwich Village during the strike? Would the OP have an easier time getting a cab at the WTC PATH station than in the Village?