BusTalk

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

Appreciate the info; thank you!

Speaking of the ex "INTER-CITY" (and ex-"ORANGE & BLACK") Fishbowls.......

By the time they were retired, their original script lettering over thwe windows had been buffed out (think, now, of PATH, erasing virtually all traces of H&M lettering)

Some buses were repainted for "MAPLEWOOD"; rather uninspired, but a dang sight better than the dreaded NJT "Disco Dip".......

"NYO"

["RIVER ROAD EXPRESS"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Memories.........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?156410

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?156426

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?156416

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?156431

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["RIVER ROAD EXPRESS"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

On this day in 1937............

The first tube of the Lincoln Tunnel opens to traffic.

The secod tube would not open until 1945; the third tube was finally opened in 1957.

Gridlock, as you might expect, was indeed QUITE strangulating,, prior to the opening of the second tube in 1945.

Until the second tube opened for traffic, "ELECTRIC FERRIES" operated a primarily vehicular crossing from Weehawken (near the tunnel) to the foot of W. 23rd Street in Manhattan.

This was known as the "Undercliff Ferry" and operated ferries similar to those later used on the Brooklyn 69th Street crossing.

The Lincoln Tunnel would come to overshadow the older Holland Tunnel, in terms of acting as THE major conduit for buses heading into Manhattan from New Jersey, especially after the pABT opened in 1950..........

"NYO"

["NEW YORK VIA TUNNEl"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Also............

Would be interesting to find out the PABT storage lot allocations over the decades (i.e what company was assigned what area) especially in the beginning, and through the 1960s..........

"NYO"

["PORT AUTHORITY BUS TERMINAL"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Just now recalling the long-ago days when a true "rainbow fleet" of suburban buses once snorted and growled in and out of the "Port-of-Authority"; today. it's all so "homoginized" and "lookalike", with virtually all traffic now consisting of NJT's oh-so-bland, "cookie cutter" fleet.

Sure ain't the way it was, for so many years.....so much variety, diversity, and color, all of which we took for granted...........

"NYO"

["33 NEW YORK"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"Memories of Christmas Past" (the "Port-of-Authority")........

Among my many 1960s childhood memories of the "Port-of-Authority" at Christmas.....

The HUGE ornaments dangling from the lofty ceiling, bearing big banners proclaiming to all:

"MERRY CHRISTMAS"

"SEASON'S GREETINGS"

The groups of glee clubs gathered together in the concourse, singing Christmas carols.

The HUGE crowds of folks thronging the ticket counters of the "long haul" carriers, heading home for the holidays.

Home-bound commuters and shoppers bearing gift-laden shopping bags, many from shopping emporiums which no longer exist today.

The EVER-ENTICING display windows of "HOBBY MART".

And, of course, non-stop procession of suburban buses, flaunting the handsome, familiar colors of so many long-established companies, now relegated to history.

How fortunate I am indeed, to have been a part of it all, several times each year, during the holiday season; wonderfully-nostalgic childhood memories such as these could never be duplicated today..........

"NYO"

["5 NEW YORK"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

And here we thought that the renditions of the "new and improved" PABT was a bit much to take; the 2017 construction photo on this page clearly indicates volatile, highly-disturbed minds......perhaps the "designers" were just coming down off of a particularly nasty LSD high, after a Jimi Hendricks concert........

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salesforce_Transit_Center


["INSANITY: THERE IS NO LIMIT"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

That Walgreens was indeed a LONG-standing fixture of the main concourse, near the 8th Avenue entrance/exit (I recall it well!)

That looooong hot summer of 1980 ("the tubes" were on strike that entire summer) Your's Truly still well recalls the ongoing desecration being well underway each weekday, coming in via the former Orange & Black "RIVER ROAD EXPRESS".

Going home, over the next few years (PM rush), I remember when commuters had to traipse through a complex plywood "mouse in the maze" labyrinth, to board a homebound bus, at a platform (cannot recall the #) in the new wing.

The continual sounds of renovation (make that "desecration") assaulted the senses as you waited for your bus.

Wasn't enough that we lost the late, great Penn Station to "progress"............

"NYO"

BTW: That new "toiminal" in SF indeed looks like something one might "visit" after nibbling a few "magic mushrooms"............

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

I am familiar with that "spot-on" quote, and could NOT agree more.

Thank the gods that the late Jackie Kennedy Onnassis spearhead the movement to save GCT from the same cruel fate that claimed Penn Station.

Like the PABT, the current Penn Station ("SINO": "Station In Name Only") is only a location to me, nothing more....I have no personal "connection" to either insipid favily.........

"NYO"

["WEST GATE TRACK 15"]

["PORT AUTHORITY BUS TERMINAL"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

New access ramps..........

Am wondering where the new access ramps to the future terminal will be located; I would assume all of the existing bus approach ramps will all eventually be demolished..........

"NYO"

["165 NEW TORK"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

UNDERGROUND and STREET LEVEL??

Great Jehosephat, this IS going to be QUITE interesting, to say the least, once REAL construction gets underway..............(!!)

"NYO"

["NEW YORK CITY"]