The one I?m thinking of had the beige over green paint where this one is light green over darker green. Also, the passenger seat windows opened vertically, not horizontally. The mirror outside the front passenger door is new and the rear door folded open, same as the front door. I think the rear door pictured here was one of the early passenger-controlled types. If memory serves, the bus shown here was not Fifth Avenue Coach, but ran on First, Second, Third and Lexington Avenues in Manhattan, and if you held a gun to my head I couldn?t remember right now the name of that bus company. This color scheme also ran on Fifth Avenue after all the lines were consolidated under NYCTA(?) following one of the transit strikes. And, now that I think of it, the buses on Broadway, at least above 72nd Street, were painted beige over red and the rear doors were controlled by passengers putting weight onto the second step which would then open the door.
I think, but again not sure, that transfers were not accepted between companies. If a passenger transferred from Fifth Avenue Coach to another carrier or vice versa, a new fare had to be paid. I believe that all changed after the 1966(?) transit strike, the one that still calls to mind Mike Quill denouncing ?Mayor Linsley? as Quill went off to the Civil Jail. I think that was also the strike that led to the Taylor Law.
For the past five or six years I?ve tried to get to 42nd Street before the Christmas Holidays to ride the ?Vintage Buses? that Transit runs on that line for a few days each year, but I?ve never been able to catch one of them.
And g?man, not only did the drivers have to hand out transfers and make change from those neat little silver mechanisms that held denominations from pennies to quarters, but some would also let little kids flick the handle on the fare box that dropped the coins into the collection box and even turn the handle on the destination signs on the front and right side of the bus when it got to the turn-around point. I remember hearing that the drivers would catch grief if the fares emptied from the box were not evenly divisible by $.15 or whatever the fare happened to be; this, of course, before discounted fares for Senior Citizen and the handicapped.
Incidentally,talking about traffic-related issues, how about the old Sanitation water trucks that would wash down the streets during the spring and summer and in later years were used to supply summer-time sprinklers for kids to play in. The theory was that by supplying these trucks fewer hydrants would be opened illegally and water pressure would be maintained at necessary levels. One of the problems with that theory was that you couldn?t hold an ash can (remember them?) over an open hydrant and suddenly lift it to soak an unsuspecting driver and passengers when they drove down the street. Especially good when the car in question was painted green and black with white lettering on the hood and doors. Not that I ever knew anyone who would do such a thing, but rumor always had it?
68jk09, there were two kinds of straw seats. The yellow ones always reminded me of creamed corn (I think they were on the IND lines) and in the ?60?s the 7 Train had yellow with blue stripes. Regardless of the color, when they got worn there?d always be a bunch of slivers sticking out that would catch you on the back of the thighs or knees, or someplace more tender if you were having a really bad day.
johnd248, yes, I remember Schrafft?s very well. Not that particular one, but many of the ones in Manhattan and especially their bakery on 23rd Street just east of Sixth Avenue. I?d swear that, every so often, I can still smell the baking when I go by there! Schrafft?s was one of the great employers of Irish girls coming over. When they shut down operations, the city lost one of its really great institutions and a place that served good food and honest drinks at reasonable prices.
I imagine there are people on here whose recall is better than mine and who may be able to correct or fill in any blanks.
I think, but again not sure, that transfers were not accepted between companies. If a passenger transferred from Fifth Avenue Coach to another carrier or vice versa, a new fare had to be paid. I believe that all changed after the 1966(?) transit strike, the one that still calls to mind Mike Quill denouncing ?Mayor Linsley? as Quill went off to the Civil Jail. I think that was also the strike that led to the Taylor Law.
For the past five or six years I?ve tried to get to 42nd Street before the Christmas Holidays to ride the ?Vintage Buses? that Transit runs on that line for a few days each year, but I?ve never been able to catch one of them.
And g?man, not only did the drivers have to hand out transfers and make change from those neat little silver mechanisms that held denominations from pennies to quarters, but some would also let little kids flick the handle on the fare box that dropped the coins into the collection box and even turn the handle on the destination signs on the front and right side of the bus when it got to the turn-around point. I remember hearing that the drivers would catch grief if the fares emptied from the box were not evenly divisible by $.15 or whatever the fare happened to be; this, of course, before discounted fares for Senior Citizen and the handicapped.
Incidentally,talking about traffic-related issues, how about the old Sanitation water trucks that would wash down the streets during the spring and summer and in later years were used to supply summer-time sprinklers for kids to play in. The theory was that by supplying these trucks fewer hydrants would be opened illegally and water pressure would be maintained at necessary levels. One of the problems with that theory was that you couldn?t hold an ash can (remember them?) over an open hydrant and suddenly lift it to soak an unsuspecting driver and passengers when they drove down the street. Especially good when the car in question was painted green and black with white lettering on the hood and doors. Not that I ever knew anyone who would do such a thing, but rumor always had it?
68jk09, there were two kinds of straw seats. The yellow ones always reminded me of creamed corn (I think they were on the IND lines) and in the ?60?s the 7 Train had yellow with blue stripes. Regardless of the color, when they got worn there?d always be a bunch of slivers sticking out that would catch you on the back of the thighs or knees, or someplace more tender if you were having a really bad day.
johnd248, yes, I remember Schrafft?s very well. Not that particular one, but many of the ones in Manhattan and especially their bakery on 23rd Street just east of Sixth Avenue. I?d swear that, every so often, I can still smell the baking when I go by there! Schrafft?s was one of the great employers of Irish girls coming over. When they shut down operations, the city lost one of its really great institutions and a place that served good food and honest drinks at reasonable prices.
I imagine there are people on here whose recall is better than mine and who may be able to correct or fill in any blanks.
