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| W.B.'s Bus Almanac for September 2nd (351133) | |||
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W.B.'s Bus Almanac for September 2nd |
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Posted by W.B. on Wed Sep 2 09:57:33 2026 September 2, 1963 - The Book of Last Runs and Reroutings Manhattan, New York Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority (FACO Division) Effective as of this date, Washington Square Park is officially closed to all bus traffic, ending a tradition dating back to the earliest days of stage coaches along Fifth Avenue, through the transition towards motorized buses, all of which passed around and through the famous Washington Square Arch (including the open- and closed-top double deckers such as the "Queen Mary," the GMC "Old Looks" and the more recent "New Looks"), and after a decade of pressure from community activists. (Automobile traffic had been barred from the park since 1959.) Once the end point (or "home") of five bus routes, at the time this ban is first implemented only three routes of the former Fifth Avenue Coach Company called the park their southern terminus: 2 - Fifth and Seventh Avenues, 3 - Fifth, St. Nicholas and Convent Avenues, and 5 - Fifth Avenue and Riverside Drive. (At least one photo taken around the park between 1962 and 1963 suggests the 15 - Jackson Heights line also terminated at Washington Square in that period.) With this change, all three routes are moved to a new south end at 8th Street just east of Fifth Avenue (hence, from this point "Wash. Square" on bus front roll signs refer not to the park itself, but rather the area around it). The buses now run east on 8th Street, north on University Place and west on 9th Street before returning to Fifth on their northern journey. (This arrangement will last only two months before the routes are shifted to different southern termini.) As part of the same changes, West 4th Street / Washington Square South is converted to one way eastbound, Washington Square East is made one way northbound, and Waverly Place / Washington Square North becomes one way westbound. (Source: "City to Close Washington Square to All Buses" by Samuel Kaplan. The New York Times, August 31, 1963.) |
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