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W.B.'s Bus Almanac for December 15th [DELAYED]

Posted by W.B. on Tue Dec 16 16:51:31 2025


December 15, 1950 - The Book of First Runs

Manhattan, New York
The Port of New York Authority

A new commuter surface terminal, designated the Port Authority Bus Terminal, opens on the block bounded by 40th and 41st Streets and Eighth and Ninth Avenues. The terminal is used by all major inter-city bus carriers except Greyhound Bus Lines which had their own terminal adjacent to the original Pennsylvania Station (they would move to PABT in 1963, the year demolition of the original Penn Station began). It had a roof which served as a parking lot to accommodate up to 500 cars. Built in the International Style, it handled bus traffic to and from the Lincoln Tunnel which, at that point, had only two tubes, opened in 1937 and 1945 respectively (the third would be opened in 1957). It was constructed beginning in 1949 as a means of consolidating all interstate trips which, until then, had been scattered all over the midtown section, with such venues as the Dixie Bus Terminal situated in the hotel of the same name (and would operate until 1959), the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad's bus terminal with a revolving platform at the Chanin Building, the All American Bus Depot on West 42nd Street, the Consolidated Bus Terminal on West 41st Street, and the Hotel Astor Bus Terminal on West 45th Street.

The PABT would expand to a new north wing one block north beginning in 1979, on the block adjacent to the McGraw-Hill Building; ironically, in late 1940 a company called Times Square Terminal, Inc. had proposed building a commuter bus terminal on that block. The entire complex would be rebuilt for a seismic retrofit to protect from earthquakes in 2007.

(Sources include: "New Bus Terminal Has Smooth Start," The New York Times, December 16, 1950; "Huge Bus Terminal to Rise on 42d Street at $4,000,000 Coast," The New York Times, December 8, 1940; "New Bus Terminal Is Approved Here; To Cost $17,500,000" by William R. Conklin, The New York Times, January 31, 1947; "Roof Parking for 500 Cars Added to Bus Terminal Plan" by Joseph C. Ingraham, The New York Times, March 22, 1948; "A Notable Ground-Breaking," The New York Times, January 28, 1949; "Greyhound to Move to Port Bus Depot" by Bernard Stengren, The New York Times, May 18, 1962.)


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Re: W.B.'s Bus Almanac for December 15th [DELAYED]

Posted by irtredbirdr33 on Tue Dec 16 17:29:28 2025, in response to W.B.'s Bus Almanac for December 15th [DELAYED], posted by W.B. on Tue Dec 16 16:51:31 2025.



Some of the buses continued to stop at the Dixie Terminal for some years after the PABT opened. There terminal was situated in the basement and reached by ramps. The was turntable and twelve loading bays. The Dixie Hotel later became the Hotel Carter. The bus terminal was turned into a parking garage. It is still possible to see the turntable form the street.

Larry, RedbirdR33

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Re: W.B.'s Bus Almanac for December 15th [DELAYED]

Posted by W.B. on Tue Dec 16 17:31:56 2025, in response to Re: W.B.'s Bus Almanac for December 15th [DELAYED], posted by irtredbirdr33 on Tue Dec 16 17:29:28 2025.

Yeah, I saw some recent pictures taken down there, especially where the turntable is situated, and also where some shops were.

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Re: W.B.'s Bus Almanac for December 15th [DELAYED]

Posted by andy on Tue Dec 16 17:38:22 2025, in response to W.B.'s Bus Almanac for December 15th [DELAYED], posted by W.B. on Tue Dec 16 16:51:31 2025.

The original roof parking area was converted for bus use, with additional platforms, in 1963. Additional private car parking was added above the bus level. The 1979 addition expanded the terminal a block further north.

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Re: W.B.'s Bus Almanac for December 15th [DELAYED]

Posted by gbs on Tue Dec 16 23:11:42 2025, in response to W.B.'s Bus Almanac for December 15th [DELAYED], posted by W.B. on Tue Dec 16 16:51:31 2025.


A new commuter surface terminal, designated the Port Authority Bus Terminal, opens on the block bounded by 40th and 41st Streets and Eighth and Ninth Avenues.




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Re: W.B.'s Bus Almanac for December 15th [DELAYED]

Posted by gbs on Tue Dec 16 23:17:00 2025, in response to Re: W.B.'s Bus Almanac for December 15th [DELAYED], posted by andy on Tue Dec 16 17:38:22 2025.


The 1979 addition expanded the terminal a block further north.

The extension is much smaller than the original building. The original building went from 8 Av to 9 Av, while the extension goes down 42 St only a short distance.



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