by ALAN LINSKY

[Click on the image to the right for an eight page slideshow of Green Buses over the years]

There are various accounts as to how Green Bus Lines came to be. All agree that its roots were firmly planted in Manhattan, and that a group of independent drivers (mostly Jewish, Italian and Irish immigrants) banded together to form the company.

They had all previously driven jitneys, and trundled the avenues of the borough haphazardly with little more than tacit approval by the city. It was their hope that amalgamation would gain for them a permanent foothold at a time when city fathers were considering the elimination of street railways. The company was incorporated in 1925 and each of the more than one hundred owner/ drivers received stock valued at what contribution they made. With new equipment and permits to operate scheduled runs on a number of major cross town routes, the freshly minted entity began to flourish, and it appeared as though it was the end of the beginning for Green Line in Manhattan when actually it was the beginning of the end!

The Omnibus Corporation, the largest privately owned transit company in the country at the time and parent to both Fifth Avenue Coach and Chicago Motor Coach, mounted a concerted effort to snap up those franchises that it did not already own. I am uncertain as to what ensued but, in the outcome, Green Line's permits to operate in Manhattan where revoked in 1933. However, all was not lost as the city did grant the company what were to become lucrative routes in growing southwestern Queens. Included were Lefferts, Rockaway, Woodhaven/Crossbay and Queens Boulevards (the latter being acquired from the Manhattan & Queens Bus Corporation) as well as the entire Rockaway peninsula (with connections to Brooklyn).

The years between 1933 and WWII saw tremendous growth for the company. In fact, nearly two hundred and fifty new Mack buses were delivered to the property during that period (the last batch specially painted and marked with Trylon and Perisphere logos for shuttling passengers from various outposts including Union Turnpike, Kew Gardens to the 39/40 Worlds Fair in Flushing). The war years followed with a number of buses being decorated with Stars and Stripes, and proclaiming in large letters "Do Your Part - Buy War Bonds". Without new rolling stock during the conflict the fleet was becoming threadbare and the company prevailed upon General Motors to sell them the first postwar models which were produced in 1946. For that favor, Green Line became a devout GM customer.

It was about this time, and at the request of the Franchise Bureau, that the company acquired the assets of the Triboro Coach Corporation (a north central Queens operator) and Jamaica Buses of South Jamaica. Both companies had suffered financial setbacks and became subsidiaries of Green Line. The following years saw little change other than the 1950's construction of ultra modern facilities including offices and maintenance and paint shops located at what is now the intersection of Rockaway Boulevard and the Nassau Expressway. The company's previous facility located in the then Idlewild Airport property was taken over by the Port Authority.

There was a relationship with Varsity Bus (formerly, Children's Bus Service Inc.) but I am unfamiliar with the details, and I believe the last of the acquisitions came with Command Bus, a small Brooklyn operation. The 1970's brought the good fortunes of the company to an end. With profitability eroding, and the inability to raise fares to defray costs, Green Line as well a number of other private operators in the metropolitan area seemed headed for bankruptcy.

It was in this time frame that New York City stepped in and took control of all the properties while employing existing staffs and drivers to continue day to day operations on a contractual basis.

The 1980's saw the opening of express routes to key locations in Manhattan (an irony when you consider that the Omnibus Corporation, a driving force in the expulsion of Green Line from the borough years before, had long since disappeared from the scene).

Accidents Will Happen

I am sure that over the years Kew Gardens has had its share of vehicular mishaps, as is the case most everywhere else. On the humorous side; a young fellow was speeding down Metropolitan Avenue between 83rd and Lefferts attempting to pass a trolley car and not realizing that there was a trolley coming in the opposite direction. To make a long story short, he survived unscathed but went home with a tall narrow Buick! In my time (circa 1940-1960) however, two accidents stand out vividly in my mind, and neither was humorous! Both occurred with buses in the early 50's, and both sent passengers to the hospital.

The first involved a lady by the name of Bahr (pronounced bear) who was the proprietor of the ladies lingerie shop in her name located between Bohacks market and the optometrist at the five corners part of Lefferts Boulevard. Mrs. Bahr, who lived somewhere in the vicinity of Metropolitan Avenue, commuted the one stop to her store by bus each day alighting at Cuthbert Road. As she stepped off at the rear exit on this particular occasion her coat was caught in the doors as they closed, the bus started and she was dragged a short distance. I would have to imagine that her screams and those of other passengers alerted the driver to stop. Fortunately, her injuries were minor and she returned to work a few days later.

Now, as to the cause of this accident, the bus involved (a twin to # 942 shown in the accompanying slideshow) was part of a 1947 order which were equipped with rear door treadle steps. The rear door treadle step, which was not under driver control, allowed the rear doors to close immediately after the last passenger cleared the bottom step. It was thought that this feature would expedite bus movement especially during rush hours. As a result of the Bahr incident, the Bus Company removed all treadle step devices from its fleet.

The second accident involved bus #364 (a twin to # 361 and also shown in the accompanying slideshow). To set the scene; there was a large construction crane parked parallel to the curb on Kew Gardens Road at 83rd, and I believe it was in the process of demolishing the old Budion house on the corner as it was loading debris to a dump truck parked ahead of it. #364, heavy with rush hour commuters, ascended the Lefferts hill and made the left turn to Kew Gardens Road. Just as it was about to pass the crane the operator swung the boom in toward the property which, in turn, swung the rear of its cab (which carried tons of steel ballast with it) out into the path of the bus.

In the outcome, three passengers seated on a bench over the right front wheel sustained critical injuries, and it was no contest for the bus itself, which was towed to the body shop in need of a completely new front end! I am uncertain as to where blame was placed in this incident, but I would have to say that both drivers should have shared it. A footnote regarding the slideshow; the editor was kind enough to credit this writer with providing certain of the pictures, and this writer, in turn, must be kind enough to credit the Mack Truck Museum of Allentown, PA for providing them to me.

A closing note; at this writing it is the intent of the city (and has been its intent on numerous occasions in the past) to bring the involved companies under the flag of New York City Transit effective (this time) on January 1, 2005.

September 4, 2006 Update

The following links show the Green Line bus #716 standing at its Q37 terminus at Queens Boulevard and Union Turnpike in Kew Gardens preparing to shuttle another load of subway passengers to Richmond Hill and Ozone Park.   [Click here] and [click here.]

These may be among the last photographs under the Green Line flag before completion of the company’s acquisition by MTA Bus earlier this year. The company served south Queens for nearly eighty five years.

October 1, 2006 Update

I have often been asked how I know so much about Green Bus Lines (especially the early years).

I consider myself to be a living link to the past merely because I was involved with the company at a time between the middle forties and early sixties when most of the original stockholder/drivers were still working. The many that I became friendly with related stories to me about the ‘old days’, and I have retained most of those memories.

It was long before the official incorporation of the company in 1925 that Green Line actually had its beginnings. The taxi industry in Manhattan was still in its infancy in the late teens (the Checker-Yellow-Hertz-GM alliance had not fully matured yet) and these young entrepreneurs were basically cab drivers that had no intention of going into the bus business!

With ‘used’ six seat Indianas (and you can picture what anything used was in 1918!) they trundled up and down both Madison and Park Avenues looking for fares, and often being chased and arrested by the police for operating without permits. BTW; the story that they went as far as screwing down seats to truck beds is untrue! (actually, these ‘Indianas’ were the first real S.U.V.’s in their station wagon like configurations).

It was about 1922 that things really began to heat up; the aforementioned ‘Checker’ alliance had taken hold, had become all powerful politically, and declared war on ‘wildcat’ operators. It was not uncommon for their ‘goon’ squads to harass independents to the point of actually cutting them off in the streets!

The stage was set for amalgamation and while city fathers discouraged any organized assault on the taxi industry they did suggest and aid in obtaining the necessary permits to operate buses on cross town routes in the borough.

The rest, as they say, is history.