[title]
Taking the bus in NYC is usually a dull routine for many New Yorkers, but on June 10, boarding these buses will be quite the trip down memory lane.
The New York Transit Museum’s Bus Festival returns on that date with the chance to board vintage buses representing more than 90 years of New York City transit history.
The festival will provide plenty of photo ops, a chance to meet some bus drivers, shop in a pop-up shop, and give you a beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline from the Emily Warren Roebling Plaza underneath the Brooklyn Bridge, where the festival is being held.
It’s free to attend and it runs from 10am to 4pm.
RECOMMENDED: Little Island is going big on free programming this summer
Some of the buses you may see include Bus 3100 (above) from 1956. According to the museum, it was the first air-conditioned bus in the U.S.
“Originally built as an experiment, this model TDH-5106 was purchased by the Fifth Avenue Coach Company about a year after its manufacture. It served Fifth Avenue and M4 & M5 routes in Manhattan between 1958 and 1968. Bus 3100 includes features first introduced in the 1950s, such as a push‑type rear exit door, wrap-around seating in the rear portion, soft seating, and fluorescent lighting,” the museum states on its website.
You may also meet “Betsy,” from 1931, the oldest bus in the vintage fleet.
According to the museum:
“There were three body style designs: open-top (40 buses), semi-enclosed (four buses), and fully-enclosed top (56 buses). Bus No.1263 was one of the 52 enclosed model 602’s in the order. Fifth Avenue’s 1200-series buses were among the last front-engine double-deck buses made by Yellow Coach. In 1936, the company introduced a new rear-engine, more streamlined design. Bus No. 1263 remained in Manhattan passenger service until 1947 and the Fifth Avenue Coach phased out all double-decker operations in 1953. Today, Bus 1263 is the oldest bus in our vintage fleet.”
These and many more will be available to check out on June 10 (10am-4pm) at Emily Warren Roebling Plaza in Brooklyn.