The New York Transit Museum’s Vintage Bus Festival returns next month, bringing a slew of historic jitneys to Brooklyn Bridge Park for transit fans to marvel at the past, present, and future of commuting in the Big Apple.
The 28th annual Bus Festival arrives at the station on Sept. 8 at 10 a.m. The Transit Museum will be showcasing nine buses from nearly a century of New York City commuting history, from a 1931 double-decker model to a brand new electric articulated bus.
“We are delighted to bring back this beloved tradition and show some bus love to our vintage fleet, against the incredible backdrop of the Brooklyn Bridge,” said Concetta Bencivenga, director of the Transit Museum. “Come spend the day with us and learn about the past, present and future of New York’s surface transportation.”
The oldest buses set to be displayed long predate the MTA, having been ordered by the private bus companies that preceded the consolidated transit authority. The seniormost coach will be the double-decker Bus 1263, nicknamed “Betsy;” she was built by the Yellow Coach Manufacturing Company in 1930 and ordered by the Fifth Avenue Coach Company, which ran service in Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx. Betsy served riders from 1931 to 1953, and is the oldest bus in the Transit Museum’s archives.
Also on display will be Bus 2969 from 1948, also known as the “Jackie Gleason Bus.” Built by General Motors, this was the bus model Jackie Gleason’s character drove on The Honeymooners. The yellow-and-green Bus 3100, manufactured for Fifth Avenue Coach in 1956, was one of the nation’s first air-conditioned buses.
More modern buses will also be on display. They include a 1993 model “Rapid Transit Series” bus that operated under the Jamaica Buses livery, one of the private companies that still ran on Queens streets until the mid-2000s. Those buses were only retired in 2019, after about four decades in service, so will be a familiar sight for New Yorkers looking for a trip down memory lane.
Visitors can also check out an articulated electric bus that will be on New York’s streets for many years to come, as well as a bus tow truck that helps keep the transit system moving when problems arise.
Attendees will be able to board all of these buses and check out the interior, including the cab, seating, and old-timey advertisements. A scavenger hunt, fun for all ages, is also scheduled.
The festival takes place, rain or shine, on Sept. 8 at Emily Warren Roebling Plaza in Brooklyn Bridge Park, starting at 10 a.m.
