Port Authority Bus Terminal looking westward to New Jersey.
Recently opened Bus Terminal on 8th Ave between 40th & 41st Streets in 1950.
8th Avenue.
The bus terminal before it was opened...
Bus Terminal as seen by an artist in a 1950 postcard.
I remember distinctly well the first time I ever got to the Port Authority Bus Terminal on 8th Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets. It was on the morning of 2nd October 1971, a Saturday. I had just stepped out of a Varig jet-liner that had brought me from Rio de Janeiro to JFK Airport.
Not knowing exactly what to do I took a bus from the airport to the city and alighted somewhere downtown Manhattan when I thought it was about time for me to get off. Then, I didn't know what else to do! I happened to be near a taxi-cab with a Negro driver who helped me use a pay-phone. I showed him an address I had written on a piece of paper telling him through gestures that I wanted to go to Newark, N.J.
The traxi-driver who was extremely friendly took me to the Bus Terminal. I gave him a 20-dollar bill for the fare and he gave me the right change when he could've easily over charged me. I didn't have the slightest idea about US monetary value. The 'brother' was 'right on' and left me on the corner of 41st Street and Eighth Ave. My very first experience with a New Yorker was a complete success!
I hardly spoke any English and I had a hard time deciphering the information a Black woman at an Information-booth at the Bus Terminal gave me when I showed her the scrap of paper with the Newark adress written on it. She shouted something that could be platform number 6, 16, 60 or 61. I thought that maybe 'sixty-one' would be the right choice and I hit the big pot.
Yes, Newark platform was on the highest level and its number was indeed 61. I entered the bus and a few moments later the driver started the beast and we sailed right down those lanes you can see below coming out of the Bus Terminal and going into the Lincoln Tunnel in no time.
Aerial view of entrance-ramp to the top of Port Authority Bus Terminal.
going down into the bowels of the earth...
entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel.
Westbound traveller crosses from New York to New Jersey shortly after the 22nd December 1937, opening of the Lincoln Tunnel.”
“The dedication ceremony was held on the 21st and included, “a military parade, aviation maneuvers, aerial bombs, sirens and an artillery salute, followed by the brass-throated chorus of harbor craft whistles,” as a Times article from the date recounted.
The following day, the first person to drive through the tunnel was Omero Catan, or “Mr. First.” He was “among the obscurest annals of New York History.” Among his 537 firsts were crossing the George Washington Bridge in 1931, riding the 8th Avenue subway in 1932, and skating in Rockefeller Plaza in 1936. To be sure he’d be the first through the Lincoln Tunnel, he parked his car near the entrance on the Weehawken side at 10pm the night before.
Another man who made headlines that day was Charles T. Meaney. Just 10 hours after the tunnel opened at 4:00am, he “won the dubious distinction” of becoming the first person to run out of gas inside. He was towed within five minutes.”
“On 22nd December 1937, the center tube of the Lincoln Tunnel opened to motor traffic, connecting midtown New York City with Weehawken, New Jersey. Funded by the the Public Works Administration (PWA), the tunnel was built beneath the Hudson River by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, putting thousands of people to work during the Great Depression. A terrific engineering feat, the tunnel eased commutes in the burgeoning metropolis. Named after Abraham Lincoln, the tunnel followed the completion of the Holland Tunnel, also under the Hudson, in 1927.
Construction on the Lincoln Tunnel began in March 1934, and crews worked from both sides of the Hudson River. The work of the sandhogs—as workers who dig tunnels are sometimes known—was dangerous and claustrophobic. To reach the construction sites beneath the river, crews had to pass through air locks that eased them in and out of the high pressure areas. Dynamite exploded, giant drills roared, and tram cars rattled as workers braced the tunnel’s excavation with concrete and hundreds of giant iron rings. The New Jersey and New York workers met beneath the river for the first time in August 1935.
Today, the Lincoln Tunnel has three tubes, each with two traffic lanes. The 8,216-foot (2,504-meter) center tube carries vehicles in either or both directions, depending on traffic needs. Westbound vehicles travel in the 7,482-foot (2,281-meter) north tube, opened in 1945. The 8,006-foot (2,440-meter) south tube is for eastbound traffic. The completion of the south tube of the Lincoln Tunnel in 1957 brought the total cost to about $190 million. More than 20 million vehicles use the tunnel every year. Today’s cash toll for using the bridge—$15 for cars—is slightly higher than the original fare of 50¢.
As late as 1900, Manhattan was not connected with New Jersey by either bridge or tunnel. A few bridges crossed the narrow Harlem River on the north, connecting Manhattan with the Bronx. Brooklyn Bridge, across the East River, connected the lower end of Manhattan with Long Island. But the thousands of New Jersey people who worked in Manhattan had to cross the Hudson River every day by ferryboat. This was the same method that the Dutch settlers had used nearly 300 years before. Today, seven tunnels under the Hudson River connect Manhattan with New Jersey. The tunnels are used for rail, automobile, truck, and bus traffic. Construction of other routes beneath the river is ongoing.”
inside the bowels of the earth.
this is exactly the line dividing New York State and New Jersey... under the mighty Hudson River flowing down all the way from Canada.
an old post-card showing the Lincoln Tunnel entrance in New Jersey.
Lincoln Tunnel access from the Jersey side.
Lincoln Tunnel access on a busy day - 1955.
New Jersey Turnpike going towards Newark.
New Jersey swamp land.
amazing scenes under and around the New Jersey Turnpike.
we're almost there!
Newark ain't no pretty sight.
an industrial building among common houses... a typical sight in the Ironbound area.
New York Avenue in Newark.
Columbia Street, Newark.
Saint James Hospital.
Ferry Street looking towards Saint Stephen's Church.
Saint Stephen's Church with Wilson Avenue on the right.
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