BusTalk

[Mr. Linsky]

It's a bustling Jamaica Avenue in Jamaica Queens, New York in 1940 when that town was considered to be the 'shopping mecca' of the borough.

The elevator line carried BMT (Brooklyn & Manhattan Transit Company) passengers back and forth between Jamaica and Brooklyn as did their Brooklyn and Queens Transit traction division at grade level but which also included a spur to Williamsburg via Metropolitan Avenue.

The BMT and its affiliates were taken over by the City of New York Board of Transportation during the same year that this photo was taken so it is rather difficult to tell under whose control the equipment was operating for at the time except that the fleet number under the windshield of the nearer car may give clue.

Looking east from the corner of the avenue and 164th. Street, we see the marquee of the ornately decorated Valencia Theater in the upper left of the frame.

As a kid, I rode those trolleys to Jamaica many times and remember the shiny wooden bench seats that ran longitudinally from front to rear and how fast and smoothly the cars ran.

Photo thanks to Richmond Hill Historic Society.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, New York