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'THE HOTEL DIXIE'

 
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Mr. Linsky
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Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 5071
Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 1:45 am    Post subject: 'THE HOTEL DIXIE' Reply with quote

A bus depot in Manhattan's Dixie Hotel was in use for twenty-seven years before it closed in early July 1957.

Opening in February 1930, the terminal handled 350 buses daily during peak summer seasons.

The Central Union Bus Terminal had the largest enclosed loading space of any bus terminal in New York. It occupied the main floor of the hotel and was managed separately. It had entrances on 42nd Street and 43rd Street. The loading platform and waiting room were situated five feet below street level. Buses entered and departed utilizing separate ramps.

A turntable with a diameter of thirty-five feet was employed to direct incoming buses to exits. Bus movements were governed by a dispatcher using an electric signaling device. It was called the Short Line Bus Terminal as of July 1931.

The terminal closed due to an inability to compete with the new Port Authority bus terminal at nearby 8th Avenue and 40th Street.

Enjoy the images.

Information courtesy of Wikipedia
Photos courtesy of Trailways Forever

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, NY




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HwyHaulier




Joined: 16 Dec 2007
Posts: 932
Location: Harford County, MD

PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 7:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mr 'L' -

Many Thanks for thinking of this unique Manhattan landmark! Your concise account is best I have seen. Otherwise, it is an occasional
odd photo, and some text, here and there. The stunning old post card is great...

In a way, it was an "Anyone But Greyhound Union Station" affair. The nearest approximation, and it didn't extend to bus turntables in
the structures, in the several Pickwick Stages controlled Hotels. Most notable Pickwick Hotel points in Kansas City and San Francisco
(for which, there is an active website)...

..................Vern..............
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Cyberider




Joined: 27 Apr 2007
Posts: 501
Location: Tempe, AZ

PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 9:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very interesting, indeed. Thanks for sharing, Mr. Linsky!

Dave
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Hart Bus



Age: 73
Joined: 24 Apr 2007
Posts: 1150

PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 7:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Let me add a few notes to the topic. The picture of the turntable looks like it was taken in the late 1980's or later, so you see that the turntable exists.

During September of 2006, my wife and I finally got to see Harvey Feinstein in Fiddler on the Roof, which was playing in a theater about one block away. Since her foot was in a cast due to a broken toe, I dropped her off and parked the car.

On the way to get her I went past the turntable. With thanks to Larry Gault, who posted a comment about the place on another board I stopped there and took a picture. The lighting was poor and the picture didn't come out as nearly as nice as Mr. Linsky's. The hawker who was trying to bring cars off the street to park, was aware of the history, but didn't have any idea if the turntable still works.

The hotel has changed its name to The Carter Hotel. It is a certified rathole. Anytime a NYC news program does an expose on the 5 or 10 worst hotels, this dump is always on the top ten. Dirty sheets, messy hallways, implied drug and prostituion use, etc.

How the mighty have fallen
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Mr. Linsky
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Joined: 16 Apr 2007
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Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 2:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

ECA,

The 'etc' you mention in your last paragraph includes 'bed bugs'!

Surprising that the Board of Health doesn't shut it down!

WCA
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HwyHaulier




Joined: 16 Dec 2007
Posts: 932
Location: Harford County, MD

PostPosted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 8:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mr. "L" -

Earlier this year, something of a "Top Ten" list of the worst of the worst of New York hotels. In addition, some TV program picked up on it,
and it had national attention. Somewhere over the years, I put together the fact the old DIXIE was today's CARTER...

Putting this kindly: It must be ages since the hotel ever appeared in any reputable travel guide! And so it has always been: Once one of
these old monoliths are in extended decline, odds don't favor anything will ever get better. We can all imagine the Health Dept. is spread
much too thin, and can't get to all of it...

In New York: Notable Donald Trump took the old (ex NYC RR) COMMODORE, threw millions at it, and it is a presentable and competitive
lodging. I guess the old (ex Penna RR) PENNSYLVANIA now leveled. Saw an item this past year where it was to be closed and demolished...

.....................Vern..............
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Hart Bus



Age: 73
Joined: 24 Apr 2007
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 4:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Its truly tragic how a "Grand Dame" like the Hotel Dixie could fall into such disrepair. Being so close to some of NYC's major tourist attractions such as the theater district, Times Square, Macy's and the Diamond District, you'd think that a makeover would attract a higher room rate and better crowd. Otherwise, they should tear the dump down and perhaps put up an office builiding or a condo complex with stores.
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HwyHaulier




Joined: 16 Dec 2007
Posts: 932
Location: Harford County, MD

PostPosted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 9:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hart Bus -

Yeah, that's nuts! DIXIE never was a "Five Star" place, was it? The concept of it looked like it oughta' worked for a long time, as long
as there was a solid inflow of "commercial travelers" arriving from places like Vincennes, IN and Manhattan, KS...

Why it still stands there, albeit under an alias, boggles the mind...

...................Vern................
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Hankg42



Age: 73
Joined: 19 Apr 2010
Posts: 94
Location: The Villages, FL

PostPosted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 12:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I grew up in Staten Island, and when I was a kid, my mom would bring us into "the city" frequently. Mostly we took the S.I. ferry, but both the Red and Tan Lines, and Hudson County Boulevard Transit ran buses through S.I. into the city. Red & Tan (line 99S) started in Keansburgh went through S.I. then back into NJ over the Bayonne bridge, through Journal Square, the Lincoln Tunnel, and into Port Authority Bus Terminal. Hudson County (we called it the blue and gray) started in Port Richmond, over the Bayonne Bridge, etc. and went into the Dixie. (I think the blue & gray used the Holland Tunnel.) I can remember boarding a bus in the hotel, and being on the turntable as the bus was redirected out. Thanks for the great memory!
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traildriver




Joined: 26 Mar 2011
Posts: 2452
Location: South Florida

PostPosted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 12:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

After seeing Mr 'L's photo, I searched for and dug up this old thread. Very interesting and nostalgic for me.....when I worked for Safeway Trails in 1968 thru 1971, even though we were long out of that terminal, we still had Company layover rooms there. I stayed there a few times, and yes, even back then it was already in serious decline, although probably not as bad as it is now....
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frankie



Age: 77
Joined: 01 Feb 2011
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Location: St. Peters, Mo.

PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 10:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dixie Hotel. Carter Hotel. Dixie....Carter. Dixie Carter! She was the actress who played Julia Sugarbaker in Designing Women in the late '80's early '90's.

Nothing to do with said topic, but thought I'd throw it in anyway.

Carry on!

Frankie
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Hart Bus



Age: 73
Joined: 24 Apr 2007
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 11:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The thought of Hotel Dixie Carter crossed my mind too. Not wanting to stray too far off topic but isn't she married to actor Hal Holbrook?
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frankie



Age: 77
Joined: 01 Feb 2011
Posts: 745
Location: St. Peters, Mo.

PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 3:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hart Bus wrote:
The thought of Hotel Dixie Carter crossed my mind too. Not wanting to stray too far off topic but isn't she married to actor Hal Holbrook?


She was until her death in 2010.
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