BusTalk

[Mr. Linsky]

‘THE GREEN HORNET’

As promised (to myself, at least) I will herein reprise the story of the ‘Green Hornet’ which, by the way, has nothing to do with Britt Reid and his faithful valet Kato!

To bring you up to speed on my sordid past with Green Bus Lines, I would suggest first reading ‘Why I Love Buses So Much’ elsewhere in this forum.

My fascination with buses (especially, Green Line buses) continued into my teens with any reason that I could conjure up to help out at the garage any time the opportunity presented itself in the hope of working there some day (a kids dream!).

I became something like the company mascot and made lots of friends along the way, and learned so much about the history of the company from the people who lived it!

Mr. Cooper (a/k/a Mr. ‘C’) promised me that once I had my working papers he’d find me a summer job so sure enough, at the age of fourteen, I showed up at the office and was promptly put to work in the file room (not exactly what I had hoped for – but I was working for Green Bus Lines!, and had a company bus pass to boot!).

This was no cake walk because the company had just moved to the new Rockaway Boulevard facility only weeks before and the offices were still in the process of being organized.

One very interesting aspect of the files were the dossiers, some of which being over an inch thick, of each active bus including its original bill of sale outlining all its equipment, service and inspection records, accident reports and so on – very interesting reading at lunch time!

Now, as to the Green Hornet (finally); the Green Hornet was a surplus World War II Willy’s Overland Jeep that the company used to push disabled buses around the garage, pick up lunches for the office crew and for whatever other chores it was capable of doing.

It was painted in the same familiar dark green that the buses wore and had the legend “Green Hornet’ hand lettered in gold leaf under the windshield.

I would often go along with the driver to deliver parts and payroll checks to the Rockaway garage and became very attached to the little buggy.

Saturdays were slow on the floor so one of the guys offered to teach me how to drive (I already knew, but I didn’t let on) the Jeep and I was thrilled – in fact, before long I was even moving buses around when no one was looking!

By the time I reached sixteen my interests turned elsewhere (I think her name was Adele) and I didn’t return to the company until the summer of 1959 as an extra driver and for the following two summers after which law school became my principal occupation!

And that’s the story of the Green Hornet!

Sorry, no pictures available on this one (yet!).

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