BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Gentlemen:

Recently, a good friend of mine from Florida (originally from Paterson, NJ), was telling me about childhood trips to Coney Island (late 40's/early 50's)

After debarking from the ERIE ferry at the foot of Chambers St., he remembers his family boarding a bus near the ferry terminal.

To the best of his knowledge, the bus was operated by the "COMPREHENSIVE BUS COMPANY".

He remembers riding the bus to a BMT subway station, where they then boarded a train for Coney Island.

I have never heard of this obscure bus outfit before; has anyone here ever heard of it?

Thanks in advance for any info......

"NYO"

[frankie]

Here's a thumbnail sketch: We have to thank Mr. Samuel Rosoff, a subway contractor from the early part of the 20th Century in New York who started and owned several bus companies including his largest, the East Side Omnibus Corp. Commonly-owned Comprehensive Omnibus began operation in February 1935 with the award of the M1 and M3 routes under Mr. Rosoff's ownership along with 56 Mack CL buses which eventually was increased to handle the East Side crowds with 25 Mack BT models, most of them second hand from the BMT in Brooklyn. The M1 & M3 routes were originally Green Bus Lines routes which were terminated when political exigencies dictated award to larger or more influential operations such as Mr. Rosoff.

Both East Side and Comprehensive ceased operation in September 1948 when Mr. Rosoff could not meet the City's mandated fare level.

The latest issue of Motor Coach News is wholly devoted to all the smaller operations in all five boroughs before consolidition just after WWII. The above information and the photo below is from the Jan-June 2013 issue.

Frankie

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Frankie:

EXCELLENT post.......I do thank you for sharing this interesting info as well as that rare view of one of the buses; I will be sure to forward to this my buddy in Florida.....he's sure to get a memory jolt seeing that ancient coach!

Thank you again!

"NYO"

[frankie]

You're welcome NYO! I reworded the text, so you may need to reread it.

Frankie

[Mr. Linsky]

frankie,

Nice report with a couple of suggestions;

I would re-title the thread 'EAST SIDE AND COMPREHENSIVE OMNIBUS CORPORATIONS'.

I have loads of photographs of the company's equipment and have done a number of stories about them in other threads at this site and would be happy to bring them together here (see sample photo below).

Also, for the most complete report and many rare images, I would suggest watching eBay for copies of the January-March 2004 issue of Motor Coach Age devoted in part to the commonly owned companies.

There is a resulting irony to have come out of the New York City Omnibus and East Side and Comprehensive's political shenanigans that eventually drove Green Line out of the city in 1935;

While Manhattan saw the demise of East Side and Comprehensive in 1948 and the Omnibus Affiliates in 1962, Green Line continued to operate to 2nd. Avenue and 60th. Street on the Q60 Line and subsequently won franchises for a number of Express routes from Queens and this lasted for over a half century after the aforementioned entities disappeared - I would call that Ironic!

In the photo below notice that the two early thirties Macks on the roof of the garage are looking down at the new GM TD 4506 and saying to each other 'Oh Oh, we're finished!'

Photo courtesy of the Motor Bus Society

Regards,

Mr. 'L'

[RailBus63]

Interesting tidbit - the most significant routes operated by Comprehensive & East Side were the First Ave. and Second Ave. routes (today's M15). The failure of this system and subsequent takeover by the city is the reason that today's 126th Street Depot is a New York City Transit operation and is the only depot in the borough that is not part of MaBSTOA.

Jim D.

[MaBSTOA 15]

If you look hard enough you can barely see the turnstile at the aisle entrance of the TD 4506.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

All:

Many thanks to you all......I had NO idea that there was much info (let alone photos!) of this long-forgotten company....I am QUITE surprised!

I had NEVER even heard of it, until a former NJ buddy of mine told me of his family riding these buses, back in the late 1940's.

Mr. "L": That photo of that handsome TD-4506 sure brings back a lot of great old bus memories.......how well I recall similiar coaches during my long-ago childhood days in urban New Jersey!

Those were indeed the days when BUSES were BUSES, and not bland, boring, insipid rolling electronic boxes!

Again, greatly appreciate this great input....I know my pal down in Florida will certainly find this fascinating!

"NYO"

[NorthShore]

Comprehensive & East Side Omnibus colors were red, yellow belt, silver roof and black pin striping; almost identical to Ave. B & East Broadway.

[Mr. Linsky]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Mr. "L":

No apologies necessary, my friend!

Allow me, also, to thank you for your latest vintage photo.......your magical "Well Of Bus Nostalgia" NEVER seems to run dry!

What great memories old buses like these bring back....if only I could go up to the nearest bus stop and board a similiar coach!

Growing up with ancient equipment such as this, you may be sure your sharing wonderful old bus photos like these indeed put a smile on my face!

Ahhh, the good old days!

Thank you again.......

"NYO"

[Mr. Linsky]

[Hankg42]

[Mr. Linsky]

As coincidence would have it, '4509bus' of eBay is selling a copy of the January-March 2004 issue of Motor Coach Age covering the history of the East Side and Comprehensive Omnibus Corporations of Manhattan, New York as item # 350940569679.

This is a 'must read' and collect for any Vintage New York City enthusiast and is among the most important of my personal references.

The cover of the issue is very interesting as seen below and shows one of the company's many early thirties Mack CL's crossing 50th. Street heading to the East Side on a route that once belonged to Green Bus Lines.

Best regards,

Mr. 'L'

[frankie]

We now open the pages of the above issue to page 8 where we see #801, Comprehensive's one and only Mack C-41-DT. What's unusual is the fact that this is a factory one off. This could have been placed in the Mack Oddities forum elsewhere, but with keeping with the theme for this thread, we'll include it here.

According to the text, Mack was anxious to hold on to it's substantial New York business by producing this wider (43 inch) front door. To do so, the wheelbase was shortened resulting in an extended front overhang to 96 inches. To compensate for the wider post behind the driver's window, a smaller window was installed (similar to Yellow's TD-5501). Pushing back the passenger's side windows also resulted with a smaller window ahead of the exit door.

For comparison, the bottom photo shows a regular production model C-41-DT. Photo courtesy of nnhs65 for educational purposes.

One interesting observation about Mack is that they do not assign new model numbers for major physical structural changes within one given model. On the other hand, this was customary with GM.

Frankie