BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Recall now the infamous 1977 NYC blackout; unlike the famed East Coast blackout of 1965, this massive power outage noy only creative havoc for mass transit, but also triggered widespread looting,fires, and totally insane destruction of private and public property.

12 years indeed revealed a far different society, than what we has back in November, 1965.........

"NYO"

["M"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

July, 1977................

The IRT was still 100% SMEE.

Fishbowls abd "Dangerfields" still dominated the streets.

The "Little Red Bus That Could" was still in business, as were the Queens "ondies".

Commuter trains out of GCT weret then operated by ConRail (ditto the former E-L and CNJ)

The "MERRELL" class steam ferries were still carrying commuters and vehicles over to the "Isle of Staten".

Blue-striped "ME-2s" ruled the SIRT rails.

The fabled "GG-1s" were still in operation on the NEC.

The Mets still played at Shea Stadium.

In Hudson County, we still had jad some "Kramdens" cavorting about.......

"NYO"

['["NEW YORK IS A SUMMER FESTIVAL!"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

On the radio front, WABC was still the pre-eminent Top 40 station in the city; alas, it was hanging by a thread, which would snap the next year when "Disco 92," WKTU, overtook it. That night, evening DJ George Michael (one and the same who would later host The George Michael Sports Machine) basically turned the station into a news and talk station, with accounts "from the field" from various WABC personalities.

"Noo Yawk" had two all-news stations at the time, 1010 WINS and WCBS Newsradio 88. I don't have all the numbers, but WCBS's air staff of the time included the likes of Lou Adler, Jim Donnelly, Ralph Howard, Robert Vaughn, Harvey Hauptman, Palmer Payne, Bill Fahan, Bob Glenn, Pat Parson, Ben Farnsworth, Gary Maurer, and a cadre of reporters including Walt Wheeler, Steve Flanders, Steve Reed and Jane Tillman Irving.

WINS' lineup as of the '77 blackout included Paul Smith, Lew Fisher, Jim McGiffert, George Burgeson, Kate Doordan, Don Baldwin, Stan Z. Burns, Irwin Brown, Bob Howard (who at the time was calling himself Adam Bob Howard), Brad Sherman, Clarence Rock, Brad Phillips, Tuck Stadler, Pat Hernon, Lee Murphy, Allen Shaw, Paul Sherman (once the "Crown Prince of Rock & Roll" in WINS' top 40 days), Gil Fox, Dick Kulp, occasional fill-ins by Bill Littauer of WPIX (Channel 11) and Eileen Douglas who was primarily a writer/editor at the station at the time (but would become the midday MOH [middle-of-the-hour] anchor in the 1980's), and reporters Stan Brooks, Paul Parker, Doug Edelson and Ross Klavan (son of the legendary WNEW 1130 air personality Gene Klavan); plus consumer reporter Jean Carper, inflation fighter Linda Sutter, and editor Fred Hornby's weekend fishing segments. On the night of the blackout, one of those filing reports was writer/editor Arleen Sachs (now Arleen Lebe), who I seem to remember doing some feature reports later in the '70's.

On WCBS-TV, Rolland Smith apparently had the week off; on the 6 P.M. news, John Tesh sat alongside Jim Jensen, while at 11 Jensen himself filled in for Smith alongside Dave Marash. (On the night of the blackout, they were in the actual set of the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite.) WNBC-TV's newscasts (then under the umbrella of NewsCenter4) were anchored by Chuck Scarborough at 11, while on WABC-TV it was Roger Grimsby and Bill Beutel at 6, and once-and-future Philly anchor Larry Kane at 11. WPIX's anchor team of Pat Harper and Steve Bosh would be caught in the blackout, as it were, and there'd be a huge edition the next night on Action News. Bill Jorgensen was still helming The 10 O'Clock News on WNEW-TV, with John Roland and Bill McCreary as his co-anchors (and Stewart Klein as film and theatre critic, and Bill Mazer with sports - and countless attempts to stump him on sports trivia).

I myself was way away from Ground Zero, in my first week or so at summer camp in upstate New York. My mother, though, had to deal with our pet cat of the time who got a bit too rambunctious, dislocated her thumb doing so, and ended up going to Roosevelt Hospital (now part of Mount Sinai) for the night. As they say, it was a night to remember - and not in a good way.

Given that WINS is now the only game in town on the all-news front, WCBS's absence sticks out all the more like a sore thumb.

[W.B. Fishbowl]

(PART II)

On the TV technology front . . .
WCBS-TV still had the first run of Norelco PC-70's that were rolled out in early 1966; their film chains were General Electric PE-24's and 240's.
WNBC-TV's cameras were the RCA TK-44A/B, while TK-27's (and some 28's) were in their telecine room.
WNEW-TV and WABC-TV both had PC-70's in their live studios. WNEW's film chains may've been a combo of PE-24's and TK-27's. WABC had TK-27's and some TK-28's for film chains. However, during the summer WNEW transitioned to the newer RCA TK-46 studio camera.
WOR-TV still had (that I know of) General Electric PE-250 studio cameras RKO purchased for them in 1966; their film chains were also RCA.
WPIX had gone to the RCA TK-45 about a year before, their telecine may have also been RCA.
WNET's cameras were GE PE-350's. WNYC-TV's were PC-70S-2's. WXTV would have also had PE-350's, and WNJU-TV had Marconi Mark VII's at one point.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.:

EXCELLENT "commentaries"......thanks for taking the time to post here!

Recall, also, "THE MILLION DOLLAR MOVIE"?

ABC's "Movie Of The Wekk"?

Cartoons on most networks, in the morning and afternoons ?(Popeye, Paramount Famous Studios. Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera

"Sesame Street" and "The Electric Company"on WNET?

Johnny Carson, "King Of Late Night"?

"Rona Barret's Hollywood" on "The 10 O' Clock News"om Friday/

Easy listening WVNJ (Newark) and WNEW?

Recall the TV commercials with "THAT'S THE STORYYYYyyyyyy" Jerry?

Seeing SI ferries docked at Pier 7, Tompkinsville, during lay-ups?

Sith Ferry loops always-intriguing gap fillers? (Mom always called them "pneumatic gates!)

IND Lower level Track"D3" at 42nd Street, still intact?

The echoing old BMT terminal at Stillwell Avenue, still a repository for ancient signage and incandescent lighting?

"DON'T WAlK" signs?

Pay phones?

Suburban Fishbowls galore at the old "Port-of-Authority"?

"Artens"on the "CC" and "GG"?

Indeed, those were the days.......

"NYO"

["CC CHAMBERS STREET"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

Most of the "DONT WALK" signs as of the 1977 blackout were Marbelite LPS-20's, a few had red and green lights inside, but as the years went on more and more had Portland orange and Lunar white. 1950's wide 'DONT WALK' neon signs from Winko-Matic were still in some major intersections, as well as a few narrow neon signs from the same company.

The street signs were generally as they'd been starting in 1964 . . .
- Manhattan and Staten Island: Black lettering, yellow background
- Brooklyn and Restaurant Row in Manhattan: White lettering, black background
- Fashion Avenue in Manhattan (above 7th Avenue signs): Black lettering, white background (the "fifth" color scheme)
- Queens: Blue lettering, white background
- The Bronx: White lettering, blue background
White lettering on green background on street signs wouldn't begin to take over until 1981.

Oh, and on WCBS 88, I forgot a few other legendary names; namely, Art Athens, Tom Franklin, Jerry Nachman, Don Swaim, and Irene Cornell.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

Back iin '77, recall how TV repair shops were a fixture on almost every block?

Hudson County still had quite a few vintage "pedestal" traffic lights, many dating back to the 1h40s.

The faiithful old "ORANGE & BLACK suburbans were sadly put out to pasture; ditto PSNJ's/TNJ's.

"MAPLEWOOD EQUIPMENT COMPANY" was then headquartered at the old "O&B" garage on Anderson Avenue in Fairview; the company was then operating the "O&B" and "INTER-CITY" routes.

Ex-DL&W "Edison Wickerliner" MUs were still in charge of the Morris & Essex lines.

Nearly 900 NJDOT "Dangerfields" were rapidly becoming commonplace here in "Joisey".

Railfan windows and vlock signals more than dominated thesubways.

PATH "tubes" fare was 30 cents; ancient "Black" cars were stillin work "soivice"..............

"NYO"

['77"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Recalling the good ol' days when good music was still the radio to be enjoyed, and REAL buses were plying the streets............

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154882

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["SEVENTY-SEVEN DOUBLEYOUAAAAAYYYBEEESEEEEEE!"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

The '77 blackout......

Thankfully, the remaining IND "Arnines" had already been retired.

"NYO"

["INDEPENDENT SUBWAY"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Several interesting things to spot here in this 1977 photo...........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154687

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

1:

Note driver's "classic"appearance


2:

Note missing batwing panel


3:

"Less than evenly positioned" roller curtain

["8842"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B:

I know you were quite young at the time, but what do you recall about bus operation in your area, during the blackout?

For sure, in Brooklyn, with all the rioting and looting, some bus routes had to be rerouted.....

'NYO"

["MTA"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]