The North Shore Bus Company operated public buses in
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, New York City. It was established in 1920 as the successor to the New York and North Shore Traction Company trolley system, and operated until 1947 when it went bankrupt, and its operations were taken over by the
New York City Board of Transportation
The New York City Board of Transportation or the Board of Transportation of the City of New York (NYCBOT or BOT) was a city transit commission and operator in New York City, consisting of three members appointed by the mayor. It was created in ...
.
Origin: New York and North Shore Traction Company
![The street railway review (1891) (14572020749)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/The_street_railway_review_%281891%29_%2814572020749%29.jpg)
The company was established in 1902 as a trolley company called the Mineola, Roslyn & Port Washington Traction Company, but as it grew into Queens it was renamed in 1907 as the "
New York and North Shore Traction Company
The North Shore Bus Company operated public buses in Queens, New York City. It was established in 1920 as the successor to the New York and North Shore Traction Company trolley system, and operated until 1947 when it went bankrupt, and its operati ...
."
It had a line from
Flushing, Queens
Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the ...
to
Roslyn in Nassau County named the North Shore Line, as well as another from Flushing to Whitestone–14th Avenue Station on the
Whitestone Branch
The Whitestone Branch was a branch of the Long Island Rail Road, running north and east along the left bank of the Flushing River from the Port Washington Branch near the modern Willets Point/Flushing sections of Queens, New York. It crossed the ...
of the
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
, better known as the Whitestone Line.
Within
Nassau County, it had lines from
Port Washington to
Mineola which was known as the Port Washington Line, and from Mineola to
Hicksville, called the Hicksville Line.
The trolley cars on this system were considered to be the largest and most powerful on Long Island and in Queens. As powerful as they were, however, they still had difficulty climbing the hills of such areas as
Douglaston and
Manhasset
Manhasset is a hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in D ...
.
Transition to buses
By the late-1910s many trolley systems began to decline, but rather than collapse or sell themselves to other companies, the NY&NST replaced their trolley cars with buses, the majority of which operated in Queens. The economic impact of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
forced them to sell off many of their routes to other companies during the 1930s, most notably to the
Triboro Coach Corporation
Triboro Coach Corporation was a bus company in New York City, United States, operating local service in Queens and express routes to Manhattan until February 20, 2006, when MTA Bus took over all of its bus operations and services.
History
Salva ...
, one of the last surviving private bus lines in New York City. In spite of this, the company was still occasionally able to purchase routes from
Bee Line, Incorporated in Nassau County. North Shore acquired the Flushing Heights Bus Corporation and its and routes on September 22, 1935, although that company was never merged into NSB. On June 25, 1939, North Shore acquired the remaining Bee Line routes and Bee Line's
165th Street Bus Terminal
The 165th Street Bus Terminal, also known as Jamaica Bus Terminal, the Long Island Bus Terminal (the name emblazoned on the entranceway's red tiles), Jamaica−165th Street Terminal (as signed on buses towards the terminal), or simply 165th Stre ...
in Jamaica, as part of the company's takeover of nearly all routes in Zone D (Jamaica and Southeast Queens). By the 1940s, North Shore operated nearly all the bus routes in Zone B (Flushing and Northern Queens) and Zone D.
On March 30, 1947 the company went bankrupt after its drivers and other employees went on strike. Its operations were taken over by the
New York City Board of Transportation
The New York City Board of Transportation or the Board of Transportation of the City of New York (NYCBOT or BOT) was a city transit commission and operator in New York City, consisting of three members appointed by the mayor. It was created in ...
, which was superseded by the
New York City Transit Authority
The New York City Transit Authority (also known as NYCTA, the TA, or simply Transit, and branded as MTA New York City Transit) is a public-benefit corporation in the U.S. state of New York that operates public transportation in New York City. P ...
in 1953.
Depots
Prior to takeover by the city in 1947, the company based its operations out of two depots:
Flushing Depot
The Flushing Depot of the company was located on the south side of
Roosevelt Avenue
Roosevelt Avenue and Greenpoint Avenue are main thoroughfares in the New York City boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. Roosevelt Avenue begins at 48th Street and Queens Boulevard in the neighborhood of Sunnyside. West of Queens Boulevard, the roa ...
in
Flushing Meadows-Corona Park
Flushing may refer to:
Places
* Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom
* Flushing, Queens, New York City
** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens
** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens
** Flushi ...
in Queens, west of 126th Street and east of the
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
's
Corona Yard
The New York City Transit Authority operates a total of 24 rail yards for the New York City Subway system, and one for the Staten Island Railway. There are 10 active A Division yards and 11 active B Division yards, two of which are shared betwee ...
. This depot opened sometime in the 1900s, and housed buses serving northern Queens. It is now the Casey Stengel Depot under the MTA.
Jamaica Depot
The company's Jamaica Depot was located on the west side of
Merrick Boulevard
Merrick Road is an east–west urban arterial in Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties in New York, United States. It is known as Merrick Boulevard or Floyd H. Flake Boulevard in Queens, within New York City.
Merrick Road runs east from the Queens ...
just south of
Liberty Avenue in
Jamaica, Queens
Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is mainly composed of a large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis to the east; St. Albans, Springfi ...
. The depot lies between Merrick Boulevard to the east and 165th Street to the west, and spans about three blocks north-to-south between South Road and 107th Avenue, located across from the campus of
York College. This depot, which housed buses serving the Jamaica and Southeastern Queens area, opened in 1939, and expanded in subsequent years following takeover, adding bus storage areas and a washing area. It is now the Jamaica Depot under the MTA.
For many years after the takeover, both of the depots were overcrowded with buses due to lack of storage space. In 1968, the MTA, which now ran the NYCTA, acquired land to build another depot, the
Queens Village Depot, to relieve crowding at the other two depots. This depot, located at 97-11 222nd Street between 97th and 99th Avenues in
Queens Village, Queens
Queens Village is a mostly residential middle class neighborhood in the eastern part of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bound by Hollis to the west, Cambria Heights to the south, Bellerose to the east, and Oakland Gardens to the north. ...
, west of
Belmont Park
Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse racing facility in the northeastern United States, located in Elmont, New York, just east of the New York City limits. It was opened on May 4, 1905.
It is operated by the non-profit New York Racin ...
, opened in 1974, which took a number of routes from the depots, mainly those serving the Queens Village and adjacent areas. However, despite this move, the Jamaica Depot was still overcrowded, since the capacity for that depot is 150 buses and is assigned 200 buses. As a result, the 50 additional buses at that depot park on surrounding streets. A project to rebuild the depot would begin in 2018, with all of its routes and buses temporarily sent to other depots.
North Shore bus routes
*Q1: Jamaica – Hillside Avenue – short lines (acquired from Bee Line)
*Q2: Jamaica – Hollis Avenue – Hempstead Avenue to Belmont Park (from Bee Line)
*
Q3: Jamaica – Hollis – JFK airport via Farmers Blvd. (from Bee Line)
*Q3A: Jamaica (Parsons Blvd. & Hillside Av.) – St. Albans – Cambria Heights via Murdock & 113 Av. (renumbered 1988 to Q83 by NYCTA), (from Bee Line)
*: Jamaica – Cambria Heights via Merrick & Linden Blvds. (from Bee Line)
*Q4A: Jamaica – Laurelton via Merrick Blvd. & 120 Ave. (renumbered 1988 to Q84 by NYCTA) (from Bee Line)
*
Q5: Jamaica – Rosedale & Green Acres Shopping Mall via Merrick Blvd. (from Bee Line)
*
Q5A: Jamaica – Rosedale via Rochdale Village and Bedell Street. (renumbered 1988 to Q85 by NYCTA), (from Schenck Transportation)
*
Q5AB: Jamaica – Locust Manor LIRR – Springfield Gardens (combined with Q5A into Q85 in 1988 by NYCTA) (from Schenck Transportation)
*
Q5AS: Laurelton – Rosedale Shuttle (renumbered 1988 to Q86 by NYCTA, then eliminated in 1995 due to low ridership), (from Bee Line)
*Q12: Flushing – Little Neck via Sanford Av. & Northern Blvd.
*Q12A: Little Neck LIRR Station – Floral Park via Little Neck Parkway (renumbered to Q79 by NYCTA, then eliminated due to low ridership and reinstated via compromise as part of the extended Q36 in 2013)
1933
*Q13: Flushing – Bayside – Fort Totten via Northern & Bell Blvds. (1933)
*Q14: Flushing – Whitestone (1933) (eliminated in 2010 due to budget cuts; subsequently replaced with the Q15A route)
*Q15: Flushing – Whitestone – Beechhurst (1933)
*Q16: Flushing – Clearview – Fort Totten via Bayside Avenue, Francis Lewis & Willets Point Blvds. or Utopia Pkwy. (1933)
*: Flushing – 188 Street & Jamaica
*Q17A: Jamaica – Little Neck via Utopia Pkwy & Horace Harding Blvd. (renumbered 1988 to Q30 by NYCTA)
*Q17-20: Combination of Q17 and Q20 routes which operated in the 1940s and 1950s.
*
Q20: Flushing – College Point Shuttle (renumbered to Q44FS, then to Q20 in 1990, then to Q20A & Q20B in 1999 by NYCTA, and extended to Jamaica)
*Q23: 108th Street, Corona-Ditmars Avenue (before 1933); originally North Shore, transferred first to
Kings Coach Company (1931??), then to
Triboro Coach Corporation
Triboro Coach Corporation was a bus company in New York City, United States, operating local service in Queens and express routes to Manhattan until February 20, 2006, when MTA Bus took over all of its bus operations and services.
History
Salva ...
in 1936?, then to MTA Bus Company in 2005
*Q26: Flushing – Auburndale via Hollis Court Blvd.
*Q27: Flushing – Rosewood – Queens Village & Cambria Heights via Springfield Blvd.
*Q28: Flushing – Bayside West (before 1933)
*Q31: Jamaica – Bayside West
*
Q35: Flushing – College Point – Whitestone; substitute for
LIRR
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County on Long Island. With an average week ...
Whitestone Branch
The Whitestone Branch was a branch of the Long Island Rail Road, running north and east along the left bank of the Flushing River from the Port Washington Branch near the modern Willets Point/Flushing sections of Queens, New York. It crossed the ...
; replaced by Q20 in 1937.
*Q32: Queens Village LIRR-Creedmoor shuttle.
*Q36: Jamaica – Floral Park via Hillside & Jamaica Avenues.
*Q42: Jamaica – Addisleigh Park via Sayres Av.
*Q43: Jamaica LIRR Station – Hillside Av. to City Line.
*
Q44: Jamaica – Flushing – Bronx.
*
Q44A: Union Turnpike – Kew Gardens – Lake Success & Glen Oaks (renumbered 1990 to Q46 by NYCTA)
*Q44B: Malba Shuttle (eliminated 1990 due to low ridership)
*Q44VP: Union Turnpike – Kew Gardens & Vleigh Place Shuttle (renumbered 1990 to Q74 by NYCTA, then eliminated in 2010 due to budget cuts)
*Q48: Flushing – LaGuardia Airport began operating April 5, 1940
References
External links
New York City Transit Routes in Queens (Chicago Transit & Railfan Web Site)North Shore Bus Company (Bus Talk U.S. Surface Transportation Galleries)Douglaston Trolley Map (Douglaston and Little Neck Historical Society)
{{NYC streetcar transit
Bus transportation in New York City
Transport companies established in 1920
Transport companies disestablished in 1947
1920 establishments in New York (state)
1947 disestablishments in New York (state)