BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

This fare-control arrangement I've always been curious about......

For many years (back in the days of R-10's!) in the morning, I would get off the downtown "CC" at Chambers St., and then proceed to transfer to the IRT (either the #2 or #3) at Park Place.

At the top of the stairs, the floor sloped down (towards the stairs to the IRT), and, on my left, was a dark, fenced-off area that had not been used in many years.

There was an old, boarded up token booth there, as well as evidence of closed stairwells to the IRT Park Place platform.

On the IRT platform, if you looked up at the high ceiling, you could see the sealed-up spaces where the old stairways once led.

I STILL wonder about this old, closed off area today, as it had been used, many years earlier (I do know it no longer exists).......

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

traildriver:

Talking about old subway station entrances within storefronts and the like, check out these two really neat 2009 views of the entrance to the BMT's 4th Avenue line station at 95th St.; talk about ARCHAIC signage from a long-lost era!!!!!

LOVE the nostalgia!!!!!

http://www.subwaynut.com/bmt/95r/95r11.jpg

http://www.subwaynut.com/bmt/95r/95r12.jpg

(courtesy: thesubwaynut)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's a more "up to date" storefront entrance to the huge elevated QUEENSBORO PLAZA station complex (looks like if you're hungry, or just want a quick cup of java, you're in the right place, before you board your train!)

http://www.subwaynut.com/ct/queensboron/queensboron18.jpg

(courtesy: subwaynut.com)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

My FAVORITE vintage "Noo Yawk" subway entrance*, hands down!
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?108975 *

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

*These once-commonplace kiosks (now gone for over 50 years, with the exception of a replica at Astor Place) were seen in countless vintage movies and theatrical cartoons; when you saw an IRT kiosk, you KNEW whatever you were watching was set in "Noo Yawk"!!

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's the handsome replica IRT kiosk at Astor Place (too bad the MTA didn't build more of these for other IRT stations!)

http://www.subwaynut.com/irt/astorn6/astorn617.jpg

(courtesy: subwaynut.com)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

As I am NOT a fan of ultra-modern subway station "renovations", with their often (IMHO) bizarre, garish designs and "artsy-fartsy" artwork, this view of the BROADWAY JUNCTION station entrance is indeed most refreshing with its classic, 1930's-style Art Deco styling.

Vintage signage like this easily transports you back to the long-ago days when the "INDEPENDENT" was still "The New Kid On The Block" in the City, and legendary subway cars like the R-10 (aka "Pattons"/"Thunderbirds"!) were still considered state-of-the-art..........

http://www.subwaynut.com/ct/broadway_jcta/broadway_jcta8.jpg

(courtesy: subwaynut.com)

[traildriver]

I always found it fascinating, the way the "standard subway" architecture would interface with the surrounding structure's in "store-front" or within building's, subway or elevated entrances. Some of these are even difficult to find, if you don't already know where they are located. Like the ones at the Fifth Avenue, 53rd Street 'E' train station...I think the ones near Madison are especially 'hidden'...

Some of the Rockefeller Center entrances especially reflect the Art Deco architecture of that complex...

Always liked the 'arcade' complexes...like Rooselvelt Avenue, Jackson Heights, where the LaGuardia bus terminal is. Or the one at Union Turnpike station, where the Q-10 JFK bus stop is...a place to wait out of the elements, with a variety of 'eats' available...

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

traildriver:

Indeed!

And, in speaking of subway shops/concessions/etc., recall the ever-present NEDICKS?

Back in our day, it seemed that there was one just about everywher you turned, above AND below ground!

When I was a kid, I remember there being one near the shuttle, at the Times Square end; NOTHING better than Mom and I each savoring a NEDICKS hot dog and an icy-cold orange drink, while listening to the exciting steel-wheeled concert put on by the shuttle trains!

When I was just starting to work in the city (1979) I also remember a NEDICKS (I mostly remember it after it had been closed, seemingly being shuttered forever before it was finally taken down) that was where the inclined passageway from the 8th Avenue IND (42nd St.) sloped down and leveled off, near where the stairways to the #7 were located.

Another one I recall from my early railfanning days was the one at Jackson Heights, heading for the IND.

Speaking of the old "storefront" subway entrances, there is a late 1930's photo in the book, "BUILDING THE INDEPNDENT SUBWAY" (Kramer), that shows the Art Deco storefront entrance to the 8th Avenue IND station at 169th St., located between a florist's and a drugstore....QUITE stylish and MOST "moderne"!

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

The handsome and distinctive Art-Deco entrances to the IND at the 181 Street station not only reflect the era in which they were built, but also, recall an era when "STYLE" was still indeed the byword (LOVE 'em!)

http://www.subwaynut.com/ind/181a/181a1.jpg

http://www.subwaynut.com/ind/181a/181a3.jpg

(courtesy: subwaynut.com)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

The entrances to the IND at 190th St. are every bit as impressive and handsome as those at 181 St. (not to mention RUGGED!!)

Again, majestic relics of a long-ago era........

http://www.subwaynut.com/ind/190a/190a13.jpg

(courtesy: subwaynut)

[traildriver]

Sure I recall Nedick's...I liked their signature orange drink, but wasn't a fan of their skinless franks on those bread like rolls...preferred the 'kosher' stlyle franks.

One thing that always fascinated me about some of those Nedicks stores...
they were sometimes situated between the fare control area, and the street side area, with a divider preventing one from accessing the other...but the employees behind the counter seemed able to...wonder how that was managed?
And for that matter, any of the shops within the fare control area...did they have to pay the fare to access the shops, or did they get some kind of pass to get in?

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

These were the entrances we used at Broad Street, when we wanted to either go down to the florist's shop or the luncheoneete (the latter was outside fare control)

I worked at the NYSE (1979-2003), the building on the left.

Due to security reasons, these two entrances are now closed (the area has a strong "war zone" feel to it thee days, from pictures I've seen)

On raw, rainy (or snowy) late afternoons, I would just slip out of the door, descend into the BMT station, and hop on either a "J" or an "M" train, ride one stop to Fulton St., and there, transfer to the IRT 7th Avenue line, to head back up to the PABT.

Man, it's all so long ago now.........

http://www.subwaynut.com/bmt/broadj/broadj14.jpg

(courtesy: subwaynut)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

The handsome and historic headhouse of the BMT's 9th Avenue station in Brooklyn ("D" train) serves as a stylish and timeless reminder of the glory days of the BMT.

If only walls could talk.......

http://www.subwaynut.com/bmt/9d/9d27.jpg

http://www.subwaynut.com/bmt/9d/9d28.jpg

http://www.subwaynut.com/bmt/9d/9d31.jpg

(courtesy: subwaynut)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

One "quirky" thing I have noticed about subway station photography (especially vintage photos) is that, for whatever reasons, change/token booths are rarely seen.

As the booths were indeed integral to every station (the busiest station complexes would have several) it would seem that more photos of them existed.

I never cared at all for the MTA's modern "toll booth"-style booths; it was the older booths that indeed had that true "subway aura" to them.

On all three divisions, I remember so many of the old booths, a number of which were still being used at some stations into the 1980's (and a few into the early 1990's)

The oldest I remember were on the IRT, and had originally been ticket booths; then, there were those on the BMT and the IND, some of which were quite distinctive.

At one of the entrances to the IRT's 7th Avenue Station (Wall Street), the lone remaining old booth (early 1990's) that was then in use, had a vintage (1950's) "OPPY" ("Subway Sun" artist) sign that featured a smiling cartoon clock advising straphangers:

"SAVE TIME! BUY EXTRA TOKENS TODAY!"

Every so often, similar signs could still be seen, for many years after they had become obsolete.

Back in the early 80's, off to one side, I remember an old, odd-looking change booth (OOS) that was made of wood and looked like a large old-fashioned wardrobe, near the shuttle at the TSQ end.

I also remember an original IND booth, at the far southern end of the IND 8th Avenue mezzanine at 42nd St., back in the early 80's, that, at the last, was being used by patrons of the now-defunct Aqueduct Specials.

Odd that such integral parts of each and every subway station were so seldom documented on film........

"NYO"