When the Midtown Bus Terminal opened on December 15, 1950, Harry Truman was president of the United States. Truman often is quoted saying, “The buck stops here.” For 75 years, the saying could have been modified for the bus terminal: The bus stops here. In fact, many, many buses.
In 1950, it was the largest bus terminal in the world. Today, it is also the busiest bus terminal in the world – and from the prospective of commuters, businesses, and residents of the surrounding neighborhood – it is often described as the worst anywhere. That is changing.
If you thought the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s reimagining of LaGuardia Airport into a globally renowned aviation hub was impressive, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
On May 29th, the Port Authority broke ground for the construction of the first step in the replacement of the existing 75-year-old, functionally obsolete bus terminal with a 21st-century, world-class facility. While there will be many more groundbreaking ceremonies as this iconic transportation hub is constructed over the coming years, this was a momentous accomplishment.
A decade ago, there was widespread agreement that a new bus terminal was sorely needed, but not only was there no agreement on what to build and how to build it, but whether it should even be built in midtown New York.
The lack of consensus – which is a diplomatic way of describing the acrimony even among the Commissioners of the Port Authority with regards to a new bus terminal – prevented anything from moving forward.
At that time, the most consistent and loudest voice for a new bus terminal was my former colleague in the State Senate, Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg. She remained laser-focused on the goal: a worldclass bus terminal to serve the tens of thousands of New Jersey commuters who used the facility every day.
When I was asked in 2017 to join the Port Authority as its Chairman, I recall both Senator Weinberg and then-Senate President Stephen Sweeney telling me clearly that I had to deliver a bus terminal. The message was received.
Eight years later, shovels have hit the ground. We reached this moment because of the rock-solid support of New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, who both understood this a regional project, vital to the economies of both states. Additionally, we had strong support from state and local officials on both sides of the Hudson.
Key to achieving consensus was the hundreds of hours of work by the employees of the Port Authority who met and listened to commuters, bus operators, businesses in and around the terminal, and most importantly, to the community that would be affected by the construction of the terminal and ultimately would benefit from the new facility.
Working with the communities directly affected by Port Authority capital construction projects has been a hallmark of the agency’s historic ongoing redevelopment of the region’s three major airports. The Midtown Bus Terminal replacement project as approved holds unanimous support from all local elected officials and community boards.
As this transformational project moves forward, this widespread support from elected officials, community leaders, businesses, and the residents directly affected by the construction must continue. We have waited too long to get to the Start Line not to go the full distance.
The first stage of the Midtown Bus Terminal replacement project will see the construction of decks over Dyer Avenue leading to the Lincoln Tunnel. These deck-overs will facilitate construction of the new bus terminal and will be used for construction staging and staging of buses during construction.
Ultimately, the deck-overs will be transformed into 3.5 acres of new, public open green space after construction of the new bus terminal is complete.
When complete, the Midtown Bus Terminal replacement project – designed to meet projected 2040-2050 commuter growth – will include a new main terminal with street-facing retail and a soaring multi-story indoor atrium, a separate storage and staging building and new ramps leading directly into and out of the Lincoln Tunnel, in addition to the new public green space.
There is no taking of public land; all new facilities will be located on Port Authority property.
The international firm Foster + Partners and the U.S.-based multi-disciplinary design firm A. Epstein and Sons International Inc. will provide architectural design services for the facade on all project components and the for design of the main terminal. The Foster + Partners/Epstein team are both leaders in densely populated urban environments, as well as in designing major transportation facilities. The firm Kohn Pederson Fox has been contracted to design the inside of the interim terminal.
The new Midtown Bus Terminal will add capacity, allowing curbside inter-city buses that currently pick up and drop off on city streets surrounding the bus terminal to move their operations inside the bus terminal and off the streets, reducing road congestion and vehicle emissions; be designed to be net zero, capable of serving an all-electric bus fleet and implementing 21st century technology throughout.
In 1950, the Midtown Bus Terminal was a cutting-edge transportation facility. It has served the region well for much of the past 75 years. But what was cutting-edge when Harry Truman was president, is not cutting-edge anymore.
The region needed better. The region is getting better with what will be a transformational, iconic transportation hub in the center of midtown Manhattan. The Port Authority listened, worked with all affected stakeholders, and is now delivering because, as Truman said, “The buck stops here.”
And as commuters will be saying with confidence in the near future: “The buses stops here.”
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