Green Bus Lines

A former Green Line Q40 MCI Classic in South Jamaica, Queens.

Green Bus Lines, also referred to simply as Green Lines, was a private bus company in New York City, United States, managed most recently by the late Jerome Cooper (August 14, 1928 - May 20, 2015 aged 86), operating local service in Queens and express service to Manhattan until January 9, 2006, when the city-operated MTA Bus Company took over its routes. Green Bus Lines routes primarily operated in the Jamaica, Ozone Park, Howard Beach, and Rockaway areas of Queens, along with service to the passenger and cargo areas of John F. Kennedy International Airport.[1][2] At the time of its closure, Green Lines operated more local and limited bus routes than any other private company in the city.[1]

Stockholders of Green Bus Lines also held control of other private bus companies in Queens and Brooklyn as Transit Alliance. These companies were Triboro Coach, Jamaica Buses, and Command Bus Company, all of which were absorbed into the MTA Regional Bus operations.[3][4] The company reorganized as GTJ Reit Inc., a real estate investment trust, shortly after MTA takeover.

History

The company was incorporated on April 3, 1925 by William Cooper (1895-1985, aged 90) to provide local service in several boroughs. It acquired several Manhattan routes (including the current M22, M50, M79, M86, and M96) in 1933, but these were transferred to the Comprehensive Omnibus Corporation in 1935 and New York City Omnibus Corporation in 1936.[5] In 1936, Green Lines was awarded the rights to all of "Zone C" in southern Queens (including Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park, Howard Beach, and the Rockaways).[6][7][8][9][10] Green also acquired the Manhattan and Queens Bus Corporation, which had operated the ex-Manhattan and Queens Traction Company Queens Boulevard Line into Manhattan (the Q60) since 1937, in 1943.[11]

Green stockholders acquired two other transit companies that continued to operate independently, Triboro Coach Corporation and Jamaica Buses; jointly these three companies formed Command Bus Company to take over the routes that had been operated by Pioneer Bus Corporation.[4]

The QM23 was started in the 1950s to replace Long Island Rail Road service to the Brooklyn Manor station on the Rockaway Beach Branch.[12] It was discontinued in 2010. Four more express routes began operation in the 1970s.

Bus routes

Just prior to MTA Bus takeover, Green Bus lines operated the following routes, which mostly continued to be based in Far Rockaway Bus Depot and John F. Kennedy Bus Depot.[13][14] Hubs for Green Lines operations included 165th Street Bus Terminal in Jamaica, the Mott Avenue subway station in Far Rockaway, and several stations in the IND Queens Boulevard Line.[2][15][16][17]

Queens local
Queens-Manhattan express

Reorganization as Real Estate Investment Trust

Green Bus Lines, Inc. (incorporated April 8, 1925); Triboro Coach Corporation (incorporated April 21, 1931); and Jamaica-Central Railways, Inc. (incorporated March 22, 1926) were each owned by individual shareholders. Jamaica-Central Railways, Inc. had a wholly owned subsidiary, Jamaica Buses, Inc. (incorporated Apr. 24, 1931). Several subsidiary corporations were owned 40 percent by Green Bus Lines, Inc.; 40 percent by Triboro Coach Corporation; and 20 percent by Jamaica-Central Railways, Inc. These jointly owned subsidiary corporations included Command Bus Company, Inc. (incorporated October 3, 1979) and G.T.J. Co., Inc. (incorporated February 15, 1968 as Varsity Transit, Inc., and changed name on January 3, 1989 to G.T.J. Co., Inc.). Among the wholly owned subsidiaries of G.T.J. Co., Inc. was Transit Facility Management Corp. (incorporated May 18, 1998), which provided Access-A-Ride paratransit service using the name TFM Paratransit; Varsity Transit, Inc. (incorporated November 19, 1965 as Varsity Coach Corp., and changed name on January 3, 1989 to Varsity Transit, Inc.), which provided school bus service within the City of New York; and Varsity Coach Corp. (incorporated February 3, 1989), which provided school bus service outside the City of New York.

On June 23, 2006, GTJ REIT, Inc. was formed under the laws of Maryland as a real estate investment trust. Two weeks later, on July 7, 2006, three wholly owned subsidies of GTJ REIT, Inc. were formed: Green Acquisition, Inc.; Triboro Acquisition, Inc.; and Jamaica Acquisition, Inc.

A special meeting of the shareholders of Green Bus Lines, Inc.; Triboro Coach Corporation; and Jamaica-Central Railways, Inc. was held on March 26, 2007 for the purpose of obtaining the consent of a majority of the shareholders of each company to be merged into the GTJ REIT, Inc. subsidiaries. A majority of shareholders of each company voted in favor, and on March 29, 2007 Green Bus Lines, Inc. was merged into Green Acquisition, Inc.; Triboro Coach Corporation was merged into Triboro Acquisition, Inc.; and Jamaica-Central Railways, Inc. was merged into Jamaica Acquisition, Inc. Shareholders exchanged their old shares in the bus companies for new shares in GTJ REIT, Inc. Command Bus Company, Inc. and Varsity Coach Corp. were both dissolved on January 21, 2010. Jamaica Buses, Inc. was dissolved on May 13, 2010.

During 2011 and 2012, the Company underwent a process of shedding all businesses and assets that were no longer compatible with its real estate focus.

In January 2013, the Company closed on a transaction with a privately held joint venture in which the Company acquired ownership interests in a portfolio of 25 commercial properties located in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. As a result of subsequent acquisitions, the company owns 45 properties, approximately 5 million square feet and 338 acres of land.

GTJ REIT, Inc. is headquartered in West Hempstead, N.Y. Its portfolio of real estate investments includes the four garages once used for transit bus operations, all of which (Baisley Park Depot, Far Rockaway Depot's older building only. New annex owned by MTA/NYCTA, JFK Depot, and LaGuardia Depot) are leased to the City of New York for use as bus garages by MTA Bus Company.

On May 20, 2015 Mr. Jerome Cooper, the president and chairman of GTJ, REIT, Inc. died of sudden cardiac arrest (heart failure) during his sleep at his home at Long Beach, Long Island in New York, and was 86 years old. Mr. Jerome Cooper was the son of the late William Cooper who was the founder of Green Bus Lines Inc. along with his empire of other acquired bus companies that followed.

References

  1. 1 2 Urbitran Associates, Inc (May 2004). "NYCDOT Bus Ridership Survey and Route Analysis Final Report: Chapter 3 Transit System Characteristics" (PDF). nyc.gov. New York City Department of Transportation. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Analysis of Routes and Ridership of a Franchise Bus Service: Green Bus Lines" (PDF). utrc2.org/. City College of New York. October 2000. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  3. ↑ Lueck, Thomas J. (April 23, 2005). "City to Buy Private Bus Company for Service in Three Boroughs". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Company Profile". Jamaica Buses, Inc. Archived from the original on 2006-01-25. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  5. ↑ www.nycsubway.org: Local Bus Companies of Manhattan
  6. ↑ "Bus Franchises For Queens Are Granted by City: 12-Year Old Problem Is Solved by Action of Board of Estimate". Newspapers.com. Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 24, 1936. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  7. ↑ "Bus Committee Tries Again To Fix Up Jamaica Zone: Report on Queens Situation Published in Fall" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press (Long Island Sunday Press) (316). Fultonhistory.com. January 12, 1936. p. 1. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "Bus Routes Changed By Zone Plan; Some Riders to be Forced to Transfer; Committee Takes Corona Line From North Shore, Gives It to Tri-Boro" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press (Long Island Sunday Press) (316). Fultonhistory.com. January 12, 1936. p. 4. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  9. ↑ "Bus Committee's Report" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press (Long Island Sunday Press) (316). Fultonhistory.com. January 12, 1936. p. 8. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  10. ↑ "NEW YORK CITY TRANSIT ROUTES". www.chicagorailfan.com. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
  11. ↑ "Green Bus Lines, Inc., Triboro Coach Corporation, Jamaica Central Railways, Inc.". sec.gov. GTJ Reit, Inc. February 9, 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  12. ↑ Roger P. Roess; Gene Sansone (23 August 2012). The Wheels That Drove New York: A History of the New York City Transit System. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 416–417. ISBN 978-3-642-30484-2.
  13. ↑ Green Lines #951, at the Rockaway Boulevard garage in 1988, by Mel Bernero (BusTalk U.S. Surface Transportation Galleries)
  14. ↑ Green Bus Lines, Inc. (accessed January 19, 2007)
  15. ↑ "Queens Merchants Win More Bus Service". nytimes.com. The New York Times. March 17, 1989. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  16. ↑ "165th Street Mall Improvement Association Annual Report – Fiscal Year 2009" (pdf). 165th Street Mall. 165th Street Mall Improvement Association. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  17. ↑ Lucev, Emil (June 18, 2010). "Historical Views of the Rockaways: The old Far Rockaway Station Plaza, Mott and Central Avenues, 1922". rockawave.com. The Wave. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
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