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George Washington Bridge Bus Station

Commuter bus terminal in New York City

Field	Value
name	George Washington Bridge Bus Station
image	2018 George Washington Brdge Bus Station from West 178th Street and Broadway looking west.jpg
image_caption	View of the station from the southeast, 2018
address	between Ft. Washington & Wadsworth Aves, and W. 178th & W. 179th Sts.
Manhattan, New York City
country	United States
bus_routes	NJ Transit Bus:
bus_operators	See Bus Service below
other	New York City Subway:
at 175th Street
at 181st Street
platform	21 gates (upper level)
opened	January 17, 1963
architect	Pier Luigi Nervi
rebuilt	2013–2017 renovations
accessible	Yes
owned	Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
operator	Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
passengers	6.9 million
pass_year	2015
mapframe	yes
mapframe-zoom	15
mapframe-marker-color	#000000
mapframe-marker	bus
web	GWBBS

Manhattan, New York City at 175th Street at 181st Street | mapframe-zoom = 15 | mapframe-marker-color = #000000 | mapframe-marker = bus

The George Washington Bridge Bus Station is a commuter bus terminal at the east end of the George Washington Bridge in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The bus station is owned and operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ). On a typical weekday, approximately 20,000 passengers on about 1,000 buses use the station.

The building is an example of mid-century urban renewal and structural expressionism. Designed by the Italian architect-engineer Pier Luigi Nervi, the new bus station was hailed as a robust tour-de-force of infrastructure ingenuity by leading critics of the day. While later noting the station's neglect from decades of deferred maintenance, the architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable heralded the design of the station as "a work of the first rank that demonstrates the art and science of reinforced concrete construction at its 20th-century highpoint, in the hands of one of its greatest masters."

The terminal was first proposed in 1955, following earlier attempts to construct a bus station at the George Washington Bridge's eastern end. The Port Authority hired Nervi to design the terminal in early 1960, and it opened on January 17, 1963. In its early years, the George Washington Bridge Bus Station was underused compared to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. A major renovation, including an expansion of retail space from 30000 to, was announced in 2008; the project began in late 2013 and was expected to cost more than . The renovated station reopened on May 16, 2017, two years behind schedule, $17 million over budget, and still unfinished.

Description

Aerial view of station and the Trans-Manhattan Expressway

The station is built over the Trans-Manhattan Expressway (Interstate 95) between 178th and 179th Streets and Fort Washington and Wadsworth Avenues, and features direct bus ramps on and off the upper level of the bridge. The building was designed by the Italian engineer Pier Luigi Nervi and is one of only a few buildings he designed outside of Italy.{{cite web |title=Second Look: George Washington Bridge Bus Station / Pier Luigi Nervi, 1963 |first=Fred A. |last=Bernstein

The building is constructed of huge steel-reinforced concrete trusses, fourteen of which are cantilevered from supports in the median of the Trans-Manhattan Expressway, which it straddles. The roof was constructed of 26 triangular sections, each measuring 66 by and composed of 36 concrete panels. The design of the roof was intended to disperse exhaust from buses idling there. The building's roof trusses have been described as resembling butterflies, as seen in aerial views. When the terminal was constructed in 1963, the Port Authority believed the design of the roof would eliminate the need to install air conditioning.

The building contains murals as well as busts of George Washington and Othmar Amman, the civil engineer who designed the bridge. The building received the 1963 Concrete Industry Board's Award. The entire facility is wheelchair-accessible. The terminal was criticized by one writer as "a brutal assault on the senses".

History

Development

The George Washington Bridge between New York and New Jersey was opened in 1931; only its current upper deck existed at the time. As early as 1952, the PANYNJ (at the time the Port of New York Authority) had proposed widening a one-block stretch of 178th Street between Fort Washington Avenue and Broadway and creating a bus terminal there. The terminal would have contained three platforms for interstate buses and a connection to the 175th Street subway station. This would have required the demolition of three apartment houses and the building of the Young Men's and Women's Hebrew Association of Washington Heights.

A lower deck for the George Washington Bridge, a new Trans-Manhattan Expressway connecting the bridge to the Cross Bronx Expressway, a new bus terminal above the new expressway, and other highway connections near the bridge were recommended in a 1955 study that suggested improvements to the New York City area's highway system. The Port Authority announced plans for the $12 million bus station in February 1957. The planned terminal would be able to accommodate 255 buses per hour, allowing 70 percent more interstate buses to use the bridge. The Port Authority would have to relocate 10,000 families to make way for the bus terminal and connecting ramps, prompting opposition from the area's U.S. representative, Herbert Zelenko. The New York City Planning Commission approved the improvements in June 1957, and the Port Authority allocated funds to the improvement that July. In approving the bus terminal, the City Planning Commission mandated that the terminal be an enclosed structure.

The Port Authority announced in March 1960 that it had hired Nervi to design a three-story, $13 million bus terminal above the Trans-Manhattan Expressway. The agency had decided to hire Nervi after seeing several of his other designs, including the Stadio Flaminio in Rome, which Nervi had designed for the 1960 Summer Olympics. The terminal's foundations were already complete at the time, while the ramps to the terminal were being built. The Port Authority awarded a $9.6 million contract that December to the W. J. Barney Corporation and William L. Crow Company for the construction of the terminal's roof. In February 1961, contractors erected the largest of 40 steel girders carrying the terminal above the Trans-Manhattan Expressway. The steel frame of the terminal had been completed by that April, and workers had begun pouring concrete around the steel.

Opening and early modifications

The George Washington Bridge Bus Station opened on January 17, 1963, and was officially dedicated by New York governor Nelson Rockefeller and New Jersey governor Richard J. Hughes the next day. After passengers complained that the terminal's open-air design let in cold air, the Port Authority approved the installation of a retractable plastic membrane in August 1963 at a cost of $200,000. The PANYNJ also installed glass walls and louvers to protect passengers from strong winds from the west, and it installed heated glass-and-aluminum canopies above the ten departure platforms. Although the bus terminal was intended to replace a series of sidewalk bus loading areas that existed between 166th and 167th streets further south, the last bus route did not relocate to the new terminal until 1967.

In its early years, the George Washington Bridge Bus Station was underused, as most passengers from New Jersey preferred to travel to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan. Upon the George Washington Bridge terminal's first anniversary, 750 buses served the terminal on an average day, carrying 20,500 passengers. By 1974, The New York Times had written that the George Washington Bridge Bus Station "has never been a success and is still under-utilized".

The PANYNJ hired developer McCann Real Equities in July 1999 to study the feasibility of erecting a multiplex cinema above the bus station. Had the multiplex been built, it would have contained 12 screens with a total of 2,800 seats and would have been operated by McCann under a 40-year lease. The multiplex would have cost $20 million. Ultimately, the multiplex was never built; there had been other unsuccessful plans to use the air rights above the terminal. By the 2000s, the terminal retained much of its original design but had fallen into disrepair.

Renovated bus boarding area with display screens (November 2017)

Renovation

The PANYNJ approved a $152 million renovation of the George Washington Bridge Bus Station in October 2008. The Port Authority was to contribute $49.5 million to the project, while developer Acadia would pay $102 million. Although the terminal had accommodated 300,000 buses during the preceding year, carrying five million passengers, it had become dated and had never become as busy as the Port Authority Bus Terminal. The George Washington Bridge Bus Station lacked air-conditioning; it still contained payphones, at a time when many payphones across the city had been removed; and most of its retail activity consisted of off-track betting and sales of lottery tickets and cheap coffee. Later that month, the PANYNJ revealed designs for the terminal's renovation. The project was postponed due to the 2008 financial crisis.

The agency announced in July 2011 that the project would proceed after the PANYNJ signed an agreement with a consortium of developers who would lease the terminal's retail space for 99 years. At that point, the cost had increased to $183 million. The developers were to provide $100 million for the project, while the PANYNJ would pay $83.2 million. Development firm New York City Regional Center (NYCRC) initially lent $72 million to the private developers, and NYCRC later lent another $19 million for the project. At the time of the announcement, the project was to begin in January 2012 and be completed by early 2013.

The renovated building was to be improved with better access to local subway stops, displays of bus departure and arrival times, central air conditioning, and full ADA-compliant accessibility. It would increase retail space from 30000 to. Large tenants like Marshalls, Key Food, and Blink Fitness leased some of the terminal's retail space before the renovation began. Tutor Perini received a $100 million construction contract in August 2013. The Port Authority and a private company, known as GWBBS Development Venture LLC, began renovating the station later the same year. The bus station's main concourse was temporarily closed for renovations in August 2014. Although buses continued to stop at the terminal, the renovation was delayed significantly; the scheduled completion date of 2015 was postponed at least twice. According to The New York Times, the delays became "a sore point in Washington Heights".

The terminal reopened on May 16, 2017, two years behind schedule, $17 million over budget, and still unfinished. Tutor Perini filed a $120 million lawsuit against the PANYNJ in July 2019 over the project's "delays and cost overruns". GWBBS Development Venture LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection that October, in part because of the delays, cost overruns, and arbitration proceedings with Tutor Perini. Monarch Alternative Capital LP offered to take over the leasehold of the station's retail space, but negotiations with the PANYNJ stalled. NYCRC sued the PANYNJ in 2021, claiming that the agency was trying to wipe out the firm's investment in the terminal by interfering with the planned sale of the retail leasehold. Aurora Capital Associates and Bridges Development Group acquired the retail leasehold in December 2022 for $46 million.

Subway connection

The station seen from the western approach in 2006

The complex is served by the 175th Street station of the New York City Subway. The station is on Fort Washington Avenue with entrances at 175th Street and 177th Street, the latter one block south of the bus station. The subway station, operated by the New York City Transit Authority and served by the , A pedestrian tunnel, maintained by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, links the bus terminal to the subway station. This tunnel is closed at night.

The bus station is also within walking distance of the 181st Street station of the same line, and the 181st Street IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line station on the .

Bus service

On September 20, 2017, Greyhound announced that it would be providing service to the station starting September 27, while keeping the Port Authority Bus Terminal as its primary New York City location.

, the bus lines detailed below serve the terminal for the New York City Transit Authority, New Jersey Transit, and Coach USA (Rockland Coaches and Short Line). Service is also provided by Spanish Transportation with its Express Service jitneys. Additionally, some OurBus routes serve the George Washington Bridge Bus Station.

MTA Regional Bus Operations

Ten local MTA Regional Bus Operations routes stop at a lower level and on the streets outside the station. The stops on Fort Washington Avenue, while the stop on Broadway. The stop on 178th and 179th Streets between Fort Washington Avenue and Broadway. All routes are ADA-accessible.

Route	Terminal	via
The Cloisters or Fort Tryon Park (north)Fifth Avenue/32nd Street, Koreatown (south)	Broadway and Fifth Avenue	Bus only runs to the Cloisters when the museum is open; it only runs to Fort Tryon Park at all other times.
Broadway/31st Street, Garment District	Riverside Drive, Fifth Avenue, and Broadway
Fort Tryon Park (north)68th Street/Lexington Avenue (south)	Harlem River Drive and Lexington Avenue	Bus only runs during rush hours.
West 220th Street/Broadway, Inwood (north)West 125th Street/St. Nicholas Avenue, Harlem (south)	Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues
238th Street station, Riverdale, Bronx	University Avenue
West 263rd Street/Riverdale Avenue, Riverdale, Bronx (north)168th Street station (south)	Broadway, Johnson Avenue, Henry Hudson Parkway
Parkchester station, Parkchester, Bronx	170th Street, Claremont Parkway, East 174th Street
Bronx Terminal Market (extended to Third Avenue/163rd Street, rush hours)	West 181st Street, Ogden Avenue, East 161st Street
Jennings Street and West Farms Road, Longwood, Bronx	Edward L. Grant Highway, East 167th Street, East 168th Street, East 169th Street
Olmstead Avenue and Randall Avenue, Soundview, Bronx	Tremont Avenue, White Plains Road

New Jersey Transit

Route	Terminal	via
Paterson Broadway Bus Terminal	GWB Plaza
Route 4	Spanish Transportation operates jitneys along a similar route to Paterson
Ridgewood Bus Terminal	GWB Plaza
New Jersey Route 4
Hackensack, Paramus, Rochelle Park	Some trips do not stop at
Bergen Community College
Hackensack Bus Terminal	GWB Plaza, New Jersey Route 4
Grand Avenue, Teaneck Armory, Englewood Avenue	Englewood/Teaneck (northern route) variant of Route 182
Bergenline Ave. Station	GWB Plaza, Palisade Avenue, Bergenline Avenue	Limited peak and evening service Monday–Saturday. Other times, use the Spanish Transportation route, which runs down Bergenline Avenue and continues to Jersey City.
Hackensack Bus Terminal	GWB Plaza, Fort Lee Road, DeGraw Avenue	Leonia/Teaneck/Bogota (southern route) variant of 178
Dumont	GWB Plaza, Sylvan Avenue, Palisade Avenue, Teaneck Road
West New York	GWB Plaza, via River Road Edgewater
60 Street at Kennedy Boulevard	Limited weekend service

Coach USA

[[Rockland Coaches]]

Route	Terminals	via	9A & 9AT
New City (9A and 9W)
(full-time)
Central Nyack (9W) or Stony Point (9)
(peak service only)	Sylvan Avenue, Oak Tree Road, Piermont Avenue/River Road, Broadway, Nyack Turnpike (Central Nyack trips only) Lake Road, Main Street, Route 9W (Stony Point is served on select rush-hour trips)

[[Short Line Bus]]

Route	Service	Terminals	Serving	Notes	208
PM peak	Montgomery, NY
Route 211 and Clinton Street	Washingtonville, Monroe, Central Valley, Ridgewood, NJ
AM peak	East Side, Manhattan
23rd Street and 2nd Avenue	Manhattan neighborhoods:
Washington Heights, Harlem, East Harlem, Yorkville, Upper East Side, Turtle Bay, Murray Hill, Kips Bay.

References

Vanterpool, Veronica. (July 6, 2011). "New Life For GW Bridge Bus Station Overhaul". Tri-State Transportation Campaign.
Banham, Reyner. (1976). "Megastructures". Thames and Hudson, Ltd..
Huxtable, Ada Louise. (June 15, 2004). "A Landmark Destination: The Bus Station". The Wall Street Journal.
(June 30, 2011). "Port Authority Prepares for Major Overhaul of George Washington Bridge Bus Station". [[Port Authority of New York and New Jersey]].
Pichardo, Carolina. (May 16, 2017). "GWB Bus Station Finally Opens, 2 Years Behind Schedule". [[DNAinfo]].
Barrett, Tom. (April 1, 1962). "A New Bus Terminal Design: Sloped Roof Combats Fumes". New York Herald Tribune.
Stengren, Bernard. (March 18, 1960). "Bus Depot to Get a Roof of 'Wings'; Plans for New Terminal at George Washington Span Calf for Soaring Top". The New York Times.
Liltell, Walter D.. (March 18, 1960). "Famed Italian Designer Plans Bus Station Here: Nervi's 3- Level Building to Span George Washington Bridge Road". New York Herald Tribune.
Barrett, Tom. (May 23, 1962). "A Designer Comes From Afar, Finds Bump at Bus Terminal". New York Herald Tribune.
Renner, James. (September 1998). "George Washington Bridge Bus Station". Washington Heights & Inwood Online.
"George Washington Bridge Bus Station".
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(April 8, 1952). "Authority Plans Wider 178th St. At Bridge Block: George Washington Span Project to Add 3 Bus Platforms, Subway Link New Bus Station Planned at George Washington Bridge". New York Herald Tribune.
(January 17, 1955). "Excerpts From Proposal to Meet City's Bridge and Highway Needs for Next 2 Decades". The New York Times.
(July 26, 1960). "Little Falls Resident Works On George Washington Bridge Project". Little Falls Herald.
Fernbach, Lyn. (February 18, 1957). "Bus Terminal Planned In Washington Heights: $12,000,000 Job to Start This Year 70% Increase In Bases Seen". New York Herald Tribune.
(February 18, 1957). "City to Get New $12-Million Bus Terminal". Newsday.
(February 22, 1957). "Port Body Opposed on Uptown Project". The New York Times.
(June 5, 1957). "Bridge Program Advanced By City". The New York Times.
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(February 18, 1961). "44-Ton Girder is Set at New Bus Station". The New York Times.
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(August 9, 1963). "Bridge Bus Station To Be Coldproofed At $200,000 Cost". The New York Times.
(January 17, 1964). "Bridge Bus Depot Marks First Year; Port Authority Pleased but It Wants More Traffic". The New York Times.
(August 2025). "George Washington Bridge Bus Station History". Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
(April 9, 1967). "Last Bus Terminal On Open Lot Closes Uptown Tomorrow". The New York Times.
Prial, Frank J.. (February 4, 1973). "Under-Utilized Uptown Bus Station Eases Load on Downtown Terminal". The New York Times.
Prial, Frank J.. (November 10, 1974). "Port Authority Has Fallen on Hard Times". The New York Times.
Lueck, Thomas J.. (July 30, 1999). "Multiplex Is Planned Above Bus Terminal". The New York Times.
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(July 26, 2019). "Foreclosure on $72m Loan Threatens GWB Bus Terminal Developers".
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(October 16, 2008). "Designs for George Washington Bridge bus station revealed".
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(July 27, 2011). "George Washington Bridge bus station to get $183M renovation".
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(August 8, 2013). "Winner revealed for $100 million GW Bridge bus station redo". New York Business Journal.
(August 8, 2013). "Tutor Perini Building Corp. Awarded $100 Million Contract for George Washington Bridge Bus Station Redevelopment".
Strunsky, Steve. (January 17, 2013). "GW Bridge Bus Station gets $183 million facelift for 50th birthday". The Star-Ledger.
Chen, David W.. (August 25, 2014). "George Washington Bridge Bus Station Closes for Long-Delayed Upgrade". The New York Times.
(August 24, 2014). "George Washington Bridge Bus Station Building Closing For Renovations".
Fortin, Jacey. (March 13, 2017). "Manhattan's Other Bus Terminal, Running Years Late". The New York Times.
(May 16, 2017). "George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal opens at long last in Washington Heights".
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Wilson, Colleen. (October 8, 2019). "George Washington Bridge Bus Station developer files for bankruptcy".
Rubinstein, Dana. (October 7, 2019). "George Washington Bridge bus station developer files for bankruptcy".
Randles, Jonathan. (June 29, 2021). "GW Bridge Bus Station Developers Replace Lead Bidder for Retail Lease". The Wall Street Journal.
Randles, Jonathan. (October 5, 2021). "GW Bridge Bus Station Lender Sues Port Authority Over Bankruptcy Sale".
Nazar, Julian. (December 28, 2022). "Two New York City-based developers acquire retail site in Upper Manhattan for $46M".
Modi, Priyanka. (December 30, 2022). "Aurora Capital, Bridges Acquire GW Bus Station Retail Leasehold".
(2015). "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Washington Heights". [[Metropolitan Transportation Authority]].
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{{NYCS const. map
(September 20, 2017). "Greyhound Begins Operations From Newly Renovated George Washington Bridge Bus Station".
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{{Cite NYC bus map. M
{{Cite NYC bus map. Bx

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