I've just returned home from attending the NYW&B Centennial meeting in New Rochelle and I offer kudos to Otto for his efforts in putting this thing together, providing a number of interesting speakers, and keeping everything running smoothly and on time (always a tough situation when the venue has its own special strict time constraints). I would say that a true highlight of the meeting was the presence of a woman, seated almost directly behind me, who spoke of having ridden the NYW&B when it was still in full operation! The memories she briefly related likely represented the final actual firsthand account of riding the NYW&B any of the meeting attendees is ever likely to hear.
On a personal note, right after the meeting I took a quick trip on my own to have a look at the old NYW&B station on East Third Street in Mount Vernon. I hadn't been by there in at least 40 years, and although empty and abandoned for many years in the past, the station currently seems to be at least partly occupied by a commercial establishment. Surprisingly it also physically looked better than when I had last seen it around 1970.
Further on in my trip I noted that I could find almost no visible evidence remaining of the NYW&B's "Great Cut" that formerly ran from south of Sandford Blvd. to beyond the East Third Street Station, an engineering feat of the NYW&B I recall trekking through multiple times back in the 1950's. Only the fact that I knew exactly where it had been and a visible subsidence in the roadway on East 4th Street offered any evidence it had ever existed.
I trust those who took the bus tour of NYW&B sites will have additional stories to offer later today. And again, good job Otto!
CNJ999
Last edited by CNJ999 on Sat Jul 14, 2012 10:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.