I've been a bus-and-train person since I was very young. From my house, there were three decent routes. The 75 took you to the 179th Street station in Jamaica. It didn't run quite as much, but you got on pretty much at the first stop, and then got the first stop on the E or F train. The 17A was a bit further of a walk, but it ran more
often. Another downside--you got on the second stop of the E or F, and that could mean no seat. And the 27 was the furthest walk, but you got on the 7 train in Flushing. As I got older, that also meant a good Chinese meal with my father. We'd walk to Flushing, eat, and take the bus back. The walk was a little more than an hour.The 17A was renamed the 30, because someone in the New York transit system lost interest in the letters. I moved to Milwaukee and the bus outside my door was the 30. Who doesn't like a good number connection? Now I take the 15, but I can't think of the New York equivalent.
The 75 not only took me to the train, it got me to the central branch of the Queensboro Public Library, where I did a lot of research for school projects. In my last year of high school, I was in a special math and science research program (Sorry Mom about not following up on that) and I was allowed to use the library at St. John's University. Not exactly bookstore prep material, but if you got out on Fresh Meadows Lane, it wasn't that far a walk to the Womrath near the Bloomingdale's (which later became a K Mart). But really, you would take the 17A for that.
Over the years, the 75's service deteriorated to the point that it wasn't worth taking, except for commuters. But the 75 is still a good way to get me from one point to another. That's because we've done our first print mailing, and our bulk mailing permit number is 75! How did we get such a low number? It's fate!
Bulk mail made sending out the newsletter affordable. Stay tuned for another blog on who got it.
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