165th Street Bus Terminal

History

Construction on the "Long Island Bus Terminal" began in 1930, built by the Shore Road Development Company, Inc. with the intent of expanding transit service to and from Long Island. The new terminal, which cost $1.5 million to build, featured a waiting room, lounge, and ticket offices. The bus terminal was enclosed by two one-story buildings on 165th Street and Merrick Boulevard respectively. and would serve the IND Queens Boulevard Line's 169th Street station on Hillside Avenue upon its completion in 1937. In May 1939, Bee-Line relinquished its Queens routes; these routes began operation from the terminal under North Shore Bus Company (a predecessor to the NYCT bus operations) on June 25, 1939.

In March 1947, North Shore Bus would be taken over by the New York City Board of Transportation, making the bus routes from the terminal city operated. In 1952, the terminal was purchased by the Jamaica Realty Corporation, and in 1953 the New York City Transit Authority (today part of the MTA) took over operations of the terminal from the Board of Transportation. The terminal would later be served by the Green Bus Lines company (predecessor to the JFK Depot-based MTA Bus Company lines).

As originally built, the terminal had only one entry point, on its north side from 89th Avenue. At some point, the structure on Merrick Boulevard was removed, allowing buses to turn directly onto the street or into the terminal.

168th Street Bus Terminal

In January 2023, the 165th Street Bus Terminal was sold to a developer and planned to become a mixed-use facility, with the lease for the terminal expiring in September 2023, with an alternative location at a nearby parking lot planned to be the location of the new terminal. The new 168th Street Bus Terminal, located approximately two blocks away at 90-01 168th Street, is temporary until the MTA can find a permanent location. The new terminal opened on June 1, 2025.

List of routes

The terminal served seven routes operated by MTA New York City Bus, four operated by MTA Bus Company, and six operated by Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE; formerly MTA Long Island Bus). All terminated here, except for the Q17, which is a through route. The southbound Q17 bus stopped outside the terminal on Merrick Boulevard, while the northbound Q17 to Flushing stopped on 168th Street, one block east.

165th Street Mall

Adjacent to the bus terminal is the 165th Street Mall, a pedestrian shopping mall running the entire length of 165th Street between 89th Avenue and Jamaica Avenue. Within the block are over 160 stores, including several apparel and footwear stores and a food court. The strip on 165th Street was originally constructed as part of the terminal, opening just after the terminal debuted in 1936. Shops were also built on 166th Street (today's Merrick Boulevard), but are not present today. In 1943 a massive fire damaged eleven stores along the strip, and a four-alarm fire in 1959 destroyed six shops and caused over $1 million in damage.

From 1947 to 1979, the mall housed a large Macy's location constructed by Robert D. Kohn, one of the department chain's first locations in Queens. The Macy's closed due to several issues, including the threat of burglary, the transition of Jamaica from a middle-class White neighborhood to a working class Black and immigrant neighborhood, and the closure and demolition of the BMT Jamaica Avenue El east of 121st Street that led many other businesses in the area to suffer.

In May 1979, 165th Street was redeveloped as a pedestrian mall, with the street closed to vehicular traffic and repaved with red brick. In May 1983, a third fire occurred damaging 12 stores.

One of the primary attractions of the mall today is the Jamaica Colosseum Mall, which took over the former Macy's building in 1984. The Colosseum is one of New York City's largest jewelry exchanges. It has over 120 merchants and jewelers, a rooftop parking lot, and houses the 165th Street Mall's food court. Several New York rappers including Jamaica native 50 Cent shopped in the Colosseum growing up, and music videos have been filmed at the facility.

Following the opening of the Archer Avenue Lines in 1988, merchants from the mall sued the NYCT due to the loss of business after the diversion of several bus lines to the new subway stations. The NYCT proceeded to extend the Q76 and Q77 from the 179th Street station, while Green Bus Lines added five bus routes to the terminal.

Nearby points of interest

One block west of the terminal on 164th Street is the First Presbyterian Church, built in 1662. The Jamaica Main Post Office is located one block north of the church at 89th Avenue and 164th Street. On the southeast corner of 165th Street and Jamaica Avenue, across from the mall, is the former control tower of the 168th Street station, rented by retail shops since the 1930s.

References

References

1. (August 11, 1936). "At Midnight...Tuesday, August 11, 1936". [[Brooklyn Daily Eagle]].
2. (August 10, 1936). "Bee Bus Line Will Use New Jamaica Station: To Remove to $1,500,000 Terminal Tuesday Night". [[New York Herald Tribune]].
3. (May 22, 1966). "4 Good Samaritans: 3 Succeed, 1 Killed".
4. (May 2, 1936). "BUILDING PLANS FILED: Houses in Brooklyn and Queens Form Bulk of Projects.".
5. Cifuentes, Kevin. (2022-11-11). "FBE Limited Buys Queens Development Site for $51M".
6. "165th Street Mall Improvement Association Annual Report – Fiscal Year 2009". 165th Street Mall Improvement Association.
7. "Queens Bus Map".
8. neighborhood. Jamaica
9. (August 31, 1930). "New Jamaica Bus Terminal Will Benefit L.I. Realty". [[Brooklyn Daily Eagle]].
10. (August 23, 1936). "Bus Terminal Notable Addition To Jamaica Section". [[Brooklyn Daily Eagle]].
11. (August 8, 1936). "Bee Line Going To New Depot: Buses Change Terminal Tuesday Midnight". Long Island Daily Press.
12. (August 26, 1936). "Jamaica Bus Depots: More Are Necessary". Long Island Daily Press.
13. (August 12, 1936). "Green Line to Use New York Ave. Depot As Bee Buses Shift to 165th St. Terminal". Long Island Daily Press.
14. (August 12, 1936). "Green Line to Use New York Ave. Depot As Bee Buses Shift to 165th St. Terminal". Long Island Daily Press.
15. (August 16, 1936). "Stores Now Leasing! In the New Long Island Bus Terminal at 165th Street, Jamaica". [[Brooklyn Daily Eagle]].
16. (April 9, 1937). "Trial Run to Jamaica on Subway Tomorrow: Section From Kew Gardens to 169th Street Will Open to Public in Two Weeks".
17. (May 23, 1939). "Bee Line Quits Zone D As Police Jail Drivers: Ousted 'Wildcat' Presses Fight In Courts". Long Island Daily Press.
18. (June 25, 1939). "North Shore Buses Start From Terminal Today". Long Island Star-Journal.
19. (March 30, 1947). "CITY TAKES OVER BUS LINE: O'Connor Selected to Operate North Shore System". [[The New York Times]].
20. Sparberg, Andrew J.. (October 1, 2014). "From a Nickel to a Token: The Journey from Board of Transportation to MTA". Fordham University Press.
21. (December 31, 1948). "120-Passenger Vehicles Added For Next Week: 10 City Lines Will HAve All New Equipment by Wednesday". Long Island Star-Journal.
22. (June 15, 1952). "Jamaica Bus Terminal Acquired by Syndicate". [[New York Herald Tribune]].
23. (June 2, 1953). "Digest of Lease Agreement Between the City of New York and the Transit Authority".
24. (September 9, 1977). "A Sentimental Journey on the BMT...".
25. "January 2023 MTA Board Action Items".
26. Rose, Naeisha. (2023-10-12). "Jamaica bus terminal relocation delayed".
27. "Many buses in Jamaica are moving on June 1".
28. Andres, Czarinna. (May 28, 2025). "Jamaica’s 165th Street bus terminal to temporarily relocate to 168th St starting June 1 amid redevelopment – QNS".
29. "About Us". 165th Street Mall Improvement Association.
30. (October 19, 1943). "Fire Upsets Bus Service: Blaze in Terminal at Jamaica Disrupts Commuter Traffic".
31. (January 16, 1959). "SIX QUEENS SHOPS WRECKED BY FIRE; Jamaica Blaze Fought From Elevated Line of BMT -- 5,000 Riders Delayed".
32. (September 4, 2007). "Macy's Jamaica (1947): An Unsung Modernist Masterwork In Queens by Joseph Masheck". [[The Brooklyn Rail]].
33. (July 23, 2009). "Roaming The Streets Of Downtown Jamaica". Times Newsweekly.
34. (May 22, 1983). "AFTER A LONG SLIDE, HOPE FOR JAMAICA".
35. (July 4, 1979). "For Jamaica, Redevelopment Is a Promise Unfulfilled; Projects Are Thwarted".
36. (1981). "Queens, Proposed Federal Building: Environmental Impact Statement". [[General Services Administration]].
37. "History".
38. (July 31, 2012). "Intersection: A Quiet Moment, Where the Sounds Overwhelm".
39. (March 17, 1989). "Queens Merchants Win More Bus Service".
40. (August 8, 1955). "Our Changing City: Gaps in Queens Are Filling Up".
41. (July 3, 1930). "Business Property to Let". [[Brooklyn Daily Eagle]].