As both transit hub and retreat, historic Brooklyn Heights held prominence
Celebrating Brooklyn Heights Press 75th Year: Transit Museum's "Betsy" Displayed With Other Historic Buses On Boerum Pl.
Once again, the sun shone on Betsy as she sat on Boerum Place. A double decker bus dating from 1931, Betsy was part of this year’s display at the New York Transit Museum’s 21st Annual Bus Festival this past Sunday. She’s a regular at this show of New York City buses and transit utility vehicles — Betsy’s a favorite with staff and visitors and is quite special.
“She’s our oldest bus, and she’s our only double decker. A lot of the buses look like the ones we ride today, whereas Betsy stands out,” said the Transit Museum’s press aide Eli Rumpf, a Brooklyn resident who grew up in Seattle.
Betsy, the Bus Festival’s grande dame, was a mere eight years old and already hard at work when the Brooklyn Heights Press first went to print 75 years ago. On Sunday, she was among 17 buses and mass transit utility vehicles parked on Boerum Place. Adjacent streets were closed to traffic, allowing visitors a chance to relax and let their kids clamber aboard the vehicles excitedly, just as they would fairground attractions.