Photo Gallery: 63rd Drive
| Still the Man! Samuel L Jackson's Shaft glowers over the Drive and Austin Street. Triboro Coach, owner of the red and white local bus heading south, is one of a handful of private franchisers handling much of Queens public surface tranportation. Other major operators are the Green Line, which handles much of Death Blvd, even contributing to its infamous reputation, and Queens Surface. Despite being private, they honor all MetroCard transfers from city owned lines. The height warning sign is of course regarding the railroad overpass, and unless the bus is feeling mighty springy, it will pass under easily. Some trucks are probably not as nimble. It is a common site in some neighborhoods to see ex cabs or police cars being used as private vehicles after outliving their professional usefulness. Queens is filled with many late 1940's to early 1960's six story red brick apartment houses, thrown up to house the growing post war baby boomer families. Unlike their 1920's and 1930's counterparts making up much of the housing in The Bronx and Brooklyn, these usually had little exterior adornment. It was probably due mostly to cost savings, but was easily sold as being more modern looking. The baby boom ended around 1964 and so did the building boom. The last batch of them often featured air conditioner boxes built into the walls below one or two windows. That was what being wired meant then. For years, just past Austin on the right, next to what is today's library, there was an infamous biker bar known simply as The Bar. It was the Drive's only bar this side of Woodhaven Blvd; in fact its only bar, period! Next to it was the Cafe Baba, which still exists with a huge and ridiculous awning resembling a demented Taj Majal. It is basically, or at least has been, a catering hall, where various members of my extended family have held a few affairs. |