Every weekday approximately 200,000 people pass through the busiest bus terminal in the world, the Port Authority Bus Terminal, according to The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. Oblivious to most people whose commute involves this bustling hub, in addition to the overwhelming bevy of gates, and the assortment of cafes and food vendors, there is also a gallery in the south wing of the terminal, near the Ninth Avenue entrance. We previously showcased this gallery in January during the gallery’s photography exhibition on Muhammad Ali.
Currently the bus terminal’s “Gallery of the People” features “PABT Time Lapse 2017,” a new exhibit by photographer Tony Gregory, who has documented the Port Authority Bus Terminal—with it’s 232,000 daily (weekday) bus passenger trips and 7,800 daily buses—through a series of time-lapses and images.
Tony captures the terminal and it’s customers from various positions around the facility, many of which are either closed to the public, or simply go unnoticed in passenger’s haste to reach their destination. “You don’t look up. You don’t look around,” Tony remarks on commuters going through the terminal. “I like to look at it different, and I hope people see it different.”
The impetus for the project came when Tony, who has been working at the Heartland Brewery inside Port Authority for four years, heard about renovation plans . Since moving to New York City in 1994 for film school, Tony has been going through the bus terminal to go back home, and so he wished to capture it in his photos.
“I thought there was no better time to document the building and its surroundings. So that in the future, people can enjoy seeing what this neighborhood of New York City once looked like.” Tony tells the Port Authority.
Plans for the exhibit materialized after Tony showed one of his pictures to a Port Authority staff member at Heartland Brewery, who happened to be Myron Johnson, head of public relations at Port Authority Bus Terminal. Johnson arranged access to various parts of the facility for Tony to capture his images and time-lapses, which included the rooftop overlooking the bus ramp on Ninth Avenue.
The exhibit is on display until the end of April, and has elicited interesting reaction from terminal customers. “A lot of the people who see the Port Authority pictures are totally blown away, and they really connect, because they are taking these buses every day, or going to see their family.”
Next check out the Mohammad Ali Photo exhibit, previously on display at the Port Authority Bus Terminal Gallery, and The Abandoned Subway Level Below Times Square Port Authority.