The Port Authority is New York's principal bus station. It is the departure point and final destination of interstate bus routes. It also serves commuter routes, especially those connected to the state of New Jersey on the other side of the Hudson River. The name "Port Authority" justifies its status - the terminal is the largest in America and in terms of volume of traffic is considered the busiest in the world. It contains 223 departure gates. According to 2013 statistics, on an average weekday it serves about 225,000 people and 8,000 buses, which equals to almost 3 million buses a year. The station also boasts sophisticated shops and commercial areas.
Port Authority was built in 1950 with the aim of uniting the many smaller stations that had been dispersed throughout mid and downtown Manhattan. These smaller stations were usually connected to major hotels or train stations, and often created traffic by clogging up the streets. The city then decided to create one consolidating structure that would be close to the Lincoln Tunnel, which runs under the Hudson River connecting New York City to New jersey and thus to all the southern and western states.
The original structure just stood between 8th and 9th Avenue and 40th and 41st Streets, taking up the entire block. In 1979 a north wing was added between 41st and 42nd, expanding the dimension of the terminal by 50 percent. Although the area around the station, especially 42nd Street, was not the safest in the city in the 70s and 80s, commuters and long-distance travelers still kept pouring in, showing how important Port Authority was for New York.
Today, the most popular landmark in the terminal is the statue of Ralph Kramden, a bus driver from the beloved American sitcom The Honeymooners played by comedian Jackie Gleeson.