Many readers want me to know that the Chinatown “Fung Wa” bus to Boston has been popular for years with adventurous yuppies. Though why anyone would want to go to Boston, beats me.

Other readers of the less adventurous sort have told me I should warn people that these buses have a high rate of breakdowns and accidents. To which my response would be something like the subway controller’s line in that fine movie The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3:

Lt. Garber [Walter Matthau]: Get off it, will you, Frank? My only priority is saving the lives of these passengers.
Controller [Dick O’Neill]: Screw the goddamn passengers! What the hell did they expect for their lousy 35 cents—to live forever?

Still, today, I think, the guiding philosophy of the Metropolitan Transit Authority.