So after 3 years of abandoning the original tribute, reason being is because I thought all the Old Gens would be retired by the end of 2021, but thanks to Queens, the Old Gens lived for way much longer than that. The dominos of retired followed as: East New York, Manhattanville, Michael J Quill, Mother Clara Hale, Queens Village, Baisley Park, LaGuardia, and JFK/Far Rockaway. To this current day, JFK and Far Rockaway still rotate buses, but being that the only Old Gen containing a Far Rockaway label/sticker was 3662. When 3662 retired, there rest of the Old Gens that remained were in JFK. And to this day, JFK still has two active Old Gens that may retire by the end of next week. 3708 and 3751.
Concerning me, the Old Gens were definitely a fleet I for sure had growing up with in Manhattan. Going to my elementary school using the M2, riding a "skinny font square bus" (2005-06 Orion VII OG HEV which used Luminator Horizon), then coming back to find a "green slimy font square bus" (2002-04 Orion VII OG HEV which used Luminator Flipdot), that somehow always coincidentally skipped the bus stop, and then getting a frickin Next Gen (Which at the time Manhattanville only had the 2008 Orion VII NG HEVs). The worst part about it is that not only did I not have a good phone, but even with my trash phone, I wouldn't really fan buses like that. Even when I finally gained access in 2018 to do so. It took me until late 2020 to finally get fully involved with buses and actually start fanning them more often. But being that there were new deliveries finally coming in, such as the 2021 LFS HEV order, I knew I had to actually bust my ass to get as many Old Gens as I could, being that I really didn't try with the previous Flipdot and Slimfonts like that until it was too late. Storing it into a USB for about 2 and a half years, I'm finally able to combine my clips and present y'all this tribute. My takeaway is, don't take what you have for granted. Sometimes, a person can't truly understand someone or something's value until its gone. Gone too soon, rest in peace to the Old Gens, and thank you for serving us for 18 years!
Honorable mention: My favorite units out of each depot btw:
Manhattanville - 6690 and 6700 (Later transferred over to Michael J Quill)
Mother Clara Hale - 6789
Michael J Quill - 6700
Queens Village - 6904
JFK - 3668
Far Rockaway - 3662
Baisley Park - 3773
LaGuardia - 3594
Music used:
OneRepublic - All The Right Moves