George Segal's "The Commuters" is a poignant 1982 sculpture installed in the main ticket area of New York City's bustling Port Authority Bus Terminal, capturing the quiet endurance of daily urban life. Crafted from bronze figures coated in a white, graffiti-resistant patina, it features three weary, life-sized commuters—a man in a rumpled suit, another reading a newspaper, and a woman in a coat—standing in line at a departure gate, frozen in silent resignation. They wait before an open door emblazoned with "NEXT DEPARTURE," overlooked by a salvaged clock from the terminal's original structure, its hour hand deliberately removed to evoke timeless limbo.
Segal, a New Jersey resident and veteran commuter himself, won a $100,000 commission for the piece as part of the terminal's $236 million expansion, aiming to honor these "long-suffering people" as unsung heroes amid the grind of two-hour daily treks. Grounded directly on the floor without a pedestal, the work blends seamlessly into the fluorescent-lit chaos, often drawing amused travelers who unwittingly join the queue or circle it with quiet smiles. Unveiled in April 1982, it remains a subtle monument to resilience in one of the world's busiest transit hubs.
George Segal (1924–2000) was an American sculptor and painter, best known for his life-sized, white plaster cast sculptures that captured the quiet drama of everyday life. Born in New York City to Jewish immigrant parents from Eastern Europe, Segal grew up in the Bronx and later in New Jersey, where his family ran a kosher butcher shop and a chicken farm. Initially a painter, he studied at Cooper Union, Pratt Institute, and NYU, earning a B.S. in art education in 1949. His early work leaned toward abstract expressionism, but by the late 1950s, he shifted to sculpture, seeking a more direct engagement with human experience.
Segal pioneered a unique casting technique using plaster-soaked bandages to mold figures from live models, preserving their gestures and textures in stark white forms. These sculptures, often placed in real-world settings like diner booths or bus stops, as in *The Commuters* (1982) at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, evoke isolation and resilience. A key figure in the Pop Art movement, though distinct for his emotional depth, Segal’s works are held in major collections like MoMA and the Whitney. His later public commissions, including Holocaust memorials, reflected his social consciousness. Segal lived and worked on his New Jersey farm until his death, leaving a legacy of art that humanizes the mundane.
George Segal: The Commuters / Port Authority Bus Terminal, New York. August 29, 2025.
