railway leased the Bleecker Street and Fulton Ferry Railroad, which ran from 14th Street on the Hudson River to Fulton Ferry on the East River, on January 10, 1876, for a duration of 99 years. Both of these railroads were leased by larger companies. The lease lasted until April 25, 1893, at which time the Twenty-third Street Railway was leased to the Houston, West Street and Pavonia Ferry Railroad. The Houston, West Street and Pavonia Ferry Railroad was consolidated into the Metropolitan Street Railway on December 12, 1893. The Metropolitan Street Railway was leased by the Interurban Street Railway on April 1, 1902, which changed its name to the New York City Railway on February 10, 1904. That company went bankrupt in 1908, and the Metropolitan Street Railway separated on July 31. Upon consolidation, it became the 23rd Street Crosstown Line. Bus service Trolley service along the line ended on April 8, 1936. A New York City Omnibus Corporation bus route (M18-15) replaced the 23rd Street Crosstown Line trolley. The bus was taken over by the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority (MaBSTOA) in 1962. The route became the M26 on July 1, 1974 as part of the renumbering of bus routes in Manhattan. The bus route had been numbered 15, and before its renumbering there were three Manhattan routes numbered 15. The 15 Jackson Heights–Fifth Avenue was renumbered to M32 at the same time, while the M15 Second and First Avenue line retained its number. The bus was renamed the M23 to match the street it ran on in 1989. In 2010, the M23 was one of seven local bus routes in Manhattan to participate in a PayPass smart card program. This program was a pilot program meant to find a suitable smart card technology to replace the MetroCard. Select Bus Service The M23 route has been traditionally crowded, with 4,862,343 riders in 2010 and 4,075,850 riders in 2018, or 15,000 riders a day. It is also among the city's slowest bus routes, running at an average of in 2000, and by 2015. In 2003, the Straphangers Campaign gave the M23 the "Pokey Award" because it ran slower than any other bus route in all of New York City, at an average speed of ; it also received that distinction in 2007 when it also ran at an average of , slightly faster than the average walking speed