New York City's Underwater Highway Explained

A tunnel between Brooklyn and the Battery in Lower Manhattan was one of several traffic-relief projects in the late 1930s conceived by Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia to remedy vehicular congestion on New York City’s existing thoroughfares. Extending just over 9,000 feet, the tunnel is the longest continuous underwater road in North America. Upon its construction, it has been featured in popular movies, served an essential purpose in one of the city’s darkest days, and was even the cause of some destruction. This New York City tunnel has been a part of many historic moments.

IT’S HISTORY - Weekly tales of American Urban Decay as presented by your host Ryan Socash.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction: A tunnel for traffic-relief project
02:36 Proposals for a crossing
03:19 Robert Moses was asked for funding
04:29 Stopping the Bridge project
05:57 Ole Singstad directed construction
07:28 The world’s longest continuous underwater vehicular tunnel
08:09 Destruction of Little Syria
10:40 the first significant rehabilitation in its history
12:24 instrumental in providing aid during 9/11
13:35 The tunnel was closed before hurricane sandy
15:21 E-ZPass and Tolls
16:09 Brooklyn Battery Tunnel in Pop Cutlure
16:35 Closing: Tunnel Authority broke ground with the Brooklyn Battery Bridge.

» CONTACT

» CREDIT
Scriptwriter - Camrin Dekis,
Editor - Piotr Kubiak
Host - Ryan Socash
Sponsor - MagellanTV

» SOURCES

» NOTICE
Some images may be used for illustrative purposes only - always reflecting the accurate time frame and content. Events of factual error / mispronounced word/spelling mistakes - retractions will be published in this section.

[holton]

Please do a video on the Brooklyn-to-Manhattan collection of train tunnels. I spent many hundreds of hours in the Montague Street Tunnel on the R train in the 1980s and would enjoy a video that covers the Brooklyn tunnels. THANKS!

[DaveTexas]

Really cool video! This is the only one of Manhattan’s automobile tunnels I’ve never been through. The history of all the tunnels is interesting, but this one is really quite fascinating.

[konstantinohhh]

I always wondered about that scene with the large vent in MIB. Now I know! Thanks!!

[pcdoctor]

You always have the best videos around thank you for being a good Channel on YouTube

[charlesclager]

Love every single video you post. Thank you so much !!

[steves]

Went thru it yesterday. I recall many years ago tunnel cops walking on cat walks alone the tunnel.

[TairnKA]

At 7:17; I presume you meant Truman, not Roosevelt attending the opening in 1950, due to Roosevelt dyeing before WWII had ended?

[nyrmetros]

Please finish the New York City tunnels with the East River train tunnels! There is the 4 track Pennsylvania Railroad tunnel, the Steinway Tunnel which has the IRT 7 train, the Joralemon Street Tunnel which has the IRT 4- 5 train, the 63rd street tunnel which has the LIRR and the F train, amongst others.

[xBINARYGODx]

It's literally impossible to go into any detail about Moses and not make him look like a total a$$hole. How impressive for him.

[jimcabezola]

How did "President Roosevelt " attend the "May 25th 1950" opening of the Battery tunnel? He passed away in April 1945. Harry S. Truman was the US President in May of 1950.

[Camaro]

@It'sHistory, Have you done a video on Halifax Nova Scotia? I think the Halifax explosion would be an interesting video and its military history with its many forts

[KevRalph]

I used to take that tunnel everyday to work and then I got a job in Jersey City instead so no longer need for the tunnel but it was a nice speedy entrance and exit unlike the Holland tunnel which had a ton of traffic.

[portow]

I was expecting more of an engineering video - how it was dug (is it underwater or underground), how the vents work, what does it connect to, what damage was done during Sandy, how is it maintained...

Enjoyable history, nonetheless.

[jasonjackson]

Being an American citizen from the Great Lakes area I am absolutely 100% astonished New York and the New York workers can actually take care of the extremely crazy business dealing with the issues that the city of New York brings to its people and workers and how much they can fix a problem and an issue with such perfection!.. that's a big thumbs up to the grit of the New York workers and their leaders!

[fredashay]

I think they need to build a capacitor tunnel next to the battery tunnel. Maybe a transistor tunnel and a diode tunnel, too.

[JasonFlorida]

It had to take more that 205 cubic yards of concrete. I am no expert but used to build gunite swimming pools. I think that you are missing some zeros after that 205? I really would be interested in knowing what it actually took

[eileencoffey]

You left out that after Sandy, they also made the tunnel watertight by placing large vault doors at the tunnel entrances on both sides.

[dgrunwald]

Never heard that name still called the battery tunnel as you indicated

[sgrant]

It is still and will always be the BB tunnel just as it will always be the tappan zee bridge...this renaming stuff is absurd

[DaveSCameron]

Impressive indeed and took a couple of decades to construct, incredible tunnel. Our grandfather worked on the Old Birkenhead!/Liverpool Tunnel under the River Mersey in the 1930s. Called the Queensway Tunnel and still in operation today. 👍 🇺🇸🇬🇧