On This Day

Thursday 25th May 1950

70 years ago

The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel, known as the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, a toll road in New York City which crosses under the East River at its mouth, connecting the Borough of Brooklyn on Long Island with the Borough of Manhattan, officially opened. The tunnel nearly passes underneath Governors Island, but does not provide vehicular access to the island. It consists of twin tubes, carrying four traffic lanes, and at 9,117 feet (2,779 m) is the longest continuous underwater vehicular tunnel in North America. The Battery in the tunnel's name refers to the southernmost tip of Manhattan, site of an artillery battery during the earliest days of New York City. The tunnel is owned by the City of New York and operated by the MTA Bridges and Tunnels, an affiliate agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. It has a total of four ventilation buildings: two in Manhattan, one in Brooklyn, and one on Governors Island that can completely change the air inside the tunnel every 90 seconds. The tunnel was officially named after former New York Governor Hugh Carey in December 2010. In preparation for Hurricane Sandy the tunnel was closed and completely flooded on October 29, 2012, after a severe storm surge. It reopened on November 13 following a cleanup process that included the removal of an estimated 86 million gallons of water. The tunnel was the last New York City river crossing to reopen.