Q. Is it true there were once plans to connect Staten Island to the subway system?

A. Yes, and unlike many transit proposals in New York history, this one actually got to the point of physical labor: about 150 feet of what was supposed to be a tunnel to Staten Island still exists under Owl’s Head Park in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

It all came down to a war between several opposing forces, with the added intrigue of a mayor bent on revenge against a former employer.

In the early 1900s, two private companies, Brooklyn Rapid Transit and Interborough Rapid Transit, controlled the city’s rapid transit railways. Service extended to four boroughs; Brooklyn Rapid Transit saw an opening and announced plans for a tunnel to the fifth in 1912.

Excitement in Staten Island soon followed. “Richmond listens for subway noise,” The New York World reported in 1913, referring to the borough’s name at the time. Real estate developers were more direct, “Buy Soon or Be Sorry” advised an advertisement.