A famous Queens landmark recently celebrated a historic birthday.
See how the tunnel looked when it was under construction
The Queens Midtown Tunnel, which links Queens and Manhattan and was originally created to relieve congestion on the East River bridges, is now 70-years-old as of Monday, November 15.
The tunnel was originally designed to provide an easier commute for Queens residents as well as new opportunities for New Yorkers who were still reeling from the effects of the Great Depression.
“The purpose was to be optimistic about the future,” said Richard Hourahan, Collections Manager of the Queens Historical Society, about the construction of what was at the time the largest, non-federal public works project in the nation’s history. “This was more concrete. It employed people, motivated many other public works projects.”
Inspired by the Holland Tunnel, civic and business groups began lobbying for an East River tunnel to combat the increase of traffic at the East River bridges. Though plans were set in the early 1920s, the stock market crash of 1929 put the plans on hold. Not until 1935, under President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal program did the funding for the project come through.
Ground-breaking for the Queens Midtown Tunnel took place on October 2, 1936, and in the next three years that followed, the tunnel’s two tubes were hollowed out using dynamite, drills and four circular cutting shields, roughly 31-feet in diameter. Behind each shield were construction workers who assembled the 32-inch wide cast iron rings that line the tunnel, working at a steady rate of 18 feet per week.
In its first year of operation, over 4 million vehicles used the tunnel, creating what Hourahan calls the “Inauguration of the Auto-age.” With more routes for traveling in and out of Manhattan, residents were able to move from overcrowded areas into spacious communities.
“Giving houses and jobs changed the face of America and New York” said Hourahan, on how the Tunnel provided jobs for workers after the years of struggling following the Great Depression.
In 2009 alone, more than 27 million vehicles travel through the tunnel of two tubes and four lanes which span more than 6,000 feet. Totaling more than 54 million hours of labor, after 70 years of service the Queens Midtown Tunnel still connects the outskirts of Queens and Long Island to the Manhattan,
“From its inception, The Queens Midtown Tunnel was a key link in the metropolitan region’s transportation network, providing a vital conduit for businesses, daily commuters and families exploring the cultural riches that exist from Manhattan to Queens and Long Island,” said MTA Bridges and Tunnels president Jim Ferrara.
