250-808: The Queens–Midtown Tunnel (often referred to as the Midtown Tunnel ) is a vehicular tunnel under the East River in New York City , connecting the boroughs of Manhattan and Queens . The tunnel consists of a pair of tubes, each carrying two lanes. The west end of the tunnel is located on the East Side of Midtown Manhattan , while the east end of the tunnel is located in Long Island City in Queens. Interstate 495 (I-495) runs
500-467: A geyser of water 250 feet (76 m) in the air. The blast has been described as "the largest planned explosion before testing began for the atomic bomb", although the detonation at the Battle of Messines in 1917 was larger. Some of the rubble from the detonation was used in 1890 to fill the gap between Great Mill Rock and Little Mill Rock, merging the two islands into a single island, Mill Rock . At
750-677: A 90-mile (140 km) highway, the Central Motor Expressway, extending east to Riverhead in Suffolk County , Long Island, were first reported by regional newspaper Newsday in late 1953. This length included the Queens–Midtown Expressway, as well as the section of the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway south of the junction with the Queens–Midtown Expressway. Suffolk County supervisors endorsed
1000-488: A bond issue that would have funded the project. By 1976, officials were again seeking to widen I-495 using federal funds. The federal government gave $ 270 million (equivalent to $ 1.64 billion in 2023 ) for the widening of I-495 in the 1970s, but the state government decided in 1978 to divide this funding among several projects. The state allocated $ 80 million (equivalent to $ 293 million in 2023 ) to improve medians and widen shoulders on I-495 in Queens. By
1250-456: A bridge built in that location from Manhattan to Queens. The Queensboro Bridge was eventually built south of this location. In 2011, NY Waterway started operating its East River Ferry line. The route was a 7-stop East River service that runs in a loop between East 34th Street and Hunters Point , making two intermediate stops in Brooklyn and three in Queens. The ferry, an alternative to
1500-670: A bridge or a tunnel. The city began conducting a study on the feasibility of constructing the Triborough Tunnel, as well as the Triborough Bridge between Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx . The study's authors suggested that the city construct a network of parkways and expressways, including a major highway leading from Long Island to the Manhattan-Queens tunnel. The Queens Planning Commission also recommended
1750-581: A ceremony on December 31, 1936, and four months later, the city bought the entire city block surrounding the shaft was located. The first $ 500,000 allocation of PWA funding was released in January 1937. A 40-foot-deep (12 m) layer of clay was placed at the bottom of the East River, atop the tunnel's path, to prevent air leakages and to maintain air pressure within the tubes. This "blanket" contained about 250,000 cubic yards (190,000 m) of clay. This
2000-561: A combination of advertising and free publicity in news articles, and they were heavily patronized even outside of peak hours. The lanes were completed on June 30, 2005, at which point they ran from exit 32 in eastern Queens to exit 64 at Medford in Suffolk County. The lanes had cost $ 880 million (equivalent to $ 1.32 billion in 2023 ) in total. NYSDOT officials estimated that, during rush hours, it would take 45 minutes to travel between exits 32 and 64 using
2250-672: A combined $ 58.4 million, from the Public Works Administration (PWA) that September. Two months later, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) offered to lend $ 47.1 million of the tunnel's cost if the PWA granted the remaining $ 11.3 million balance. In response to the RFC's offer, PWA chairman Harold L. Ickes stated that his agency had $ 32.7 million readily available for the construction of
2500-481: A commission to study traffic congestion on New York City bridges and tunnels. Local civic groups felt that it would be inadequate to simply increase capacity on existing crossings like the Queensboro Bridge , since there were no roads connecting Long Island with Midtown Manhattan. The city ultimately declined to give its immediate support to the Triborough Tunnel proposal. In April 1927, civic groups formed
2750-767: A concession to homeowners, the HOV lanes were narrowed and built within the existing roadbed, and the bridges were largely kept as is. Starting in 1998, I-495 was rebuilt between exit 15 (Van Dam Street) and exit 22 (Grand Central Parkway). The renovation cost $ 200 million (equivalent to $ 349 million in 2023 ) and entailed renovating the highway's main and service roads, improving bridges, and replacing drains. The service roads for exit 19 were rebuilt between 74th Street and Queens Boulevard. There were also plans to rebuild westbound exit 16 to Greenpoint Avenue in Long Island City. The state announced
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#17327755717703000-681: A corresponding limited-access expressway on the Manhattan side, connecting to the Lincoln Tunnel, was still undecided. The Manhattan entrance and exit ramps eliminated the St. Gabriel Church , which was later replaced by construction of the Church of Our Saviour on Park Avenue . By early 1938, costs were rising quickly, and only 65% of the contracts had been awarded. Tunnel Authority Commissioner Friedman stated that if costs were to keep increasing at
3250-536: A dam at Roosevelt Island (then Blackwell's Island) to create a wet basin for shipping. Filling in part of the river was also proposed in 1867 by engineer James E. Serrell, later a city surveyor, but with emphasis on solving the problem of Hell Gate. Serrell proposed filling in Hell Gate and building a "New East River" through Queens with an extension to Westchester County . Serrell's plan – which he publicized with maps, essay and lectures as well as presentations to
3500-399: A farmer collecting 20 oxcarts worth of menhaden using simple fishing nets deployed from the shore. The combination of more sewage, due to the availability of more potable water – New York's water consumption per capita was twice that of Europe – indoor plumbing, the destruction of filter feeders, and the collapse of the food chain, damaged the ecosystem of the waters around New York, including
3750-645: A finance magnate who directed the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and the New York Municipal Railways System. Harding used his influence to promote the development of Long Island's roadways, lending strong support to Robert Moses 's "great parkway plan". Harding also urged construction of a highway from Queens Boulevard to the Nassau County Line, in order to provide better access to Oakland Country Club, where he
4000-432: A half-block, where it splits into three exit ramps. One ramp continues westbound to 37th Street, while the other two connect to Tunnel Exit Street , which runs south to 34th Street and north to 41st Street. The northernmost block of Tunnel Exit Street, between 40th and 41st Streets, was sold to private interests in 1961 but continues to be in public use. The southern tube rises to ground level east of Second Avenue, where it
4250-550: A high air pressure, each man worked two 30-minute shifts per day, punctuated by a 6-hour break in a depressurized chamber so that they would not get decompression sickness . On the Queens side, it was proposed to link the tunnel to what is now I-495. Eventually, officials agreed to construct the 2.5-mile (4.0 km) link to what is now the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, forming part of a longer highway that connected directly to LaGuardia Airport . The status of
4500-486: A later project. Civic groups continued to advocate for the canceled Brooklyn spur even after construction started. The federal government tentatively allocated $ 58.3 million for the tunnel's construction in January 1936. The allotment was composed of the RFC loan and PWA grant, and it was expected to be paid off by revenue from tolls and bonds. The same month, the New York State Legislature organized
4750-406: A margin of error of less than 0.5 inches (13 mm). In January 1940, another construction milestone was reached when the last of 1,622 metal rings were installed in the tubes. The fans were being installed in the ventilation buildings, and property at the Queens portal was being demolished to make way for the tunnel approaches. By May 1940, only three contracts remained to be awarded, and the tunnel
5000-652: A monorail to alleviate congestion on I-495 in Queens. These plans did not come to fruition, and, by the late 1960s, average rush-hour speeds were about five miles per hour (8.0 km/h). The Queens section of I-495 alone carried 180,000 vehicles per day. Major chokepoints existed at the interchanges with I-278, the Grand Central Parkway, I-678, I-295, and the Cross Island Parkway. The westbound roadway between Junction Boulevard and 108th Street also suffered from severe congestion, as did
5250-549: A new canalized East River, only this time from Flushing Bay to Jamaica Bay . He would also expand Brooklyn into the Upper Harbor, put up a dam from Brooklyn to Staten Island , and make extensive landfill in the Lower Bay. At around the same time, in the 1920s, John A. Harriss, New York City's chief traffic engineer, who had developed the first traffic signals in the city, also had plans for the river. Harriss wanted to dam
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#17327755717705500-401: A plan to renovate I-495 in the vicinity of Alley Pond Park and the Cross Island Parkway in 1995. In 2000, Pataki and New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani announced that this segment of I-495 between exits 29 and 32, near Alley Pond Park and the Cross Island Parkway, would be rebuilt at a cost of $ 112 million (equivalent to $ 188 million in 2023 ). The project was announced after
5750-570: A portable machine that gave out pure oxygen. Despite the precautions taken to avoid sudden depressurization of the tubes, about 300 cases of decompression sickness were recorded during the construction process. The project was about 25% completed by September 1938. Workers primarily dug underwater using tunnelling shields that drilled inward from both portals of each tube, but used dynamite to blast through thick sheets of rock. Afterward, steel rings, each composed of 14 sections which individually weighed up to 3,500 pounds (1,600 kg), were laid within
6000-592: A six-lane bridge should be built instead, since a bridge would save an estimated $ 36 million compared to the tunnel. This plan was endorsed by Brooklyn borough president Raymond V. Ingersoll and State Senator Thomas C. Desmond . Robert Moses , the chairman of the Triborough Bridge Authority (TBA), also supported a bridge, but for a separate reason: he held a grudge against the Tunnel Authority because he had been rejected from running
6250-582: A six-lane elevated route, 10 stories above the city streets to allow for commercial development both above and below the skyway deck. At Second Avenue , it would swing north for connections with the FDR Drive. Between First and Second avenues, ramps would be constructed to provide access to the Queens–;Midtown Tunnel. In December 1965, Moses canceled his plans for the MME due to opposition from
6500-631: A system of highways that would traverse the New York City area. The plan was to cost $ 800 million (equivalent to $ 13.6 billion in 2023 ), and, in February 1945, the city agreed to pay $ 60 million (equivalent to $ 805 million in 2023 ) of that cost. That November, the city, state, and federal governments agreed to fund several new highways in New York City. Among these was the Queens Midtown Expressway, which
6750-642: A then-new lighting technology that allowed drivers to more quickly adjust to the sunlight upon leaving the tunnel. One hundred and fifty workers were hired and trained to operate the tunnel. The first paying customer was Henry Sokovit of Queens. In a report published in August 1939, the New York City Tunnel Authority had estimated that the tunnel would carry 10 million vehicles in its first year and would reach its 16-million annual-vehicle capacity by 1952. Against expectation, traffic counts in
7000-668: A viaduct into the tunnel. A toll plaza was formerly located here. Exits 13 and 14 for I-495 are located just east of the former toll plaza. Exit 13 is located right underneath the Pulaski Bridge and contains an eastbound-only exit and entrance to and from Borden Avenue. Exit 14, located immediately east of exit 13, contains an eastbound exit and westbound entrance to the tunnel from New York State Route 25A (21st Street). Eastbound traffic entering from Exit 13 intersects with traffic exiting to Exit 14, which must stop and yield to each other. Westbound traffic entering from Exit 14 can enter
7250-463: A westbound high-occupancy vehicle lane . The 6,414-foot-long (1,955 m) northern tube is slightly longer than the 6,272-foot-long (1,912 m) southern tube. Although the tubes' portals in Queens are located side by side, the Manhattan portals are slightly offset from each other. The Queens–Midtown Tunnel's eastern end is in Long Island City , where the Interstate 495 (I-495) descends from
7500-569: A wide, grassy median , the asphalt road surface is replaced by a concrete surface, and the expressway is no longer illuminated by streetlights, reflecting the road's location in a more rural area of Long Island. From NY 112 east, the expressway runs through more rural, woodland areas on its trek towards Riverhead . At exit 66 (County Route 101), the service roads become fragmented, and they fully terminate at exit 68 ( William Floyd Parkway ). Exit 70 ( CR 111 ) in Manorville
7750-418: Is a rectangular tower located in the center of Borden Avenue between Second and Fifth Streets. Due to its location in the middle of Borden Avenue, traffic along the road drives around the building. The two buildings originally contained a combined 23 fans, which were replaced in the mid-2000s. The ventilation system is capable of completely filtering the tubes' air within 90 seconds. The Queens portal also abuts
Queens–Midtown Tunnel - Misplaced Pages Continue
8000-541: Is dominated by residential neighborhoods consisting of large apartment buildings and parkland (much of which is dotted with the ruins of older structures). The largest land mass in the River south of Roosevelt Island is U Thant Island , an artificial islet created during the construction of the Steinway Tunnel (which currently serves the subway's 7 and <7> lines) . Officially named Belmont Island after one of
8250-424: Is fed by eastbound traffic on 36th Street, as well as by entrance ramps from the north and south. These entrance ramps, collectively referred to as Tunnel Approach Street , run between Second and First Avenues from 34th Street to 40th Street. Electronic toll gantries are located just outside the Manhattan portals. The Manhattan side was originally also supposed to link with the proposed Mid-Manhattan Expressway and
8500-467: Is implemented, drivers who enter Manhattan via the tunnel would pay a second toll. The congestion charges are planned to be collected via E-ZPass and tolls-by-mail. The charges are planned to vary based on time of day and vehicle class, but the congestion toll is expected to be charged once per day. Drivers who use the Queens–Midtown Tunnel to enter the congestion zone will receive a credit toward
8750-493: Is the last full interchange, as it is the last interchange that allows eastbound traffic on, and the first to allow westbound off. After exit 71 ( NY 24 /Nugent Drive), the expressway begins to narrow as it approaches its eastern terminus. Until 2008, just before exit 72 (NY 25), the three eastbound lanes narrowed to two, which, in turn, narrowed almost immediately to a single lane at exit 73, which lies 800 feet (240 m) east of exit 72. As of 2008 , of
9000-595: Is visible from the highway's westbound lanes. To the east, the freeway connects to the Cross Island Parkway at exit 31 in the park prior to exiting the New York City limits, crossing into Nassau County and becoming the LIE. Although the LIE name officially begins outside the New York City border, almost all locals and most signage use "the Long Island Expressway" or "the LIE" to refer
9250-466: Is without consideration of the tidal influence of the Harlem River, all of which creates a "dangerous cataract", as one ship's captain put it. The river is navigable for its entire length of 16 miles (26 km). In 1939 it was reported that the stretch from The Battery to the former Brooklyn Navy Yard near Wallabout Bay , a run of about 1,000 yards (910 m), was 40 feet (12 m) deep,
9500-547: The Army Corps of Engineers to continue Maillefert's work. In 1851, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , "under Lt. Bartlett of the Army Corps of Engineers," began to do the job, in an operation which was to span 70 years. The appropriated money was soon spent without appreciable change in the hazards of navigating the strait. An advisory council recommended in 1856 that the strait be cleared of all obstacles, but nothing
9750-634: The Art Deco style. The tower on the Manhattan side is an octagon-shaped structure located on a city-owned block bounded by 41st and 42nd Streets, First Avenue, and the FDR Drive. This block is shared with the Robert Moses Playground , a playground operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks), which was built along with the tunnel and opened in 1941. The Queens side's ventilation building
10000-587: The Dutch name Hellegat meaning either "bright strait" or "clear opening", given to the entire river in 1614 by explorer Adriaen Block when he passed through it in his ship Tyger – is a narrow, turbulent, and particularly treacherous stretch of the river. Tides from the Long Island Sound, New York Harbor and the Harlem River meet there, making it difficult to navigate, especially because of
10250-636: The East River (FDR) Drive , though neither connection was built. Additionally, the Queens side was to have connected to an expressway that would have reached to the Rockaway Peninsula . The tunnel was once designated as part of New York State Route 24 . In the mid-1940s, NY 24 was routed to follow the Crosstown Connecting Highway and the Queens–Midtown Expressway between Queens Boulevard in Woodside, Queens , and
Queens–Midtown Tunnel - Misplaced Pages Continue
10500-544: The High Line viaduct, was closed in 1981 during construction of the Javits Center . The first "Animal Walk" through the Queens–Midtown Tunnel memorialized a similar event ten years earlier, when the animals had walked to Manhattan through the Lincoln Tunnel due to a railroad strike. The walk became an annual tradition, and crowds of several hundred people would gather at the Queens–Midtown Tunnel's Queens portal to see
10750-532: The Hudson River and continue westward to New Jersey. The planned tunnel would originate at 10th Avenue on Manhattan's west side, run underneath Manhattan streets and the East River, and surface near Borden Avenue at the Long Island City side. The tunnel would contain exits to Oakland Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, as well as to Third Avenue in Manhattan. The Fifth Avenue Association further proposed that
11000-660: The IND Queens Boulevard Line west of the Woodhaven Boulevard station and go to Kissena Boulevard via a right-of-way parallel and adjacent to the LIE. In Phase I, it would have gone to Kissena Boulevard at Queens College and, in Phase ;II, to Fresh Meadows and Bayside . This "Northeastern Queens" line would have been built in conjunction with the planned widening of the expressway. The subway tracks would have been placed under
11250-472: The Lower East Side . The captain of the ship and the managers of the company that owned it were indicted, but only the captain was convicted; he spent 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 years of his 10-year sentence at Sing Sing Prison before being released by a federal parole board, and then pardoned by President William Howard Taft . Beginning in 1934, and then again from 1948 to 1966, the Manhattan shore of
11500-712: The MTA Bus Company , and the X63 , X64 and X68 , operated by MTA New York City Transit . All of these routes except the BM5, QM7, QM8, QM8 Super Express (SX), QM11, QM25, QM2 SX, QM5 SX, and QM20 SX use the tunnel for westbound travel only, as most of the routes use the Queensboro Bridge for eastbound travel. As of August 6, 2023, drivers pay $ 11.19 per car or $ 4.71 per motorcycle for tolls by mail/non-NYCSC E-Z Pass. E-ZPass users with transponders issued by
11750-881: The Mid-Manhattan Expressway ( MME , also called the Mid-Manhattan Elevated Expressway ) to the Lincoln Tunnel , which it would follow into New Jersey and connect to I-95 in Secaucus . The I-495 designation was assigned to the New Jersey approach to the tunnel in anticipation of the MME being completed. However, the project was canceled and the MME was officially removed from I-495 on January 1, 1970. The New Jersey stretch of I-495 became Route 495 in 1979. Manhattan Borough President Samuel Levy first proposed
12000-680: The New York City Subway system – as does the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and the Queens-Midtown Tunnel . (See Crossings below for details.) Also under the river is Water Tunnel #1 of the New York City water supply system , built in 1917 to extend the Manhattan portion of the tunnel to Brooklyn, and via City Tunnel #2 (1936) to Queens; these boroughs became part of New York City after the city's consolidation in 1898. City Tunnel #3 will also run under
12250-709: The New York City Tunnel Authority to construct the Queens–Midtown and Brooklyn–Battery Tunnels . Work on the Queens–Midtown Tunnel could start as soon as the city received the federal funds. The Tunnel Authority accepted the grant in March 1936, and the Queens–Midtown Tunnel became the United States' largest public works project that was not supervised by a federal agency. In April 1936, Manhattan borough president Samuel Levy suggested that
12500-833: The New York State Department of Public Works later modified the highway's route in the vicinity of Little Neck Parkway , near the Queens–Nassau border, because of complaints from residents. At Little Neck Parkway, Horace Harding Boulevard continued northeast and then eastward, whereas the LIE was to take a more southerly path. Work began on the Horace Harding Expressway in 1955. However, it soon encountered delays because of weather conditions, construction worker strikes , and difficulties in building across existing roads and swampy land. Business owners along Horace Harding Boulevard complained that
12750-705: The Queens–Midtown Tunnel , I-495 is known as the Long Island Expressway ( LIE ). Spanning approximately 66 miles (106 km), I-495 traverses Long Island from the western portal of the Queens–Midtown Tunnel in the New York City borough of Manhattan to County Route 58 (CR 58) in Riverhead in the east. I-495 intersects with I-295 in Bayside, Queens , through which it connects with I-95 . The 2017 route log erroneously shows
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#173277557177013000-410: The borough . A mile (1.6 km) after entering Queens, I-495 meets I-278 ( Brooklyn–Queens Expressway ) at exit 17, then briefly becomes a two-level, 12-lane highway traveling across Calvary Cemetery . Merging into one level at Maurice Avenue, I-495 continues through the neighborhoods of Maspeth , Elmhurst , and Rego Park . East of NY 25 ( Queens Boulevard ) in Rego Park, I-495 becomes
13250-411: The "Midtown Highway". The tunnel, the Midtown Highway, and the segment of Laurel Hill Boulevard between the highway and Queens Boulevard all became part of a realigned NY 24 in the mid-1940s. Parts of this highway were built on the right-of-way of a streetcar line that extended from Hunters Point to southern Flushing . In the 1940s, city planner Robert Moses proposed the construction of
13500-514: The 1980s, the stretch of I-495 between I-278 and the Grand Central Parkway was frequently carrying 110 percent of its capacity, and there were frequent accidents. In 1981, officials proposed several improvements for that highway segment, including adding a two-lane grade-separated service road between the two highways, realigning service roads at 69th and 108th streets, and improving entrance and exit ramps. Initially, I-495 lacked street lights in Nassau and Suffolk counties. As early as 1969,
13750-404: The 38th Street Tunnel Committee to advocate for the tunnel. The groups stated that the tunnel would act as a relief corridor for traffic from midtown Manhattan, which at the time had to use other crossings to the north or south. That June, the city voted to allocate $ 100,000 toward surveying sites and making test bores. Following news of this allotment, several more civic groups expressed support for
14000-451: The American East Coast. The Department of Docks was given the task of creating the master plan for the waterfront, and General George B. McClellan was engaged to head the project. McClellan held public hearings and invited plans to be submitted, ultimately receiving 70 of them, although in the end he and his successors put his own plan into effect. That plan called for the building of a seawall around Manhattan island from West 61st Street on
14250-432: The Americans at the Battle of Long Island , General George Washington was rounding up all the boats on the east shore of the river, in what is now Brooklyn, and used them to successfully move his troops across the river – under cover of night, rain, and fog – to Manhattan island, before the British could press their advantage. Thus, though the battle was a victory for the British, the failure of Sir William Howe to destroy
14500-455: The Blasting of Hell Gate traces Newton's work on this project from 1866 to 1885. On September 24, 1876, the Corps used 50,000 pounds (23,000 kg) of explosives to blast the rocks, which was followed by further blasting. The process was started by excavating under Hallets reef from Astoria . Cornish miners, assisted by steam drills, dug galleries under the reef, which were then interconnected. They later drilled holes for explosives. A patent
14750-402: The Broad Hollow Expressway. After the project was canceled in the 1970s, the west-to-northbound onramp was moved to nearby CR 3 (Pinelawn Road), and the original ramp was replaced with a park and ride . Exit 52 (Commack Road/ CR 4 ) was intended to be moved west to an interchange with the formerly proposed Babylon–Northport Expressway (realigned NY 231 ) in the vicinity of
15000-411: The Bronx on the North American mainland. Because of its connection to Long Island Sound, it was once also known as the Sound River . The tidal strait changes its direction of flow regularly, and is subject to strong fluctuations in its current, which are accentuated by its narrowness and variety of depths. The waterway is navigable for its entire length of 16 miles (26 km), and was historically
15250-408: The Bronx, and Sunswick Creek in Queens. Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the land north of the East River was occupied by the Siwanoys , one of many groups of Algonquin -speaking Lenapes in the area. Those of the Lenapes who lived in the northern part of Manhattan Island in a campsite known as Konaande Kongh used a landing at around the current location of East 119th street to paddle into
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#173277557177015500-403: The Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg and Queensboro Bridges, and the Ward's Island Footbridge, and terminates just before the Robert F. Kennedy Triboro Bridge when it connects to the Harlem River Drive . Between most of the FDR Drive and the River is the East River Greenway , part of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway . The East River Greenway was primarily built in connection with the building of
15750-437: The Continental Army when he had the opportunity allowed the Americans to continue fighting. Without the stealthy withdrawal across the East River, the American Revolution might have ended much earlier. Wallabout Bay on the River was the site of most of the British prison ships – most notoriously HMS Jersey – where thousands of American prisoners of war were held in terrible conditions. These prisoners had come into
16000-422: The East River Ferry as part of the system. In February 2012 the federal government announced an agreement with Verdant Power to install 30 tidal turbines in the channel of the East River. The turbines were projected to begin operations in 2015 and are supposed to produce 1.05 megawatts of power. The strength of the current foiled an earlier effort in 2007 to tap the river for tidal power . On May 7, 2017,
16250-465: The East River at Hell Gate and the Williamsburg Bridge, then remove the water, put a roof over it on stilts, and build boulevards and pedestrian lanes on the roof along with "majestic structures", with transportation services below. The East River's course would, once again, be shifted to run through Queens, and this time Brooklyn as well, to channel it to the Harbor. Periodically, merchants and other interested parties would try to get something done about
16500-457: The East River near 65th Street. Although the museum denied that any fossils had been dumped into the river, Reeves's allegations prompted commercial divers to search the river for evidence of mammoth bones. Throughout most of the history of New York City, and New Amsterdam before it, the East River has been the receptacle for the city's garbage and sewage. " Night men " who collected " night soil " from outdoor privies would dump their loads into
16750-426: The East River railroad tunnels to the south and the Steinway Tunnel to the north. Of the four shafts that were being constructed for the tunnel, only the Queens construction shaft had been completed. The next month, the Tunnel Authority had accepted a bid for the Midtown ventilation shaft, and it had been authorized to begin the shaft's construction immediately. Construction on the Manhattan ventilation shaft began with
17000-410: The East River segment would be complete by 1936. By July 1932, no contracts had been awarded because of a lack of funding, and the tunnel's cost had increased to $ 80 million. As the Midtown Tunnel plan faltered, the Board of Estimate approved the construction of other projects that had not been as extensively studied. In May 1935, Governor Herbert H. Lehman signed a bill that authorized the creation of
17250-401: The East River was authorized to be filled-in, this time to a point 400 feet beyond the low-water mark; the parts that had already been expanded to the low water mark – much of which had been devastated by a coastal storm in the early 1720s and a nor'easter in 1723 – were also expanded, narrowing the channel even further. What had been quiet beach land was to become new streets and buildings, and
17500-430: The East River wharves and slips to begin a long process of decay, until the area was finally rehabilitated in the mid-1960s, and the South Street Seaport Museum was opened in 1967. By 1870, the condition of the Port of New York along both the East and Hudson Rivers had so deteriorated that the New York State legislature created the Department of Docks to renovate the port and keep New York competitive with other ports on
17750-452: The East River's tides helped to power mills which ground grain to flour. By 1642 there was a ferry running on the river between Manhattan island and what is now Brooklyn, and the first pier on the river was built in 1647 at Pearl and Broad Streets. After the British took over the colony in 1664, which was renamed "New York", the development of the waterfront continued, and a shipbuilding industry grew up once New York started exporting flour. By
18000-403: The East River, almost beyond repair. Because of these changes to the ecosystem, by 1909, the level of dissolved-oxygen in the lower part of the river had declined to less than 65%, where 55% of saturation is the point at which the amount of fish and the number of their species begins to be affected. Only 17 years later, by 1926, the level of dissolved oxygen in the river had fallen to 13%, below
18250-501: The FDR Drive, although some portions were built as recently as 2002, and other sections are still incomplete. In 1963, Con Edison built the Ravenswood Generating Station on the Long Island City shore of the river, on land some of which was once stone quarries which provided granite and marble slabs for Manhattan's buildings. The plant has since been owned by KeySpan . National Grid and TransCanada ,
18500-577: The Grand Central Parkway and I-678. The expressway continues east as a six-lane highway, veering to the southeast to bypass Kissena Park before curving back to the northeast to meet the Clearview Expressway ( I-295 ) at the northern edge of Cunningham Park . Past I-295, I-495 passes by the " Queens Giant ", the oldest and tallest tree in the New York metropolitan area . The tree, located just north of I-495 in Alley Pond Park ,
18750-622: The Grumman Calverton Naval Air Base between exits 70 and 71. This would have provided an additional interchange known as exit 70A. Exit 71 itself was intended to be a cloverleaf interchange with CR 94 (Nugent Drive) and the Hamptons Spur of the LIE. After the Hamptons Spur proposal was canceled, the plans for exit 71 were altered to call for a complete diamond interchange. Plans for I-495 called for it to extend across Manhattan on
19000-638: The HOV lanes, as opposed to 90 to 120 minutes using the general-purpose lanes. Construction of the HOV lanes within Queens was delayed due to opposition from local officials and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation . The HOV segment in Queens was canceled altogether in 1998, when Governor George Pataki announced that the additional lanes between exits 30 and 32 in Queens would be entrance and exit lanes, rather than HOV lanes. The HOV project would have rebuilt many bridges along I-495 between exits 33 and 40 in Nassau County. As
19250-545: The Horace Harding Expressway. I-495 heads northeast through Corona to Flushing Meadows–Corona Park , intersecting both the Grand Central Parkway and the Van Wyck Expressway ( I-678 ) within the park limits. Because the interchanges in this area are close together, the highway employs two sets of collector–distributor roads through this area: one between 69th and 99th streets and one between
19500-520: The Hudson, around The Battery , and up to East 51st Street on the East River. The area behind the masonry wall (mostly concrete but in some parts granite blocks) would be filled in with landfill, and wide streets would be laid down on the new land. In this way, a new edge for the island (or at least the part of it used as a commercial port) would be created. The department had surveyed 13,700 feet (4,200 m) of shoreline by 1878, as well as documenting
19750-435: The LIE between the Queens–Midtown Tunnel and Farmingdale, New York , in the late 1950s, and the designation was removed from the LIE altogether c. 1962 . The expressway and tunnel were designated as I-495 c. 1960. The two tubes were built with an exterior diameter of 31 feet (9.4 m), a roadway 21 feet (6.4 m) wide, and a maximum vehicular height limit of 13 feet 1 inch (3.99 m). As of 2015,
20000-623: The LIE within Suffolk County—a 15-mile (24 km) section from Melville to Veterans Memorial Highway (now NY 454 ) near Islandia —was opened to traffic between 1962 and 1963. A five-mile (8.0 km) extension of the LIE from Oyster Bay Road to NY 110 opened in August 1962, bringing the highway into Suffolk County. The rest of the highway to Islandia was constructed simultaneously. A 3.5-mile (5.6 km) extension from NY 110 to Deer Park Road opened in October 1962, followed
20250-516: The LIE would carry 80,000 vehicles per day by 1970. In part, because of induced demand , the highway was ineffective in reducing traffic. By 1962, the LIE had reached its peak capacity, carrying between 125,000 and 150,000 vehicles per day. Officials considered constructing four reversible lanes above the existing highway in Queens; this plan would have cost about $ 100 million (equivalent to $ 771 million in 2023 ). New York City's commissioner of highways also proposed constructing
20500-542: The MME connector in 1936. The plan called for an expressway link crossing Midtown Manhattan near 34th Street , then, as now, a heavily traveled crosstown surface street. The original idea was a pair of two-lane tunnels, the MME connecting the West Side Highway on Hudson River and the FDR Drive on the East River . By 1949, Moses had proposed a six-lane elevated expressway along 30th Street. The expressway
20750-656: The Manhattan–Queens tunnel, as well as another tunnel under the Narrows between Brooklyn and Staten Island . Afterward, the New York City Board of Transportation hurried to submit plans for the Triborough Tunnel's construction. In January 1930, after the Midtown Hudson Tunnel between Manhattan and New Jersey was approved, engineers initiated a study to examine a possible connection with
21000-536: The NYSDOT built service roads along I-495 in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, and it constructed a partial interchange with I-678. Originally, I-495's westbound and eastbound roadways in Queens were separated by a median measuring three to eight feet (0.91 to 2.44 m) wide, with a chainlink fence and emergency telephones. In 1960, state officials announced that they would install a Jersey barrier in
21250-550: The New York City Subway, cost $ 4 per one-way ticket. It was instantly popular: from June to November 2011, the ferry saw 350,000 riders, over 250% of the initial ridership forecast of 134,000 riders. In December 2016, in preparation for the start of NYC Ferry service the next year, Hornblower Cruises purchased the rights to operate the East River Ferry. NYC Ferry started service on May 1, 2017, with
21500-572: The New York E‑ZPass Customer Service Center pay $ 6.94 per car or $ 3.02 per motorcycle. Mid-Tier NYCSC E-Z Pass users pay $ 8.36 per car or $ 3.57 per motorcycle. All E-ZPass users with transponders not issued by the New York E-ZPass CSC will be required to pay Toll-by-mail rates. Open-road cashless tolling started on January 10, 2017. The tollbooths were dismantled, and drivers are no longer able to pay cash at
21750-453: The New York State Legislature to conduct an investigation into the Queens–Midtown Tunnel's costs. Moses's allegation also originated from his resentment toward the Tunnel Authority. Work proceeded quickly afterward, and the tunnel was 60% complete by May 1939. Construction was briefly halted in July when sandhogs went on strike for two weeks due to a disagreement between two unions. By that time,
22000-513: The New York state government. The portion of the highway in Nassau and Suffolk counties was built with equal funding from the federal and state governments. The first piece of what is now I-495 – the Queens–Midtown Tunnel , linking Manhattan and Queens – opened to traffic on November 15, 1940. The highway connecting the tunnel to Laurel Hill Boulevard was built around the same time and named
22250-579: The North Fork extension of the LIE. A New York City Subway line along the LIE corridor had been proposed in the 1929 and 1939 IND Second System plans as an extension of the BMT Broadway Line east of the 60th Street Tunnel , prior to the construction of the expressway. These were the predecessors to a line proposed in 1968 as part of the Program for Action . It would have split from
22500-543: The Queens–Midtown Expressway's route in Maspeth and South Elmhurst , thus reducing land acquisition costs by $ 769,000 (equivalent to $ 7 million in 2023 ). The city government awarded the first construction contracts for the highway in July 1953. The first section of the highway to open was the 1.1-mile (1.8 km) section between Laurel Hill Boulevard and Maurice Avenue, which opened on February 24, 1955. The six-lane highway ran through Calvary Cemetery . Afterward,
22750-486: The Queens–Midtown Tunnel Authority to construct the tunnel. Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia subsequently nominated three prominent businessmen to head the agency. La Guardia supported the immediate construction of the tunnel because he believed it would help traffic get from Manhattan to the 1939 New York World's Fair in Queens. The Queens–Midtown Tunnel Authority applied for a federal loan and grant, worth
23000-406: The Queens–Midtown Tunnel and Maurice Avenue was converted to a westbound HOV and bus lane during the morning rush hour. Plans to widen I-495 between I-278 and I-678 were announced by New York City mayor John Lindsay in January 1968. Two additional local lanes would be built beside the three existing lanes in each direction. The plans were postponed in 1974 after state voters failed to approve
23250-463: The Queens–Midtown Tunnel as something that would spur development in Queens. The tunnel was opened to the general public on November 15, 1940, at a ceremony on the Queens side. The attendees included the Queens and Manhattan borough presidents; U.S. Senator Robert F. Wagner ; and New York City Council president Newbold Morris , who was attending in La Guardia's stead. The tubes were fitted with
23500-464: The Queens–Midtown Tunnel was also the site of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Animal Walk. The Queens–Midtown Tunnel consists of two tubes that each carry two traffic lanes. The southern tube normally carries eastbound traffic to Queens, and the northern tube normally carries westbound traffic to Manhattan. During the morning rush hour, one lane in the southern tube is used as
23750-605: The Queens–Midtown Tunnel. In 1966, the New York City Board of Estimate approved plans to reconstruct the interchange with I-278 as a cloverleaf interchange ; the project was planned to cost around $ 70 million (equivalent to $ 502 million in 2023 ) and take three years. State officials awarded a contract for the project in June 1967, and work began that October. A ramp from the eastbound I-495 to I-278 opened in 1968. Starting in 1971, one lane of I-495 between
24000-618: The Queens–Midtown Tunnel. NY 24 continued through the tunnel and ended at First and Second Avenues in Manhattan, which at the time were designated as NY 1A . The Crosstown Connection Highway and the Midtown Highway were upgraded into the first portions of the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway (BQE) and the Queens Midtown Expressway , respectively, in the early 1950s. NY 24 was rerouted along
24250-441: The Queens–Nassau border from 160 to 260 feet (49 to 79 m). That May, the New York City Board of Estimate approved the widening of Horace Harding Boulevard and Power House Road and constructing an expressway in the road's median at a cost of $ 25 million (equivalent to $ 235 million in 2023 ). The project's cost had increased to $ 34 million (equivalent to $ 313 million in 2023 ) by October 1952. The same year,
24500-443: The Queens–Nassau border, to exit 64 (NY 112), in central Suffolk County. From 6:00 am to 10:00 am and from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm Monday through Friday, the HOV lanes are limited to busses, motorcycles, and Clean Pass vehicles without occupancy requirement and passenger vehicles with at least two occupants. Trailers and commercial trucks are always prohibited therein. Vehicles are only allowed to enter and exit
24750-667: The River's principal islands include Manhattan's Mill Rock , an 8.6-acre (3.5 ha) island located about 1000 feet from Manhattan's East 96th Street; Manhattan's 520-acre Randalls and Wards Islands , two formerly separate islands joined by landfill that are home to a large public park, a number of public institutions, and the supports for the Triborough and the Hell Gate Bridges ; the Bronx's Rikers Island , once under 100 acres (0.40 km ) but now over 400 acres (1.6 km ) following extensive landfill expansion after
25000-460: The Triborough Tunnel. Around this time, engineers revised the Triborough Tunnel's eastern approaches, moving the route of the Brooklyn spur from 11th to 21st Street. Exploratory borings were reportedly completed by June 1930. Three months later, the Board of Transportation modified the plans for the tunnel on the Manhattan side. The new plans included a "mixing plaza" at Second Avenue in Manhattan, where
25250-596: The Triborough), and the Hell Gate Bridge . On the south side of Wards Island, it is joined by the Harlem River . Newtown Creek on Long Island, which itself contained several tributaries, drains into the East River and forms part of the boundary between Queens and Brooklyn. Bushwick Inlet and Wallabout Bay on Long Island also drain into the strait on the Long Island side. The Gowanus Canal
25500-554: The area which ended in 1851 with a detailed and accurate map. By then Maillefert had cleared the rock "Baldheaded Billy", and it was reported that Pot Rock had been reduced to 20.5 feet (6.2 m), which encouraged the United States Congress to appropriate $ 20,000 for further clearing of the strait. However, a more accurate survey showed that the depth of Pot Rock was actually a little more than 18 feet (5.5 m), and eventually Congress withdrew its funding. With
25750-476: The authority. Moses's agency would be the only entity who could construct and operate a toll bridge entirely within the New York City limits, and the already-approved federal funding for the tunnel would be canceled if the project was delayed too long. New York City Tunnel Authority commissioner William Friedman , Mayor LaGuardia, and the Queens Borough Chamber of Commerce opposed a bridge, since
26000-475: The battles in the war: as many as 12,000 soldiers, sailors and civilians. The bodies were thrown overboard or were buried in shallow graves on the riverbanks, but their bones – some of which were collected when they washed ashore – were later relocated and are now inside the Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument in nearby Fort Greene Park . The existence of the ships and the conditions the men were held in
26250-476: The burgeoning sea trade. Many of the "water-lot" grants went to the rich and powerful families of the merchant class, although some went to tradesmen. By 1700, the Manhattan bank of the river had been "wharfed-out" up to around Whitehall Street , narrowing the strait of the river. After the signing of the Montgomerie Charter in the late 1720s, another 127 acres of land along the Manhattan shore of
26500-441: The cancelation of the HOV lanes within Queens. Work started in August 2000 and was substantially completed by 2005. The project included the restoration of 12 acres (4.9 ha) within the park, as well as the construction of new ramps to and from the Cross Island Parkway at exit 30. As part of the reconstruction, two cloverleaf ramps were replaced with flyovers, the shoulders in each direction were converted into travel lanes,
26750-549: The catastrophic failure of a Con Edison substation in Brooklyn caused a spill into the river of over 5,000 US gallons (18,927 L; 4,163 imp gal) of dielectric fluid , a synthetic mineral oil used to cool electrical equipment and prevent electrical discharges. (See below .) At the end of 2022, gold miner John Reeves claimed that up to 50 tons of ice age artifacts bound for the American Museum of Natural History , including mammoth remains, had been dumped into
27000-496: The center of maritime activities in the city. Technically a drowned valley , like the other waterways around New York City, the strait was formed approximately 11,000 years ago at the end of the Wisconsin glaciation . The distinct change in the shape of the strait between the lower and upper portions is evidence of this glacial activity. The upper portion (from Long Island Sound to Hell Gate), running largely perpendicular to
27250-507: The channel from Brooklyn Bridge Park to Manhattan. Mid-Manhattan Expressway Interstate 495 ( I-495 ) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in southeastern New York state. It is jointly maintained by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT), MTA Bridges and Tunnels (TBTA), and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ). East of
27500-432: The channel was by 1776 three fathoms deep (18 feet (5.5 m)), five fathoms deep (30 feet (9.1 m)) in the same spot by 1798, and when surveyed by Williams in 1807 had deepened to 7 fathoms (42 feet (13 m)) at low tide. What had been almost a bridge between two landforms that were once connected had become a fully navigable channel, thanks to the constriction of the East River and the increased flow it caused. Soon,
27750-507: The city create a bridge-and-tunnel authority to would raise funding and oversee construction and operations. The proposed agency would be similar to the Port of New York Authority , which was constructing and operating Hudson River crossings. The Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York formally endorsed a Queens–Manhattan crossing in January 1929, but stated that the crossing could be either
28000-576: The city government, which wanted to build a crosstown tunnel instead. The I-495 designation was removed from the expressway on January 1, 1970. In 1971, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller removed state plans for the MME, along with about a dozen other highway plans including I-78 through New York City, of which another crosstown highway known as the Lower Manhattan Expressway (LOMEX) was part. Long Island lobbied to extend I-495 east over NY 495. The extension took place in
28250-475: The city, state and federal governments – would have filled in the river from 14th Street to 125th Street. The New East River through Queens would be about three times the average width of the existing one at an even 3,600 feet (1,100 m) throughout, and would run as straight as an arrow for five miles (8.0 km). The new land, and the portions of Queens which would become part of Manhattan, adding 2,500 acres (1,000 ha), would be covered with an extension of
28500-436: The congestion charge during the day, and they would pay a discounted toll at night. East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary or strait in New York City . The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island , with the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens , from Manhattan Island, and from
28750-475: The construction of the Triborough Tunnel. An official plan for the Triborough Tunnel was released that June. The plan outlined an $ 86 million system of feeder highways, including the crosstown Manhattan tunnel and the tunnel spur from Brooklyn. The New York City Board of Estimate approved the use of tolls for the tunnel, which would be used toward tunnel maintenance and create revenue for the city. Subsequently, officials expected that tunnel construction could start by
29000-483: The core of the city's sea-borne trade. This infilling went as far north as Corlear's Hook . In addition, the city was given control of the western shore of the river from Wallabout Bay south. Expansion of the waterfront halted during the American Revolution , in which the East River played an important role early in the conflict. On August 28, 1776, while British and Hessian troops rested after besting
29250-476: The county executive for Nassau County had advocated for the installation of street lights along a 15-mile (24 km) stretch of the LIE within that county. Despite constant requests from Nassau County officials, no immediate plans were made until 1980, when the first streetlights were installed in eastern Nassau County. The state government planned to add about 1,425 lamps between the Queens–Nassau border and NY 112 (exit 64) since that segment of I-495
29500-501: The county, meet three times, although they actually cross only once at exit 46 near the county line. I-495 interchanges with the Seaford–Oyster Bay Expressway ( NY 135 ). In Suffolk County , the LIE continues its eight-lane configuration with the HOV lane to exit 64 ( NY 112 ). At this point, the HOV lane ends and the highway narrows to six lanes; additionally, the concrete Jersey barrier gives way to
29750-421: The crosstown-highway section. In June 1931, the Board of Transportation submitted a detailed revised plan for the Triborough Tunnel to the Board of Estimate. The project was now expected to cost $ 93.6 million, including the $ 23.5 million alignment under the East River and within Queens. That October, the Board of Estimate allocated $ 200,000 for planning. It was expected that construction would start in March 1932 and
30000-399: The current in the East River had become so strong that larger ships had to use auxiliary steam power in order to turn. The continued narrowing of the channel on both side may have been the reasoning behind the suggestion of one New York State Senator, who wanted to fill in the East River and annex Brooklyn, with the cost of doing so being covered by selling the newly made land. Others proposed
30250-515: The current sounded "like a bull bellowing for more drink" at half tide, while at full tide it slept "as soundly as an alderman after dinner". He said it was like "a peaceable fellow enough when he has no liquor at all, or when he has a skinful, but who, when half-seas over, plays the very devil." The tidal regime is complex, with the two major tides – from the Long Island Sound and from the Atlantic Ocean – separated by about two hours; and this
30500-465: The currents and tides. By 1900, 75 miles (121 km) had been surveyed and core samples had been taken to inform the builders of how deep the bedrock was. The work was completed just as World War I began, allowing the Port of New York to be a major point of embarkation for troops and materiel. The new seawall helps protect Manhattan island from storm surges, although it is only 5 feet (1.5 m) above
30750-565: The difficulty of navigating through Hell Gate. In 1832, the New York State legislature was presented with a petition for a canal to be built through nearby Hallet's Point, thus avoiding Hell Gate altogether. Instead, the legislature responded by providing ships with pilots trained to navigate the shoals for the next 15 years. In 1849, a French engineer whose specialty was underwater blasting, Benjamin Maillefert , had cleared some of
31000-608: The early 1980s, at which time the NY ;495 signs were taken down and I-495 was extended to the east end of the LIE. The section of I-495 in the vicinity of the Lincoln Tunnel was redesignated as NY 495 at this time. The extension of I-495 to Riverhead makes the highway a spur, which should have an odd first digit according to the Interstate Highway System 's numbering scheme. Even first digits are usually assigned to bypasses, connectors, and beltways, as I-495
31250-608: The eastbound roadway near Springfield Boulevard. By 1972, the highway was being used by over 150,000 vehicles a day. State officials announced plans to designate the segment of the LIE east of I-295 as an Interstate highway following the passage of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968 . The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials did not formally extend the I-495 designation from New York City to Riverhead until May 1984. Subsequently,
31500-566: The eastbound tube's lanes began carrying westbound traffic during morning rush hours. In 1950, the TBTA and several airlines agreed to build the East Side Airline Terminal at First Avenue between 37th and 38th Streets, on the Manhattan side of the tunnel. When the terminal opened in 1953, it accommodated bus routes that ran to either LaGuardia or John F. Kennedy International Airports . The terminal operated until 1983, and it
31750-520: The end of that year. In July 1929, the city was faced with unexpected legal issues. The language of Walker's proclamation ostensibly allowed construction to proceed, but in doing so, tasked the wrong city agency with constructing the Triborough Tunnel. Civic groups convened a special session in which they asked the New York City Board of Estimate to override the laws so the tunnel could be approved. The Board of Estimate ultimately allotted $ 5 million toward feasibility studies and preliminary construction for
32000-537: The end of the 17th century, the Great Dock, located at Corlear's Hook on the East River, had been built. Historically, the lower portion of the strait, which separates Manhattan from Brooklyn, was one of the busiest and most important channels in the world, particularly during the first three centuries of New York City's history. Because the water along the lower Manhattan shoreline was too shallow for large boats to tie up and unload their goods, from 1686 on – after
32250-414: The end of the piers. The "landfill" which created new land along the shoreline when the river was "wharfed out" by the sale of "water lots" was largely garbage such as bones, offal, and even whole dead animals, along with excrement – human and animal. The result was that by the 1850s, if not before, the East River, like the other waterways around the city, was undergoing the process of eutrophication where
32500-429: The entire length of I-495. The service roads of I-495 are called Borden Avenue and Queens Midtown Expressway between I-278 and Queens Boulevard, and they are known as Horace Harding Expressway between Queens Boulevard and the Nassau County line. The Horace Harding Expressway section follows the path of Horace Harding Boulevard (also previously called Nassau Boulevard), which was named for J. Horace Harding (1863–1929),
32750-517: The entire length of the tunnel; I-495's western terminus is at the Manhattan portal of the tunnel. The Queens–Midtown Tunnel was first planned in 1921, though the plans for the tunnel were modified over the following years. By the 1930s, the tunnel was being proposed as the Triborough Tunnel , which would connect Queens and Brooklyn with the east and west sides of Manhattan. The New York City Tunnel Authority finally started construction on
33000-451: The entirety of the LIE was designated as I-495. The ramp from the westbound I-495 to the westbound I-278 in Queens was so congested that a traffic light was installed on that ramp in 1962. State officials planned to reconstruct the interchange, although the project was delayed for several years. In addition, they planned to build a six-lane viaduct above the existing highway between I-278 and 58th Street, which would carry traffic to and from
33250-513: The existing street grid of Manhattan. Variations on Serrell's plan would be floated over the years. A pseudonymous "Terra Firma" brought up filling in the East River again in the Evening Post and Scientific American in 1904, and Thomas Alva Edison took it up in 1906. Then Thomas Kennard Thompson, a bridge and railway engineer, proposed in 1913 to fill in the river from Hell Gate to the tip of Manhattan and, as Serrell had suggested, make
33500-566: The expressway or its service roads or in the median of a widened LIE in a similar manner to the Blue Line of the Chicago "L" . It had been previously proposed to run the line from the 63rd Street tunnel under Northern Boulevard to Flushing (near the current Flushing–Main Street station ), then south under Kissena and Parsons boulevards to meet with the LIE at Queens College. The LIE line
33750-472: The expressway's pavement. The 0.9-mile (1.4 km) segment of the LIE near the Clearview Interchange , between Peck Avenue and 224th Street, officially opened on August 12, 1960. The interchange itself, which contained eight ramps and eight overpasses, was not open at the time because I-295 was still under construction. Between 1961 and 1963, in advance of the 1964 New York World's Fair ,
34000-622: The expressway; buildings would be constructed below the viaduct as well. One unusual variation involved running the roadway through the sixth and seventh floors of the Empire State Building . In 1963, plans for the expressway were finalized, and it received the I-495 designation. Beginning from its elevated connections to 12th Avenue ( NY 9A ) or the West Side Highway, the MME would mostly follow 30th Street east of Ninth Avenue . The expressway would travel east as
34250-560: The extension of the Bethpage State Parkway near Washington Avenue in Plainview. The site of exit 47 is now a truck inspection site between exits 46 and 48, which opened in 2006. The original right-of-ways for the service roads between exits 48 and 49 were intended to weave around the steep Manetto Hills area of the main road, rather than running parallel to the road as it does today. The land between
34500-429: The feasibility of a third tube through 1967, but ultimately, a third tube was never built. In 1971, one lane of the Queens–Midtown Tunnel's eastbound tube was converted to a westbound high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) and bus lane during the morning rush hour. The reversible tunnel lane was fed by a HOV/bus lane along I-495, which started 2 miles (3.2 km) east of the tunnel's Queens portal. Each spring from 1981 to 2016,
34750-410: The fields of medicine and biological science. North of it is one of the major medical centers in the city, NewYork Presbyterian / Weill Cornell Medical Center , which is associated with the medical schools of both Columbia University and Cornell University . Although it can trace its history back to 1771, the center on York Avenue, much of which overlooks the river, was built in 1932. The East River
35000-515: The first few months were lower than expected because motorists could use the East River bridges to the north and south for free. The tunnel had carried one million vehicles by February 1941, three months after opening. This was further exacerbated by the gasoline rationing during World War II , which caused vehicular trips in general to decline. The tunnel was closed during the nighttime beginning in February 1943, but due to growing nighttime traffic demand, 24-hour operation resumed in July 1944. By 1946,
35250-459: The first section of the LIE in Suffolk County, from the Nassau border to NY 110 in Melville , began in February 1960. Supporters of the highway believed that its completion would reduce traffic on Long Island's west–east arterial roads. Over the next decade, the completion of the LIE in Suffolk County spurred significant population growth in communities along its route. Over one-third of
35500-538: The funding for the tunnel had already been secured. In spite of the bridge dispute, the PWA ordered that tunnel planning work proceed. A bill for the proposed bridge was voted down in the New York State Senate that May. The Tunnel Authority approved plans for the Queens–Midtown Tunnel in August 1936, and the Authority's chief engineer, Ole Singstad , was tasked with the project's design. By the end of
35750-435: The glacial motion, is wide, meandering, and has deep narrow bays on both banks, scoured out by the glacier's movement. The lower portion (from Hell Gate to New York Bay ) runs north–south, parallel to the glacial motion. It is much narrower, with straight banks. The bays that exist, as well as those that used to exist before being filled in by human activity, are largely wide and shallow. The section known as "Hell Gate" – from
36000-641: The hands of the British after the fall of New York City on September 15, 1776, after the American loss at the Battle of Long Island and the loss of Fort Washington on November 16. Prisoners began to be housed on the broken-down warships and transports in December; about 24 ships were used in total, but generally only 5 or 6 at a time. Almost twice as many Americans died from neglect in these ships than did from all
36250-441: The harbor was not created. In the 1850s the depth continued to lessen – the harbor commission said in 1850 that the mean water low was 24 feet (7.3 m) and the extreme water low was 23 feet (7.0 m) – while the draft required by the new ships continued to increase, meaning it was only safe for them to enter the harbor at high tide. The U.S. Congress, realizing that the problem needed to be addressed, appropriated $ 20,000 for
36500-414: The increase in nitrogen from excrement and other sources led to a decrease in free oxygen , which in turn led to an increase in phytoplankton such as algae and a decrease in other life forms, breaking the area's established food chain. The East River became very polluted, and its animal life decreased drastically. In an earlier time, one person had described the transparency of the water: "I remember
36750-628: The island on its north end is due to an extension of the 125th Street Fault . Politically, the island's 147 acres (0.59 km ) constitute part of the borough of Manhattan. It is connected to Queens by the Roosevelt Island Bridge , to Manhattan by the Roosevelt Island Tramway , and to both boroughs by a subway station served by the F train . The Queensboro Bridge also runs across Roosevelt Island, and an elevator allowing both pedestrian and vehicular access to
37000-498: The island was added to the bridge in 1930, but elevator service was discontinued in 1955 following the opening of the Roosevelt Island Bridge, and the elevator was demolished in 1970. The island, which was formerly known as Blackwell's Island and Welfare Island before being renamed in honor of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt , historically served as the site of a penitentiary and a number of hospitals; today, it
37250-452: The island's 1884 purchase by the city as a prison farm and still home to New York City's massive and controversial primary jail complex; and North and South Brother Islands , both of which also constitute part of the Bronx. The Bronx River , Pugsley Creek , and Westchester Creek drain into the northern bank of the East River in the northern section of the strait. The Flushing River , historically known as Flushing Creek, empties into
37500-403: The lanes at designated junctions. Originally, the HOV lanes were restricted to passenger vehicles with at least two occupants. Starting in 2006, drivers of certain hybrid vehicle models were allowed to use the lanes even if they were driving alone. By 2014, over one-third of all traffic on the LIE between exits 32 and 64 used the HOV lane during peak hours. NYSDOT contemplated restricting
37750-414: The lanes to passenger vehicles with at least three occupants but ultimately decided against this change. I-495 was constructed in stages from 1940 to 1972. Its completion was intended to alleviate congestion along local roads on Long Island. Most of the highway in Queens was built as part of the Interstate Highway System , with 90 percent funding from the federal government and 10 percent from
38000-435: The long section from there, running to the west of Roosevelt Island, through Hell Gate and to Throg's Neck was at least 35 feet (11 m) deep, and then eastward from there the river was, at mean low tide, 168 feet (51 m) deep. The broadness of the river's channel south of Roosevelt Island is caused by the dipping of the hardy Fordham gneiss underlying the island under the less strong Inwood marble which lies under
38250-458: The low water mark into the river, and with the advent of gridded streets along the new waterline – Joseph Mangin had laid out such a grid in 1803 in his A Plan and Regulation of the City of New York , which was rejected by the city, but established the concept – the coastline become regularized at the same time that the strait became even narrower. One result of the narrowing of the East River along
38500-598: The main road. Ramps on the east side of the Long Island Motor Parkway and west side of NY 111 would be eliminated as part of the interchange's construction. Between exits 57 and 58, there was a proposed extension of the Northern State Parkway . Prior to the construction of the interchange with CR 97 (Nicolls Road), exit 62 was for Morris and Waverly avenues eastbound and Morris Avenue westbound. Exit 68
38750-413: The main shipping channels through The Narrows into the harbor silting up with sand due to littoral drift , thus providing ships with less depth, and a new generation of larger ships coming online – epitomized by Isambard Kingdom Brunel 's SS Great Eastern , popularly known as "Leviathan" – New York began to be concerned that it would start to lose its status as a great port if a "back door" entrance into
39000-496: The mainline expressway could be widened, and rebuilding the at-grade junction between College Point Boulevard and Horace Harding Expressway. The interchange with Grand Central Parkway was rebuilt from early 2015 to February 2018, with the replacement of the three overpasses carrying I-495 over the parkway. The $ 55-million (equivalent to $ 65.7 million in 2023 ) reconstruction included extending merge lanes, replacing and adding lighting, and improving drainage structures. As I-495
39250-434: The march in the middle of the night. Even so, the march was controversial and attracted protests from organizations who opposed what they saw as the inhumane treatment of the circus animals. When the circus stopped using elephants in 2016, the elephant walk ceased. Under an agreement with Verizon Wireless , the Queens–Midtown Tunnel received cellular service in 1995. The tubes' roadways were originally paved with bricks, but
39500-471: The marine sciences section of the DEP, the channel is swift, with water moving as fast as four knots, just as it does in the Hudson River on the other side of Manhattan. That speed can push casual swimmers out to sea. A few people drown in the waters around New York City each year. As of 2013 , it was reported that the level of bacteria in the river was below federal guidelines for swimming on most days, although
39750-559: The mean sea level, so that particularly dangerous storms, such as the nor'easter of 1992 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012, which hit the city in a way to create surges which are much higher, can still do significant damage. (The Hurricane of September 3, 1821, created the biggest storm surge on record in New York City: a rise of 13 feet (4.0 m) in one hour at the Battery, flooding all of lower Manhattan up to Canal Street .) Still,
40000-407: The median between 207th Street and the Queens–Nassau border. The remainder of the highway in Queens still contained chainlink fences, which were expensive to repair and could not prevent head-on collisions. In 1970, work commenced on a two-year project to install a Jersey barrier in the median of I-495 from 108th Street to Little Neck Parkway, replacing a 12-foot-wide (3.7 m) median. Plans for
40250-426: The menhaden population collapsed. Menhaden feed on phytoplankton, helping to keep them in check, and are also a vital step in the food chain, as bluefish , striped bass and other fish species which do not eat phytoplankton feed on the menhaden. The oyster is another filter feeder: oysters purify 10 to 100 gallons a day, while each menhaden filters four gallons in a minute, and their schools were immense: one report had
40500-489: The month, the first bids for the tunnel were advertised. A groundbreaking ceremony for the tunnel was held on the Queens side on October 1, 1936, with President Franklin D. Roosevelt in attendance. Shortly afterward, the New York City Tunnel Authority awarded the first contracts for the tunnel's construction. Test bores for the tubes were started later that month. These exploratory bores utilized diamond-tipped drills operated from flat-bottomed boats , which drilled downward into
40750-504: The narrow side streets. One group proposed a crosstown elevated highway in lieu of a tunnel under Manhattan. In December 1930, the United States Department of War approved the construction of the Triborough Tunnel, since the tube would not hinder maritime navigation during wartime. Even with this approval, the Board of Transportation had delayed construction by several months because of significant public concerns about
41000-417: The new roadway, which was estimated to cost $ 26 million (equivalent to $ 264 million in 2023 ) to construct, excluding $ 23 million (equivalent to $ 233 million in 2023 ) in land acquisition costs. A later proposal had the roadway situated 10 stories above valuable commercial real estate. Air rights above the expressway would be sold and new highrise buildings would be constructed above
41250-454: The new seawall begun in 1871 gave the island a firmer edge, improved the quality of the port, and continues to protect Manhattan from normal storm surges. The Brooklyn Bridge , completed in 1883, was the first bridge to span the East River, connecting the cities of New York and Brooklyn , and all but replacing the frequent ferry service between them, which did not return until the late 20th century. The bridge offered cable car service across
41500-566: The next month by another 2.7-mile (4.3 km) segment from Deer Park Road to Commack Road. A further 6.5-mile (10.5 km) extension opened to NY 454 in August 1963. Three more sections of the LIE, from Islandia to exit 71 near Riverhead, were completed in 1969 and 1970. The 5.3-mile (8.5 km) segment from Veterans Memorial Highway to Patchogue–Holbrook Road was opened on October 27, 1966, by governor Nelson Rockefeller . The discontinuous section of highway between William Floyd Parkway and exit 71 opened in June 1969 and
41750-478: The northern shipping entrance to the city were now open, modern dredging techniques had cut through the sandbars of the Atlantic Ocean entrance, allowing new, even larger ships to use that traditional passage into New York's docks. At the beginning of the 19th century, the East River was the center of New York's shipping industry, but by the end of the century, much of it had moved to the Hudson River, leaving
42000-483: The number of rocky islets which once dotted it, with names such as "Frying Pan", "Pot, Bread and Cheese", "Hen and Chicken", "Heel Top"; "Flood"; and "Gridiron", roughly 12 islets and reefs in all, all of which led to a number of shipwrecks, including HMS Hussar , a British frigate that sank in 1780 while supposedly carrying gold and silver intended to pay British troops. The stretch has since been cleared of rocks and widened. Washington Irving wrote of Hell Gate that
42250-493: The official state colors of New York. There was a controversy over the re-tiling of the tunnels, which cost a combined $ 30 million, because of the ongoing transit crisis at the time. On September 4, 2024, a contractor conducting surveys for the East River Greenway accidentally drilled through the roof of one of the tubes, causing water to leak into the tunnel, and forcing it to be closed for emergency repairs. It
42500-449: The old Midtown Highway became known as the "Queens–Midtown Expressway". The entire highway from Laurel Hill Boulevard (by this point upgraded into the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway ) to the junction of Queens Boulevard (NY 24 and NY 25 ) and Horace Harding Boulevard ( NY 25D ) opened on November 5, 1955. This 3.2-mile (5.1 km) section of the LIE had cost $ 29.5 million (equivalent to $ 262 million in 2023 ) and
42750-541: The outset, a minimum speed limit of 40 mph (64 km/h) was enforced on the segment of the LIE in Nassau and Suffolk counties. On September 30, 1958, the first section of the LIE outside New York City, a five-mile (8.0 km) segment from the Queens–Nassau county line to Willis Avenue in Roslyn Heights , officially opened to traffic. The section of the LIE between Roslyn and the Nassau–Suffolk border
43000-539: The passage of a $ 3-billion (equivalent to $ 6.67 billion in 2023 ) bond issue that year, the state proposed marking the additional lanes as HOV lanes. The state approved the construction of these lanes east of the Cross Island Parkway in 1991. The lanes were built in sections. The first section to open, a 12-mile (19 km) section in western Suffolk County, was opened in May 1994; two additional sections opened in 1998 and 1999. The lanes soon became well known due to
43250-425: The plans soon after they were announced. In 1954, New York State Governor Thomas E. Dewey approved plans for the LIE, extending 64 miles (103 km) between the Queens–Nassau border and Riverhead. Moses and New York City mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. said that the proposed highway would not charge tolls, regardless of whether the expressway received federal funding under the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1952 . From
43500-455: The point at which most fish species can survive. Due to heavy pollution , the East River is dangerous to people who fall in or attempt to swim in it, although as of mid-2007 the water was cleaner than it had been in decades. As of 2010 , the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) categorizes the East River as Use Classification I, meaning it is safe for secondary contact activities such as boating and fishing. According to
43750-495: The present-day Nassau Expressway . In December 1965, Moses canceled his plans for the Mid-Manhattan Expressway due to opposition from the city government. He affirmed that the TBTA would construct a third tube for the Queens–Midtown Tunnel because it did not require the city's approval, and he stated that the new tube could be completed four-and-a-half years after construction started. According to Moses, after
44000-421: The project was reducing their income and isolating their businesses from surrounding neighborhoods. A 1.5-mile (2.4 km) section of the LIE near Alley Pond Park in eastern Queens, between Cloverdale Boulevard in Bayside and Little Neck Parkway, officially opened on September 25, 1957. The highway segment reduced the need for cars to use West Alley Road, a winding road that crossed the park. Construction on
44250-412: The readings may vary significantly, so that the outflow from Newtown Creek or the Gowanus Canal can be tens or hundreds of times higher than recommended, according to Riverkeeper , a non-profit environmentalist advocacy group. The counts are also higher along the shores of the strait than they are in the middle of its flow. Nevertheless, the "Brooklyn Bridge Swim" is an annual event where swimmers cross
44500-573: The result of deregulation of the electrical power industry. The station, which can generate about 20% of the electrical needs of New York City – approximately 2,500 megawatts – receives some of its fuel by oil barge. North of the power plant can be found Socrates Sculpture Park , an illegal dumpsite and abandoned landfill that in 1986 was turned into an outdoor museum, exhibition space for artists, and public park by sculptor Mark di Suvero and local activists. The area also contains Rainey Park, which honors Thomas C. Rainey, who attempted for 40 years to get
44750-517: The river became the location for the limited-access East River Drive , which was later renamed after Franklin Delano Roosevelt , and is universally known by New Yorkers as the "FDR Drive". The road is sometimes at grade, sometimes runs under locations such as the site of the Headquarters of the United Nations and Carl Schurz Park and Gracie Mansion – the mayor's official residence, and is at time double-decked, because Hell Gate provides no room for more landfill. It begins at Battery Park , runs past
45000-402: The river bed. Why the river turns to the east as it approaches the three lower Manhattan bridges is geologically unknown. Roosevelt Island , a long (2-mile (3.2 km)) and narrow (800 feet (240 m)) landmass, lies in the stretch of the river between Manhattan Island and the borough of Queens , roughly from the latitude of Manhattan's East 46th to 86th Streets. The abrupt termination of
45250-465: The river in canoes fashioned from tree trunks in order to fish. Dutch settlement of what became New Amsterdam began in 1623. Some of the earliest of the small settlements in the area were along the west bank of the East River on sites that had previously been Native American settlements. As with the Native Americans, the river was central to their lives for transportation for trading and for fishing. They gathered marsh grass to feed their cattle, and
45500-423: The river, and even after the construction of the Croton Aqueduct (1842) and then the New Croton Aqueduct (1890) gave rise to indoor plumbing , the waste that was flushed away into the sewers , where it mixed with ground runoff, ran directly into the river, untreated. The sewers terminated at the slips where ships docked, until the waste began to build up, preventing dockage, after which the outfalls were moved to
45750-457: The river, under the northern tip of Roosevelt Island, and is expected to not be completed until at least 2026; the Manhattan portion of the tunnel went into service in 2013. Philanthropist John D. Rockefeller founded what is now Rockefeller University in 1901, between 63rd and 64th Streets on the river side of York Avenue , overlooking the river. The university is a research university for doctoral and post-doctoral scholars, primarily in
46000-461: The riverbed. After the test bores were completed in November 1936, engineers determined that there were many geological and manmade obstacles to constructing the tunnel. First, the Queens–Midtown Tunnel's path passed through a large concentration of solid rock, although there were also some pockets of dirt under the river that would be easy to dig through. Additionally, sandhogs digging the Queens–Midtown Tunnel would have to avoid accidental damage to
46250-449: The road surface was replaced with asphalt in 1995. Two years later, the TBTA's successor, MTA Bridges and Tunnels, announced its intention to renovate the roof of the Queens–Midtown Tunnel. The $ 132 million project, completed in May 2001, involved replacing the roof with 930 slabs of concrete that were suspended from brackets glued onto the tunnel shell. The major contract for the renovation project, worth $ 97 million, received scrutiny when it
46500-442: The rocks which, along with the mix of tides, made the Hell Gate stretch of the river so dangerous to navigate. Ebenezer Meriam had organized a subscription to pay Maillefert $ 6,000 to, for instance, reduce "Pot Rock" to provide 24 feet (7.3 m) of depth at low-mean water. While ships continued to run aground (in the 1850s about 2% of ships did so) and petitions continued to call for action, the federal government undertook surveys of
46750-448: The same rate, construction might have to be abandoned midway through. By September 1938, three-fourths of the tunnel's contracts had been awarded. Work on the underwater section of the tubes started in April 1938. Underwater boring was supposed to have started earlier but the geology of the underwater section had delayed construction. When the underwater digging started, La Guardia opened the valves that allowed compressed air to flow into
47000-405: The same time that Hell Gate was being cleared, the Harlem River Ship Canal was being planned. When it was completed in 1895, the "back door" to New York's center of ship-borne trade in the docks and warehouses of the East River was open from two directions, through the cleared East River, and from the Hudson River through the Harlem River to the East River. Ironically, though, while both forks of
47250-535: The section between Queens Boulevard and the Queens –Nassau county line is known as the Horace Harding Expressway . The service roads which run parallel to either side of the expressway in Queens are signed as Borden Avenue and Queens Midtown Expressway and as Horace Harding Expressway and Horace Harding Boulevard; from the Queens–Nassau county line to Sills Road, they are designated as the unsigned New York State Route 906A ( NY 906A ) and New York State Route 906B ( NY 906B ). The highway begins at
47500-419: The section between Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst and Parsons Boulevard in Pomonok was several years behind schedule, but this section was open by mid-1959. For several months, the highway abruptly terminated at Parsons Boulevard, and barriers funneled traffic onto the service road; the highway was extended to Peck Avenue in Fresh Meadows in late 1959. The section of the LIE west of the Clearview Expressway
47750-426: The section of highway between I-278 in Long Island City and I-678 in Corona as New York State Route 495 (NY 495). The LIE designation, despite being commonly applied to all of I-495 east of the Queens–Midtown Tunnel, technically refers to the stretch of highway in Nassau and Suffolk counties. The section from the Queens Midtown Tunnel to Queens Boulevard is known as the Queens Midtown Expressway , and
48000-414: The service road and the main road was reserved for housing developments. The right-of-way for the original westbound service road still weaves through the development on the north side of the road. Exit 49 was originally a cloverleaf interchange with the outer ramps connecting to the service roads at a point closer to NY 110 . This was in preparation for NY 110's formerly proposed upgrade into
48250-489: The shoreline of Manhattan and, later, Brooklyn – which continued until the mid-19th century when the state put a stop to it – was an increase in the speed of its current. Buttermilk Channel , the strait that divides Governors Island from Red Hook in Brooklyn, and which is located directly south of the "mouth" of the East River, was in the early 17th century a fordable waterway across which cattle could be driven. Further investigation by Colonel Jonathan Williams determined that
48500-430: The signing of the Dongan Charter , which allowed intertidal land to be owned and sold – the shoreline was "wharfed out" to the high-water mark by constructing retaining walls that were filled in with every conceivable kind of landfill: excrement, dead animals, ships deliberately sunk in place, ship ballast, and muck dredged from the bottom of the river. On the new land were built warehouses and other structures necessary for
48750-414: The small Bridge and Tunnel Park, which is bounded by the Pulaski Bridge on the west, 50th Avenue on the north, 11th Place on the east, and the Queens–Midtown Tunnel entrance ramp on the south. The park opened in 1979, and is operated by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA; now MTA Bridges and Tunnels ). NYC Parks owns the land that constitutes Bridge and Tunnel Park. The Queens–Midtown Tunnel
49000-416: The south, while the portion of the freeway east of the Clearview Expressway became NY 495 (and later, I-495). By 1958, it was estimated that the entire highway would not be completed until 1970. Real-estate developers believed that the LIE's construction was not proceeding quickly enough, and Suffolk County's supervisors also advocated for the highway to be completed as soon as possible. Bidding for
49250-427: The span. The Brooklyn Bridge was followed by the Williamsburg Bridge (1903), the Queensboro Bridge (1909), the Manhattan Bridge (1912) and the Hell Gate Railroad Bridge (1916). Later would come the Triborough Bridge (1936), the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge (1939), the Throgs Neck Bridge (1961) and the Rikers Island Bridge (1966). In addition, numerous rail tunnels pass under the East River – most of them part of
49500-400: The strait's southern bank near LaGuardia Airport via Flushing Bay . Further west, Luyster Creek drains into the East River in Astoria, Queens . North of Randalls Island , it is joined by the Bronx Kill . Along the east of Wards Island, at approximately the strait's midpoint, it narrows into a channel called Hell Gate , which is spanned by both the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge (formerly
49750-416: The third tube was completed, two tubes would be dedicated exclusively to westbound and eastbound traffic, while the center tube would become a reversible-flow roadway. The Queens Chamber of Commerce supported the third-tube project, but citywide officials opposed it. Moses ignored the city's disapproval and, in March 1966, advertised for bids to make test borings for the third tube. The TBTA continued studying
50000-399: The time, gentlemen, when you could go in twelve feet of water and you could see the pebbles on the bottom of this river." As the water got more polluted, it darkened, underwater vegetation (such as photosynthesizing seagrass) began dying, and as the seagrass beds declined, the many associated species of their ecosystems declined as well, contributing to the decline of the river. Also harmful
50250-412: The time, there was frequent and heavy congestion on bridges across the East River , which separated Manhattan from the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn on Long Island . Brooklyn borough president James J. Byrne expressed his displeasure at the fact that the Queens and Manhattan borough presidents had proposed the Triborough Tunnel without consulting him first. That December, Mayor James J. Walker formed
50500-403: The tubes from Queens and from Manhattan's west side would rise to ground level. The eastbound and westbound tubes would respectively run under 37th and 38th Streets, since the streets were too narrow to accommodate two tubes side-by-side. Advocates of the Triborough Tunnel opposed the construction of surface-level exit plazas, saying that the mixing plaza would force motorists to briefly drive along
50750-439: The tubes, and workers started digging the tunnels under the river from each end. The pressurized air allowed sandhogs to work as much as six hours per day in two 3-hour shifts, but as they tunneled nearer to the center of the river, the pressure increased and sandhogs worked fewer hours per day. Builders also pumped air along the top of the tunnel to prevent water from seeping in. Later, workers began wearing oxygen masks connected to
51000-441: The tunnel and urged that it be completed as soon as possible. By February 1929, thirty-five civic groups supported the construction of the tunnel. Simultaneously, civic groups proposed a 4.3-mile (6.9 km) system of tunnels under Manhattan, connecting Queens in the east with Weehawken, New Jersey , in the west. The groups proposed that the Queens–Midtown Tunnel connect with the Midtown Hudson (Lincoln) Tunnel , which would cross
51250-603: The tunnel from either 21st Street or 50th Avenue; there is no westbound exit. Although exits 13 and 14 are sequential exit numbers on I-495, they are actually the first and second numbered exits on I-495. The exits from the Manhattan side are not numbered. The tubes travel under the East River until they are directly below 42nd Street on the Manhattan side, then curve south under First Avenue. The tubes then turn west between 36th and 37th Streets. Both tubes surface east of Second Avenue in Midtown Manhattan . The westbound roadway passes underneath Second Avenue and continues west for
51500-444: The tunnel in 1936, although by then, the plans had been downsized to a connector between Queens and the east side of Manhattan. The tunnel, designed by Ole Singstad , was opened to traffic on November 15, 1940. The Queens–Midtown Tunnel is owned by New York City and operated by MTA Bridges and Tunnels , an affiliate agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority . It is used by several dozen express bus routes. From 1981 to 2016,
51750-431: The tunnel was closed to traffic for a few hours overnight to accommodate the annual " Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Animal Walk". Several nights before the circus opened at Madison Square Garden , the elephants marched into Manhattan and down 34th Street to the arena. The animals had formerly been transported into the city via the West Side railroad line in Manhattan, but the southernmost part of that line,
52000-419: The tunnel was running a $ 5.8 million deficit. The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, the successor to the New York City Tunnel Authority, recorded a 72% increase in tunnel traffic in the first half of that year compared to the same time frame in 1945. The tunnel recorded its first profits in 1949, with a net earning of $ 659,505. As part of an experiment to alleviate traffic congestion, in December 1955, one of
52250-433: The tunnel's financiers, the landmass owes its popular name (after Burmese diplomat U Thant , former Secretary-General of the United Nations ) to the efforts of a group associated with the guru Sri Chinmoy that held mediation meetings on the island in the 1970s. Today, the island is owned by New York State and serves as a migratory bird sanctuary that is closed to visitors. Proceeding north and east from Roosevelt Island,
52500-401: The tunnel. In March 1939, the PWA released a report predicting that the tunnel would not be complete until summer 1941, eight months later than originally planned, due to geological difficulties. Around the same time, Robert Moses alleged that the Queens–Midtown Tunnel would not be profitable, during an unrelated argument about the feasibility of building the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel. This prompted
52750-426: The tunnel. Instead, cameras and E-ZPass readers are mounted on new overhead gantries manufactured by TransCore located on the Manhattan side. A vehicle without E-ZPass has a picture taken of its license plate and a bill for the toll is mailed to its owner. For E-ZPass users, sensors detect their transponders wirelessly. Congestion pricing in New York City is indefinitely postponed as of 2024; if congestion pricing
53000-418: The tunnel. The tunnel's projected $ 58.4 million cost only applied to the 3,790-foot (1,160 m) section of the tunnel under the river, as well as the 1,600-foot (490 m) Queens approach and the 2,400-foot (730 m) Manhattan approach east of Second Avenue. The Brooklyn spur had been canceled for the time being because it could not be funded independently, while the crosstown highway was to be included in
53250-438: The two existing tubes. In January 1965, Moses announced that money had been allocated to a feasibility study for the third tube, which was projected to cost $ 120 million. This proposal was part of his plan to build a Mid-Manhattan expressway over 30th Street. The third tube was to connect to the ultimately unbuilt Bushwick Expressway , which would have run across northeastern Brooklyn and southwestern Queens before intersecting with
53500-437: The two lanes, one lane is designated for exit 72 and the other is for exit 73, which ends the squeeze into a single lane that formerly existed at exit 73. At exit 73, all traffic along the expressway is diverted onto a ramp leading to eastbound CR 58 , marking the east end of the route. There is one HOV lane in each direction, in the median of the highway, between exit 32 (Little Neck Parkway), near
53750-470: The two parking areas. These ramps would have been accessible from the service roads. The westbound offramp and service road at exit 54 (Wicks Road/ CR 7 ) originally terminated at the Long Island Motor Parkway , east of Wicks Road. The westbound onramp was squeezed between the northwest corner of the Wicks Road bridge and exit 53. Excessive weaving between exits 52, 53, and 54 caused NYSDOT to combine all three interchanges into one and replace
54000-408: The two projects had increased to $ 55 million (equivalent to $ 507 million in 2023 ), of which the Queens–Midtown Expressway was to cost $ 21 million (equivalent to $ 193 million in 2023 ). To help fund the Queens–Midtown Expressway, Moses reallocated funding from two other highway projects in early 1953. That October, the New York City Planning Commission approved a minor revision to
54250-417: The two segments of the tubes were only separated by 850 feet (260 m). Workers digging from the Manhattan side no longer required compressed air because the tubes had reached a rock cropping. The sandhogs sped up their pace of digging, and by late September, the project was 45 days ahead of schedule. The disjointed segments of both tubes were connected with a "holing through" ceremony in November 1939, with
54500-495: The vehicular height limit is 12 feet 1 inch (3.68 m), and the width limit is 8 feet 6 inches (2.59 m). The portals of each tube contain flood doors weighing 20 short tons (18 long tons; 18 t) and measuring 2 feet (0.61 m) thick, 14 feet (4.3 m) across, and 29 feet (8.8 m) tall. The tunnel contains two ventilation buildings, one on each side of the East River. Both ventilation towers are 100-foot-tall (30 m) orange brick structures in
54750-403: The west-to-southbound offramp to the Sagtikos State Parkway with a flyover ramp. Exit 54 was eliminated during this project. Exit 55A was meant to be a trumpet interchange for the Hauppauge Spur of NY 347 , between the Long Island Motor Parkway (exit 55) and NY 111 (exit 56). The service roads were intended to go around the interchange rather than run parallel to
55000-419: The westbound exit 31 to Douglaston Parkway was closed, and new collector–distributor ramps were installed east of the Cross Island Parkway interchange. Starting in 2004, NYSDOT examined proposals to reconfigure exit 22 with I-678 and the Grand Central Parkway in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park . These included plans to construct direct ramps between the highways, relocating the service roads of I-495 so
55250-409: The western end of the Queens–Midtown Tunnel in the Murray Hill section of Manhattan . The route heads eastward, passing under FDR Drive and the East River as it proceeds through the TBTA -maintained tunnel to Queens . Once on Long Island , the highway passes through the site of the tunnel's former toll plaza and becomes the Queens–Midtown Expressway as it travels through the western portion of
55500-491: Was 90% complete. The Queens–Midtown Tunnel finished on schedule in late 1940. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first person to drive through the tunnel, on October 28, 1940. The general public could not use it until mid-November. An advertisement for the tunnel, published in newspapers just before its opening, touted it as "the toll that isn't a toll" with the slogan "Cross In 3 Minutes, Save In 3 Ways ... Time! Money! Gas!" The Queens Chamber of Commerce's president praised
55750-413: Was a member. After his death, the boulevard he helped build was named for him. Horace Harding was not related to the former President Warren G. Harding . Heading into Nassau County, the expressway contains a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane in each direction, which begins at exit 33 and runs to central Suffolk County. I-495 and the adjacent Northern State Parkway , which parallels the LIE through
56000-487: Was approved in July 1968. The line was opposed by many residents of the surrounding communities because it would entail widening I-495, which would necessitate the demolition of nearby homes. By 1973, the final design for the Northeast Queens LIE line was published. The LIE line was canceled later that year because state residents had voted against a $ 3.5-billion (equivalent to $ 18.3 billion in 2023 ) bond measure that would have paid for five subway extensions, including
56250-441: Was being built across Long Island, it was specifically designed to accommodate certain topographical conditions and proposed interchanges. Exit 30 was originally a partial cloverleaf interchange with the Cross Island Parkway , while eastbound exit 30S was for Easthampton Boulevard with a connecting ramp to the southbound Cross Island Parkway. Exit 31 was originally a westbound only interchange for Douglaston Parkway; it
56500-433: Was built from Gowanus Creek , which emptied into the river. Historically, there were other small streams which emptied into the river, though these and their associated wetlands have been filled in and built over. These small streams included the Harlem Creek, one of the most significant tributaries originating in Manhattan. Other streams that emptied into the East River included the Sawkill in Manhattan, Mill Brook in
56750-447: Was completed in 2008. For a short time after the September 11 attacks in 2001, all Manhattan-bound traffic through the tunnel was subject to a high-occupancy vehicle restriction. This restriction was removed in April 2002. In 2017–2018, the tiled walls in the Queens–Midtown and Brooklyn–Battery Tunnels were replaced due to damage suffered during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The re-tiled white walls have gold-and-blue stripes, representing
57000-454: Was designated as I-495 in October 1958. The windmill interchange with the Clearview Expressway ( I-295 ) in Bayside was the last section of the LIE in New York City to be completed. Construction on that interchange had started in January 1959. By early 1960, the LIE saw more than 120,000 vehicles per day, although congestion frequently built up at Bayside. The marshy land in the vicinity of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park caused cracking on
57250-432: Was designated in its entirety as NY 24. The old surface alignment of NY 24 south of the expressway became NY 24A . The LIE was extended east from Glen Cove Road to NY 106 / NY 107 in Jericho on October 8, 1960, and was then opened to South Oyster Bay Road in Syosset in December 1960. By 1962, the NY 24 designation was removed from the LIE and reassigned to its former surface alignment to
57500-420: Was discovered that the contractor had given money to the political party of Governor George Pataki just before the contract was awarded. A state judge found that the MTA did not break any laws or ethical obligations when it awarded the contract to the Pataki donor instead of another competitor. The MTA started replacing the 23 fans within the tunnel's ventilation structures, in 2004 and the fan-replacement project
57750-413: Was done, and the Civil War soon broke out. In the late 1860s, after the Civil War, Congress realized the military importance of having easily navigable waterways, and charged the Army Corps of Engineers with clearing Hell Gate. Newton estimated that the operation would cost about half as much as the annual losses in shipping. The 2021 book by Thomas Barthel titled Opening the East River: John Newton and
58000-523: Was extended west to Holbrook in December 1969. A six-mile (9.7 km) segment between Horseblock Road and Holbrook, connecting the two sections of the LIE, continued for several months. After this section opened on June 9, 1970, the LIE was continuous between Manhattan and Riverhead. There were delays in constructing the easternmost two miles (3.2 km) of the LIE from exit 71 to CR 58 . The extension to CR 58 opened to traffic on June 28, 1972. Officials had originally predicted that
58250-417: Was followed in November 1959 by a contract for the section between South Oyster Bay Road and the Suffolk County border. The LIE was extended to Glen Cove Road in Roslyn on September 29, 1959, with ramps to and from the Northern State Parkway . By this time, the LIE was continuous between Bayside and Roslyn. After the Clearview Interchange opened, the LIE was continuous between Manhattan and Roslyn, and it
58500-522: Was funded by the TBTA , of which Moses was chair. NY 24 initially remained routed on Laurel Hill and Queens boulevards. The LIE was built over much of Horace Harding Boulevard within eastern Queens and Power House Road within western Nassau County . Prior to the LIE's construction, the route was designated as NY 25D. As part of his March 1951 proposal for the Queens–Midtown Expressway, Moses proposed widening an 8.5-mile (13.7 km) stretch of Horace Harding Boulevard between Queens Boulevard and
58750-421: Was heavily used. East of NY 112, vehicle usage dropped sharply, so no lights were planned. The final streetlights were installed in 2002. As early as October 1968, state officials had wanted to widen the highway between I-295 and NY 135 from 6 to 10 lanes. In late 1988, the New York state government proposed adding a fourth lane in each direction to I-495 between Jericho and Medford. Following
59000-437: Was initially controversial; at a public hearing in late 1957, 100 homeowners criticized the alignment of that section of highway. By early the next year, work had commenced on the section of the LIE between Guinea Woods Road (now Glen Cove Road ) and Jericho Turnpike. The New York state government awarded a construction contract for the section of the LIE between Jericho Turnpike and South Oyster Bay Road in June 1959. This
59250-429: Was issued for the detonating device. After the explosion, the rock debris was dredged and dropped into a deep part of the river. This was not repeated at the later Flood Rock explosion. On October 10, 1885, the Corps carried out the largest explosion in this process, annihilating Flood Rock with 300,000 pounds (140,000 kg) of explosives. The blast was felt as far away as Princeton, New Jersey (50 miles). It sent
59500-485: Was later combined with the exit for Little Neck Parkway. Exit 39A was intended for the proposed extension of the Wantagh State Parkway near Powell Road in Old Westbury. It was intended to be a full Y interchange with an east-to-southbound-only offramp and a north-to-westbound-only onramp running beneath Powell Road. Exit 40 originally had only same-directional offramps under the expressway providing access to realigned sections of NY 25 . When exit 41
59750-425: Was originally constructed, it had no south-to-west connecting ramp. Westbound access to the expressway was provided at the nearby exit 40 onramp at NY 25. An alternate design for exit 42 called for it to be similar to the one proposed for NY 135 and the Bethpage State Parkway , and westbound exit 46 was originally a partial cloverleaf. Exit 47 was never built; it had been intended for
60000-406: Was originally planned to be built as a cloverleaf interchange without collective–distributor roads. Additionally in the 1970s, Suffolk County Department of Public Works proposed an extension of East Main Street in Yaphank ( CR 102 ) that would have terminated at the west end of this interchange. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Suffolk County Planning Department considered extending CR 55 to
60250-407: Was originally proposed in 1921 by Manhattan 's borough president, Julius Miller . The plan resurfaced in 1926 under the names Triborough Tunnel and alternatively 38th Street Tunnel . Miller, in conjunction with Queens ' borough president, Maurice E. Connolly , proposed the $ 58 million tunnel as a connector from Midtown Manhattan to Long Island City in Queens, and to Greenpoint in Brooklyn . At
60500-427: Was prior to the 1980s. A proposed Long Island Crossing would have extended the LIE across Long Island Sound to I-95 in either Guilford, Connecticut ; Old Saybrook, Connecticut ; or Westerly, Rhode Island via a series of existing and artificial islands, but a lack of funding as well as public opposition led to the demise of these proposals. CR 48 in Suffolk County was originally intended to become part of
60750-470: Was re-opened several hours later, after a temporary plug was put in place. Contractors later permanently fixed the leak by fitting a steel cap over that plug. The tunnel carries 21 express bus routes ; sixteen of these routes use the tunnel for westbound travel only. The bus routes that use the tunnel are the BM5 , QM1 , QM2 , QM3 , QM4 , QM5 , QM6 , QM7 , QM8 , QM10 , QM11 , QM12 , QM15 , QM16 , QM17 , QM18 , QM24 and QM25 , all operated by
61000-405: Was sold in 1985. This site is now occupied by The Corinthian , an apartment complex. A connector between the Queens–Midtown and Lincoln Tunnels was again proposed in 1950, but was dropped for lack of support. Nine years later, Robert Moses proposed adding a third tube to the Queens–Midtown Tunnel to relieve congestion, with a possible extension to Brooklyn. The tube would be located to the south of
61250-415: Was the first time a clay blanket was used on an underwater tunnel project, so digging work was delayed for four months to allow the clay layer to be placed. Officials feared that the tunnel might not open before the end of 1940, as was originally planned. A contract for digging the tubes themselves was awarded in June 1937. The project employed as many as 2,500 sandhogs at a time. Because the work site had such
61500-402: Was the general destruction of the once plentiful oyster beds in the waters around the city, and the over-fishing of menhaden , or mossbunker , a small silvery fish which had been used since the time of the Native Americans for fertilizing crops – however it took 8,000 of these schooling fish to fertilize a single acre, so mechanized fishing using the purse seine was developed, and eventually
61750-434: Was the site of one of the greatest disasters in the history of New York City when, in June 1904, the PS General Slocum sank near North Brother Island due to a fire. It was carrying 1,400 German-Americans to a picnic site on Long Island for an annual outing. There were only 321 survivors of the disaster , one of the worst losses of life in the city's long history, and a devastating blow to the Little Germany neighborhood on
62000-404: Was to cost $ 10.62 million (equivalent to $ 143 million in 2023 ). Plans did not proceed further until March 1951, when Moses proposed constructing the six-lane Queens–Midtown Expressway between Laurel Hill and Queens boulevards. This was part of a larger, $ 30-million (equivalent to $ 282 million in 2023 ) plan that also included the Horace Harding Expressway. By October 1952, the cost of
62250-433: Was to have two exits, connecting to the West Side Highway and Lincoln Tunnel on the west side of Manhattan and also to the Queens–Midtown Tunnel and FDR Drive on the east side of the island. It would be constructed within a 100-foot-wide (30 m) right-of-way immediately south of 30th Street. The viaduct would require substantial demolition of highrise buildings within Midtown Manhattan. Moses suggested charging tolls on
62500-429: Was widely known at the time through letters, diaries and memoirs, and was a factor not only in the attitude of Americans toward the British, but in the negotiations to formally end the war. After the war, East River waterfront development continued once more. New York State legislation, which in 1807 had authorized what would become the Commissioners Plan of 1811 , authorized the creation of new land out to 400 feet from
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