Staten Island Tunnel

The Staten Island Tunnel is a tunnel that was planned but never finished in Staten Island, New York City. It was meant to be a subway and railway tunnel connecting Staten Island to Brooklyn under the Narrows. When it was being planned in the late 1800s and early 1900s, it would have been one of the longest tunnels in the world.

Work on the tunnel started in 1923, but it was stopped in 1925 by the mayor of New York City. Only a small part of the tunnel was dug before the project was canceled. The unfinished tunnel is still buried under a park in Brooklyn today.

Even though the tunnel was never built, people have kept talking about finishing it. In 2007, a city councilman suggested using a small tax to pay for it. In 2010, when another big tunnel project was canceled, this tunnel was one of the projects that could have received money. Supporters believe that if the tunnel were finished, it would help people on Staten Island by reducing traffic and making the area more attractive for businesses.

Other names

The Staten Island Tunnel had an official name: the Brooklyn-Richmond Freight and Passenger Tunnel. But people called it by other names too.

It was sometimes called the Narrows Tunnel because it would go under the Narrows. Others knew it as the Saint George Tunnel, named after a place called St. George, Staten Island. It was also called the Hylan Tunnel, after John Hylan, the mayor of New York City who started the project. Some people even called it Hylan’s Holes, a funny way to talk about it.

Original plans

In 1888, after building a bridge between New Jersey and Staten Island, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad suggested a tunnel to connect Staten Island to Brooklyn. Another plan in 1890 by developer Erastus Wiman also aimed to build a tunnel under the Narrows water passage. However, financial problems stopped these plans before they could begin.

In 1912, a new plan was made to connect Staten Island to the rest of New York City through a tunnel. At that time, people could only travel between Staten Island and the other parts of the city by ferry. The new tunnel was expected to help more people live on Staten Island, just like what happened in Brooklyn and the Bronx.

Three routes were suggested: two to Brooklyn and one to Manhattan. The Manhattan route was thought to be too expensive and impractical because of the high costs and Staten Island's smaller population. The Brooklyn routes planned to connect to existing subway lines, with one starting in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and the other in Fort Hamilton. Both would have helped bring more people and services to Staten Island.

Groundbreaking and stoppage of construction

The plan chosen for the tunnel would connect Brooklyn to Staten Island, stretching 10,400 feet (3,200 m) — longer than any tunnel in the United States at the time. The tunnel would use special digging machines and be wide enough for both regular trains and freight trains.

Construction began with ceremonies led by Mayor John Hylan in 1923. Preparations included building special train cars and getting ready on both sides of the water. However, by 1925, work stopped. There wasn’t enough money, and there were disagreements about whether the tunnel should only carry passengers or also handle freight. These arguments caused delays, and eventually the project was put on hold forever. Even though a nearby subway station was built hoping the tunnel would be finished, the tunnel itself was never completed.

Completion proposals

The tunnel was only built about 150 feet before work stopped. Over the years, many ideas came up to finish it. Today, the old parts of the tunnel sit under a park in Brooklyn. In 1946, one of the shafts in Staten Island was filled in.

In the 1930s, plans suggested linking the tunnel to subway lines in Brooklyn. These ideas changed a few times, but none were built because of money problems and World War II.

After the war, in 1945, there was another plan to connect Staten Island to Brooklyn by tunnel, but it was thought to be too expensive and difficult at the time.

Later, when the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge was built, some thought it could also carry train tracks, but this never happened.

Recently, local leaders have suggested using taxes to help pay for finishing the tunnel. They believe it could help reduce traffic and make Staten Island a better place to live and work.

Similar proposals

Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel

The Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel is a new plan to connect northeastern New Jersey and Long Island. It will have entrances in Brooklyn and Jersey City, New Jersey. This tunnel is needed because trains are already very full and there is no space for more freight trains. Plans for this tunnel go back to the 1920s, when people wanted to cross all of New York Harbor, not just a smaller part. The project might cost up to $11 billion, and officials made an important report in 2014 to check how it would affect the environment.

Tunnels from Brooklyn to New Jersey via Staten Island

In 1893, a railroad company wanted to build a tunnel for freight trains between Brooklyn and Staten Island. They also planned a tunnel to Jersey City ten years later, but never started building. In 1935, the mayor of New York asked for help to study ways to build a freight tunnel to New Jersey using Staten Island. The best idea was a tunnel from Brooklyn to a place in New Jersey, either through Staten Island or straight across the water. Going through Staten Island would cost $35 million and could also carry passengers for an extra $28 million, but the straight route was cheaper.

In 1978, experts looked at four ways to build a tunnel from Brooklyn to New Jersey, some using Staten Island. One idea was a tunnel from New Jersey directly to Brooklyn for about $331 million, which was cheaper than a tunnel through Staten Island costing $405 million.

Boulevard Subway plan

In 1912, a company suggested a new subway from Bayonne, New Jersey, to Staten Island, called the Boulevard Subway. They said that in a few years, people would wish they had supported the plan sooner. The idea came up again in 1929 when officials met to discuss a subway along a railroad line and a street in New Jersey. It would connect to a train line that goes to Lower Manhattan. There were also ideas to extend it to a big bridge in Fort Lee.

Vehicular tunnels under the Narrows

In 1929, after stopping plans for a subway tunnel, engineers suggested building tunnels for cars from Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island to Brooklyn. This was planned with another tunnel connecting Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. The city spent $5 million on it in 1929, and digging started in 1930. But work stopped in 1932 because there was no more money. Only a small look at the shoreline in Brooklyn was done.

In 1936, the mayor wanted to ask the government for permission to build a bridge instead, but he preferred a tunnel. In 1943, money was set aside to study the idea. After World War II in 1945, experts thought building the tunnel would cost $73.5 million. By then, the mayor changed his mind, so a man named Robert Moses suggested building a bridge instead, which opened in 1964 for cars only.