The Secret Tunnels Beneath New York - IT'S HISTORY
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- Опубликовано: 31 май 2024
- Today we discover several of the secret and forgotten tunnels beneath New York City, their history, and what remains today.
Chapters:
00:00 - History of the Cobble hill / Atlantic Avenue tunnel
03:35 - The discovery of the lost Cobble hill tunnel
04:33 - Manhattans lost mail tunnel
07:23 - Brooklyn's abandoned pool tunnels
09:31 - Columbia University Tunnels
15:24 - FDR’s hidden train station - Track 61
» ABOUT US
IT’S HISTORY - Weekly tales of American Urban Decay as presented by your host Ryan Socash.
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» CREDIT
Video editor - Rishi Mittal
Scriptwriter - Gregory Back
Host - Ryan Socash
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» SOURCES
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» NOTICE
Some images may be used for illustrative purposes only - always reflecting the accurate time frame and content. Events of factual error / mispronounced word/spelling mistakes - retractions will be published in this section.
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I went on the Atlanic Tunnel tour back in 2008. I still remember climbing down that ladder in the middle of Atlantic Ave with cars wizzing past me. Bob Diamond led the tour and actually got actors to come down and re-enact events related to the history of the tunnel. I talked to him about the mythical locomotive rumored to be hidden behind the wall, and I almost offered him my number and my free time to help out if he ever needed volunteers to come with shovels to dig it out . I feel lucky to have met him.
Bob Diamond passed away recently. I followed his efforts to research the tunnel and bring back trolleys to Brooklyn. RIP
Ahh, McCarren Park and the old pool....lot of good memories (not water-related)...I remember seeing MIA play there when she was new, I wanna say 2007.
Damn I wish she’d come back out with something, I’m jealous you got to see her live
As kids, me and my brothers discovered a concealed crevice that opened into a cavernous abandoned train tunnel in Brooklyn. Although it' was 60 years ago, I still remember the fascination, and the excitement - believing we were the only ones who knew of it's secret existence. - Blessings
Remember how to get there when the bombs drop. It may save your life.
yo do you remember where it was or what station? Me and my friends are urban explorers and it would be cool to visit somewhere new.
@@yayacatlover9mindy207 stay on train after the last stop in Brooklyn… you’ll see the abandoned ghost station
@@melo7591 which train line?
@@yayacatlover9mindy207 here this might help : ruclips.net/user/shortsTq2TlEwQkxM?feature=share
The "FDR Car" myth has since been debunked. While he may have actually used track 61 to get to/from the hotel, the car left down there was nothing more than a Metro North work car. It was pulled out about a year ago, and it's now up at a railway museum in Connecticut
In today's POV, you got to ask... "When the government comes along and seals off a tunnel from the public, what are they using it for?
um, no.
Be skeptical about phony conspiracies.
you are exactly right the us government controlled the tunnel systems in nyc for years just like a communist country it’s really sad and bs at the same time
Is it “researching conspiracy theories” or “gathering points of view that support wild trains of thought?
More like opens people up to free thought
Exactly my thoughts. After all the atrocities committed by worlds governments, one has to be suspicious of everything.
There are also Tunnels in all Armories around NY, which are interconnected and are also connected to all major Cathedral in the 1800.
Example is the Brooklyn 13th regiment “pro patria armamus” building linking to the Bedford Ave armory and the Eastern pkwy & Forth Hamilton facilities
Tell us more.
"GHOST STATIONS"?... YUP!
You're right. The first "subway" in Manhattan was actually right next to CITY HALL. It was run with trains pushed by a PNEUMATIC system. A giant fan literally blew the cars threw the tunnel. It, of course didn't prove practical. However? Part of that tunnel WAS incorporated into the actual, new, electric powered subway. Riders can still see it if they look closely through the windows as the train passes by it.
Also? The MTA has a window set in the pavement where curious visitors can look down into the retired , forgotten tunnel.
the city hall station still exists and every so often there are tours. (with a long waiting line to sign up) There are still some trains going by the station as well, but since the lights are usually off there's not much to see.
I think you're confusing tunnels. The pneumatic tunnel ran on Broadway on the west side of City Hall and was completely obliterated with the construction of the Broadway subway line (today's N, R, W trains). The City Hall station that runs beneath City Hall is still there, but not open to the public unless there's a tour, and is generally used to turn southbound #6 local trains back north.
Keep in mind this was released two years ago.
While the incident you mention in 1845 may be the first usage of a 'cut and cover' construction for a railway tunnel, the building of tunnels with the 'cut and cover' method goes way back with known example from the early Roman period and some that could be even older.
I didn't remember that McCarren Park had a pool. I guess it was a concert space still when I was there in the early mid 2000's. It was magical to see in its former glory--great upload! Thanks It's History :)
@Mr.DeStylez I guess I was there between 2006-2008, but the stage just didn't ring a bell at all!
I stumbled upon a tunnel, some 450’ long between two buildings out in the desert of El Paso, Tx. One of the buildings, long abandoned, was part of a tuberculosis sanatorium.
Sweet. Let's go!
You missed the Gimbel's tunnel, which used to connect Penn Station to the 6th Avenue subway, as well as the 6th Avenue tunnel, in which you could walk from 34th St to 42nd St.
I remember the 6 ave tunnel from 42 to 34st. A woman was assaulted in that tunnel. She must have sued the pants off the MTA ,because soon after that the MTA closed ALL the subway walk thru tunnels possible.
I saw a documentary news story in 2021 about a New York man who discovered old documents about a Steam locomotive that ran in a tunnel under Manhattan NY. The story goes on that the locomotive remained under Manhattan in a tunnel that was sealed up. He thinks he knows the location of the tunnel, which must be accessed by a street manhole as he claims the tunnel is sealed. He entered the tunnel without city permission and thinks he found a sealed wall he thinks the locomotive hides behind but he has not succeeded in getting permission or clearance to take down the wall he thinks the locomotive hides behind.
It the locomotive is there it could be in excellent condition.
I think this has to do with the Atlantic Ave tunnel in Brooklyn... they touched on it on the opening story, I was surprised that the narrator didnt mention the possible hidden locomotive.
@@Honeydwarf85 ... it may look totally intact but after 50 - 100 years down below I doubt it's even close to serviceable. IOW, most of the moving parts no longer move due to rust.
I heard the hidden train is supposed to have documents relating to the Lincoln assassination, hidden on board in a sealed trunk
@@willielarimer7170 fr? wtf
As a former Station Supervisor with the London Underground your post is very interesting. London had a lot of help from you guys back in the late Victorian period. All the cut and cover lines are a direct link between our cities sub surface rail systems.
I remember how beautiful, clean, safe and exciting it was to go to Mccarron park and pool. How sad that it's become a crap ghost of itself.
Them
The "FDR Car" was never his car, it's a baggage car that used to be used to carry mail and luggage on passenger trains, when that chapter of its life was up, it was used for "Maintenance of Way" work where track workers would use it to store tools or whatever they needed before eventually being put in that track for storage and was left there since it stayed out of the way in that location.
FDR used this secret and sealed off means to gain access to the hotel, away from curious eyes, because he didn't want the American people to see him helplessly ensconced in a wheelchair, especially after he shamelessly, maliciously and with vicious criminal intent, manoeuvred our country into WWII by getting us bombed at Pearl Harbor by the Imperial Japanese.
I remember reading the story about the Atlantic Avenue locomotive, I had an email conversation with the guy who ran it and he said there was no possible way for him to access it, he died recently too
See David Atticus reply to nAz above⬆️as an fyi 👍🏼
When I was a kid in the 80s going to elementary school blocks away every year we would get to take a tour of The Atlantic tunnel the tour guide was convinced that it had simply been run into a side tunnel and walled up
"It's history"
I believe it's time for u to do "the bronx exposition & starlight park"...
Keep up the great work!👍👍
What is
that?
It was the "coney island" of the bronx!
This is fascinating. I'm horrified of tunnels so glad I can be shown them.
Makes sense.
They should open these up as bike and walking trails.
The rats would steal your bike and the roaches would steal your wallet
That's a neat idea!
When I was a boy, my friend lived in a pre-revolutionary house in Jericho, Long Island, NY and in the cellar was a tunnel used for escaping if needed. My friend and I tried to open the gate to explore, but his father would not unlock it, he said it was dangerous.
Great watch. Somewhat reminds me of the tunnels and culverts under Manchester and London. Thanks for posting....
We have train tunnels in Preston UK, looking very similar. Even to width, stone lower and brick arch. It even runs below the new police station. Apparently, they may re open it.
This was super fascinating.
Nice, but what about the hospital tunnel on 67th Street btwn. Lex and 3rd? And the Ruppert's Brewery tunnel on UES from apx. 2nd Ave. to East Rivet?
As an urban explorationist my main hobby, when traveling, I would love to visit those tunnels one day.
🙂👍
Love this channel. Keep up the great work.👍🏻
I was waiting a while for you to do the video of New York's tunnels. Cool video
You NEED to watch Dark Days. It's a documentary about people who used to live in the Freedom Tunnel section in the mid 90s
Amazingly eerie and humbling doc.
I saw it....Amtrak took it over, and a station shell was built on 61st or 62nd St with the anticipation of running Metro North's Hudson line through Penn Station.
Wow , that’s Amazing history . Thank you .
It has been documented elsewhere, that the trackage under Park Avenue and the Waldorf Astoria Hotel was used for FDRs entourage and security detail in private rail cars to drive his limousine onto a freight elevator, going directly to the Presidential Suite at the hotel, when he visited NY from Washington, DC during his Presidency. Obviously, the railcars used for this purpose would not have been left at Grand Central Terminal.
Great History story worth watching👍 thanks.
Excellent and informative video. Thanks.
Such an underrated Channel good job man
Great video! So which tunnels appeared in "Ghost Busters II." & "TMNT 2?" I'm sure they were fictional but I was fascinated by both stories that had abandoned subway lines and stations, as a kid.
There's a lot of abandoned N.Y.C.T.A Subway Tunnels, some still with tracks and are used for car storage for rush hour trains. I've even heard about an abandoned tunnel linking the Staten Island Rapid Transit (SIR) with the BMT 4Th Ave line (N & R Lines) at 59Th St in Brooklyn. From what I've been told, the Tunnel exists but no track was ever installed. This was because New York Governor Smith, back in circa 1918, defunded this project and ordered the portals on both sides to be sealed with concrete. Rumor had it that Gov Smith owned shares of Stock in the Pennsylvania Railroad. The PRR was the arch rival to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and the B&O was the "Parent owner" of the SIR. You could still see evidence of where the Staten Island Tunnel would have connected the two lines at both the Brooklyn and Staten Island sides. At 59Th Street, if your waiting for a train in either direction, look at the tunnel wall of the local tracks and you'll see where the tunnel portal was covered with concrete. On the Staten Island side, if you take a ride on the "Toonerville Trolley" as the locals call the SIR. When your on the train travelling to Tottenville, looking to your right, departing the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, just before the train goes through the 1880's built rock wall tunnel underneath the old Coast Guard Station, there's a "newer" concrete slab that you'll see next to the existing tunnel portal. That's where the other portal was sealed off in the late 1910's early '20s. From what I understand, there's a proposal to finish this tunnel that was started about a hundred years earlier. This is probably because since 1991, the St George to Tottenville portion of the Staten Island Railroad has been an "isolated" rail line, no longer being connected to the National Freight Rail Network since freight activity on the North Shore Sub had been abandoned in early '91.
That was a real tunnel for the original pneumatic tube subway. I also was surprised it wasn’t mentioned.
@@joshbenton4080 I really enjoyed reading all the info you posted! Thanks for taking the time, it's fascinating to me.
It was old City Hall Station, built in 1904, in Ghostbusters 2. The station is still there & there are occasional tours, but it’s not often. I was lucky to see it in person. Feels like being transported back in time.
The Staten Island to Brooklyn tunnel, was never connected. The approach into the river was dug out slightly into the water on both sides, but was shut down before it got too far. A shame that shady politics & business interests, kept it from being fully realized.
They weren't fictional. Only one scene used a "straight" track CGI in the City Hall curved rail subway station. the rest was real.
So sad that the city took away access to the Atlantic Ave tunnel, hopefully it’ll eventually be reopened
Usually, the problem is the liability.
Deadly gases can collect in tunnels.
People who work in tunnels for the city usually need special confined space training and carry special equipment.
Fascinating. Thank you
There are underground garages where tractor trailers go in to unload underneath Rockefeller Center. They are huge.
Fascinating
Great job, very intresting.
Great video and good info!! What are some of the oldest things in NYC that are still currently used? Like buildings, traffic lights , bridges or signs?
I'm watching this a second time! Great video!
“Cavernous Mazes of Man Made Space” BARSS !!! 🔥🔥🔥💯💯💯
Such interesting program thank you from New Zealand
I'd say this can also be adressed for washington DC as well
Good stuff Ryan
Seriously, City planners everywhere actually make a point of deliberately siting University Campuses or Schools and Parks specifically wherever Mental Asylums, Work Houses and graveyards had once stood. Liverpool University is near me and this is the case here. Bit weird innit?
@@BiggballsdanceThe emphasis is location, not regeneration my friend.
Dude, you need a Hulu series or something. I LOVE THESE!
Great information
I love this channel
I remember in the 70’s hearing about whole streets found buried underground in Glasgow uk
I've personally been in the tunnel system of a long abandoned hospital. The former 12-story main building itself has been long demolished, but some of its outer campus buildings including the old powerhouse still remain. What also remains is its extensive underground tunnel system.
I also know of someone who was investigating an extensive long abandoned underground tunnel system when they gained access to the sub basement of a building. I don't remember if the sub basement had power, but they said it was largely untouched including restrooms. The big type of round sink found in old industrial installations, locker rooms and storage areas and mechanical areas with boiler and water handling equipment. Interestingly, when attempting to go up the steps they found the stairwells to be filled with rubble. Same with the elevator shafts. They also found one section of the basement with much newer foundation pilings and a "waterfall" of now dried concrete that had poured from above running down one of the walls.
As it turns out, the building that the sub basement had one served had been demolished unbeknownst to the demolition crew or the builders of the new building that sat on one corner of the old property the sub basement actually survived the demolition and remains intact to this day.
Excellent video.
It's not easy to forget about tunnels under a city it's negligent.
I got to go on one of those Atlantic Ave tours and still have the (very old) videos on my channel. They're in my old RUclips video archives playlist if you want to find it.
People live in those tunnels, trust me. I lived in N.Y. in the early 90's. I'd see people going home in2 those tunnels over, & over again all over the boroughs.
Great Channel!
Great video
Thanks for adding actual captions for the Deaf.
Have you ever considered doing a video on the abandoned Turnpike tunnels in Pennsylvania?
Somebody has . . .
Tartarian mudflood looks more and more plausible every day
@@Biggballsdance
Like what, though?
I run an alternative history DnD game set during WWII in my own stand-in city for NYC. It has elements of Cthulhu Mythos and Noir, and is generally a mystery story that has the players uncovering dark secrets about the city, the government, and themselves.
I cannot thank you enough!!!! When I am at a loss for ideas, one video of yours can give me like 10 new places to go, 10 new mysteries to solve, all based in actual history. It’s like a gold mine for my admittedly niche little world. I’ve taken ideas from your Statue of Liberty video, your Empire State Building video, and this one in particular has been INCREDIBLY helpful!! A tunnel with nazi spies? PERFECT! A tunnel where they work on the Manhattan Project?? That’s already a primary antagonist group for the players!!! And the best part, most of these are (unexpectedly) NOT subway tunnels, which i am thankful for because the subway doesn’t exist yet in my version of the city.
Basically, keep making videos like these, you are my best resource for when I’m at a loss of cool places to go and mysterious things to uncover. Thank you so much!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️
Very cool. Thanks for sharing
I do hope that you're a regular monetary subscriber.
Wow that's just fascinating like the work done in New York alone makes me feel like they were already rear like some of the mudfleed videos etc blow them mind x
WOOOT WOOOT NEW VIDEO LETS GO
Depending on how you define a "Subway" the Cobble Hill Tunnel is the oldest in North America but not the world. The Wapping Tunnel in Liverpool, UK was bored through sandstone deep under the city in the 1820s for rail traffic between there and Manchester. The whole line was not underground but it can arguably be considered the blueprint for all other "Subway" enterprises in the 1800s. Their engineers showed it could be done. Liverpool also had the first electric "El" train in the world before developments in NY and Chicago.
Thanks for this info, I was surprised that New York had an underground railway tunnel before the UK and now your reply seems to confirm that the UK was to all intents and purposes a world first.
Most interesting video though.
Google says it’s the London Underground
@@TheMercian London opened their first subway in 1863, almost 2 decades after the Cobble Hill tunnel described in this video. But what I'm saying is the Wapping tunnel is even older than both of 'em.
@@DannyFitzgerald then google have made a mistake and need to change that
@@TheMercian Not really... it depends on the definition. Those other tunnels have no underground *stations* along their length... thus the Metropolitan Railway (now part of the London Underground) is the first.
Just discovered your channel. Wonderful presentation. Congratulations on an excellent media platform.
Big-up Inkhead. Legend.
Saw the drone footage @0:43 looked very familiar; my building's in the shot
We used to go every year when I went to elementary schools in the 80s (I went to ps29 blocks from the cobble hill tunnel) and it was just as you described,he would just pop the unlabeled manhole cover and we would just walk around down there
I like how you gave WPA credit for NYC pools, instead of Robert Moses, who actually built them.
Bob Diamond's tours of the tunnel (via that manhole on Atlanic Ave) were well known and had been going on for years before it was finally closed down. What happened was that he allowed a party to happen inside the tunnel, which raised the ire of the fire department because there was only 1 exit out of the tunnel. Because of that violation, he lost the right to hold events in the tunnel and the tunnel was resealed. He never did find out if a locomotive was buried at the other end.
Used to play in the tunnels of Nickerbocker Village.........corner of Catherine Street and Monroe..near the old Journal American building...,great fun unless you got lost !
SAY WHAT? This is news to me!!! I grew up in the La Guardia projects, and I never heard anything about tunnels in Knickerbocker!
I was just watching Netflix Daredevil which had scenes with the NYC abandon tunnels.
I'd like to spend a year in Manhattan and the Boroughs exploring. It would be extremely fascinating and educational.
Burrows? Or boroughs?
@@DavidBrown-bp4iq I corrected the spelling just for you.
@@SocialistDistancing Thanks. "The three R's" really do count in an ever-increasing illiterate population.
@@DavidBrown-bp4iq most of the time I misspell because my brain is moving faster than my fingers and then I forget to proofread. Mostly because I'm in a hurry.
New knowledge of my City.
Great Book. The Mole People!
@17:00 Bush "I know how we'll escape! We'll take a train, they never see it coming!"
i found an abandoned tunnel from the polo grounds to the bx year ago
What about the Beech Pneumatic Subway?
They bumped into it in the early 20th century while building new subway line. Pics can be found around
It was found to be filled with mood slime by Ray Stanz.
Wow!
You can see part of the last tunnel from one of the park Avenue corner, there's some part of the sidewalk replaced by metal fence and you can see part of the tunnel
"Old New York, was once New Amsterdam. Why they changed It I can't say, people just liked it better that way!"
It was taken over by the English after the Dutch lost a war back in the mid 1660's. It was a territorial concession.
The English then renamed it after The Duke of York.
Not many people know this part of history.
@@freetolook3727 thanks for the explanation, but you are responding to lyrics from a song by They Might Be Giants.
They know their history.
@@freetolook3727 what school district did you attend? We learned this at 9yrs old lol
@Shaia Pouf
Well, excuse the hell out of me for trying to educate the uninformed.
You should do a video on the British Royal Mail tunnels underneath London
When did we start calling the New York city train station Grand Central terminal? It has always been Grand Central Station?
Grand Central Terminal is the Trains and Grand Central Station (inside GCT) is the Subway.
A train terminal is basically a dead end track. Trains only enter the station but don't pass through to continue on tracks to another station.
Thank you Mike👍
@@Johnny_Tambourine Technically, Grand Central Station is the Post Office. 42nd St - Grand Central is the Subway station.
Most people call Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Station, which was the name of the previous station, which was replaced by GCT over 100 years ago.
I heard there were tunnels under the old watchtower buildings too.
🤔
I love tunnels and caves.
While many tunnels are constructed due to a need for concealment, many are also constructed due to a lack of suitable ground other space to be used for the purpose of the tunnel. many are also built for the sole purpose of protection from the weather or other items from the sky.
Neat.
Totally.
Bob Diamond past away some weeks/months ago - in a novel that stimulated Bob there was a link connecting the Atlantic Ave tunnel with John Wilkes Booth - look it up
Theres an Episode of Cities Of The Underworld (History Channel) where they actually go into the tunnel under the Waldorf Astoria and show you the FDR train so its definitely there, well worth the watch too
That program was broadcast quite a few years ago.
You know what we often say: Secret tunneeeeel secret tunneeeeeeel, through the mountain, secret secret secret secret TUNNEEEEEL
After learning of the mudflood and Tartaria and all the “fires and earth quakes” things make much more sense.
I suppose US has a lot of underground/metro tunnels and places to discover
Do an episode on the book "The FBI Nobody Knows", 1966, Fred Cook.
Stunning.
There is about to be a lot of Laura Croft, Nathan Drake & Indiana Jones going to go look for this underground tunnel in New York.
aq
There's a tunnel now closed off going between the State Education building and the State Capital building in Albany, NY.
Yeah I’ve been to New York City many times;
I just love it there;
Many awesome people and lots of stores to shop in ;
The subway is also awesome to ride 👍
Been in it. It's nothing special honestly but still cool.
Yeah I just remembered Geraldo and his tunnel event on live television wen I was a little kid;
It definitely kept me glued to the television set 👍
Dig a tunnel, dig dig a tunnel
I now Wonder if there are any tunnels here where I live in Hamilton Ontario Canada I know there's no subway system just buses, but I don't use them anymore because I'm now 49 years old and a stroke and cardiac arrest and colon cancer survivor and use a service called darts which I use a wheelchair when I'm outside of my apartment building which I can totally think it would have been hard for someone like me trying to get around town back then. Interesting video