10. It Was Closed Occasionally for Animal Circus Walks
Between the years 1981 to 2011, the Queens-Midtown Tunnel was closed one night of each spring in anticipation for the annual Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Animal Walk, when elephants march from Queens, through the tunnel and to Madison Square Garden. The walk was about two-miles long (which would have taken a human 40 minutes to complete).
After the circus moved to the Barclays Center in 2012, the elephant walk through the tunnel ceased to take place — much to the delight of animal activists.