Queens-Midtown Tunnel
The Queens-Midtown Tunnel, one of the largest public works projects of the New Deal era, opened in 1940. It provided a new route for traffic traveling over the East River. The tunnel is made up of two tubes with a total of four traffic lanes stretching 6,414 feet long.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt had the honor of kicking off the groundbreaking of the tunnel in 1936 and was the first person to drive through the tunnel four years later when it was finished. Other notable figures who traveled through the tunnel were elephants from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus! An annual Animal Walk used to take place then when the circus performed at Madison Square Garden, but this tradition ended in 2012.
