The Fascinating Maze of Seemingly Forgotten Underground Tunnels Throughout New York City

Ryan Socash of It’s History dives into the fascinating history of seemingly forgotten underground tunnels throughout New York City.

Surprisingly it’s not exactly difficult to lose  track of a tunnel, and believe me, New York City has  forgotten about several of their own. Be it from  the city’s expansion, to the events of World War II or just plain old falling out of use the fact  is there are cavernous mazes of man-made spaces under the city that have literally been lost and  forgotten today.

This list includes the Cobble Hill Tunnel under Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, which had been closed due to concerns about spy activity several times over in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was subsequently discovered by underground explorer Bob Diamond in 1981.

Socash also examines the lost mail tunnel between the Farley Post Office on Eighth Avenue and the Morgan Processing and Distribution Center on Ninth Avenue, the lost pool tunnels of McCarren Park in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the historic tunnels under Columbia University, and the ever-mysterious Track 61 under the Waldorf Astoria Hotel that still has rumors swirling around it.

Many people believe that there is still a rail car remaining on track number 61 that  belonged to president Franklin D Roosevelt…the  only real connection that could be found between FDR and track number 61 was a Secret Service  schedule during the campaign season of 1944 , where on October the 21st, he  entered and exited the building  using this railway sighting. Track 61 would end  up concealing the comings and goings of several   presidents throughout history and was prepared  for use as recently as 2003 when it was laid  out as an escape route for president George W Bush  during a UN general Assembly meeting in the hotel.