Atlantic Avenue Tunnel
Built in 1844, abandoned and supposedly filled in during the 1860s, and rediscovered by 18-year-old Bob Diamond in 1981, Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue Tunnel occupies a prominent place in New York folklore. It has allegedly been the home to giant man-eating rats, bootleggers, pirates, mobsters, and German saboteurs. (The latter rumor was taken so seriously that government agents broke into the tunnel in 1916. No Germans, but they did hang an electric light and leave some graffiti behind.)
Our friend Emily clued us in to the tours of the tunnel, so we met up and descended through the manhole at the intersection of Atlantic and Court along with dozens of other people who wanted to spend a sunny Sunday underground. (Flashlights are a must.)
The tunnel is a cavernous space nearly half a mile long. It dead-ends at a pile of rubble, beyond which may lay the remains of an old locomotive. The ground is rutted with the old railway ties, the walls are cold and clammy, and the years have left strangely beautiful patterns on the walls and ceiling. And unlike the bright city above, the tunnel is a place where lights struggle against the darkness, flickers from another time.
Our friend Emily clued us in to the tours of the tunnel, so we met up and descended through the manhole at the intersection of Atlantic and Court along with dozens of other people who wanted to spend a sunny Sunday underground. (Flashlights are a must.)
The tunnel is a cavernous space nearly half a mile long. It dead-ends at a pile of rubble, beyond which may lay the remains of an old locomotive. The ground is rutted with the old railway ties, the walls are cold and clammy, and the years have left strangely beautiful patterns on the walls and ceiling. And unlike the bright city above, the tunnel is a place where lights struggle against the darkness, flickers from another time.
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