Second Ave. Sagas

Sandy Updates: City’s tunnels and bridges closing

Written by

Benjamin Kabak

in

,

Updated (5:30 p.m.): As Sandy’s landfall nears and the wind speeds around the city pick up, the MTA is starting to shut down its bridges and tunnels. The Gov. Hugh L. Carey (nee Brooklyn-Battery) Tunnel is closed, and the Cross Bay Bridge has been shuttered immediately. The Verrazano and RFK Bridges are under a Phase II wind restriction order which limits the types of vehicles and speeds permitted to cross, and the Throgs Neck, Bronx Whitestone, Marine Parkway, Henry Hudson and Verrazano Narrows Bridges will close at 7. New York City has announced that the four bridges under its purview — the Manhattan, Brooklyn, Williamsburg and Queensboro — will close at 7 p.m. as well.

The RFK Bridge and the Queens-Midtown Tunnel will stay open for now. That decision is subject to change pending weather conditions. This storm — and the incoming storm surge — is going to get worse over the next few hours. Stay off the roads if at all possible.

Comments

7 responses to “Sandy Updates: City’s tunnels and bridges closing”

  1. SEAN

    News 12 Westchester reports that the Tapen Zee bridge closed at 4:00PM.

    Reply
  2. Phantom

    Please

    Never use terms ” RFK Bridge ” and ” Carey Tunnel ”

    Just don’t

    Reply
    1. Frank B.

      Yes, please Ben. I’m surprised, because I’ve always seen you use “Triborough Bridge” and even in the reports throughout tonight, many reporters and publications have used “Triborough Bridge”.

      Don’t buy in these ridiculous actions of political hubris.

      These are valuable pieces of Infrastructure, and politicians have no business naming them after one another. They belong to the public.

      Reply
      1. Ed

        Actually the Verrazano really should be the Narrows Bridge. The word Verrazano was added in a shameless bit of pandering to Italian-American activists who lived in the area. You do this too often, and the public eventually stops using the politicians’ names.

        Reply
        1. Frank B

          Amen to that. Did you know that they wanted to name it the “John F. Kenendy Memorial Bridge?”

          Robert F. Kennedy actually protested, saying he didn’t think his brother should be honored with his name on the bridge.

          So, 40 years later, in a nearly parallel scenario, his family all consented to having his name slapped on the Triborough Bridge, in an ultimate act of hubris to a crumbling, fallen, political dynasty; and almost definitely against his wishes.

          RFK, JFK, and EMK were all brilliant men; they made a real difference in America; I actually liked RFK the best, believe it or not; he would have made an even better president than JFK.

          But his name has no place on a bridge; none whatsoever. Triborough goes to three boroughs; Brooklyn-Battery goes from The Battery in Manhattan to Brooklyn; 59th Street Bridge goes to 59th Street. Interborough Parkway goes between two boroughs.

          Oh, and I love how on the Brooklyn Bridge, the politicians were too gutless to rename it, when someone got shot there, so they renamed THE RAMP after him!

          I only thank God that the MTA hasn’t signed on to needless naming rights programs. At least slapping “Barclays Center” on the name serves some purpose.

          Reply
  3. Patrick

    The RFK-Triboro Bridge just closed as of 8:00pm

    Reply
  4. Phantom

    These recent renamings are hateful and wrong

    Reply

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