When the state of New York forced the MTA to rename the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel after one-time Governor Hugh Carey, I derided the move. It replaced a useful geographical name with the moniker of someone who served the state over 30 years ago. He had a long and distinguished career, but did we truly have to name a piece of infrastructure after him?
This week the move came back to bite the MTA in a rather hilarious way. As the Advance of Staten Island noticed, while programming in a service alert earlier this week, a hapless MTA employee accidentally termed it the Hugh Grant Tunnel. A screenshot of the error is below.
The Brooklyn Battery Tunnel was not, sadly, renamed for an actor once named sexiest man alive.
The MTA rushed to correct the error, but it will go down in the annals of the Internet as a classic one and a prime example of the errors that can happen when bold-faced names end up on tunnels. In related news, are you ready for the closure of the R train’s Montalban Tunnel this weekend?
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As part of the shut down of the Montalban Tunnel, the MTA will be lining with rich Corinthian leather.
Only we can’t blame this on Janette Sadik Khaaaaaaannnnnn!!!
She’s head of DOT, not MTA.
It’s okay–R passengers can take the FIIIIIIIIIIVE!!! train.
Eric,
I get all the other jokes about this, but I don’t get the ‘FIIIIIIVE!! train’ joke.
What movie or tv ad or other item did I miss while growing up?
Thanks.
It wasn’t a very good joke.
Marooned, for all eternity, at the Court Street Station… buried aliiiiiive.
If they wanted to make an excuse, someone could also say that they were thinking of Hugh J. Grant, Mayor of New York from 1889 to 1892, the youngest Mayor in the history of the city.
This piece begs the question: Who will we name the newly reconstructed R tunnel after, and all the other under water subway tunnels for that matter?
“This a Manhattan-bound R train via the Leona Helmsley tunnel, next stop, Whitehall St-South Ferry. Stand clear of the closing doors please. Bling Blong.”
Maybe the employee’s a fan of the great John Oliver.
While we’re at it, we could also mistakenly call it the Drew Carey Tunnel.
Naah, the tunnel is to narrow for that.
I was checking the MTA site and this queens blvd fastrack is different than prior fastracks:
The (M) ends early.
The (E)(R) runs express in both directions.
(F) remains normal service.
Shuttle bus service for the skipped local stations between 74th street and Queens Plaza making a connection at Queensboro Plaza.
The Hugh Grant Tunnel? Forgetaboutit!
Come to think of it, we could make a movie about this. It could be entitled… wait for it… “Four Weddings & an Escort!”
Which reminds me. Whatever they wind up doing to Penn Station, it hasn’t had any connection to the PennCentral, or the Pennsylvania RailRoad, in generations – and unlike the bridges and tunnels, its name doesn’t depict its location.
We should have a contest to rename it – quick – before someone decides to call it the Michael Bloomberg Station.
When they reopen the Montague tunnel, shouldn’t the MTA name something Capulet?
Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel
Queensborough Bridge
Triboro Bridge
West Side Highway
I’ll never refer to these by any other name.
There’s a Hugh Grant Square in the Bronx, at the Cross Bronx Expressway and Westchester Avenue, named for a 19th Century mayor, the youngest in NYC history