east new york freight tunnels

[November 2001]

East New York is not one of the nicest neighborhoods you’ll run across in Brooklyn, especially given the recent spree of shooting deaths (read: murders). However, when you’re curious, a little bloodshed can be looked and stepped over. It’s not a bad idea to keep your eyes peeled- the seemingly deserted long, lonely avenues are punctuated with abandoned buildings from which curious eyes investigate any passerby. But don’t worry too much about someone watching you, most likely they’re just as suspicious of you as you may be of them.

A short trip on the elevated portion of L line is just one of many ways to get to this lovely part of town. Then it’s off down a few too-quiet streets towards a large gravel parking lot-cum-graveyard of sorts for burnt-out cars, smashed up television sets and god-knows-what in that Bustello can with the flies hovering above. The lot leads to tracks that slip into four large freight tunnels. One tunnel is completely sealed, and of the three remaining open, only one receives occasional use. When inactive, like its partners, it's dark, quiet, and very inviting.

Proudly proclaimed in concrete above the tunnel entrance is ‘New York City Long Island Rail Road Grade Crossing Elimination Project, 1917.’ The walls outside are thick with grafitti, but just a few steps into the tunnels, it quickly fades. There is not much to illuminate a stroll on these tracks, save the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, seen at first as a dot of light in the distance. The tunnels are not long, but plenty of interesting things are to be noted along the way, including electrical closets, mysterious sealed doors to the sealed easternmost tunnel, and a few disturbing oddities, such as a vest from a New York City public school uniform. One of my favorite ‘signs-o-the-times’ also can be found- ancient soda cans displaying the graphic design of yesteryear.

In one tunnel, the tracks are covered almost completely with dirt and gravel, and as the opening is neared, the dirt filling is piled higher, grading to several feet above the ‘natural’ ground of the rest of the tunnel. There is no obvious reason for this sudden extra earth.

An abandoned platform, accessible by plywood, is located at this end of the tunnels. The platform is in surprisingly good shape for being unused for so long. It is stradled by two of the tunnels, one of which is the sealed easternmost tunnel. A bricked-over wall is all that is left of the former tunnel opening. From the platform and tunnel’s end, the elevated lines of the BMT can be seen, as well as several large, semi-abandoned warehouses. A few voices bounce down from the overpass above, one of the few signs of life in this desolate area.