Real Or Fake? A Pop Quiz On Brooklyn’s Weirdest, Most Contested Historical Monuments
Real!
In fact, the Cobble Hill Tunnel is so real that for a while, you could even take tours. Also known as the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel, this passageway was not just a long-abandoned LIRR tunnel, it’s also the oldest tunnel beneath any city street in America! After years of abandonment it was rediscovered in 1981 by then-teenager Bob Diamond, who went on to lead tours on-site until the NYPD put a stop to them in 2010, citing safety concerns. Nonetheless, it now has a safe home on the National Register of Historic Places, was featured on the History Channel, and was even written about by Walt Whitman. Not shabby!