document_title: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film)

question_text: when is fantastic beasts and where to find them set in time

text: Plot[edit]

text: In 1926, British wizard and "magizoologist” Newt Scamander arrives by ship to New York en route to Arizona. He encounters Mary Lou Barebone, a non-magical woman ("No-Maj" or "Muggle") who heads the New Salem Philanthropic Society. While Newt listens to her speech about how witches and wizards are real and dangerous, a "Niffler" — a small platypus-like creature which hoards shiny objects — escapes from Newt's magically expanded suitcase and slips into a nearby bank. As Newt attempts to capture the Niffler, he meets No-Maj cannery worker and aspiring baker Jacob Kowalski, and they unwittingly swap suitcases. Demoted Auror (hunter of dark wizards) Tina Goldstein arrests Newt for the chaos caused by the Niffler and takes him to the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) headquarters. However, as Jacob's suitcase contains only baked goods, Newt is released. At Jacob's tenement apartment, several creatures escape from Newt's suitcase, one of them biting Jacob on the neck.

text: After Tina and Newt find Jacob and the suitcase, Tina takes them to her apartment and introduces them to her Legilimens sister Queenie. Jacob and Queenie are mutually attracted, though American wizards are forbidden to marry or even meet No-Majs. Newt takes Jacob inside his magically expanded suitcase, where Jacob encounters a contained Obscurus, a dark, destructive parasite that develops inside magically gifted children if they suppress their magical abilities. Newt extracted it from a young girl who died, those afflicted rarely living past the age of ten. Newt persuades Jacob to help search for the missing creatures. After re-capturing two of the three escaped beasts, they re-enter the suitcase, which Tina captures and returns to MACUSA. Officials arrest them, believing one of Newt's beasts to be responsible for killing Senator Henry Shaw Jr. They decide to destroy Newt's suitcase and "obliviate" (remove) Jacob's memories of magic. Director of Magical Security Percival Graves accuses Newt of conspiring with the infamous dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald. Newt and Tina are sentenced to immediate death but Queenie and Jacob rescue them and they escape after retrieving Newt's suitcase. Thanks to the help of Goblin gangster Gnarlack, Tina's old informant, the foursome then find and re-capture the last of the creatures.

text: Meanwhile, Percival Graves approaches Mary Lou Barebone's adopted son Credence and offers to free him from his abusive mother. In exchange, Graves wants Credence to find an Obscurus, which he believes has caused the mysterious destructive incidents around the city. Credence finds a wand under his adopted sister Modesty's bed. Mary Lou assumes it is Credence's wand, but Modesty says it is hers. When she is about to be punished, the Obscurus attacks and kills Mary Lou and her eldest daughter Chastity. Graves arrives and after Credence leads him to Modesty, whom he assumes is the Obscurus's host, dismisses him as being a Squib and refuses to teach him magic. Credence reveals he is the Obscurus's host, having lived longer than any other host due to the intensity of his magic. In a fit of rage, Credence transforms into an Obscurus and attacks the city.

text: Newt finds Credence hiding in a subway tunnel, but he is attacked by Graves. Tina, who knows Credence, arrives and attempts to calm him, while Graves tries to convince Credence to listen to him. As Credence begins to settle into human form Aurors arrive. They apparently disintegrate him to protect the magical society, but a tiny Obscurus fragment escapes. Graves admits to unleashing the Obscurus to expose the magical community to the No-Majs and framing Newt for it, and angrily claims that MACUSA protects the No-Majs more than themselves. After being subdued by one of Newt's beasts, he is revealed as Grindelwald in disguise and is taken into custody.

text: MACUSA fears their secret world has been exposed, but Newt releases his Thunderbird to disperse a poultice as rainfall over the city that erases all New Yorkers' recent memories as MACUSA wizards repair the destruction and erase the recent events from New York's newspapers and cameras. Queenie kisses Jacob goodbye as the rain erases his memories. Newt departs for Europe, but promises to return and visit Tina when his book is finished; he also anonymously leaves Jacob a case of silver Occamy eggshells to fund his bakery. His breads and pastries are unconsciously inspired by Newt's creatures and Queenie visits him in his shop.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander:[8] an eccentric, introverted British wizard, magizoologist and an employee at the Ministry of Magic. Scamander is the future author of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry standard textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Redmayne was cast in June 2015.[8] Matt Smith and Nicholas Hoult were also considered for the role.[9][10]
Katherine Waterston as Tina Goldstein:[11] a grounded, down-to-earth witch and a former Auror employed by MACUSA. She longs to fight for what is right, but was demoted to a position well below her skill level.[11]
Dan Fogler as Jacob Kowalski: a genial No-Maj cannery worker and aspiring baker who is accidentally exposed to the New York City magical community upon meeting Newt.[12][13]
Alison Sudol as Queenie Goldstein:[14] Tina's younger sister and roommate, she's described as a free-spirited and big-hearted bombshell, and is accomplished in Legilimency. The film is Sudol's feature film debut.[15]
Ezra Miller as Credence Barebone:[16][13][17] Mary Lou's troubled adopted son.
Samantha Morton as Mary Lou Barebone:[18] a narrow-minded No-Maj and the sinister leader of the New Salem Philanthropic Society or "The Second-Salemers", a group whose goals include exposing and killing wizards and witches.
Jon Voight[19] as Henry Shaw Sr.: a newspaper owner and the father of U.S. senator Henry Shaw Jr. and Langdon Shaw.
Carmen Ejogo as Seraphina Picquery: the President of MACUSA, the Magical Congress of the United States of America. As such, she is the American equivalent of a Minister for Magic in the United Kingdom.
Ron Perlman[20] as Gnarlack: a goblin gangster who owns a magical speakeasy nightclub called "The Blind Pig".
Colin Farrell as Percival Graves:[21] a high-ranking Auror and Director of Magical Security for MACUSA. He is charged with the protection of wizards.
Ronan Raftery as Langdon Shaw: the youngest of Henry Shaw Sr.'s sons, who begins to believe in magic.
Josh Cowdery as Henry Shaw Jr.: the eldest of Henry Shaw Sr.'s sons, an arrogant and cruel U.S. senator who holds a rally picketed by the New Salem Philanthropic Society.
Faith Wood-Blagrove as Modesty Barebone: a haunted young girl and the youngest of Mary Lou's adopted children. Wood-Blagrove was chosen for the role following thousands of auditions in an open casting call.[22]
Jenn Murray as Chastity Barebone: the eldest of Mary Lou's adopted children.[16][23]
Kevin Guthrie as Mr. Abernathy: Tina and Queenie's MACUSA supervisor.
Johnny Depp as Gellert Grindelwald: a famous powerful dark wizard who seeks to lead a new Wizarding Order, believing in wizarding superiority.[24]
Zoë Kravitz as Leta Lestrange: Newt's former love who betrayed his trust.[25]

text: Production[edit]

text: This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2017)

text: Development[edit]

text: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is mentioned several times as a school textbook in the Harry Potter book series, although Scamander himself does not appear in any of the books. In 2001 Rowling published an edition of the "textbook" to be sold to raise money for the British charity Comic Relief. The book is a directory of magical creatures written with an introduction by its author Newt Scamander; it does not contain a storyline narrative. (In literature, the creation of such a long work not part of a novel's narrative storyline is known as a false document.[26])

text: First announced in September 2013, the project marks Rowling's debut as a screenwriter.[27] The film sees the return of producer David Heyman, as well as writer Steve Kloves, both veterans of the Potter film franchise.[28] After Alfonso Cuarón declined involvement,[29][30] Warner Bros. announced that David Yates would direct at least the first instalment of a planned trilogy.[31] James Newton Howard was contracted to compose the score.[32]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Principal photography commenced on 17 August 2015, at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden and was completed in January 2016.[16][18][33][34] Several scenes were also shot on location in London.[35] After two months, the production moved to the Cunard Building and St George's Hall in Liverpool, which was transformed into 1920s New York City.[36] Framestore in London produced the visual effects for the film.[37]

text: Music[edit]

text: On 9 April 2016, it was announced that James Newton Howard would write and compose the film's score.[38] On 24 October, Pottermore published an official first look at the film's main theme composed by Howard.[39] The main theme incorporated John Williams' themes from earlier films, such as "Hedwig's Theme".[40] The soundtrack was released by WaterTower Music on 18 November 2016.[41]

text: Release[edit]

text: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them held its world premiere at Alice Tully Hall in New York City on 10 November 2016. The film was released worldwide on 18 November 2016, in 2D, 3D and the new IMAX 4K Laser system.[8][42] It would premiere one day earlier in a number of other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Germany and Italy, on 17 November. The film will be released in a total of 1,028 IMAX screens worldwide (388 screens in the United States and Canada, 347 screens in China, 26 screens in Japan and 267 screens in other countries). This marked the second time – after Doctor Strange – that a film secured a release in over 1,000 IMAX screens worldwide.[43][44]

text: Promotion[edit]

text: A "story pack" based on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was released for the video game Lego Dimensions by WB Games and TT Games. The pack includes a constructible model of MACUSA, figures of Newt Scamander and a Niffler, and a six-level game campaign that adapts the film's events. The pack was released on the same day as the film, alongside a "fun pack" containing figures of Tina Goldstein and a Swooping Evil. The cast of the film reprises their roles in the game.

text: Marketing[edit]

text: Publicity[edit]

text: On 4 November 2015, Entertainment Weekly released the first official publicity shots of the film, containing pictures of characters Newt, Tina, and Queenie, and production and filming being held in various sets designed to mirror 1920s New York City. On 10 December 2015, it was announced that an "announcement trailer" would be released five days later, on 15 December.[45] Along with the one-minute trailer, a teaser poster was released.[46][47]

text: During "A Celebration of Harry Potter" at Universal Orlando Resort in February 2016, a featurette was released showcasing several interviews with various cast and crew members, as well as the first official behind-the-scenes footage.[48] On 10 April 2016, the first "teaser trailer" was released during the MTV Movie Awards.[49] On 10 August, more information and publicity shots for the film were released through Entertainment Weekly, with new information on Ezra Miller's character Credence Barebone and the news that Zoe Kravitz would have a role in the series.[50][51] New images released include the quartet running down a New York City alleyway, David Yates chatting to stars Katherine Waterston and Eddie Redmayne on the set in front of a blown out Subway station, Colin Farrell's character Percival Graves interrogating an arrested and handcuffed Newt, and Graves and Credence putting up anti-magic propaganda.[50][52]

text: Tie-in literature and merchandise[edit]

text: On 26 April 2016, it was announced that the film's script would be released in the form of a book on 19 November.[53] The book, titled Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay, was written by Rowling herself. In an effort to avoid revealing plot details before the film's release, the novelization of the film was released the following day of the film's premiere, on 19 November 2016.[54]

text: On 7 March 2016 a trailer-preview was released about the History of Magic in North America as it is in the Harry Potter universe.[55] On 7 October 2016, Rowling also released on Pottermore four pieces of writing exclusively as an introduction to the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, titled History of Magic in North America. It includes information about scourers in North America, brutal and violent magical mercenaries who played a significant role in the historic Salem witch trials of the 1600s, as well as info about various American wand makers; the role magic played in World War I; Native American magic; the foundation of MACUSA; the harsh enforcement No-Maj/Wizarding segregation; and life in 1920s Wizarding America; with info about wand permits and prohibition.[56][57]

text: On 28 June 2016, Rowling released a second part to her History of Magic in North America series, concerning the fictitious Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, detailing the founding of the pre-eminent American Wizarding academy and allowing users to sort themselves into one of the four houses of the school. The school itself is mentioned in the film.[58]

text: Home media[edit]

text: Fantastic Beasts was released on Digital HD on 7 March 2017, and on 4K UHD, 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD on 28 March 2017.[59]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them grossed $234 million in the United States and Canada and $580 million in other countries for a total of $814 million.[5] The film was made on a budget of $180 million, with an additional $150 million spent on marketing.[4][60] Worldwide, the film grossed $219.9 million during its opening weekend from around 64 markets in 24,200 screens, both the fifth biggest in Rowling's wizarding cinematic universe, and the seventh-biggest of the month of November.[61][62] IMAX totalled $15 million from 605 screens.[43] Deadline.com calculated the net profit of the film to be $164 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film, making it the 9th most profitable release of 2016.[63]

text: United Kingdom and Ireland[edit]

text: Fantastic Beasts went on general release in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 18 November 2016. It debuted with £15.33 million ($19.15 million) from 666 cinemas, the biggest debut of any film in 2016, ahead of the previous record holder, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (£14.62 million).[43][64] The film was surpassed during the last days of 2016 by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story which gained over one million pounds.[65]

text: United States and Canada[edit]

text: In the United States and Canada, tracking had the film grossing $68–85 million in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $100 million. The film was released on 18 November in 4,143 cinemas, of which 388 were IMAX screens, and over 3,600 were showing the film in 3D.[66][67][68] It grossed $29.7 million on its first day, the second-lowest opening day among Rowling's adaptations (behind the $29.6 million Friday of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets).[69] This included $8.75 million it earned from Thursday night preview screenings beginning at 6 pm in 3,700 cinemas.[70] In total, the film earned $74.4 million in its opening weekend, falling in line with projections and finishing first at the box office, but recorded the lowest opening among Rowling's Harry Potter universe.[61][71] It made $8 million from 388 IMAX screens, $9 million from 500 premium large format locations and $1.75 million from Cinemark XD.[61]

text: The film's opening was considered a hit taking into account how the story was not based on a popular existing source, and the film itself was void of the franchise's main character, Harry Potter.[60] It was the top choice among moviegoers, representing 47% of the weekend's total $157.6 million tickets sales.[72] On its second Friday, it had a gradual drop of 37% ($18.5 million) from the week before, the second best Friday drop for any Harry Potter film, behind The Philosopher's Stone. This was in part due to Black Friday, the most lucrative day of the Thanksgiving Day stretch.[73] It ended up grossing $45.1 million in its second weekend (a drop of just 39.4%), finishing 2nd at the box office behind newcomer Moana.[74]

text: Other markets[edit]

text: Outside North America, the film debuted day-and-date in 63 countries, along with its North American release, where it was projected to gross $90–125 million in its opening weekend.[75][76] It opened 16 November 2016 in 9 countries, earning $6.9 million from 5,070 screens.[77][78] It opened in 38 more countries on 18 November, earning $16.6 million for a total of $23.5 million in two days.[77] In three days, it made $53.6 million.[79] Through Sunday, 20 November, the film had a five-day opening weekend of $145.5 million from 63 countries, which is way above the initial projections.[43] It earned another $132 million in its second weekend after a large debut in China and Japan.[44]

text: It recorded the biggest opening day of all-time among the Harry Potter franchise in Korea ($1.7 million),the Philippines ($1.2 million),[80] the UAE ($429,000) and Ukraine, the second biggest in Mexico ($1.8 million), Russia and the CIS ($1.7 million), Brazil ($1.3 million) and in Indonesia ($480,000), all behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and the third biggest in the United Kingdom ($5.4 million), behind Part 1 and Part 2.[77] It also scored the second biggest Warner Bros. opening of all-time in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.[77] Notably, France opened with $1.8 million, Spain with $1.4 million, and Germany with $1 million ($2 million including paid previews).[77] In terms of opening weekend, the film posted the biggest opening among the Harry Potter franchise in 16 markets, including South Korea ($14.2 million, also the third-biggest opening for the studio), Russia ($9.8 million) and Brazil ($6.4 million), the biggest opener of the year in Germany ($10.2 million), Sweden, Belgium and Switzerland and the biggest Warner Bros. debut in those along with France ($10.2 million), Holland and Denmark. Italy debuted with $6.6 million, the biggest for a U.S. film in the country. Australia opened with $7.4 million, followed by Mexico ($5.8 million) and Spain ($4.5 million).[43]

text: It opened in China on 25 November alongside Disney's animated Moana but did not face significant competition from it. It earned $11.2 million on its opening day from 11,600 screens, the best among the Rowlings cinematic universe.[81][82] In total, it had an opening weekend of $41.1 million, dominating 60% of the top five films with 70,000 screenings per day. This alone surpassed the entire lifetime total of all Harry Potter films save the last one.[44][83] Similarly in Japan – typically the biggest or second biggest market for the previous Harry Potter films – it debuted with $15.5 million, besting the total lifetime of all the previous films except for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows – Part 2.[44]

text: The film also set a number of IMAX records. In total, the opening weekend was worth $7 million from 276 screens, which is the second-highest ever in the Wizarding World, behind Deathly Hallows – Part 2. In 33 territories, it opened at number one. Moreover, it's also the third highest-grossing November international IMAX opening ever, and the No. 1 start for IMAX in November in 19 countries including Japan ($1.1 million), the UK, Russia, Germany, and the Netherlands.[43] In China, it had the biggest IMAX opening among the franchise with $5.1 million from 347 IMAX screens.[44] Overall, the film has earned a global cumulative total of $19.1 million from the format.[44]

text: It has become the highest-grossing film in Rowling's cinematic universe in Russia ($16.7 million) and the second-highest in South Korea ($24.6 million). China ($41.1 million) the United Kingdom ($37.6 million), followed by Germany ($18.4 million), France ($16.7 million), and Spain ($13.3 million) are the film's biggest earning markets.[44]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes sampled 287 critics and judged 74% of the reviews as positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them draws on Harry Potter's rich mythology to deliver a spinoff that dazzles with franchise-building magic all its own."[84] Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating to reviews, gives the film a score 66 out of 100, based on 50 critics, indicating generally favourable reviews.[85] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[86]

text: Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film five out of five, hailing it as "a rich, baroque, intricately detailed entertainment" and a "terrifically good-natured, unpretentious and irresistibly buoyant film".[87] NME's Larry Bartleet also gave it five out of five, calling it "more enchanting to your inner kid than the Potter films ever were".[88] IndieWire's Eric Kohn gave the film a B+ saying that it "delivers the most satisfying period fantasy since Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street ", and that its layers of sophistication made it one of the best Hollywood blockbusters of the year.[89]

text: Mike Ryan of Uproxx gave the film a positive review, writing "Newt Scamander is nothing like Harry, but it has to be this way. It all has to be different. And it is, but, again, with just enough 'sameness' to make us feel like we are at home again. I'm looking forward to wherever these movies are taking us".[90] John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film is "likely to draw in just about everyone who followed the Potter series and to please most of them".[91] However, New York Magazine's David Edelstein deemed the film a "distinctly unmagical slog", remarking that the beasts "aren’t especially fantastic and the effects are too blandly corporate to be exhilarating".[92]

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
Award
Date of ceremony
Category
Recipients
Result
Ref(s)

Academy Awards
26 February 2017
Best Production Design
Stuart Craig and Anna Pinnock
Nominated
[93][94]

Best Costume Design
Colleen Atwood
Won

Art Directors Guild Awards
11 February 2017
Excellence in Production Design for a Fantasy Film
Stuart Craig
Nominated
[95]

British Academy Film Awards
12 February 2017
Best British Film
David Heyman, Steve Kloves, J. K. Rowling, Lionel Wigram and David Yates
Nominated
[96]

Best Production Design
Stuart Craig and Anna Pinnock
Won

Best Costume Design
Colleen Atwood
Nominated

Best Special Visual Effects
Tim Burke, Pablo Grillo, Christian Manz and David Watkins
Nominated

Best Sound
Niv Adiri, Glenn Freemantle, Simon Hayes, Andy Nelson and Ian Tapp
Nominated

Costume Designers Guild Awards
21 February 2017
Excellence in Fantasy Film
Colleen Atwood
Nominated
[97]

Critics' Choice Movie Awards
11 December 2016
Best Art Direction
Stuart Craig, James Hambidge and Anna Pinnock
Nominated
[98]

Best Costume Design
Colleen Atwood
Nominated

Best Hair and Makeup
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Nominated

Best Visual Effects
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Nominated

Diversity in Media Awards
15 September 2017
Movie of the Year
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Nominated
[99]

Empire Awards
19 March 2017
Best British Film
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Nominated
[100]

Best Actor
Eddie Redmayne
Won

Best Costume Design
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Won

Best Make-Up and Hairstyling
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Won

Best Production Design
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Won

Best Visual Effects
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Nominated

Evening Standard British Film Awards
9 December 2016
Editor's Award
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Won
[101]

Irish Film & Television Awards
8 April 2017
Best Supporting Actor
Colin Farrell
Nominated
[102]

Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild Awards
19 February 2017
Feature-Length Motion Picture – Best Period and/or Character Make-Up
Fae Hammond and Marilyn MacDonald
Nominated
[103]

Feature-Length Motion Picture – Best Period and/or Character Hair Styling
Fae Hammond and Marilyn MacDonald
Nominated

Feature-Length Motion Picture – Best Special Make-Up Effects
Fae Hammond
Nominated

People's Choice Awards
18 January 2017
Favorite Year-End Blockbuster
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Won
[104]

Saturn Awards
28 June 2017
Best Fantasy Film
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Nominated
[105]

Best Supporting Actor
Dan Fogler
Nominated

Best Music
James Newton Howard
Nominated

Best Production Design
Stuart Craig
Nominated

Best Costume Design
Colleen Atwood
Won

Best Make-up
Nick Knowles
Nominated

Best Special Effects
Tim Burke, Christian Manz and David Watkins
Nominated

St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association
18 December 2016
Best Production Design
Stuart Craig and James Hambidge
Runner-up[a]
[106]

Teen Choice Awards
31 July 2016
Choice AnTEENcipated Movie
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Nominated
[107]

Visual Effects Society Awards
7 February 2017
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
Tim Burke, Pablo Grillo, Christian Manz, David Watkins and Olly Young
Nominated
[108]

Outstanding Animated Performance in a Photoreal Feature
Gabriel Beauvais-Tremblay, Luc Girard, Laurent Laban and Romain Rico
Nominated

Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association
5 December 2016
Best Art Direction
Stuart Craig and Anna Pinnock
Nominated
[109]

text: Jump up ^ Tied with Jean Rabasse for Jackie and David Wasco for La La Land

text: Sequels[edit]

text: Initially, in October 2014, the studio announced the film would be the start of a trilogy. The sequel is set to be released on 16 November 2018, followed by the third on 20 November 2020.[110][111][112] In July 2016, David Yates confirmed that Rowling had written the screenplay for the second film and has ideas for the third.[113] In October 2016, Rowling confirmed that the series would comprise five films.[114] In November 2016 it was confirmed that Johnny Depp will have a starring role in the sequel, reprising his role as Gellert Grindelwald.[115] In April 2017, it was confirmed that Jude Law had been cast for the role of Albus Dumbledore at around the time he was the Transfiguration professor at Hogwarts.[116] The second film will take place in the United Kingdom and Paris.[117] Principal photography for the second film began in July 2017.[118]


document_title: Lovebug

question_text: when do love bugs come out in florida

question_tokens: when do love bugs come out in florida

root

text: Lovebug

text: Semi-annual pest status[edit]

text: Localized lovebug flights can number in the hundreds of thousands. The slow, drifting movement of the insects is almost reminiscent of snow fall except that the flies also rise in the air. Two major flights occur each year, first in late spring, then again in late summer. In south Florida, a third (but smaller) flight can occur in December.[2] The spring flight occurs during late April and May, and in the summer during late August and September. Flights extend over periods of four to five weeks.[5] Mating takes place almost immediately after emergence of the females. Adult females live only three to four days, while males live a little longer. They have to stick to each other at all times.[2]

tag: p

text: This species' reputation as a public nuisance is due not to any bite or sting (it is incapable of either), but to its slightly acidic body chemistry. Because airborne lovebugs can exist in enormous numbers near highways, they die in large numbers on automobile windshields, hoods, and radiator grills when the vehicles travel at high speeds. If left for more than an hour or two, the remains become extremely difficult to remove. Their body chemistry has a nearly neutral 6.5 pH but may become acidic at 4.25 pH if left on the car for a day.[2] In the past, the acidity of the dead adult body, especially the female's egg masses, often resulted in pits and etches in automotive paint and chrome if not quickly removed.[7] However, advances in automotive paints and protective coatings have reduced this threat significantly. Now the greatest concern is excessive clogging of vehicle radiator air passages with the bodies of the adults, with the reduction of the cooling effect on engines, and the obstruction of windshields when the remains of the adults and egg masses are smeared on the glass.[2]

text: Lovebug adults are attracted to light-colored surfaces, especially if they are freshly painted, but adults congregate almost anywhere apparently reacting to the effects of sunlight on automobile fumes, asphalt, and other products affected by environmental factors still not completely understood.[2]

text: Folklore[edit]

text: Urban legend holds that lovebugs are synthetic—the result of a University of Florida genetics experiment gone wrong.[3]

text: Much speculation about the lovebug still thrives. This is partly because the larval form of this insect is seldom seen, as it lives and feeds in the thatch of grasses for most of the year. While various fungi are suspected of being natural controls for this species,[2] biological control of these non-pest flies is not a priority for funding.

text: Research by L.L. Buschman showed that migration explained the introduction of the lovebug into Florida and other southeastern states, contrary to the urban myth that the University of Florida created them by manipulating DNA to control mosquito populations.[3]

text: Management[edit]

text: Lovebugs are subject to some significant natural controls, such as various parasitic fungi,[2] and dry weather—which dries out the thatch resulting in a higher mortality rate for the immatures. As the lovebug migrated around the Gulf Coast, first to Texas, then Louisiana, then further eastward, the initial populations for many years were so excessive that they caused public concern and initiated rumors of their origin. However, as pest populations migrate naturally, their natural controls are usually not far behind. While it often took decades, lovebug flights are no longer present in the huge numbers that once existed simply because their natural controls (mostly fungi) caught up with established populations. In many areas, local lovebug flights may only be present in excessively large numbers due to occasional local conditions that may not be repeated in successive years.

text: While lovebugs are not a favored food of most insectivores due to their acidic taste, lovebug larvae—and some adults—are food for birds such as quail and robins. Arthropod predators include spiders, some predatory insects such as earwigs, at least two species of beetle larvae, and centipedes.[7]

text: Life cycle[edit]

text: The lovebug has been recorded to have two flights that occur each year in which the lovebug will have a total lifespan of about 4–9 months depending on flight season. The first flight occurs during the months of April and May and the second flight occurs in August and September.[8] The flights generally last about 4–5 weeks each time.[9] Female lovebugs can lay as many as 100-350 eggs and will regularly lay these eggs around decaying material on the top layer of ground soil.[10] Lovebug eggs generally hatch after 2–4 days depending flight season. Once the eggs have hatched, the larvae will start feeding on the decaying material around them such as decaying plants on the soil and other decaying organic material and will live and remain in the soil until they develop to the pupa stage.[10] During the warmer months the lovebug larva will remain in the larvae phase for approximately 120 days and approximately 240 days during the cooler months.[11] Lovebugs typically stay in the pupa stage about 7–9 days before reaching the adult phase in which they can start reproducing.[12] Once adults, lovebugs are ready to mate and will start copulating to begin reproducing. Adult male love bugs will emerge first from the pupal stage and will hover around until female lovebugs emerge.[13] Mating between love bugs takes place immediately after emergence of the adult females.[14] Male lovebugs will copulate with a female and will remain paired up until the female has been fully fertilized. Copulation takes place for 2–3 days before the female detaches and lays her eggs and dies. Adult females have been recorded to live up to seven days while adult males may live up to two to five days but on average lovebugs will live three to four days.[15] However, Thornhill (1976c) recorded recapture data that showed males lived longer in the field than females.[2]

text: Notes[edit]

text:
Jump up ^ Hardy, D. Elmo (1940). "Studies in New World Plecia (Bibionidae: Diptera)". Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. Kansas: Kansas (Central States) Entomological Society. 13 (1): 15–27. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k Denmark, Harold; Mead, Frank; Fasulo, Thomas (April 2010). "Lovebug, Plecia nearctica Hardy". Featured Creatures. University of Florida/IFAS. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
^ Jump up to: a b c Leppla, Norman (September 2009). "Living with lovebugs". Electronic Data Information Source of UF/IFAS Extension. Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
Jump up ^ Buschman, Lawrent L. (June 1976). "Invasion of Florida by the "Lovebug" Plecia Nearctica (Diptera: Bibionidae)" (PDF). Florida Entomologist. Florida Entomological Society. pp. 191–194. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
^ Jump up to: a b Hetrick, L. (March 1970). "Biology of the 'love-bug', (Diptera: Bibionidae)" (PDF). Florida Entomologist. Entomological Society of Florida. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
Jump up ^ Mousseau, Timothy (July 2009). "Lovebugs on the move". University of South Carolina. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
^ Jump up to: a b Short, Donald (May 2003). "Lovebugs in Florida". Electronic Data Information Source of UF/IFAS Extension. Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
Jump up ^ Cherry, R., and Raid, R. 2000. Seasonal flight of Plecia nearctica (Diptera: Bibionidae) in southern Florida. Florida Entomol. 83: 94–96.
Jump up ^ Denmark, H. A., and F. W. Mead. "Lovebug - Plecia Nearctica Hardy." Lovebug – Plecia Nearctica Hardy. DPI Entomology Circular 350, 15 Aug. 1998. Web. 24 July 2014.
^ Jump up to: a b Wenston, J., D. E. Short, and M. Pfiester. "Lovebugs in Florida1." EDIS New Publications RSS. University of Florida, 2013. Web. 25 July 2014.
Jump up ^ Leppla, Norman C. "Living With Lovebugs." EDIS New Publications RSS. University of Florida/IFAS Extension, 15 Jan. 2007. Web. 24 July 2014
Jump up ^ Hetrick LA. 1970a. Biology of the "love-bug," Plecia nearctica (Diptera: Bibionidae). Florida Entomologist 53: 23-26.
Jump up ^ Thornhill, Randy. "Dispersal of Plecia Nearctica (Diptera: Bibionidae)." The Florida Entomologist 57.1 (1980): 45. ProQuest. Web. 24 July 2014.
Jump up ^ Thornhill, R. 1976c. Reproductive behavior of the lovebug, Plecia nearctica (Diptera: Bibionidae). Ann. Entomol. Soc. Amer. 69:843-847
Jump up ^ Hieber, C., J. Cohen. 1983. Sexual Selection in the Lovebug, *Plecia nearctica*: The role of male choice. Evolution,, 37(5): 987-992.

tag: ol

text: BibionidaeInsects described in 1940Insects of Central AmericaInsects of the United States

tag: ul

text: Articles with 'species' microformats


document_title: Holland Tunnel

question_text: where is the holland tunnel entrance in nyc

text: Holland Tunnel

text: Description[edit]

text: Tubes[edit]

text: The Holland Tunnel is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.[4] It consists of a pair of tubes with 29.5-foot (9.0 m) diameters, running roughly parallel to each other and 15 feet (4.6 m) apart underneath the Hudson River. The exteriors of each tube are composed of a series of cast iron rings, which themselves comprise 14 curved steel pieces, each of which is 6 feet (1.8 m) long. The steel rings, in turn, are covered by a 19-inch-thick (48 cm) layer of concrete.[3]:3 Each tube provides a 20-foot (6.1 m) roadway with two lanes and 12 feet 6 inches (3.81 m) of vertical clearance. The north tube is 8,558 feet (2,608 m) between portals, while the south tube is slightly shorter, at 8,371 feet (2,551 m).[3]:3[4] If each tube's immediate approach roads are included, the north tube is 9,210 feet (2,807 m) long and the south tube 9,275 feet (2,827 m) long.[3]:3

text: Both tubes' underwater sections are 5,410 feet (1,650 m) long and are situated in the silt beneath the river.[3]:3  The lowest point of the roadways are about 93 feet (28.3 m) below mean high water, and the lowest point of the tunnel ceiling is about 72 feet (21.9 m) below mean high water.[4][5][6] The tubes descend at a maximum grade of 4.06% and ascend at a grade of up to 3.8%.[6]  The tubes stretch an additional 1,000 feet (300 m) from the eastern shoreline to the New York portals, and 500 feet (150 m) from the western shoreline to the New Jersey portals. These sections of the tunnel are more rectangular in shape, since they were built as open cuts that were later covered over.[3]:4 The walls and ceiling are furnished with glazed ceramic tiles, which were originally engineered to minimize staining.[6] The majority of the tiles are white, but there is a two-tile-high band of yellow-orange tiles at the bottom of each tube's walls, as well as two-tile-high band of blue tiles on the top.[3]:4[7]

text: The northern tube, which carries westbound traffic, originates at Broome Street in Manhattan between Varick and Hudson Streets; it continues to 14th Street east of Marin Boulevard in Jersey City. The southern tube, for eastbound traffic, originates at 12th Street east of Marin Boulevard, and surfaces at the Holland Tunnel Rotary in Manhattan.[5] The entrance and exit ramps to and from each portal are lined with granite and are 30 feet (9.1 m) wide.[3]:5 Although the two tubes' underwater sections are parallel, the tubes' portals on either side are located two blocks away from each other, in order to reduce congestion on each side.[8][3]:4 The Holland Tunnel's tubes initially contained a road surface made of Belgian blocks and concrete, but this has since been replaced with asphalt in 1955.[3]:5 Each tube contains a catwalk on its left (inner) side, raised 4 feet (1.2 m) above the roadway.[5] Five emergency-exit cross-passages connect the two tubes' inner catwalks.[3]:6 When the Holland Tunnel opened, the catwalk was equipped with police booths and a telephone system, stationed at intervals of 250 feet (76 m).[8]

text: The amount of traffic going through the Holland Tunnel has remained steady despite tight restrictions on eastbound traffic in response to the September 11, 2001, attacks, including a ban on commercial traffic entering New York City put in place after an August 2004 threat.[9][10] Aside from a sharp decline immediately following the September 11 attacks, the number of vehicles using the Holland Tunnel in either direction daily has steadily declined from a peak of 103,020 daily vehicles in 1999 to 89,792 vehicles in 2016.[1]:218 As of  2017[update], the eastbound direction of the Holland Tunnel was used by 14,871,543 vehicles annually.[11]

text: The Holland Tunnel was designed by Clifford Milburn Holland, chief engineer on the project, who died in October 1924, before it was completed.[12] He was succeeded by Milton Harvey Freeman, who died less than a year after Holland did.[13][14] Afterward, Ole Singstad oversaw the completion of the tunnel.[15][13]  The tunnel was designated a National Historic Civil and Mechanical Engineering Landmark in 1982[16] and a National Historic Landmark in 1993.[17][18][19][20]

text: Ventilation[edit]

text: The Holland Tunnel was the first mechanically ventilated underwater vehicular tunnel in the world. It contains a system of vents that run transverse, or perpendicular, to the tubes.[6][21][22] Each side of the Hudson River has two ventilation shaft buildings: one on land, and one in the river approximately 1,000 feet (300 m) from the respective shoreline. All of the ventilation buildings have buff brick facades with steel and reinforced-concrete frames.[3]:5[23][13] The shafts within the river rise 107 feet (33 m) above mean high water; their supporting piers descend 45 feet (14 m), of which 40 feet (12 m) are underwater and 5 feet (1.5 m) are embedded in the riverbed.[3]:5[21] The river shafts doubled as emergency exits by way of shipping piers that connected each ventilation shaft to the shoreline.[3]:6 The New York Land Ventilation Tower, a five-story building with a trapezoidal footprint, is 122 feet (37 m) tall. The New Jersey Land Ventilation Tower is a four-story, 84-foot (26 m) building with a rectangular perimeter.[3]:5

text: The four ventilation towers contain a combined 84 fans. Of these, 42 are intake fans with varying capacities from 84,000 to 218,000 cubic feet (2,400 to 6,200 m3) per minute, while the other 42 are exhaust fans, which could blow between 87,500 and 227,000 cubic feet (2,480 and 6,430 m3) per minute.[13][5] At the time of the tunnel's construction, two-thirds of the 84 fans were being used regularly, while the other fans were reserved for emergency use.[24] The fans blow fresh air into ducts, which in turn provide air intake to the tunnel via openings at the tubes' curbside. The ceiling contains slits, which are used to exhaust air.[3]:5[21][22] The fans can replace all of the air inside the tunnel every 90 seconds. A forced ventilation system is essential because of the poisonous carbon monoxide component of automobile exhaust, which constituted a far greater percentage of exhaust gases before catalytic converters became prevalent.[3]:6[25][26]

text: Boyle Plaza[edit]

text: The approach to the Holland Tunnel in Jersey City begins where the lower level of NJ 139 and the Newark Bay Extension merge. On May 6, 1936, the section of what became NJ 139/I-78 between Jersey Avenue and Marin Boulevard was named in memory of John F. Boyle, the former interstate tunnel commissioner.[27] Despite being part of the Interstate Highway System, the I-78 and NJ 139 run concurrently along 12th and 14th Streets to reach the Holland Tunnel. Westbound traffic uses 14th Street while eastbound traffic uses 12th Street. The plaza was restored and landscaped by the Jersey City government in 1982.[28]

text: There is a nine-lane toll plaza for eastbound traffic only at the eastern end of 12th Street, just west of the tunnel portal.[4] The original toll plaza had eight lanes;[8] it was renovated in 1953–1954,[29][3]:6 and the current nine-lane tollbooth was constructed in 1988.[30][3]:6

text: Holland Tunnel Rotary[edit]

text: Soon after construction of the tunnel, a freight depot, the St. John's Park Terminal, was demolished,[31] and a new circular roadway was created in the city block bounded by Laight, Varick, Beach and Hudson Streets for traffic exiting the eastbound tube in Manhattan.[32][33] The original structure had four exits, but the plaza was renovated in the early 2000s with landscaping by Studio V Architecture[34] and Ives Architecture Studio.[35] A fifth exit was added in 2004.[36][37]

text: Freeman Plaza[edit]

text: Originally used as the toll plazas for New Jersey-bound traffic, the small triangular patches of land at the mouth of the westbound tube entrance are referred to as Freeman Plaza or Freeman Square. The plaza is named after Milton Freeman, the engineer who took over the Holland Tunnel project after the death of Clifford Milburn Holland.[38] The Freeman Plaza received its name just before the tunnel opened in 1927. The toll plaza was removed circa 1971 when the Port Authority stopped collecting tolls for New Jersey-bound drivers, and the square was later fenced off by the Port Authority.[3]:7[39] The small maintenance buildings for toll collectors were removed around 1982 or 1983.[3]:7 A bust of Holland sits outside the entrance to the westbound tube in Freeman Plaza.[40]:16

text: A business improvement district for the area, the Hudson Square Connection, was founded in 2009 with the goal of repurposing the square for pedestrian use.[39][41] Hudson Square Connection and the Port Authority collaborated to create a five year, $27 million master plan for Freeman Plaza.[42] In 2013, Freeman Plaza West was opened to the public. Bounded by Hudson, Broome, and Watts Streets, it features umbrellas, bistro tables and chairs, and tree plantings.[43] In 2014, Freeman Plaza East and Freeman Plaza North were opened on Varick and Broome Streets, respectively. The plazas contained chaise lounge chairs, bistro tables, and umbrellas.[44] In 2016, the Hudson Square Connection added solar powered charging stations to both plazas, and introduced a summer lunchtime music series, called live@lunch.[45] A statue by the artist Isamu Noguchi was also installed within the plaza.[46]

text: History[edit]

text: Context[edit]

text: Until the first decade of the 20th century, passage across the lower Hudson River was possible only by ferry.[47]:10[3]:9 The first tunnels to be bored below the Hudson River were for railroad use. The Hudson & Manhattan Railroad (now PATH) constructed two pairs of tubes to link the major railroad terminals in New Jersey with Manhattan Island: the Uptown Hudson Tubes, which opened in 1908,[47]:21[48] and the Downtown Hudson Tubes, which opened in 1909.[49]  The Pennsylvania Railroad's twin North River Tunnels, constructed to serve the new Pennsylvania Station, opened in 1910.[47]:37[50] The construction of these three tunnels proved that tunneling under the Hudson River was feasible.[47]:10 However, although train traffic was allowed to use the tunnel crossings, automotive traffic still had to be transported via ferry.[3]:9

text: At the same time, freight traffic in the Port of New York and New Jersey was mostly carried on boats, but traffic had grown to such a point that the boats were at full capacity, and some freight started going to other ports in the United States. To alleviate this, officials proposed building a freight railroad tunnel, but this was blocked by the organized syndicates that held influence over much of the port's freight operations.[40]:9–10 The public learned of the excessive traffic loads on existing boat routes, as well as the limited capacity of the H&M and North River Tunnels, when the surface of the Hudson River froze in winter 1917, and again when Pennsylvania Railroad workers went on strike in winter 1918.[40]:11–13[3]:9 One engineer suggested that three freight railroad tunnels would be cheaper to construct than one bridge.[51]

text: Planning[edit]

text: Initial plans[edit]

text: In 1906, the New York and New Jersey Interstate Bridge Commission, a consortium of three groups, was formed to consider the need for a crossing across the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey.[52] That year, three railroads asked the Commission to consider building a railroad bridge over the river.[53] In 1908, the commission considered building three bridges across the Hudson River at 57th, 110th, and 179th Streets in Manhattan. The reasoning was that bridges would be cheaper than tunnels.[54] These three locations were considered to be the only suitable locations for suspension bridges; other sites were rejected on the grounds of aesthetics, geography, or traffic flows.[52][55] John Vipond Davies, one of the partners for the consulting firm Jacobs and Davies (which had constructed the Uptown Hudson Tubes), wanted to build a vehicular tunnel between Canal Street, Manhattan, and 13th Street, Jersey City. This proposal would compete with the six-lane suspension bridge at 57th Street.[56] Some plans provided for the construction of both the bridge and the tunnel.[56][57] The ferries could not accommodate all of the 19,600 vehicles per day, as of 1913, that traveled between New York and New Jersey.[57]  Truck drivers were invited to Bridge Commission meetings, where they would hear about the details of both the 57th Street Bridge and Canal Street Tunnel plans.[58]

text: The United States Department of War brought up concerns about the 57th Street bridge plans: the span would need to be at least 200 feet (61 m) above the mean high water to avoid interfering with shipping.[40]:13 By comparison, the tunnel would be 95 feet (29 m) below mean water level.[57] The Interstate Bridge Commission, which had been renamed the New York State Bridge and Tunnel Commission in April 1913,[59][60] published a report that same month, stating that the Canal Street tunnel would cost $11 million while the 57th Street bridge would cost $42 million.[55] In October 1913, Jacobs and Davies stated that a pair of tunnels, with each tube carrying traffic in one direction, would cost only $11 million, while a bridge might cost over $50 million. Moreover, the low elevation and deep bedrock of Lower Manhattan was more conducive to a tunnel than to a bridge.[40]:13–14[61][62] By the end of that year, the consulting engineers for both the 57th Street Bridge and the Canal Street Tunnel had submitted their plans to the Bridge and Tunnel Commission.[63] New York City merchants mainly advocated for the tunnel plan, while New Jerseyans and New York automobile drivers mostly supported the bridge plan.[64] Meanwhile, the New York State Bridge and Tunnel Commission indicated that it favored the Canal Street tunnel plan. On the other hand, the 57th Street bridge plan remained largely forgotten.[62][63]

text: The Public Service Commission of New Jersey published a report in April 1917, stating that the construction of a Hudson River vehicle tunnel from Lower Manhattan to Jersey City was feasible.[65] That June, following this report, New Jersey Governor Walter Evans Edge convened the Hudson River Bridge and Tunnel Commission of New Jersey, which would work with the New York Bridge and Tunnel Commission to construct the new tunnel.[40]:15[66]  In March 1918, a report was sent to the New York State Legislature, advocating for the construction of the tunnel as soon as possible.[67] That year, six million dollars in funding for the Hudson River Tunnel was proposed in two bills presented to subcommittees of the United States Senate and House of Representatives.[68][67] The bill was voted down by the Interstate Commerce Committee before it could be presented to the full Senate.[69]

text: Plans approved[edit]

text: The original plans for the Hudson River tunnel were for twin two-lane tubes, with each tube carrying traffic in a single direction.[52] A request for proposals for the tunnel was announced in 1918, and eleven such requests were considered.[40]:15[70] One of these proposals, authored by engineer George Goethals, was for a bi-level tube.[52][71] A modification of Jacobs and Davies' 1913 plan,[67] the Goethals proposal specified that each level would carry three lanes of traffic, and that traffic on each level would run in a different direction.[40]:15[71] Goethals stated that his plan would cost $12 million and could be completed in three years.[72] Subsequently, John F. O'Rourke offered to build the tunnel for $11.5 million.[73] Goethals cited the area's freight traffic as one of the reasons for constructing the tube.[67] His proposal would use a 42-foot (13 m) diameter shield to dig the tunnel.[52][73][74] This large tunnel size was seen as a potential problem, since there were differences in the air pressure at the top and the bottom of each tunnel, and that air pressure difference increased with a larger tunnel diameter. Thus, five engineers were assigned to examine the feasibility of Goethals's design.[74] In July 1919, President Woodrow Wilson ratified a Congressional joint resolution for a trans-Hudson tunnel,[3]:9 and Clifford Milburn Holland was named the Chief Engineer of the project.[13] Holland stated that, based on the construction methods used for both pairs of H&M tubes (and for the downtown pair in particular), it should be relatively easy to dig through the mud on the bottom of the Hudson River, and that construction should be completed within two years.[75]

text: The federal government refused to finance the project, even in part, and so it was the states' responsibility to raise the funds.[52] In June 1919, U.S. Senator and former New Jersey governor Edge presented another iteration of the Hudson River Tunnel bill to the U.S. Senate, where it was approved.[76] The New York and New Jersey governments signed a contract in September 1919, in which the states agreed to build, operate, and maintain the tunnel in partnership.[40]:16[77] The contract was signed by the states' respective tunnel commissions in January 1920.[78]

text: Under Holland's plan, each of the two tubes would have an outside diameter of 29 feet (8.8 m) including exterior linings, and the tubes would contain 2-lane roadways with a total width of 20 feet (6.1 m).[70][79] One lane would be for slower traffic, and the other would be for faster traffic. This contrasted with Goethals's plan, wherein the three roadways would have had a total width of 24.5 feet (7.5 m), only a few feet wider than Holland's 2-lane roadways.[80] Additionally, according to Holland, the 42-foot-wide tube would require the excavation of more dirt than both 29-foot tubes combined: two circles with 29-foot diameters would have a combined area of 5,282.2 square feet (490.73 m2), while a circle with a 42-foot diameter would have an area of 5,541.8 square feet (514.85 m2).[40]:17[52][80] The more northerly westbound tube would begin at Broome and Varick Streets on the Manhattan side and end at the now-demolished intersection of 14th and Provost Streets on the New Jersey side. The more southerly eastbound tube would begin at the still-intact intersection of 12th and Provost Streets in Jersey City, and end at the south side of Canal Street near Varick Street.[70] By way of comparison, Goethals's plan would have combined the entrance and exit plazas on each side.[40]:18 The Motor Truck Association of America unsuccessfully advocated for three lanes in each tube.[81]

text: Even though Goethals's method of digging had not been tested, he refused to concede to Holland's proposal, and demanded to see evidence that Holland's proposal would work.[40]:18 The New York and New Jersey Tunnel Commission subsequently rejected Goethals's plan in favor of a twin-tube proposal that Holland had devised, which was valued at around $28.7 million.[70][79] When Goethals asked why, the commission responded that Goethals's proposal had never been tested; that it was too expensive; and that the tunnel plans had many engineering weaknesses that could cause the tube to flood.[82] Additionally, while a tube with three lanes in each direction would be able to handle more traffic than a tube with two lanes, projections showed that traffic on the tunnel's approach roads could barely handle the amount of traffic going to and from the two-lane tubes, and that widening the approach roads on each side would cost millions of dollars more.[80]  The commission then voted to forbid any further consideration of Goethals's plan.[83]  Holland defended his own plan by pointing out that the roadways in Goethals's plan would not only feature narrower road lanes, but also would have ventilation ducts that were too small to ventilate the tube efficiently.[84]

text: In May 1920, the New Jersey legislature voted to approve the start of construction, overriding a veto from the New Jersey governor.[85] The same month, the New York governor signed a similar bill that had been passed in the New York legislature.[86] The legislature of New Jersey approved a $5 million bond issue for the tunnel in December 1920.[87]

text: Construction[edit]

text: The first bid for constructing the Hudson River Tunnel, a contract for digging two of the tunnel's eight planned shafts, was advertised in September 1920.[88] A groundbreaking for the Hudson River Tunnel's ventilation shaft, which marked the official start of construction on the tunnel, occurred on October 12, 1920, at Canal and Washington Streets on the Manhattan side.[89] However, further construction of the Hudson River Tunnel was soon held up due to concerns over its ventilation system.[90] There was also a dispute over whether the New York City government should pay for street-widening projects on the New Jersey side.[91] Further delays arose when the New York and New Jersey tunnel commissions could not agree over which agency would award the contract to build the construction and ventilation shafts.[92]

text: Ventilation system[edit]

text: The most significant design aspect of the Holland Tunnel is its ventilation system; it is served by four ventilation towers designed by Norwegian architect Erling Owre.[93]  At the time of its construction, underwater tunnels were a well-established part of civil engineering, but no long vehicular tunnels had been built, as all of the existing tunnels under New York City waterways carried only railroads and subways. These tubes did not have as much of a need for ventilation, since the trains that used the tubes were required to be electrically powered, and thus emitted very little pollution.[3]:10[90] On the other hand, the traffic in the Holland Tunnel consisted mostly of gasoline-driven vehicles, and ventilation was required to evacuate the carbon monoxide emissions, which would otherwise asphyxiate the drivers.[3]:10[94]:181–202[95] There were very few tunnels at that time that were not used by rail traffic; the most notable of these non-rail tunnels, the Blackwall Tunnel and Rotherhithe Tunnel in London, did not need mechanical ventilation.[3]:10 However, a tunnel of the Hudson River Tunnel's length required an efficient method of ventilation, so Chief Engineer Singstad pioneered a system of ventilating the tunnel transversely (perpendicular to the tubes).[15][96]

text: In October 1920, General George R. Dyer, the chairman of the New York Tunnel Commission, published a report in which he stated that Singstad had devised a feasible ventilation system for the Hudson River Tunnel.[90] Working with Yale University, the University of Illinois, and the United States Bureau of Mines, Singstad built a test tunnel in the bureau's experimental mine at Bruceton, Pennsylvania, measuring over 400 feet (122 m) long, where cars were lined up with engines running. Volunteer students were supervised as they breathed the exhaust in order to confirm air flows and tolerable carbon monoxide levels by simulating different traffic conditions, including backups.[22][96] The University of Illinois, which had hired the only professors of ventilation in the United States, built an experimental 300-foot-long (91 m) ventilation duct at its Urbana campus to test air flows.[96][97] In October 1921, Singstad concluded that a conventional, longitudinal ventilation system would have to be pressurized to an air flow rate of 27 cubic meters per second (953 cu ft/s) along the tunnel.[22] On the other hand, the tunnel could be adequately ventilated transversely if the compartment carrying the tube's roadway was placed in between two plenums. A lower plenum below the roadway floor could supply fresh air, and an upper plenum above the ceiling could exhaust fumes at regular intervals.[22][21]

text: Two thousand tests were performed with the ventilation system prototype.[13] The system was determined to be of sufficiently low cost, relative to the safety benefits, that it was ultimately integrated into the tunnel's design.[96] By the time the tunnel was in service, the average carbon monoxide content in both tunnels was 0.69 parts per 10,000 parts of air. The highest recorded carbon monoxide level in the Holland Tunnel was 1.60 parts per 10,000, well below the permissible maximum of 4 parts per 10,000.[6][98] The public and the press proclaimed air conditions were better in the tubes than in some streets of New York City; after the tunnel opened, Singstad stated that the carbon monoxide content in the tubes were half of those recorded on the streets.[98][99]

text: Tunnel boring[edit]

text: The ventilation system and other potential issues had been resolved by December 1921, and officials announced that the tunnel would break ground the following spring.[100] Builders initially considered building a trench at the bottom of the Hudson River and then covering it up, but this was deemed infeasible because of the soft soil that comprised the riverbed, as well as the heavy maritime traffic that used the river.[3]:11 Officials started purchasing the properties in the path of the tunnel's approaches, evicting and compensating the tenants "without delay" so that construction could commence promptly.[101] A bid to construct the tubes was advertised, and three firms responded.[102] On March 29, 1922, the contract to dig the tubes was awarded to the lowest bidder, Booth & Flinn Ltd., for $19.3 million.[103] The materials that were necessary to furnish the Hudson River Tunnel had already been purchased, so it was decided to start work immediately.[104] Construction on the bores began two days later as workers broke ground for an air compressor to drive the tubes. The ceremony for the air compressor was held at the corner of Canal and West Streets on the Manhattan side.[105] The workers who were performing the excavations, who were referred to as "sandhogs", were to dig each pair of tubes from either bank of the Hudson River, so that the two sides would eventually connect somewhere underneath the riverbed. The tunnel was to be 9,250 feet (2,820 m) long between portals, and the roadway was to descend to a maximum depth of 93 feet (28 m) below mean high water level.[104]

text: The start of construction for the tubes from the New Jersey side was delayed because the Hudson River Vehicular Tunnel Commission had not yet acquired some of the land for the project.[106] Although Jersey City officials had insisted that the Tunnel Commission widen 12th and 14th Streets in Jersey City,[107] these officials were involved in a disagreement over sale prices with the Erie Railroad, which owned some of the land that was to be acquired for the street widening. As a result, work on the Hudson River Tunnel was delayed by one year and could not be completed before 1926 at the earliest.[106] Work on the New Jersey side finally started on May 30, 1922, after Jersey City officials continued to refuse to cede public land for the construction of the tunnel's plazas. The Jersey City Chamber of Commerce wrote a letter that denounced this action, since the New Jersey Tunnel Commission's members on the Hudson River Tunnel Commission had not been notified of the groundbreaking until they read about it in the following day's newspapers.[108] In mid-June, a state chancellor made permanent an injunction that banned Jersey City officials from trying to preclude construction on the Hudson River Tunnel.[109] The Hudson River Tunnel Commission ultimately decided that Jersey City would not have its own groundbreaking celebration due to the city's various efforts at blocking the tunnel's construction.[110] However, although Jersey City officials had been primarily accused of delaying construction, officials from both states had wanted the Tunnel Commission to widen the approach streets to the Hudson River Tunnel as part of the construction process.[111]

text: For the project, six tunnel digging shields were to be delivered.[104] These shields comprised cylinders whose diameters were wider than the tunnel bores, and these cylinders contained steel plates of various thicknesses on the face that was to be driven under the riverbed.[23] Four of the shields would dig the Hudson River Tunnel under the river, while the remaining two shields would dig from the Hudson River west bank to the Jersey City portals. They could dig through rock at a rate of 2.5 feet (0.76 m) per day, or through mud at a daily rate of 5 to 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 m). The air compressors would provide an air pressure of 20 to 45 pounds per square inch (140 to 310 kPa).[112] The shovels used to dig the tunnel were provided by the Marion Power Shovel Company,[113] while the six digging shields were built by the Merchants Shipbuilding Corporation.[114] The air compressor was completed in September 1922, and the first shield was fitted into place in the Manhattan side's construction shaft. By this point, the shafts on the New Jersey side were being excavated, and two watertight caissons were being constructed.[115][23]

text: The shield started boring in late October of that year after the steel plates that were necessary for the shield's operation had been delivered.[116] The first permanent steel-rings lining the tubes were laid a short time afterward.[117] The caissons were completed and launched into the river in December,[118] and after the caissons were outfitted with the requisite equipment such as airlocks,[23] tugboats dropped the caissons into place in January 1923.[119] Officials projected that at this rate of progress, the tunnel would be finished within 36 months, by late 1926 or early 1927.[120]

text: Tunnel construction required the sandhogs to spend large amounts of time in the caisson under high pressure of up to 47.5 pounds per square inch (328 kPa), which was thought to be necessary to prevent river water from entering prior to completion of the tubes.[121] The caissons were massive metal boxes with varying dimensions, but each contained 6-foot-thick (1.8 m) walls.[23] Sandhogs entered the tunnel through a series of airlocks, and could only remain inside of the tunnel for a designated time period. On exiting the tunnel, sandhogs had to undergo controlled decompression to avoid decompression sickness or "the bends", a condition in which nitrogen bubbles form in the blood from rapid decompression.[121][122] The rate of decompression rate for sandhogs working on the Hudson River Tunnel was described as being "so small as to be negligible".[123] Sandhogs underwent such decompressions 756,000 times throughout the course of construction. which resulted in 528 cases of the bends, though none were fatal.[124] The tunnel's pressurization caused other problems, including a pressure blowout in April 1924 that flooded the tube.[125][122]

text: Due to the geology of the river, the shields digging from the New Jersey side were mostly being driven through mud, and so could be driven at a faster rate than the shields from the New York side, which were being dug through large rock formations. When workers tried to dig through the Manhattan shoreline, they had encountered several weeks of delay due to the existence of an as-yet-unrecorded granite bulkhead on the shoreline.[126] In September 1923, after having proceeded about 1,100 feet (340 m) from the Manhattan shoreline, workers encountered a sheet of Manhattan schist under the riverbed, forcing them to slow shield digging operations from 12.5 feet per day (3.8 m/d) to less than 1 foot per day (0.30 m/d). This outcropping was fed from a stream in Manhattan that emptied into the Hudson River. The sandhogs planned to use small explosive charges to dig through the rock shelf without damaging the shield.[127] By December 1923, about 4,400 feet (1,300 m) of each tube's total length had been excavated, and the first of the shields had passed through the underwater shafts that had been sunk during construction.[126] Due to these unexpected issues, the cost estimate for the tunnel was increased from $28 million to $42 million in January 1924.[128] By March 1924, all seven of the ventilation shafts had been dug, and three of the four shields that were digging underwater had passed through their respective underwater construction shafts, with the fourth shield nearing its respective shaft.[123]

text: Workers also performed tests to determine whether they could receive radio transmissions while inside the tunnel. They found that they were able to receive transmissions within much of the Hudson River Tunnel.[129] However, a New Jersey radio station later found that there was a spot in the middle of the tunnel that had no reception.[130]

text: The cost of the project increased as work progressed. In July 1923, the New York and New Jersey Vehicular Tunnel Commission had revised plans for the entrance and exit plazas on each side to accommodate an increase in traffic along Canal Street on the Manhattan side. The commission had spent $2.1 million to acquire land.[131] Further redesigns were made in January 1924 due to a change of major components in the tunnel plan, including tunnel diameters and ventilation systems, which had increased the cost by another $14 million.[131]

text: Nearing completion[edit]

text: The two ends of both tubes were scheduled to be "holed through", or connected to each other, at a ceremony on October 29, 1924, in which President Calvin Coolidge would have remotely set off an explosion to connect the two sides of the tunnel.[132] However, two days before the holing-through  ceremony supposed to take place, Holland died of a heart attack at the sanatorium in Battle Creek, Michigan, aged 41. Individuals cited in The New York Times attributed his death to the stress he endured overseeing the tunnel's construction.  The ceremony was postponed out of respect for Holland's death.[133] The tunnel was ultimately holed through on October 29, but it was a nondescript event without any ceremony.[16] On November 12, 1924, the Hudson River Vehicular Tunnel was renamed the Holland Tunnel by the two states' respective tunnel commissions.[134] Holland was succeeded by Milton Harvey Freeman, who died of pneumonia in March 1925, after several months of heading the job.[13][14] After Freeman's death, the position was occupied by Ole Singstad, who oversaw the completion of the tunnel.[15][13]

text: As part of the tunnel project, one block of Watts Street in Manhattan was to be widened to accommodate traffic heading toward the westbound tube.[135] Sixth Avenue was also widened and extended between Greenwich Village and Church Street. Ten thousand people were evicted to make way for the Sixth Avenue extension.[136] The north-south Church Street was widened and extended southward to Trinity Place; West Street was expanded and supplemented with an elevated highway; and the west-east Vestry and Laight Streets were also widened.[137] On the New Jersey side, the Holland Tunnel was to connect a new highway (formerly the Route 1 Extension; now New Jersey Route 139), which extended westward to Newark.[5] This included a 2,100-foot (640 m) viaduct, rising 80 feet (24 m) from 12th and 14th Streets, at the bottom of the Palisades, to the new highway, at the top of the Palisades.[137] The New Jersey highway approach was opened in stages beginning in 1927,[138] and most of that highway was finished in 1930.[139]

text: The construction of the tunnel approach roads on the New Jersey side was delayed for months by the Erie Railroad, whose Bergen Arches right-of-way ran parallel to and directly south of NJ 139, in the right of way of the proposed approach roads. Although the Erie had promised to find another site for its railroad yards, it had refused to respond to the plans that the New Jersey State Highway Commission had sent them. In March 1925, the Highway Commission decided that construction on the approach roads would begin regardless of Erie's response, and so the land would be taken using eminent domain.[140] This led to a legal disagreement between the Erie and the Highway Commission.[141] The Erie maintained that it absolutely needed 30 feet of land along 12th Street, while the Highway Commission stated that the most direct approach to the eastbound Holland Tunnel's 12th Street portal should be made using 12th Street. The commission rejected a suggestion that it should use 13th Street, one block north, because it would cost $500,000 more and involve two perpendicular turns.[142] In October 1926, one million dollars was allocated to the completion of the NJ 139 approach.[143]

text: The contracts for constructing the Holland Tunnel's ventilation systems were awarded in December 1925.[144] Two months later, the New York-New Jersey Vehicular Tunnel Commission asked for $3.2 million more in funding.  The tunnel was now expected to cost $46 million, an increase of $17 million over what was originally budgeted.[131] The Holland Tunnel was nearly complete: in March 1926, Singstad stated that the tunnel was expected to be opened by the following February.[145] By May 1926, the tubes had been almost completely furnished: the polished-white tile walls were in place, as were the bright lighting systems and the Belgian-block-and-concrete road surfaces.[5] The tile surfaces were specially engineered so that they could maintain their coloring even after years of use, and the lighting systems used in the Holland Tunnel were designed to allow motorists to adjust to a gradual change in lighting levels just before leaving the tubes.[6]

text: The ventilation towers were the only major component of the Holland Tunnel that was not completed, but major progress had been made by the end of 1926.[21] Ole Singstad and the two states' tunnel commissions tested the tunnel's ventilation system by releasing gas clouds in one of the tubes in February 1927. Singstad subsequently declared that the ventilation system was well equipped to ventilate the tunnel air.[24] However, the New York Board of Trade and Transportation disagreed, stating that the system would be inadequate if there was a genuine incident within the tunnel. In April 1927, the board had conducted their own tests with two lighted candles, and a cloud of smoke had filled the entire tube before the ventilation system was able to perform a full exhaust.[146] The Chief Surgeon of the U.S. Board of Mines supported Singstad's position that the ventilation system could sufficiently filter the tubes' air.[147] To affirm the ventilation system's efficacy, in November 1927, the New York and New Jersey tunnel commissions burned a car within the tunnel; the ventilation system dissipated the fire within three and a half minutes.[148]

text: The governors of New York and New Jersey took ceremonial rides through the tunnel in August 1926, meeting at the midpoint.[149] The first unofficial drive through the entirety of the Holland Tunnel was undertaken by a group of British businessmen a year later, in August 1927.[150] The next month, a group from the Buffalo and Niagara Frontier Port Authority Survey Commission also visited the tunnel.[151] In October, a delegation of representatives from Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, toured the nearly complete Holland Tunnel to get ideas for the then-proposed Detroit–Windsor Tunnel.[152][153] A reporter for The New York Times was able to make a test drive through the tunnel, noting that "there is no sudden pressure of wind upon the ear-drums" and that it would reduce the duration of crossing the Hudson River by between 15 and 22 minutes.[8] Three hundred police officers were trained in advance of the Holland Tunnel's opening,[154] and bus companies started receiving franchises to operate buses through the tunnel.[155]

text: Opening and early years[edit]

text: The Holland Tunnel was officially opened at 4:55 p.m. (EST) on November 12, 1927. President Coolidge ceremonially opened the tunnel from his yacht by turning the same key that had "opened" the Panama Canal in 1915.[156] Time magazine called it "the golden lever of the Presidential telegraphic instrument."[25] It rang a giant brass bell at the tunnel's entrances that triggered American flags on both sides of the tunnel to separate.[25][156] The tunnel's opening ceremony was broadcast on local radio stations.[157] About 20,000 people walked the entire length of the Holland Tunnel before it was closed to pedestrians at 7 p.m. The Holland Tunnel officially opened to vehicular traffic at 12:01 a.m. on November 13, the next day; over a thousand vehicles had gathered on the New Jersey side, ready to pay a toll.[156] The first car to pay a toll was driven by the daughter of the chairman of New Jersey's Bridge and Tunnel Commission. The widows of Chief Engineers Holland and Freeman rode in the second vehicle that paid a toll.[25][156] At the time, the Holland Tunnel was the world's longest continuous underwater vehicular tunnel,[25][16] as well as the world's first tunnel designed specifically for vehicular traffic.[16][3]:8

text: Each passenger car paid a 50-cent toll[158] (worth about $7.04 in 2017[159]). Tolls for other vehicular classes ranged from 25 cents for a motorcycle to two dollars for large trucks.[6][25][158] Commuter bus routes, which paid a 50-cent-per-vehicle toll,[158] began operating through the tunnel in December 1927.[160] Truckers subsequently objected that these rates were too high, as the Holland Tunnel truck tolls were double the tolls that were charged on the trans-Hudson ferries; by contrast, the tunnel's passenger vehicle, motorcycle, and bus tolls were on par with those charged by the ferries.[161] The toll revenues would be used to pay off the tunnel's cost[25][20] (which was estimated at $48 million in 1927 dollars,[25][20][162] or equivalent to $546 million in 2016[163]). Within ten years of opening, it was expected that all construction costs would be paid off.[162] Horsedrawn vehicles were banned from the tunnel from the start, since it was believed that horses' slow speeds would cause traffic congestion in the tubes.[164] Pedestrian and bicycle traffic was also banned. A few months before the tunnel's opening, there were suggestions that pedestrians would be allowed to cross the tunnel if they paid a toll described as "not encouraging," but the idea was never seriously considered.[165]

text: The Holland Tunnel was expected to relieve congestion on the vehicular ferries across the Hudson River, since the capacity of the tunnel was similar to that of the vehicular ferries. Upon opening, it had been estimated that up to 15 million vehicles per year could use the tunnel in both directions, equating to a maximum daily capacity of 46,000 vehicles or an hourly capacity of 3,800 vehicles.[5][13][6] Singstad stated that increasing freight traffic across the river would result in a corresponding increase in truck traffic, which would then cause the tunnel to reach its maximum traffic capacity shortly after its opening.[166]

text: The Holland Tunnel was immediately popular: on November 13, a Sunday, it saw 52,285 vehicles on the first day of operation, more than its projected maximum capacity. The lines to enter the tunnel stretched for miles on either end, although most of these vehicles were passenger cars who were making a round trip to tour the tunnel.[167][25] On November 14, the Holland Tunnel's first weekday of operation, the tunnel carried 17,726 cars.[168] Traffic counts in the Holland Tunnel remained relatively steady until the following weekend, when over 40,000 vehicles went through the tunnel.[169] The first holiday rush period for the Holland Tunnel occurred two weeks after the tunnel's opening, when around 30,000 motorists used the tunnel over the Thanksgiving holiday; there were no major traffic disruptions.[170] A half-million vehicles had passed through the Holland Tunnel within three weeks,[171] and a million had used the tubes by New Year's Day.[172] Within the tunnel's first year, 8.5 million vehicles had used it, and the toll revenue had grossed $4.7 million in profit; it was estimated that at this rate, the Holland Tunnel's construction costs might be paid off sooner than expected.[173]

text: Trans-Hudson ferries reported that their traffic counts had been halved in the two weeks since the tunnel opened,[174] and at least one ferry route reduced service within one month of the opening.[175] Another ferry cut its toll rates to half those of the Holland Tunnel in an effort to recover business.[176] The Hudson & Manhattan Railroad (later PATH), which operated rapid transit services across the Hudson River through its Uptown and Downtown Hudson Tubes, also saw a decline in ridership after the Holland Tunnel opened.[177]:55 Even after the start of the Great Depression in 1929, when most transit in New York City saw declines, the Holland Tunnel saw an increase in traffic, as did ferry lines.[178]

text: In 1930, there was a disagreement between the Hudson River Tunnel Commission and the Port of New York Authority over who would construct the Lincoln Tunnel. The tunnel was to be located further north along the Hudson River, connecting nearby Weehawken to Manhattan. The two agencies merged that April, and the expanded Port Authority of New York and New Jersey took over operations of the Holland Tunnel,[179] a role that it maintains to this day.[4] Real property title was not passed however.[180] A second vehicular link between New Jersey and Manhattan, the George Washington Bridge, opened in October 1931.[181] The Lincoln Tunnel, the third and final vehicular connection between New Jersey and Manhattan, first opened in December 1937.[182][183] Within the first 25 years of the Holland Tunnel's opening, it had carried 330 million vehicles in total, but a significant portion of Holland Tunnel traffic was diverted to the Lincoln Tunnel and George Washington Bridge after the opening of the latter two crossings.[184]

text: Later years[edit]

text: In 1945, the Port Authority approved the extension of a tunnel approach on the New Jersey side.  A new viaduct for westbound traffic would connect the intersection of 14th Street and Jersey Avenue, outside the Holland Tunnel's exit portal, to Hoboken Avenue and NJ 139, on top of the Palisades. This would supplement an existing bidirectional viaduct, which connected Hoboken Avenue with 12th Street and currently only carries eastbound traffic.[185] The 14th Street viaduct was first opened for vehicular use in January 1951, although the road was not complete;[186] it was officially completed that February.[187] The 12th and 14th Street viaducts were later also connected to the NJ Turnpike Extension. The first part of the extension, the Newark Bay Bridge, opened between Bayonne and Newark Airport in April 1956;[188] the connection between Bayonne and the 12th/14th Street viaducts was completed that September, providing direct highway connection between the Holland Tunnel and Newark Airport.[189] The NJ Turnpike Extension, as well as the Holland Tunnel and the 12th/14th Street approaches, was designated as part of I-78 in 1958.[190]

text: The Port Authority voted in 1953 to replace the original tollbooths on the New Jersey side, which did not contain canopies, with an updated plaza that contained a canopy.[29] The next year, the Port Authority also voted to refurbish the Holland Tunnel's administration building on the New Jersey side, as well as construct a new service building.[191] The development of a 2-foot-wide (0.61 m) one-man miniature electric car for tunnel police, to be installed on the tubes' catwalks, was announced in August 1954.[192] The Port Authority tested the "catwalk car" along a 2,200-foot (670 m) stretch of the Holland Tunnel,[193] After the car had passed its test, policemen could patrol the full length of the tubes using the catwalk car instead of having to walk the tubes' entire length. By use of a swivel seat the policemen could drive the car in either direction.[194]

text: Starting in the 1940s, New York City officials developed plans to connect the Holland Tunnel's Manhattan end to the Lower Manhattan Expressway, a proposed elevated highway connecting to both the Williamsburg Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge to Brooklyn. This connection would be part of I-78.[195] In 1956, Robert Moses suggested adding a third tube to the Holland Tunnel, similar to the Lincoln Tunnel's third tube, so there would be sufficient capacity for the proposed expressway traffic.[196] The route of the Lower Manhattan Expressway was approved in 1960,[197] but quickly became controversial due to the large number of tenants who would have to be relocated.[198] The Lower Manhattan Expressway project was ultimately canceled in March 1971.[199]

text: In 1970, the Port Authority stopped collecting tolls for New Jersey-bound drivers through the Holland Tunnel, who used the westbound tube, while doubling tolls to $1 for New York-bound drivers, who used the eastbound tube. This was done in an effort to speed up traffic, and it was the first toll increase in the tunnel's history.[200] Although westbound drivers initially saved time by not paying tolls, the removal of westbound tolls ultimately had an adverse effect on traffic in the Holland Tunnel. In 1986, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, between the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Staten Island, stopped collecting tolls for Brooklyn-bound drivers (who were generally headed eastbound) and doubled its tolls for Staten Island-bound drivers (who were generally headed westbound).[201] This had the effect of increasing congestion along the New Jersey-bound tube of the Holland Tunnel, which drivers could use for free. Drivers would go through New Jersey and use the Bayonne Bridge, paying a lower toll to enter Staten Island. The amount of westbound traffic in the Holland Tunnel increased compared to eastbound traffic: by 1998, there were 50,110 daily westbound trips and 46,688 daily eastbound trips through the tunnel. Simultaneously, there was a decrease in westbound trips on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge compared to eastbound bridge.[202] The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge toll pattern also caused traffic gridlock around the Holland Tunnel, and Canal Street saw the most severe congestion because it served as the main entrance to the tunnel.[203] Fatal accidents involving pedestrians in Lower Manhattan also increased greatly as a result.[204] Rush-hour congestion within the Holland Tunnel has persisted for more than thirty years due to the Verrazano-Narrow Bridge's one-way westbound toll.[205]

text: A renovation of Holland Tunnel's tiled ceilings, which were deteriorating due to water damage, started in 1983.[206] The ceilings were replaced at a total cost of $78 million, and the south tube's ceiling was renovated first. Since the Holland Tunnel had to remain open during the renovation, 4,000 modular concrete ceiling panels were made offsite, and narrow lift trucks parked in one of the tube's two lanes installed the panels while traffic continued to move through the tube's other lane. The panels were each designed to the specifications of a certain section of tube, such that none of the ceiling panels were identical; the Port Authority stated that the ceiling-replacement project was the first one of its kind in the world.[207] In 1988, after the ceiling renovations had been completed, work started on replacing the 8-lane tollbooth, which consisted of six lanes built in the 1950s and two additional lanes built in the 1980s. The new $54 million tollbooth contained 9 lanes and a central control center.[30]

text: The Holland Tunnel was listed as a National Historic Landmark on June 27, 1993, becoming part of the National Register of Historic Places. With this designation, it became the 92nd National Historic Landmark in New York City, as well as the sixth such landmark that was a tunnel. According to M. Ann Belkov, the National Park Service superintendent for Ellis Island, the tunnel had been granted landmark status because it had been the first "mechanically ventilated underwater vehicular tunnel" in the world.[17][18][20] Between 2003 and 2006, the fire protection system in both tunnels was modernized. Fire extinguishers were placed in alcoves along the tunnel walls. Although the water supply was turned off, it remained in place during the renovation.[208]

text: The Holland Tunnel was closed on October 29, 2012, as Hurricane Sandy approached. The tunnel, like many other New York City tunnels, was flooded by the high storm surge; it was the first instance in the tunnel's history where the entirety of the tubes was flooded It remained closed for several days, opening for buses only on November 2 and to all traffic on November 7.[209][210]

text: Accidents and terrorism[edit]

text: The first fatal vehicular crash in the Holland Tunnel happened in March 1932, four and a half years after it opened. One person died and two others were injured.[211]

text: The 1949 Holland Tunnel fire, which started aboard a chemical truck, caused severe damage to the south tube of the tunnel.[212] The fire resulted in 69 injuries and nearly $600,000 worth of damage to the structure. In addition, two first responders, a FDNY battalion chief and a Port Authority patrolman, died as a result of injuries sustained in fighting the fire.[213]

text: Due to its status as one of the few connections between Manhattan and New Jersey, the Holland Tunnel is considered to be one of the most high-risk terrorist target sites in the United States.[40]:118 Other such sites in New Jersey include the Lincoln Tunnel in Weehawken, the PATH station at Exchange Place in Jersey City, and the Port of Newark in Elizabeth.[214] In 1995, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and nine other men were convicted of a bombing plot in which a radical Islamic group plotted to blow up five or six sites in New York City, including the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels and the George Washington Bridge.[215]

text: Following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, the Holland Tunnel remained closed to all but emergency traffic for over a month. When it reopened on October 15, 2001, strict new regulations were enacted banning single-occupancy vehicles and trucks from entering the tunnel.[216] In March 2002, even before all of the post-9/11 restrictions had been lifted, a warehouse fire near the eastbound tube's New Jersey portal caused the tunnel to be closed entirely for five days;[217] the fire continued for over a week.[218] That April, all trucks were banned from the westbound tube, and trucks with more than three axles were also banned from the eastbound tube.[219] Single-occupant vehicles were prohibited in the tunnel on weekday mornings between 6:00 am and 10:00 am until November 17, 2003, when the restrictions were lifted.[220]

text: In 2006, a plot to detonate explosives in a Hudson River tunnel was uncovered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was originally reported that the Holland Tunnel was the target, but in a later update of the source, the plot was clarified to be aimed at the PATH's tubes instead of the Holland Tunnel.[221]

text: Tolls[edit]

text: As of  December 6, 2015[update], the cash tolls going from New Jersey to New York are $15 for cars and motorcycles; there is no toll for passenger vehicles going from New York to New Jersey. E-ZPass users are charged $10.50 for cars and $9.50 for motorcycles during off-peak hours, and $12.50 for cars and $11.50 for motorcycles during peak hours.[2]

text: Tolls are collected at a tollbooth on the New Jersey side. Originally, tolls were collected in both directions. In August 1970, the toll was abolished for westbound drivers, and at the same time, eastbound drivers saw their tolls doubled. The tolls of eleven other New York–New Jersey and Hudson River crossings along a 130-mile (210 km) stretch, from the Outerbridge Crossing in the south to the Rip Van Winkle Bridge in the north, were also changed to eastbound-only at that time.[200] E-ZPass was first made available at the Holland Tunnel in October 1997.[222]

text:
Historic tolls for the Holland Tunnel

Years
Toll
Toll equivalentin 2018[159]
Direction collected

Ref.

1927–1970

$0.50

$3.15 – 8.51

each direction

[158]

1970–1975

$1.00

$4.55 – 6.30

eastbound only

[200]

1975–1983

$1.50

$4.46 – 6.82

eastbound only

[223]

1983–1987

$2.00

$4.31 – 5.94

eastbound only

[224]

1987–1991

$3.00

$5.39 – 6.46

eastbound only

[225]

1991–2001

$4.00

$5.53 – 7.19

eastbound only

[226]

2001–2008

$6.00

$6.82 – 8.29

eastbound only

[227]

2008–2011

$8.00

$8.70 – 9.09

eastbound only

[228]

2011–2012

$12.00

$12.79 – 13.05

eastbound only

[229]

2012–2014

$13.00

$13.44 – 13.66

eastbound only

[230]

2014–2015

$14.00

$14.45 – 14.47

eastbound only

[231]

2015 (Dec)–

$15.00

$15.30

eastbound only

[232][2]

tag: table


document_title: I'll Keep Holding On

question_text: who sings the original i'll keep holding on

question_tokens: who sings the original i 'll keep holding on

text: I'll Keep Holding On

text: This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text:
"I'll Keep Holding On"

Single by The Marvelettes

B-side
"No Time for Tears"

Released
May 11, 1965

Format
7" single

Recorded
1965, Bell Sound Studios, New York City & Hitsville USA

Genre
Soul

Label
Tamla

Songwriter(s)
William "Mickey" Stevenson
Ivy Jo Hunter

Producer(s)
William "Mickey" Stevenson, Ivy Jo Hunter

The Marvelettes singles chronology

"Too Many Fish in the Sea"
(1964)
"I'll Keep Holding On"
(1965)
"Danger: Heartbreak Dead Ahead"
(1965)

"Too Many Fish in the Sea"
(1964)
"I'll Keep Holding On"
(1965)
"Danger: Heartbreak Dead Ahead"
(1965)

text: "I'll Keep Holding On" is a song composed by Mickey Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter and recorded by Motown singing group The Marvelettes, who released the single on the Tamla imprint in 1965. Peaking at #34 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and #11 on the R&B charts),[1] the single returned the group to the top forty after a year recording songs that performed below the top forty.[2] This was among the first A-side singles that longtime Marvelettes member Wanda Young sung lead on. Before 1965, the majority of the leads in Marvelettes songs had belonged to original member Gladys Horton. The single features a woman determined to win the love of an unknowingly conquest telling him that she'll convince him to love her "until my will to resist is gone". Her Marvelettes band mates Gladys Horton and Katherine Anderson egg her on with her ad-libbing "oh yeah/sho' nuff" in the bridge leading up to the chorus. The single was covered by British mod-pop act, The Action in 1966, released as "I'll Keep On Holding On". It then returned across the Atlantic in 1998 to be released on Mink Rat or Rabbit by the Detroit Cobras.

text: Credits[edit]

text:
Lead vocals by Wanda Young
Background vocals by Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson and The Andantes (Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, Louvain Demps)
Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers

Drums by Benny Benjamin