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  • Matt Blazemattblaze@federate.social
    Jul 3, 2026, 4:06 PM

    Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 32mm/4.0 lens (@ f/7.1), Phase One IQ4-150 back (@ ISO 64), Cambo WRS 1250 camera, shifted vertically -5mm, horizontally -15mm. Cropped a bit.

    This humble and functional, yet handsome, art deco structure is the easternmost of three ventilation towers for the Lincoln Tunnel and was completed with its first tube in 1937. The facade was refurbished about ten years ago. It also hosts a large array of cellular telephone base station antennas.

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Replies

  • Matt Blazemattblaze@federate.social
    Jul 3, 2026, 4:07 PM

    The Lincoln Tunnel, opened in 1937, is a multi-tube automobile tunnel that connects midtown Manhattan with Weehawken, NJ under the Hudson (North) river. To provide fresh air and remove dangerous car exhaust, three ventilation towers (two in Manhattan and one in NJ) exchange the air in the tunnels approximately every 90 seconds.

    Infrastructure is heroic.

    I didn't notice the "Camera Use Prohibited" sign until it was too late. I guess their secret is out now.

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  • Matt Blazemattblaze@federate.social
    Jul 3, 2026, 4:07 PM

    Manhattan boasts six large ventilation towers serving the four automobile tunnels that cross the Hudson and East Rivers: two each for the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, and one each for the Queens-Midtown and Brooklyn Battery Tunnels.

    All sport an industrial art deco design reflecting their early/mid 20th century construction. Their large scale and lack of windows lends them an air of mystery; the exterior of the Battery Tunnel building was used as the secret HQ in the Men in Black films.

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  • Matt Blazemattblaze@federate.social
    Jul 3, 2026, 4:08 PM

    There are also ventilation structures for the various railroad and subway tunnels that cross the NYC rivers, but their smaller size makes them less prominent. (The electric trains that use these tunnels don't produce exhaust that has to be as aggressively vented as in an automotive tunnel).

    Let me just mention that photographing buildings from across the major avenues during the day in midtown Manhattan is like playing a video game in "extreme hardcore" mode.

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  • Greem (Graeme. Not Graham!)greem@cyberplace.social
    Jul 3, 2026, 4:20 PM

    @mattblaze London's Tube (and other tunnels) system has vents hiding in plain sight all over the city. Some are old stations, some are hiding in other structures, yet more are custom built. Apart from maybe a discrete TfL sign, they're remarkable in that they're almost all unremarkable.

    One example is the triumphal Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner - one side of it is the ventilation shaft for the road underpass connecting Knightsbridge to Piccadilly.

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