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36-527: The BHRA's origin began with the rediscovery of the Cobble Hill Tunnel by the late Bob Diamond in 1980. BHRA was formed in 1982 to restore the historic tunnel. The Atlantic Avenue Tunnel (constructed in 1844) is the world's oldest subway tunnel. BHRA successfully filed and received designation for the tunnel on the National Register of Historic Places . The BHRA received funding and permission from

72-427: A shuttle service to Ronkonkoma with stops in other North Fork towns is available. At Ronkonkoma, passengers can connect to New York City bound trains. It is also served by Suffolk County Transit 's S92 bus route, which runs from Orient Point Ferry Terminal to East Hampton via Riverhead. Hampton Jitney 's North Fork Line also brings passengers to New York City . In Greenport, train and bus passengers can connect to

108-582: Is a village in New York's Suffolk County , on the North Fork of Long Island . It is located within the Town of Southold and is the only incorporated community in the town. The population was 2,197 at the 2010 census. Greenport was a major port for its area, having developed a strong fishing and whaling industry in the past, although currently there are only a handful of commercial fishing vessels operating out of

144-583: Is also deemed the oldest subway tunnel in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records . Originally built as an open cut , construction began in May 1844, and opened for use on December 3, 1844, but was not completely finished until mid-1845. It was built mainly to satisfy public demand for creation of a grade-separated right of way for the Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad (later Long Island Rail Road) on its way to

180-660: Is also known for its tourism during the summer. It has a locally famous 1920s carousel , located near the waterfront. The village is also the home of the East End Seaport Museum & Marine Foundation, which hosts the annual Maritime Festival each September. The museum is housed in the former station house of the Greenport Long Island Rail Road station, while the East end of the Railroad Museum of Long Island

216-577: Is land and 0.2 square miles (0.52 km ) (20.66%) is water. As of the census of 2000, there were 2,048 people, 776 households, and 446 families residing in the village. The population density was 2,142.7 inhabitants per square mile (827.3/km ). There were 1,075 housing units at an average density of 1,124.7 per square mile (434.2/km ). The racial makeup of the village was 76.17% White , 14.26% African American , 0.39% Asian , 0.54% Pacific Islander , 4.74% from other races , and 3.91% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17.24% of

252-542: Is located in the former freight house. The new station is the terminus of the Long Island Rail Road . Most of the tourism stems from maritime activities, as well as proximity to the more than 40 vineyards on the East End of Long Island. It has many small shops and boutiques, ice cream parlors, bed-and-breakfasts, and restaurants ranging from fine-dining to paper-napkin crab shacks and is home to Claudio's Restaurants,

288-541: The Atlantic Avenue Tunnel ) is an abandoned Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) tunnel beneath Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn , New York City, running through the neighborhoods of Downtown Brooklyn and Cobble Hill . When open, it ran for about 2,517 feet (767 m) between Columbia Street and Boerum Place. It is the oldest railway tunnel beneath a city street in North America that was fully devoted to rail. It

324-510: The Department of Transportation terminated his contract, citing safety concerns. The tunnel has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989. The History Channel series Cities of the Underworld ran a segment ("New York's Secret Societies") on the tunnel in 2008. Notes Citations Further reading Greenport, Suffolk County, New York Greenport

360-505: The South Ferry at the foot of Atlantic Street (later Atlantic Avenue), where passengers could catch ferries to Manhattan . The construction of the cut also lowered the LIRR's grade through Cobble Hill . Around five years after opening the cut was roofed over, converting it into a tunnel. As originally built, the cut was 21 feet (6.4 m) wide and 2,517 feet (767 m) long. Once roofed over,

396-493: The 1920s, it was rumored to be used for both mushroom growing and bootleg whiskey stills, even though there was no access into the main portion of the tunnel. It became an object of local folklore and legend. In 1936, the New York City Police Department unsuccessfully attempted to enter the tunnel, in order to look for the body of a hoodlum supposedly buried there. In 1941, it was rumored to have been inspected by

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432-636: The Long Island Railroad remained the primary means of access to most of central Long Island from Manhattan and New York City. The ends of the tunnel were sealed in the fall of 1861. The similar Murray Hill Tunnel on the New York and Harlem Railroad was built as an open cut around 1836, roofed over around the 1850s, and is now in use for automobile traffic. In 1861, the New York State Legislature voted to ban railroad locomotives from within

468-670: The Old Kindergarten Schoolhouse was moved to its present site on Front Street and with oversight by the Greenport Improvement Committee, was restored with matching funds from the Village of Greenport and New York State. The building is now the Village's historic interpretive center and a venue for community meetings and events. Greenport station is the eastern terminus of the Long Island Rail Road 's Main Line , where

504-519: The PCC trolleys except for No. 3303 were removed from Brooklyn. The BHRA ran organized tours of the Cobble Hill Tunnel from time to time, but all tours are currently suspended. Bob Diamond died on 21 August 2021, with his death confirmed by articles in the New York Times , New York Daily News and Brooklyn Eagle newspapers. Cobble Hill Tunnel The Cobble Hill Tunnel (also known as

540-501: The South Ferry to Greenport on the North Fork of Long Island ; a ferry connected Greenport to Stonington, Connecticut , where a rail link continued to Boston. This avoided some difficult construction of bridges over the rivers of southern Connecticut . In 1848, the New York and New Haven Railroad Line was completed through Connecticut, providing a direct, faster rail connection from New York City to Boston. The Cobble Hill Tunnel and

576-399: The average family size was 3.10. In the village, the population was spread out, with 23.2% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 23.7% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 22.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.3 males. The median income for a household in

612-461: The bulkhead wall that sealed off the main portion of the tunnel. With the assistance of a Brooklyn Union Gas Company engineering crew, he then broke through the massive concrete bulkhead wall, which is several feet thick. Diamond thereby opened access to the main portion of the tunnel, and began to popularize the tunnel as an antiquity. He led tours of its interior for his Brooklyn Historic Railway Association , from 1982 until December 17, 2010, when

648-520: The city to construct a light rail route in Red Hook. However, the project was hampered due to the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) withdrawing its support from the project. The DOT identified several potential improvements which did not include a streetcar, however, that would improve access and mobility for neighborhood residents. Construction was stopped on a 7-block extension to

684-444: The compensation payments to the railroad from the tax assessment. Walt Whitman wrote of the tunnel: The old tunnel, that used to lie there under ground, a passage of Acheron -like solemnity and darkness, now all closed and filled up, and soon to be utterly forgotten, with all its reminiscences; however, there will, for a few years yet be many dear ones, to not a few Brooklynites, New Yorkers, and promiscuous crowds besides. For it

720-502: The federal Works Progress Administration to determine its structural strength, but there is no evidence of this. A few years later, it was once again rumored to have been opened, this time by the FBI, in an unsuccessful search for spies; however, there is no evidence of this. During the late 1950s, it was sought by two rail historians, George Horn and Martin Schachne, but they did not gain access to

756-536: The first time since 1994 the Village enforced its traffic laws. The Village of Greenport Code Enforcement & Fire Prevention Department continue to enforce the Village Code, as well as a number of other Federal, State and Local rules & regulations. According to the United States Census Bureau , the village has a total area of 1.2 square miles (3.1 km ), of which 1.0 square mile (2.6 km )

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792-520: The gloom! It might not be unprofitable, now and then, to send us mortals—the dissatisfied ones, at least, and that's a large proportion—into some tunnel of several days' journey. We'd perhaps grumble less, afterward, at God's handiwork. In March 1916, the Bureau of Investigation suspected German terrorists were making bombs in the tunnel, and broke through the roof of the tunnel with jackhammers. They found nothing, installed an electric light, and resealed it. In

828-512: The interior height of the newly created tunnel was 17 feet (5.2 m). In exchange for building the cut, the City of Brooklyn granted the B&;J permission to operate its steam locomotives on Atlantic Street west of Fifth Avenue (then Parmentier's Garden/Gowanus Lane), all the way to Brooklyn's South Ferry (the present location of Brooklyn's Pier 7). Prior to the cut being built, the LIRR's western terminus

864-466: The limits of the City of Brooklyn . A tax assessment was ordered on all property owners along Atlantic Street (today Atlantic Avenue), to defray the costs of the closure. It was undisclosed at the time that New York State Governor John A. King was a major shareholder in the Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad (later the Long Island Rail Road ) and therefore had a conflict of interest and stood to benefit by

900-528: The line due to the removal and scrapping of rails, ties, and other items of railroad equipment by the DOT, which were stored on land that was slated for the Fairway supermarket project. On June 30, 2003, BHRA was ordered to remove and fill in all trolley tracks on public streets by the DOT. The DOT revoked consent for the project to proceed or exist on city streets. Shortly thereafter, BHRA completely ceased operation. All

936-913: The oldest single-family owned restaurant until it was sold in 2018. The building itself is over 150 years old. The Mayor of the Village of Greenport is George Hubbard, Jr., who was elected in March 2015. He succeeded Mayor David Nyce, under whom Hubbard served as a Trustee and Deputy Mayor. The Village is governed by a five-member board of Trustees, of which the Mayor is the chair and a voting member. The Mayor and Trustees serve four-year terms. Village Trustee Jack Martilotta, elected in March 2015, serves as Deputy Mayor. The other Trustees are Peter Clarke (elected March 2019), Mary Bess Phillips (first elected March 2009, re-elected in 2013 and 2017), and Julia Robins (first elected March 2013, re-elected 2017). The Greenport Union Free School District provides public education for all of

972-408: The population. There were 776 households, out of which 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.1% were married couples living together, 16.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.5% were non-families. 34.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and

1008-425: The tunnel itself. Having fallen from public notice, the tunnel was rediscovered in 1980 by then 20-year-old Bob Diamond (born Robert Stephen Turin; October 6, 1959 – August 21, 2021), who entered from a manhole he located at Atlantic Avenue and Court Street, crawled a distance of 70 feet (21 m) underground through a filled-in section of tunnel less than two feet (0.61 m) high, and located

1044-401: The village was $ 31,675, and the median income for a family was $ 36,333. Males had a median income of $ 36,848 versus $ 22,165 for females. The per capita income for the village was $ 17,595. About 21.2% of families and 19.7% of the population were below the poverty line , including 33.7% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of those age 65 or over. In 2010, the breakdown was as follows: Greenport

1080-408: The village. Students from Greenport and Greenport West are zoned in the district as well as students in grade 7–12 from Orient and East Marion who go to Oysterponds Elementary School. The main building at 720 Front Street serves as a Junior–Senior High School and the back annex serves as an Elementary School and Kindergarten. The Old Kindergarten Schoolhouse was Greenport's first schoolhouse. It

1116-431: The village. More recently the tourism industry has grown substantially. Greenport was first settled in 1682 and incorporated in 1838. Greenport was once a whaling and ship building village, and since 1844, has been the eastern terminal station on the north fork for the Long Island Rail Road . During Prohibition , rum running and speakeasies became a significant part of Greenport's economy. Greenport's residents knew

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1152-610: The waters well and could outrun the coastguard. Restaurants on the east end, including Claudio's in Greenport, served the illegal booze. Many of the village's older structures are included in the Greenport Village Historic District , which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. Village residents voted 617–339 in November 1994 to disband their nine-member police department. The department, which

1188-451: Was Atlantic Street at Clinton Street. Train cars were hauled by teams of horses along Atlantic Street from Clinton Street to Parmentier's Garden, where steam locomotives were attached. While the cut was being built, the railroad operated to a temporary terminal at Pacific Street and Henry Street. The Cobble Hill Tunnel was part of the first rail link between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts . The railroad connected Lower Manhattan via

1224-553: Was established in 1947, was shut down after a grand jury investigation into a series of scandals. Since the shutdown, police services have been provided by the Southold Town Police Department . In 2005, trustees established a local chapter parapolice organization of volunteer vigilantes, Guardian Angels , to patrol the village. Code Enforcement & Fire Prevention In June 2016, the Village of Greenport began enforcing its own vehicle and traffic code, marking

1260-493: Was here you started to go down the island, in summer. For years, it was confidently counted on that this spot, and the railroad of which it was the terminus, were going to prove the permanent seat of business and wealth that belong to such enterprises. But its glory, after enduring in great splendor for a season, has now vanished—at least its Long Island Railroad glory has. The tunnel: dark as the grave, cold, damp, and silent. How beautiful look earth and heaven again, as we emerge from

1296-529: Was located on the North Road. In 1832, a larger schoolhouse was built on Front Street and Greenport students transferred to the new location. In 1879, the first kindergarten was established and the old schoolhouse was moved from the North Road to 4th Avenue and South Street (now the location of the Greenport Fire Department). Greenport students attended kindergarten in the building until 1932. In 2005,

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