"It was a little creepy"
May 23, 2019 6:13 AM   Subscribe

Out of sight of most New Yorkers, though, was the development underground: a series of tunnels that ran beneath the streets to connect a number of the [Jehova's Witnesses] properties. And though the tunnels began to be filled in two years ago, their fascinating history has recently begun to come to light.
Inside The Lost Jehovah's Witnesses Tunnels Under Brooklyn Heights
posted by griphus (26 comments total) 25 users marked this as a favorite
 
For a religion that believes in the imminent end of the world, they made some really smart long-term real estate investments.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 6:29 AM on May 23, 2019 [15 favorites]


Given the recent story about the way the Witnesses covered up molestation, I'd say that the tunnels (and the seclusion they enabled) is more than a little creepy.
posted by NoxAeternum at 6:32 AM on May 23, 2019 [11 favorites]


I've wondered about this. A few years back I had a commute where I regularly changed from bus to train near the Watchtower building, and I remember very frequently seeing a lot of people in I'm-going-to-work mode coming out of one of the buildings and being puzzled because I didn't think it had any kind of subway access.

Now I wonder if I hadn't been seeing a whole lot of people using it as "I'm using the tunnels to walk to my subway instead of walking aboveground."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:39 AM on May 23, 2019 [2 favorites]


Oh, man. I love tunnels...when I worked at MIT, I always would walk via the tunnels there, even if it took me longer to get where I needed to go. I blame watching a lot of Hogan's Heroes reruns as a kid.
posted by xingcat at 6:46 AM on May 23, 2019 [10 favorites]


xingcat, are you me? I mean, not the MIT part, but the loving tunnels part and watching lots of Hogan's Heros part.
posted by snwod at 7:00 AM on May 23, 2019 [2 favorites]


the suit at the far left of this picture deserves it's own FPP
posted by FirstMateKate at 7:03 AM on May 23, 2019 [5 favorites]


the suit at the far left of this picture deserves it's own FPP

Is his solar plexus an erogenous zone?
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 7:15 AM on May 23, 2019 [2 favorites]


xingcat, I always loved the tunnels at the University I went to the one I worked at. I also used to watch Hogan's Heroes every day after school. Never made the connection!

It's the sheer size of the complex that impresses me the most. Although I totally understand the reasons for filling them in, it seems such a shame and a waste.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:20 AM on May 23, 2019 [1 favorite]


Umm, dumb question, and I'm sure the Dept. of Transportation has thought about this, but -- why fill them with concrete? Sand, that I get. If you ever need to tear up the street, you can dig through sand. But infilling with concrete -- what if you *do* need to tear up the street to put in a Hypertube in the next century or whatever?
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:26 AM on May 23, 2019


Now I wonder if there are tunnels all under my house... the literature from next door is one thing, but hmmm. might explain some noises and leaks.
posted by blaneyphoto at 7:35 AM on May 23, 2019 [1 favorite]


what if you *do* need to tear up the street to put in a Hypertube in the next century or whatever?

They're side streets in a very quiet neighborhood (for NYC). (With a very wealthy, notoriously strong NIMBY population). They're the last place you would want to locate any public transportation. Besides, it can't be any worse than digging through schist rock, which I'm sure DOT has to do regularly.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 7:37 AM on May 23, 2019 [2 favorites]


If you infill with sand it can wash away with any kind of water like a mains leak. Then you have potential for a sinkhole if the tunnel's structural integrity fails. Also as Chicago knows to well when a tunneled area floods you are looking at billions of dollars of damage and months of cleanup.
posted by srboisvert at 7:39 AM on May 23, 2019 [3 favorites]


Sheesh, I was expecting a giant network of tunnels under Brooklyn. This is just a few short tunnels connecting three or four building. As others above, my thoughts went to the MIT tunnel network, which lets you get from one end of the main academic cluster to the other. Pix. Art.
posted by beagle at 7:52 AM on May 23, 2019 [3 favorites]


what if you *do* need to tear up the street to put in a Hypertube in the next century or whatever?

The Second Avenue Line project began in 1929 and opened in 2017 so we'll let two centuries from now worry about that.
posted by griphus at 8:18 AM on May 23, 2019 [1 favorite]


With the commissary, cafeteria, personal laundry and even shoe repair, it reminds me of places like Google. No need to ever leave the compound!
posted by moonmilk at 9:24 AM on May 23, 2019


If you infill with sand it can wash away with any kind of water like a mains leak. Then you have potential for a sinkhole if the tunnel's structural integrity fails. Also as Chicago knows to well when a tunneled area floods you are looking at billions of dollars of damage and months of cleanup.

And these properties are like right on the water, too.
posted by Navelgazer at 10:21 AM on May 23, 2019


when I worked at MIT, I always would walk via the tunnels there, even if it took me longer to get where I needed to go

I guess somebody never played Lurking Horror...
posted by praemunire at 11:30 AM on May 23, 2019 [5 favorites]


I suspect they are using K-Crete to fill the tunnels. It is a cement-based product that has structural properties similar to compacted aggregate but with less labor needed to get a consistent outcome. It is pretty amazing stuff.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 11:30 AM on May 23, 2019 [1 favorite]


I don't understand why there aren't more tunnels. Let's face it, weather is some bullshit. There's no reason to deal with it if we can just build tunnels. The hell with shoveling snow, build tunnels.
posted by blnkfrnk at 11:34 AM on May 23, 2019 [3 favorites]


And these properties are like right on the water, too.

They're not on the water, they're in Brooklyn Heights, some 60ft above the water. Actually one of the safest areas of NYC from sea-level rise.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 11:35 AM on May 23, 2019 [1 favorite]


They could've charged about $2000 a month for that tunnel space in Brooklyn Heights. Good school district.
posted by Liquidwolf at 11:55 AM on May 23, 2019 [1 favorite]


christ though. Secret tunnels dug by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. that is a terrifying, terrifying phrase. That organization is sinister and vile.

If there were justice in the world their brooklyn complex would be haunted by the ghosts of countless children. Like irretrievably haunted. Unsellably haunted. Like I’m saying this should not be the sort of spooky low-key haunting that realtors can spin as local charm. It has to be proper haunting, the kind where anyone who sets foot in the building walks out maimed and mad, if they walk out at all.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 12:11 PM on May 23, 2019 [4 favorites]


There already was a haunted house movie made in Brooklyn Heights, The Sentinel. Since Brooklyn Heights is landmarked, it looks almost the same in the movie as it does now. However, in that film, the Catholics are the baddies, not JW.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 1:05 PM on May 23, 2019 [2 favorites]


I read the whole article and still don’t understand why the tunnels need to be filled in. Can someone explain?
posted by double bubble at 5:11 PM on May 23, 2019 [1 favorite]


I read the whole article and still don’t understand why the tunnels need to be filled in. Can someone explain?

The Witnesses basically created a massive compound in Brooklyn Heights by creating tunnels between the various buildings they owned. However, now that they relocated their operations to compounds upstate, they have begun to sell off those holdings in Brooklyn. The thing is, the buyers have no need for the underground interconnections, and thus they are filling in the tunnels so that the buildings can be removed from the holdings and sold as individual units.
posted by NoxAeternum at 5:21 PM on May 23, 2019 [2 favorites]


The thing is, the buyers have no need for the underground interconnections

Clearly, they haven't found the right buyer.

*twirls evil mustache*

But in all seriousness, I'm guessing the other part of it would be that even if you were buying all of the properties together and didn't see a need for the tunnel system, it was just more indoor space to spend money on for electricity, HVAC maintenance and upkeep, etc. Even little costs like replacing or recharging fire extinguishers that you'd have to keep there for fire code reasons.

Unless you were the sort of Hank Scorpio-esque buyer who's really into tunnel systems as a critical part of your infrastructure.

blnkfrnk: I don't understand why there aren't more tunnels. Let's face it, weather is some bullshit. There's no reason to deal with it if we can just build tunnels.

From the University of Manitoba:

I thought that most universities had an underground tunnel system like ours, but apparently we are one of a relatively small bunch to use such a system. A lot of universities do in fact have tunnels, but they are not accessible to students; they are for maintenance use only, venting steam and things such as that.

At over 3,657 metres in length, our tunnels reach from Extended Education section all the way to Drake, connecting almost every building to another in some way, and as such, are not only accessible, but used by thousands of students every day.

posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:35 PM on May 24, 2019


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