What are the names of the two tunnels passing under the Hudson river, connecting New York City with New Jersey?

For much of history, crossing the wide Hudson River between New Jersey and Manhattan meant taking a ferry. With the rise of the automobile in the early 20th century, this created massive bottlenecks. The solution was to go under the river, resulting in two pioneering engineering marvels that connect the states: the Holland Tunnel, which serves Lower Manhattan, and the Lincoln Tunnel, which emerges in Midtown.

The Holland Tunnel, opened in 1927, was a groundbreaking achievement. Its most significant innovation was a ventilation system powerful enough to safely remove lethal carbon monoxide exhaust from the tunnel, a design that became a new global standard. It was named after its first chief engineer, Clifford Milburn Holland, who tragically died during its construction.

A decade later, the Lincoln Tunnel began service in 1937 to handle the ever-increasing traffic flow further uptown. It eventually expanded to include three separate tubes to manage the immense volume of vehicles. Together, these two underwater passages remain vital lifelines, carrying hundreds of thousands of commuters and travelers each day and forming an essential part of the region's infrastructure.