Aircraft of World War II - Warbird Forums

Eerie Cold War shelter uncovered under Brooklyn Bridge

OFF-Topic / Misc. Discuss Eerie Cold War shelter uncovered under Brooklyn Bridge in the Current forums; Hey Dan and Joe, I wonder if you guys ever knew about this. Interesting piece of NYC history. A routine ...


Go Back   Aircraft of World War II - Warbird Forums > Current > OFF-Topic / Misc.

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 03-21-2006, 12:49 PM   #1
"Shooter"
 
evangilder's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Moorpark, CA
Posts: 12,482
Country:
Send a message via Yahoo to evangilder
Eerie Cold War shelter uncovered under Brooklyn Bridge

Hey Dan and Joe, I wonder if you guys ever knew about this. Interesting piece of NYC history.

Quote:
A routine structural inspection of New York's landmark Brooklyn Bridge has unearthed a forgotten Cold War-era stockpile of survival rations to be used in the event of a nuclear attack.

The cache of water drums, medical supplies, paper blankets, drugs and several hundred thousand calorie-packed crackers was found inside a vault in the bridge's masonry foundations, the New York Times said Tuesday.

The find, made last Wednesday, is especially significant because many of the supplies were packaged in boxes stamped with two evocative years in Cold War history: 1957, which saw the launch of the Soviet Sputnik satellite, and 1962, when the Cuban missile crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.

John Lewis Gaddis, a historian at Yale University who specialises in the Cold War, said US civil defence agencies were building fallout shelters all over the country in the 1950s and stocking them with survival provisions.

"Most of these have been dismantled; the crackers got mouldy a very long time ago," Gaddis told the Times. "It's kind of unusual to find one fully intact -- one that is rediscovered, almost in an archaeological sense. I don't know of a recent example of that."

The city's transportation department, which controls the Brooklyn Bridge, has moved to secure the site pending a decision on what to do with the find.

And the health department was called in to handle the drugs, which included supplies of Dextran for treating shock.

"We find stuff all the time," said Transport Commissioner Iris Weinshall. "But what's sort of eerie about this is that this is a bridge that thousands of people go over each day.

"They walk over it, cars go over it, and this stuff was just sitting there," Weinshall said.
__________________


http://www.vg-photo.com

Wherever their bones may lie, the courage of heroes is consecrated in the hearts and engraved in the history of the free. Lt Col Honner DSO MC, 39th Commander speaking of the dead from the battle of Kokoda.
evangilder is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2006, 12:54 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Henk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: George - South Africa
Posts: 2,543
Country:
Send a message via MSN to Henk
If you guys get any pics please post some. Great info mate.

Henk
__________________


The ultimate revolution in aircraft designs during WW2
Henk is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2006, 12:55 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
Hunter368's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Winnipeg
Posts: 2,205
Country:
Wow how can something like that be forgotten by the goverment? You would think that they would have a list of these places and slowly go down the list and take care of them, one by one. Thats a funny one Eric.
__________________


In the ocean of the military, reflective of all distinguished pilots, an honored Buddhist person.
Hunter368 is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2006, 01:02 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Henk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: George - South Africa
Posts: 2,543
Country:
Send a message via MSN to Henk
I think they can open a Museum in those shelters to show the public how they look like.

Henk
__________________


The ultimate revolution in aircraft designs during WW2
Henk is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2006, 01:14 PM   #5
IP/Mech THE GREAT GAZOO
 
FLYBOYJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Colorado, USA
Posts: 12,951
Country:
I know on the brooklyn side of the bridge there seems to be old dwellings built into the base of the bridge - I never heard of them being used for a bomb shelter, interesting!!!
__________________
"IF ITS RED OR DUSTY, DON'T TOUCH IT"
FLYBOYJ is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2006, 02:26 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
Pisis's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 5,845
Country:
We have also several shelters in Prague, they're connected to the Subway tunnels.

Great info.
Pisis is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2006, 05:19 PM   #7
Minister of Whoopass
 
lesofprimus's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Long Island Native in Mississippi
Posts: 12,890
Country:
Same thing with me that Joe said.... Interesting stuff....

Quote:
Wow how can something like that be forgotten by the goverment?
Ask urself the same question concerning the 100's and 100's of Missing POW's from Vietnam...
__________________


"Boyington was a Drunk, but He was a Drunk We'd Follow Straight Into Hell..."
--Lt. William Northrop Case
lesofprimus is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2006, 07:57 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
loomaluftwaffe's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,848
Country:
maybe cause they don't give much of a damn anymore
__________________


"The German Luftwaffe always fought without any reserves. This is also the reason why we have pilots with extremely high numbers of victories."
- General der Jagdflieger Adolf Galland"


loomaluftwaffe is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2006, 08:01 PM   #9
Minister of Whoopass
 
lesofprimus's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Long Island Native in Mississippi
Posts: 12,890
Country:
They never gave a damn....

And ur signature phrase is gay as hell, change that before I do...
__________________


"Boyington was a Drunk, but He was a Drunk We'd Follow Straight Into Hell..."
--Lt. William Northrop Case
lesofprimus is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2006, 09:18 PM   #10
"Shooter"
 
evangilder's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Moorpark, CA
Posts: 12,482
Country:
Send a message via Yahoo to evangilder
Sad but true, Dan. I guess us old cold war relics know it all to well. Sure they give a damn, until the fit hit's the shan, then suddenly, you are a liability, or a throw-away.

But they had so many shelters during the cold war that I doubt even during it's height that they knew where they all were. And once the perceived threat is gone, it doesn't seem to matter that stuff just got left where it was.

I remember walking into a weapons bunker in several places over the years to discover ammo from guns that had long since gone out of the inventory.
__________________


http://www.vg-photo.com

Wherever their bones may lie, the courage of heroes is consecrated in the hearts and engraved in the history of the free. Lt Col Honner DSO MC, 39th Commander speaking of the dead from the battle of Kokoda.
evangilder is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 03-22-2006, 03:02 AM   #11
Senior Member
 
loomaluftwaffe's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,848
Country:
damn, and all that food wasted...
__________________


"The German Luftwaffe always fought without any reserves. This is also the reason why we have pilots with extremely high numbers of victories."
- General der Jagdflieger Adolf Galland"


loomaluftwaffe is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 03-22-2006, 05:11 AM   #12
Senior Member
 
Gnomey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Royal Deeside/St Andrews, Scotland, UK
Posts: 11,122
Country:
Send a message via AIM to Gnomey Send a message via MSN to Gnomey
Pretty cool, surprised someone didn't know about it though.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/avdb/new...84_16x9_bb.asx
__________________


"Success is not Final, Failure is not Fatal, it is the Courage to Continue that Counts"
Sir Winston Churchill

"To him the people of the world largely owe the Freedom and liberties they enjoy today"
Enscription on Hugh Dowding's (AOC Fighter Command 1936-40) statue in London


Moderator WW2 Talk: A WW2 Discussion Forum
Gnomey is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Reply



Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:26 PM.


Powered by vBulletin
Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
SEO by vBSEO 3.1.0
   

AVIATION TOP 100 - www.avitop.com Avitop.com


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85