When you think of NYC landmarks, the first things that pop into your head might be the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, or even the Brooklyn Bridge. But if you were commuting into the city from Long Island each day by car, during the 1970s, ‘80s or ‘90s, you would have been very much aware of another important landmark: the Elmhurst Gas Tanks.
Photo found online; photographer unknown.
Built between 1910 and 1921, the 200-foot tall cylinders contained natural gas and occupied a six-acre tract of land just north of the Long Island Expressway at 80th Street in – you guessed it – Elmhurst, Queens. Officially, they were called the Newtown Holders, each with a capacity to hold 10 million cubic feet of natural gas – the vapor that wafts through underground pipes into feeder lines for thousands of homes. Because of their proximity to one of the most heavily-traveled roads in the country, traffic reports each morning during rush hour inevitably included warnings such as, “expect a fifteen-minute delay passing the Elmhurst Gas Tanks.” If you were lucky, you might have heard, “traffic is moving well past the gas tanks.”
Due to advancements in modern storage designs for natural gas, the Brooklyn Union Gas Company began dismantling the tanks in 1996. By 2001 the tanks were completely gone and in 2007, the city began construction of a $20 million park on the site. It opened to the public on May 24, 2011.
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