Close to 100,000 cars pass through the Holland Tunnel, under the Hudson river, each day, which gives an idea of the need for a vehicle crossing. In the early decades the 1900s the traffic was only a fifth of what it became, but transferring people from shore to shore by ferries was proving a daunting task. The choice came down between bridge and tunnel — over the river or under — each with their own advantages and disadvantages. A bridge would be considerably less expensive, but because its span over the river had to be at least 200 feet high to allow for ships to pass under, long ramps would have to be built descending to the land. The city decided to go with a tunnel.

On this day, November 12, 1927 the Holland Tunnel officially opened, creating the first road crossing between New York and New Jersey.

The tunnel was named for its chief engineer, Clifford Holland, who had to solve not only the logistics under the river bed, but of ventilating the tunnel. Poisonous exhaust gases could build up quickly if not controlled (and this was before the era of catalytic converters), so Holland installed a series of 80-foot fans to circulate the air. Each fan, it was calculated, could completely change all the air of the tunnel within 90 seconds.