Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel Clock

1992 Brooklyn Battery Tunnel () Bridges & Tunnels

R. M. Fischer’s "Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel Clock" crowns the top of the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel's (formerly known as the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel) historic Manhattan ventilation building and vehicle entrance. The clock marks the important transition from city streets to tunnel entrance. It is an inviting and compelling sight for vehicles entering the tunnel, for pedestrians on adjoining streets and on the pedestrian walkway, and from adjacent buildings. It announces time and optimistically welcomes, offering sense of anticipation and wonder at day and at night.

The "Brooklyn Battery Tunnel Clock" responds to the ornate character and large scale of this urban site in lower Manhattan while remaining compatible with the historic character of the tunnel ventilation building with its "Depression Modern" architecture. The clock’s attachment to the building, while visually integrated, is physically independent from the building.

The materials and style of the clock are inspired by its context. The brushed stainless steel and bronze of the clock face and ornament is similar to the material used on the doors and metal detailing of the ventilation building. The clock's metal structure reinforces the rhythmic qualities of the site as seen in the metal railings, street lights and buildings, as well as in the decorative stone banding of the ventilation building and its lower row of rectangular windows.