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Maybe the economy isn't that fragile, but it would surely hurt. Then at the 200K who come through the rail tunnels to the ferries, and other Hudson river crossings, the delays would be unimaginable.
it would have a short term hit and long term benefit. we would all probably be better off if so much commerce wasnt concentrated in nyc (and if less people had to physically travel into nyc for work).
It is important to remember why PRR nearly (and eventually) did bankrupt itself in whole or part building up the NEC including those two North River tunnels.
Unless you want to take the former New York Central RR ROW and go all the way upstate, then head west (the Water Level Route), the North River tunnels are the only RR connection between mainland USA and New York City along with points east.
Building those two tunnels gave the PRR an enormous leg up over their rivals (New Jersey Central, Lackawana, Erie Lackawanna and so forth) in that it gave passengers a one seat ride into Midtown Manhattan. Everyone else had to stop at Hudson River and switch to ferries. That system was in place late as the 1950's or so until the last passenger rail service of other railroads finally vanished.
If PRR had been able to send freight through the North River tunnels it would have been icing on cake. But alas several early trials proved that was not possible; so until the end floats were used to ferry cargo between NJ, Manhattan, and Brooklyn.
Without those two tunnels RR traffic along NEC comes to a halt, and that would create not only a huge hot mess in terms of passenger travel, but have a great economic impact as well.
If PRR had been able to send freight through the North River tunnels it would have been icing on cake. But alas several early trials proved that was not possible; so until the end floats were used to ferry cargo between NJ, Manhattan, and Brooklyn.
Only one of those railcar float services is still in operation today, now operated by the Port Authority
How long before it collapsed killing everyone inside, though?
(or is that Microsoft?)
I recommend people visit Shanghai a city of over 25million people and look at their subway system then you come back here and tell me who's the 3rd world country.
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NJ projects that could get help from Biden's infrastructure plan (including Gateway)
