>> Geller: THE STREETS OF NEW YORK ARE ALWAYS BUSY, NIGHT AND DAY, BUT THAT'S NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT'S GOING ON BELOW THEM. FROM HIDDEN RIVERS... YOU CAN SEE THE STEAM COMING OFF THE GROUND RIGHT HERE. AND NOBODY GETS TO SEE THIS. ...TO A CLASSIFIED, OFF-LIMITS TRAIN STATION BELOW ONE OF NEW YORK'S MOST FAMOUS HOTELS. >> THERE'S A VERY GOOD REASON IT WAS MEANT AND DESIGNED TO SERVE FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT. DEEPEST, DARKEST SECRETS THAT YOU WON'T FIND ON ANY BLUEPRINT OR MAP. >> I'VE GOT TO ASK YOU TO TURN ANYBODY GETS AN IDEA AS TO WHERE WE'RE GOING OR HOW TO GET THERE. >> Geller: WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO CUT THE CAMERAS FOR A SECOND. LIKE NO OTHER. THE MODERN SKYSCRAPERS ABOVE CONCEAL A WORLD OF ENGINEERING MARVELS -- CENTURY-OLD AQUEDUCTS... >> SO NOW WE'RE GOING INTO THE THE WATER. >> Geller: ...AND EVEN A MASSIVE STRUCTURE THAT WAS A PRIME >> IF ANYBODY SHOWED UP HERE, YOU WERE TO BE SHOT DEAD BEFORE YOU STEPPED OFF THAT ELEVATOR. >> Geller: WE'RE PEELING BACK THE LAYERS OF TIME ON NEW YORK." CLOSED CAPTIONING FUNDED BY
A&E TELEVISION NETWORKS I'M ERIC GELLER. I'M IN NEW YORK CITY. IT'S THE BIGGEST CITY IN THE U.S. AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CITIES IN THE WORLD. IT'S OVER 300 SQUARE MILES OF CONCRETE AND STEEL, FROM ITS THE STREETS TO ITS MASSIVE UNDERWORLD. EVERY YEAR, OVER A BILLION PEOPLE RIDE ITS LEGENDARY SUBWAY SYSTEM, BUT THERE'S A WHOLE WORLD BENEATH THE CITY THAT NO ONE GETS TO SEE -- TOP-SECRET MEGASTRUCTURES, EVEN FORTS DATING BACK TO THE 1600s. THERE'S A MILLION SECRETS HIDDEN BENEATH THESE BUSY STREETS, AND I'M GONNA FIND THEM. BUILT OVER MARSHY LAND AND NEW YORK COULD HAVE NEVER DEVELOPED INTO THE METROPOLIS THAT IT IS TODAY WITHOUT THE UNDERWORLD THAT SUPPORTS IT, AND WHILE TODAY THE MILLIONS ABOVE MAY NOT REALIZE THAT AN ACTIVE KNOW WHERE TO LOOK, IT'S HARD TO MISS. SKYSCRAPERS, AND, OF COURSE, THE SUBWAY. IT'S THE MAIN MODE OF TRANSPORTATION IN THE CITY, BRINGING THOUSANDS OF NEW YORKERS UNDERGROUND EVERY DAY, BUT MOST HAVE NO IDEA THAT THESE TRAIN STATIONS ARE HIDING SUBTERRANEAN SECRETS. GRAND CENTRAL IS THE LARGEST AND BUSIEST TRAIN TERMINAL IN THE WORLD. OVER 700,000 PEOPLE PASS THROUGH ITS HISTORIC MAIN CONCOURSE EVERY DAY, BUT EVEN NATIVE NEW YORKERS DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE SECRET WORLD THAT LIES TUNNELS, HIGH-TECH NERVE CENTERS, AND A ROOM SO TOP-SECRET, IF YOU WERE CAUGHT INSIDE, YOU'D BE ARRESTED OR SHOT ON SIGHT. BETWEEN 1903 AND 1913, GRAND CENTRAL BECAME A SHOWCASE ELECTRIC TRAINS AT A TIME WHEN THE REST OF THE COUNTRY WAS STILL USING STEAM LOCOMOTIVES. COVERING 49 ACRES, THE MAIN TERMINAL FILLS OVER 40,000 SQUARE FEET, BUT DEEP BELOW THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE OF GRAND CENTRAL LIES ONE OF GUARDED SECRETS. IT'S CALLED M-42, AND IT'S EVEN BIGGER THAN THE MASSIVE MAIN CONCOURSE UP ABOVE. TO EXPLORE THIS HIDDEN PIECE OF NEW YORK'S UNDERGROUND, I MET WITH METRO-NORTH RAILROAD'S KNOWS WHERE M-42 IS LOCATED. TO GO DOWN AND SEE IT. HEY, DAN, THANK YOU FOR MEETING WITH ME. >> GLAD TO BE HERE WITH YOU, AND WELCOME TO GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL -- NOT GRAND CENTRAL STATION, GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL. >> Geller: ALL RIGHT, NOW, WHY IS THIS A TERMINAL? >> WELL, HERE'S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY. THIS TERMINAL IS WHERE TRAINS TERMINATE. THEY DON'T PASS THROUGH HERE. HEAD BACK OUT AGAIN. >> Geller: ONCE WE HAD THAT LET ME IN ON ANOTHER LITTLE-KNOWN FACT. IT TURNS OUT GRAND CENTRAL IS NOT JUST THE WORLD'S BIGGEST TRAIN TERMINAL ABOVEGROUND, BUT, INCREDIBLY, IT'S EVEN BIGGER DOWN BELOW. >> I COULD TAKE A 10-STORY OFFICE BUILDING, SINK IT DOWN THROUGH THIS FLOOR, AND STILL NOT REACH THE BASEMENT FLOOR OF GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL. BENEATH US? BASEMENT, AND IT'S NEW YORK'S MOST SECRET BASEMENT. >> Geller: WE WERE WALKING ON THE MAIN-CONCOURSE LEVEL OF BELOW US WERE TWO LEVELS OF TRAIN PLATFORMS AND NEARLY 10 INFRASTRUCTURE, BUT EVEN FURTHER DOWN, DUG DEEP INTO THE BEDROCK, BENEATH THE SEA LEVEL OF MANHATTAN, WAS M-42, A IT WON'T APPEAR ON ANY MAP. AS WE GOT CLOSER TO THE ENTRANCE OF THE SECRET BASEMENT, DAN WARNED ME -- THE LOCATION OF M-42 WAS TO REMAIN SECRET. >> I'VE GOT TO ASK YOU TO TURN OFF YOUR CAMERAS NOW BEFORE ANYBODY GETS AN IDEA AS TO WHERE WE'RE GOING OR HOW TO GET THERE. >> Geller: I SEE. SO -- ALL RIGHT, SO IT'S STILL IMPORTANT TO THIS DAY. >> IT'S STILL IMPORTANT AND CRITICAL. >> Geller: WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO CUT THE CAMERAS FOR A SECOND. ONCE INSIDE THE RESTRICTED ELEVATOR, OUR CAMERAS WERE ALLOWED BACK ON. >> WE'RE NOW DESCENDING INTO THE DEEPEST BASEMENT IN ALL OF NEW YORK CITY. IT'S ALSO THE LARGEST BASEMENT HERE, TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF THE SIZE AND SCOPE, THE ENORMITY OF THIS VANTAGE POINT. >> Geller: DAN, THIS IS HUGE! THIS IS HUGE! I'M LOOKING AT THIS. I MEAN, IT LOOKS LIKE I'M IN A AND THIS IS ALL UNDERNEATH THAT STATION. >> WE'RE IN THIS VAST ROOM THAT DOESN'T EXIST ANYWHERE -- ON NO BLUEPRINTS, ON NO MAPS, ON NO DIAGRAMS. >> Geller: M-42 LOOKS LIKE AN HAD TRIED TO WALK INTO THIS SAME SPOT DURING WORLD WAR II, I WOULD HAVE LANDED IN JAIL OR EVEN WORSE. >> IF ANYBODY SHOWED UP HERE, EVEN JUST BY ACCIDENT, THEY WERE TO BE HELD IN ABEYANCE FOR THE IT WASN'T WORTH THE RISK, AND YOU WERE TO BE SHOT DEAD BEFORE YOU STEPPED OFF THAT ELEVATOR. >> Geller: BUT WHY WAS THIS MORE-THAN-80,000-SQUARE-FOOT BASEMENT SO IMPORTANT? IT WAS THE MAIN POWER CENTER FOR GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL, AND MOST PEOPLE HAD NO IDEA THAT SYSTEM POSED A CRIPPLING THREAT TO THE ENTIRE NATION. >> NOT ONLY WOULD IT STOP ALL THE TRAINS. MOVEMENTS DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR. >> Geller: THE TRANSPORT OF ALL WEAPONS, SOLDIERS, AND WAR MATERIALS ON THE EAST COAST WOULD GRIND TO A COMPLETE HALT IF TRAINS COULDN'T RUN THROUGH GRAND CENTRAL. MOST U.S. CITIZENS HAD NO IDEA ABOUT THIS PLACE, BUT HITLER DID. EVEN THOUGH THERE WERE NO PLANS OR BLUEPRINTS FOR THE BASEMENT, PINPOINT THE LOCATION OF M-42, SABOTEURS TO DESTROY IT, AND IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EASIER THAN YOU NOT BULLETS -- JUST SAND WOULD KILL THIS MACHINE. HAVOC ON THE GEARS OF M-42's MAIN CONTROL SYSTEM, ESSENTIALLY GROUNDING THE 600 TRAINS AT POWER AND SHUTTING DOWN THE NERVE CENTER OF AMERICA'S WAR EFFORTS ALONG THE EASTERN SEABOARD, BUT HITLER'S GRAND PLAN WAS FOILED BEFORE IT EVEN >> THE FBI KNEW THAT THESE THEY KNEW THAT THEIR LUGGAGE WAS CHECKED IN HERE AT GRAND CENTRAL, AND THE FBI AND OUR LUGGAGE CLERKS WAITED AROUND UNTIL THEY FINALLY CAME BACK TO RETRIEVE SOME ITEMS FROM THEIR LUGGAGE, AND THEY WERE ARRESTED BEFORE THEY COULD DESTROY THE PART OF THE WAR EFFORT HERE IN AMERICA. FIRST PLACE? ADVANCED DEEP-DRILLING MACHINES THAT WE HAVE TODAY, SO MUCH OF M-42 WAS DUG OUT MANUALLY, AND THERE WERE STILL MARKS LEFT BEHIND FROM THE DAYS OF CONSTRUCTION. >> YOU SEE THESE WHAT LOOK LIKE THAT ROCK? GROOVE. HOW THIS TOP-SECRET STRUCTURE, LARGER THAN THE 40,000-SQUARE-FOOT CONCOURSE UP AGO. FIRST, THEY DRILLED THESE HOLES NEXT, THEY PUT TUBES OF DYNAMITE INTO THE HOLES AND BLEW THEM UP TO BREAK APART THE BEDROCK. THEN CAME THE HARDEST PART. THEY HAD TO CLEAN OUT THE HOLES BY LIFTING TONS OF DEBRIS LEFT BEHIND BY THE TNT WITH A MANUAL ONCE THE BROKEN-UP BEDROCK CARTED AWAY WITH HORSE-DRAWN THIS OVER-100-FOOT-DEEP HOLE CONTINUES TO THIS DAY. OFF IN THE DISTANCE HERE, JUST BEHIND THIS. >> WE ARE CUT SO DEEP INTO THE HEART OF MANHATTAN THAT THERE ARE ENORMOUS PUMPS WORKING HERE ALL THE TIME, PUMPING THE WATER OUT OF THIS SUBBASEMENT. >> Geller: SO WE'VE HIT THE NATURAL WATER TABLE, OR ARE WE BELOW SEA LEVEL? >> OH, WE ARE BELOW SEA LEVEL AT THIS POINT, AND INDEED, UNLESS PLACE IS GONNA FILL UP WITH >> Geller: ONCE THE BASEMENT WAS COMPLETED AND THE WALLS WERE REINFORCED, MASSIVE ROTARY CONVERTERS WERE INSTALLED TO PROVIDE ELECTRICITY TO THE NEW TERMINAL ABOVE. >> THESE ROTARY CONVERTERS WOULD CONVERT ALTERNATING CURRENT TO DIRECT CURRENT, SHOOT THEM OUT ON THE THIRD RAIL, AND POWER ALL THE TRAINS IN AND OUT OF GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL AND KEEP THEM RUNNING SMOOTHLY. MACHINES HAD TO BE STOPPED, AIR JETS WOULD HAVE TO BE BLOWN THROUGH HERE TO BLOW OUT THE CARBON AND THE DIRT AND THE DUST, AND THEN THIS WOODEN STICK IS CALLED A SIX-MAN STICK. HERE'S WHY -- THIS ROTARY CONVERTER WOULD HAVE TO BE JUMP-STARTED, LIKE AN AIRPLANE ENGINE. >> Geller: SO SIX MEN ARE BEHIND THIS, AND IF THEY'RE NOT CAREFUL, LITERALLY, YOU COULD DIE. >> YOU WOULD BECOME PART OF THE MACHINE. >> Geller: AND THAT'S NOT THE THERE WAS EVEN MORE ORIGINAL MACHINERY LEFT BEHIND. IN 1913, WHEN M-42 WAS FIRST BUILT, THE TRAINS HAD NO RADIO COMMUNICATIONS ON BOARD, BUT THAT DIDN'T STOP ENGINEERS FROM COMING UP WITH A PRECISE >> IF ONE OF OUR TRAINS WAS STALLED IN ONE OF OUR FOUR TUNNELS, HOW WERE WE EVER TO KNOW WHERE THAT TRAIN WAS WELL, ALONG ALL THE WALLS OF THE IF A TRAIN STALLED, A TRAIN MASTER/CONDUCTOR WOULD REACH OUT THIS 1913 ELECTRONICS WOULD COMPUTE ITS EXACT LOCATION AND WOULD PRINT IT OUT ON THESE ANCIENT TELETYPE MACHINES. >> Geller: THE ENTIRE POWER SYSTEM, INCLUDING THE CONVERTERS, BREAKERS, AND TRANSFORMERS, PROVIDED POWER TO GRAND CENTRAL 24/7, 365 DAYS A YEAR. 77 YEARS LATER, IN 1990, THIS ONCE-ADVANCED CONTROL SYSTEM THAT WAS THE NERVE CENTER FOR WAS FINALLY RETIRED. BUT THIS ROOM WOULD NOT GO TO WASTE. POWER STILL RUN THROUGH M-42, THANKS TO A MODERN CONVERTER >> AND THE SOLID-STATE CONVERTERS CONVERT A.C. POWER TO AND A TINY EXAMPLE -- IT'S LIKE THE WAY YOU PLUG IN YOUR ADAPTER TO CHARGE YOUR CELLPHONE -- WELL, ON A MUCH MORE GARGANTUAN >> Geller: M-42 IS STILL A COLOSSAL POWER HUB OF THE CITY, AND IT'S RIGHT NEXT TO THE ORIGINAL 1913 EQUIPMENT. >> THE ROTARY CONVERTERS ARE STILL KEPT HERE. THE CONTROL BOARDS ARE STILL KEPT HERE. THEY ARE HERE, EVEN IF THEY'RE UNSEEN, JUST BECAUSE THERE IS A SENSE OF CONTINUUM, FOR KNOWING IT'S AN INTEGRAL PART -- OR WAS -- IN THE HISTORY OF THIS RAILROAD. OF TRAVELERS COUNT ON THE SUBWAY FOR TRANSPORTATION, NEVER KNOWING THAT JUST 65 YEARS AGO, THEY WERE PASSING THROUGH THE COULD HAVE BEEN SHOT ON SIGHT FOR MAKING A WRONG TURN. >> Geller: RIDING ON A TRAIN HAS BEEN A PART OF LIFE IN NEW YORK FOR OVER 100 YEARS. TODAY, THERE ARE ABOUT 850 MILES AROUND THE CITY, MOST OF THEM UNDERGROUND, AND YET THERE'S STILL AN UNTOLD NUMBER OF ABANDONED STATIONS AND TRACKS THAT LEAD TO NOWHERE. YOU PEEK OUT THE WINDOW, YOU MIGHT JUST CATCH A GLIMPSE OF THAT LOST WORLD. BUT NOT ALL STATIONS WERE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. IN FACT, THERE'S ONE SO SUPPOSED TO KNOW IT EVEN EXISTS. A SINGLE PASSENGER, AND TO THIS DAY, ITS EXACT LOCATION IS A THERE WAS ONE MAN WHO KNEW JUST WHERE IT WAS. I MET UP AGAIN WITH METRO-NORTH'S DAN BRUCKER. GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN, DAN. >> YES, GOOD TO SEE YOU, ESPECIALLY HERE, RIGHT OUTSIDE >> Geller: HE WAS BRINGING ME INTO ANOTHER ONE OF NEW YORK'S HIDDEN SUBTERRANEAN SPACES. >> IN THE BASEMENT OF THIS WALDORF=ASTORIA, IT IS DARK, IT'S MURKY, IT IS DIRTY, AND YET IMPORTANT V.I.P. GUESTS IN THE >> Geller: CAN YOU TAKE ME TO >> I WANT TO SHOW IT TO YOU RIGHT NOW. >> Geller: LET'S DO IT, DAN. DAN, THIS DOES NOT LOOK LIKE V.I.P. THIS IS THE ANTI-WALDORF, THE GRANDEST HOTEL IN THE CITY, AND THIS LOOKS LIKE A BONEYARD. THIS SECRET TRAIN STATION WAS BUILT DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION BY THE NEW YORK CENTRAL COMPANY. FOR IT BEING SECRET, AND IT DEFINITELY HAS A VERY IMPORTANT TALE TO TELL. EVEN THOUGH THEY SPENT A LOT OF CREATING THIS TRAIN STATION, NEVER GONNA GET ON FROM THIS TRAIN STATION, SO WHY BUILD IT? IT WAS MEANT AND DESIGNED TO SERVE FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT. >> Geller: FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT WAS FIRST ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IN 1932. 11 YEARS EARLIER, HE WAS STRICKEN WITH POLIO, AND HIS LEGS WERE PARALYZED THROUGHOUT HIS PRESIDENCY. HE HID HIS CONDITION FROM THE >> IT WAS TO BE KEPT SECRET THAT HE HAD POLIO. ACTUALLY, THE PUBLIC HAD VERY LITTLE IDEA THAT HE HAD POLIO. VERY FEW PEOPLE KNEW THIS. THERE WAS A HANDSHAKE AGREEMENT TO BE SEEN, PHOTOGRAPHED, SHOWN THAT WAY. CONDITION SECRET WOULD BE NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE, BUT IN THE 1930s, ROOSEVELT PULLED IT OFF, WITH THE HELP OF THIS STATION. >> SO THIS WAS A SECRET LOCATION FOR HIM TO ARRIVE IN NEW YORK CITY, FOR HIM TO LEAVE SEEN HAVING TO GET OUT OF AN AUTOMOBILE BY THE PRESS. >> Geller: ROOSEVELT HAD A HIM INTO THIS SECRET STATION, AND IN ORDER TO GET TO THE WALDORF HOTEL ABOVE, HE MIGHT NEVER HAVE HAD TO LEAVE HIS LIMO. >> HE WOULD BE SITTING IN HIS LIMOUSINE ON A SPECIFIC TRAIN CAR DESIGNED TO CARRY HIS A RAMP WOULD COME OUT. WE'D PULL RIGHT OUT HERE AND THEN WOULD BE DRIVEN DIRECTLY INTO THIS ELEVATOR. >> Geller: NOW, HOLD ON RIGHT HERE. GOING IN HERE? >> THAT IS CORRECT. THIS ELEVATOR IS DESIGNED TO HAUL 8,000 POUNDS FOR THIS ARMOR-CLAD PIERCE-ARROW LIMOUSINE. >> Geller: THE TRAIN STATION I WAS STANDING IN WAS COMPLETELY SEPARATE FROM THE REST OF NEW YORK'S SUBWAY SYSTEM, BUT IT GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL. AS DAN EXPLAINED, A SPECIALLY DESIGNED TRAIN CAR WOULD BEGIN ITS JOURNEY FROM WASHINGTON, INSIDE THE TRAIN WAS A PIERCE-ARROW LIMOUSINE CARRYING THE CRIPPLED PRESIDENT. ONCE THE TRAIN ARRIVED AT THIS PLATFORM, A RAMP WOULD COME OUT, ALLOWING THE LIMO TO DRIVE DIRECTLY INTO THE ELEVATOR THAT BROUGHT ROOSEVELT 12 STORIES UP WALDORF=ASTORIA HOTEL, HIS HOME AWAY FROM HOME IN NEW YORK. THERE'S MORE. FARTHER DOWN, THERE'S AN UNIDENTIFIED TRAIN CAR ON A SHADOWY STORAGE TRACK, BUT THIS IS NO ORDINARY TRAIN. DAN TOLD ME THIS MYSTERIOUS TRAIN CAR FIRST ARRIVED ON THIS PLATFORM AT THE END OF FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT DIED, AND FOR MORE THAN 60 YEARS, THIS TRAIN CAR'S ORIGIN AND PURPOSE HAS >> WE KNOW THAT IT'S A TRAIN CAR THAT WAS BUILT IN THE '20s OR THE 1930s. WE KNOW IT WAS DESIGNED TO CARRY PRIVATE AUTOMOBILES. WHAT WE CALL THE TRUCKS, OR THE WHEEL ASSEMBLIES... >> Geller: OKAY, RIGHT HERE? >> ...ARE VASTLY OVERENGINEERED AND OVERBUILT. >> Geller: IT'S EVIDENCE THAT WHATEVER THIS TRAIN WAS CARRYING, IT WAS VERY HEAVY WITH VERY PRECIOUS CARGO. THIS IS A STEEL PLATE THAT, JUST FROM THIS VANTAGE POINT, IS AT EVERYWHERE. >> YEAH, THE ENTIRE BODY OF THIS THING IS VIRTUALLY ARMOR-CLAD. OBVIOUSLY, IT'S PROTECTING SOMETHING FAR MORE IMPORTANT >> Geller: IT HAD A STEEL, ARMOR-CLAD BODY AND WINDOWS >> THESE ARE MANY, MANY LAYERS OF EXTRA-EXTRA-THICK PANELS OF MULTIPLE LAYERS OF GLASS ALL FUSED TOGETHER, WHICH WAS THE ONLY WAY THEY COULD MAKE WHAT WAS ESSENTIALLY BULLETPROOF GLASS BACK IN THE '20s AND '30s. >> Geller: HOW ARE THEY GONNA MAKE IT? OTHER SPECIAL FEATURES ON THE CAR SUGGEST THAT ARMED GUARDS ALSO RODE INSIDE. >> ON THE VERY TOP OF THAT TRAIN CAR, THERE IS A BELIEF THAT THOSE AREAS COULD SERVE AS GUNPORTS WITHIN THIS TRAIN CAR. AND PERHAPS ONE OF THE BIGGEST MYSTERIES -- NOWHERE IN OUR SYSTEM DO WE HAVE A TRAIN CAR WITH THIS NUMBER, AND IT ENDS WITH A TELLTALE "X." THAT "X" MEANS THAT THE TRAIN CAR IS NOT OWNED BY THE RAILROAD. BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. WHEN YOU PIECE IT ALL TOGETHER, IT MAKES SENSE TO US THAT THIS CAR COULD HAVE ONLY SERVED ONE PURPOSE AND ONE PERSON, AND THAT IS FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT. HE'S NOT THE ONLY ONE TO HAVE RIDDEN THROUGH THESE TUNNELS. SOME SAY THAT EVEN TODAY, FIGURES STILL OCCASIONALLY USE THIS HIDDEN TRAIN PLATFORM, BUT FOR SECURITY REASONS, THAT INFORMATION, AS WELL AS THE EXACT LOCATION OF THE PLATFORM, REMAINS A CLOSELY GUARDED SECRET. >> PEOPLE WILL HAVE COCKTAILS UPSTAIRS, HAVE NO IDEA WHAT AN INTEGRAL PART OF HISTORY IS JUST >> Geller: FROM A HIDDEN TRAIN STATION TO THE NEWEST ADDITION TO NEW YORK'S BUSTLING UNDERGROUND. I WAS ABOUT TO SEE HISTORY IN METRO-NORTH IS ABOUT TO START CONSTRUCTION ON WHAT WILL BE THE LARGEST UNDERGROUND TRAIN STATION IN THE NATION, AND THEIR CHOSEN LOCATION IS NONE OTHER ALREADY-CROWDED GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL. ALL RIGHT, I COULDN'T MISS THE MEN WITH THE HARD HATS AND THE VESTS. >> I AM MYSORE. >> Geller: MYSORE, NICE TO MEET YOU. I'M ERIC. >> OKAY. >> DENNIS OCHINO, METRO-NORTH. >> Geller: NICE TO MEET YOU. ENGINEERS MYSORE NAGARAJA AND DENNIS OCHINO WERE ABOUT TO SHOW ME THE SITE OF THIS MASSIVE IT'S THE NEWEST LAYER BEING TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM. THIS NEW LAYER IN MANHATTAN'S ENOUGH. LONG ISLAND RAILWAY SYSTEM ARRIVE ACROSS TOWN AT PENN STATION. PEOPLE WHO WORK ON MANHATTAN'S SUBWAY, ADDING ANOTHER 20 TO 30 MINUTES TO THEIR COMMUTE. ONCE THIS TERMINAL IS COMPLETED IN 2013, LONG ISLAND RAILROAD WILL OFFER SERVICE DIRECTLY TO GRAND CENTRAL, INCREASING ITS IT'S THE FIRST TIME IN 175 YEARS THAT THE LONG ISLAND RAILROAD FEW PEOPLE WERE ALLOWED THE SNEAK PEEK I WAS GETTING. SO THIS IS -- IT JUST LOOKS LIKE A SKELETON RIGHT NOW. >> YEAH, IT IS. WHAT THIS IS GONNA BE. IN 10 YEARS, THIS COULD BE THE SNACK BAR, RIGHT? CORRECT. THIS WILL BE THE CONCOURSE WITH SNACK BAR AND TICKETING MACHINES AND RETAIL SHOPS. >> Geller: WE WERE WALKING ON WHAT WILL BE THE TICKETING THE NEW TERMINAL WILL CONSIST OF EIGHT TRAIN PLATFORMS -- FOUR ON THE UPPER LEVEL AND FOUR ON THE LOWER LEVEL, WITH A MEZZANINE LEVEL IN BETWEEN. BUT PENETRATING NEW YORK'S >> ONE OF THE REASONS WE ARE BUILDING IT SO DEEP IS TO MAKE SURE WE DON'T RUN INTO ANY OTHER TUNNELS. OF THAT. >> Geller: MYSORE AND HIS TEAM WILL USE AN ADVANCED TUNNEL-BORING MACHINE THAT LOOKS LIKE A GIANT CORKSCREW. IT CAN DRILL ABOUT 50 TO 60 FEET CARVE TUNNELS 22 FEET IN DIAMETER FOR THE LONG ISLAND TRAINS. EVERY LAYER OF NEW YORK'S UNDERGROUND IS VITAL TO KEEPING THE WORLD UP ABOVE RUNNING. >> WE ACTUALLY NEED MORE CAPACITY FOR MASS TRANSIT BECAUSE THE TRAFFIC CONGESTION IS SO MUCH. SO YOU REALLY NEED THE IMPROVED MASS TRANSIT. THAN JUST MASS TRANSIT. FROM PRESIDENTIAL PROPAGANDA TO POWERING THE WAR EFFORT, EACH DAY, NEW YORKERS WALK DIRECTLY ON TOP OF UNIMAGINABLE SECRETS >> Geller: WHEN MOST PEOPLE THINK OF NEW YORK, THEY THINK OF THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING. STANDING AT 1,454 FEET HIGH, IT WORLD FOR 41 YEARS, AND THOUGH IN NEW YORK, MOST PEOPLE HAVE NO IDEA THAT DEEP BENEATH ITS GRAND LOBBY LIES A REMNANT OF OLD MANHATTAN. IN MARCH OF 1930, 3,400 WORKERS EMPIRE STATE BUILDING. JUST 13 MONTHS LATER, IT WAS FINISHED, AND THE NEW ERA OF THE SKYSCRAPER HAD BEGUN. THE BUILDING WAS 102 STORIES TALL, WITH SPACE FOR 1,000 IT BECAME THE ICON FOR NEW YORK AND WAS AN ENGINEERING FEAT. TO SECURE SUCH A TALL STRUCTURE, THEY HAD TO DIG DEEP INTO IT OR NOT, UNDERGROUND RIVERS. YOU MUST BE CAROL. >> I AM. HI, GOOD TO MEET YOU. >> Geller: THANK YOU FOR MEETING ME. >> Geller: I MET WITH CAROL WILLIS TO GET TO THE SO TELL ME ABOUT THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING. >> WELL, THIS BUILDING IS MORE KIT OF PARTS, AND PART OF THE REASON IT COULD BE CONSTRUCTED SO QUICKLY IS THAT ALL OF THE MATERIALS WERE PREFABRICATED AND THEN BROUGHT HERE WITH ERECTED ACCORDING TO A SCHEME BY THE GENERAL CONTRACTORS THAT FACILITATED THIS TREMENDOUS SPEED. NEW YORK SKYLINE CREEPING UPWARD. CHRYSLER BUILDING AND SEE WHO COULD PUT UP THE WORLD'S TALLEST BUILDING. THE EMPIRE STATE EASILY WON, TOPPING THE CHRYSLER BUILDING BY CROSS STREETS -- 200 FEET BY ABOUT 425 FEET IN ITS LENGTH. EXCAVATED DOWN UNDERNEATH, SO IT WAS REALLY THE SORT OF BIRTH OF SKYSCRAPER. >> Geller: THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING TOWERS 1,250 FEET ABOVE THE CITY, BUT FEW REALIZE THAT THERE'S ALMOST 60 MORE FEET OF THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING THAT STRETCHES DEEP INTO THE BEDROCK LONG BEFORE THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING SOARED ABOVE THE SKYLINE, THE ISLAND OF MANHATTAN IN FACT, THIS VERY SITE WAS ONCE CALLED THOMPSON FARM. THE FARM TOOK UP SIX BLOCKS, STRETCHING TO BROADWAY AND 6th IN THE WEST, MADISON AVENUE ON STREETS ON THE SOUTH AND NORTH. A CREEK RAN THROUGH THE FARM AND WOULD HAVE SAT AT THE FOOT OF PRESENT-DAY PARK AVENUE. THE RIVER AND THE POND ARE JUST A PART OF THE MANY WATERWAYS THAT VANISHED BENEATH MANHATTAN, BUT IN THE BASEMENT OF THE OF THESE LOST RIVERS STILL EXISTS. >> SO WHEN YOU'RE DIGGING DOWN AS MUCH AS 50 OR 70 FEET FOR A GREAT SKYSCRAPER'S FOUNDATION, ONE OF THE PROBLEMS THAT YOU UNDERGROUND INTO THE SITE. >> Geller: SO, ON A BAD DAY, WE'D BE SWIMMING? >> IN A REALLY RAINY SEASON, YOU COULD GET AS HIGH AS 5 FEET. APPARENTLY THAT'S THE TOPPING OUT OF THE FLOOD IN THE BASEMENT. BUILDING MADE SURE THAT THE STRUCTURE WAS SAFE FROM BOTH SECRET SUBTERRANEAN RIVER. THEY CREATED A PUMPING SYSTEM THE BASEMENT INTO NEW YORK'S MASSIVE SEWER SYSTEM, ACTUALLY LOCATED ABOVE THIS BASEMENT. BUT I WANTED TO SEE FIRSTHAND ONCE-ROARING RIVER. 3 INCHES OF WATER RIGHT NOW. IT'S CHILLED WATER, AND YOU CAN SEE THERE'S WATER DAMAGE ALL OVER HERE, AND THIS IS THE PUMP. YOU CAN HEAR IT WORKING RIGHT YOU HEAR THAT? IT'S ACTUALLY DRAINING THE WATER OUT OF HERE, SOMETIMES AS MUCH AS 5 FEET OF WATER, AND IT'S THE SEWERS ARE A GOOD 50 FEET ABOVE OUR HEAD. IF THIS PUMP AND THE OTHERS THROUGHOUT THE SYSTEM WEREN'T HERE, INSTEAD OF WALKING THROUGH THIS CEMENT CORRIDOR, I'D BE SWIMMING IN A RUSHING RIVER 5 FEET DEEP. NOW, YOU CAN SEE THE STEAM COMING OFF THE GROUND RIGHT HERE. IT'S FREEZING IN THIS WIND TUNNEL. IT'S LIKE 30 DEGREES WITH THE GETS TO SEE THIS -- THIS LITTLE DEVICE HERE, THIS SERVICE ENTRANCE, THE WIND TUNNEL, THE BASEMENT OF THE EMPIRE STATE BUT HOW IS IT POSSIBLE FOR ONE WORLD TO BE BUILT ON TOP OF A THIS SKYSCRAPER IS MADE UP OF 57,000 TONS OF STEEL AND MATERIALS. HOW FAR BELOW THE STREET LEVEL ARE WE RIGHT NOW? >> PROBABLY ABOUT 50 FEET. HEAVY, AND THEY NEED TO PUT THEIR COLUMNS OF STEEL ONTO SOMETHING WHICH IS VERY STRONG, AND THAT'S MANHATTAN BEDROCK. >> Geller: BUT WHILE MANHATTAN BEDROCK IS NOTORIOUSLY STRONG, AT SOME SPOTS ON THE ISLAND, IT SITS JUST 10 FEET BENEATH THE GROUND. AT OTHERS, YOU MAY HAVE TO DIG UP TO 200 FEET TO HIT IT. THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING SITS ON ONE OF THE DEEPER PARTS OF THE BEDROCK. ENGINEERS HAD TO DIG DOWN ALMOST 60 FEET. STEEL COLUMNS WERE INSERTED INTO THE BEDROCK, STABILIZING ALMOST 400,000 TONS OF BUILDING ON TOP. NEXT, THEY LEVELED OFF THE BASEMENT FLOORS WITH CONCRETE, CREATING THE SUBSTRUCTURE WE WERE WALKING IN TODAY. AFTER EXPLORING THE VAST HALLS OF THAT COLD, WET, CEMENT RIVER BOTTOM, I WANTED TO SEE JUST WHAT THAT GIGANTIC FOUNDATION WAS HOLDING UP. SO IF YOU WANT TO GET A PERSPECTIVE OF THE UNDERWORLD, SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO GO ABOVEGROUND, AND WE COULDN'T BE ANY MORE ABOVEGROUND THAN THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING. YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING UP HERE, BUT WHAT YOU CAN'T SEE IS THE LIFE THAT BREATHES BENEATH THE CITY. THERE'S SUBWAY SYSTEMS AND ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS AND SEWERS, AND THEY'RE BENEATH EVERY ONE OF THESE BUILDINGS WE SEE RIGHT NOW. THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING WILL SOON HAVE TO PLAY SECOND FIDDLE WHEN IT COMES TO BEING NEW YORK'S TALLEST BUILDING. ONCE COMPLETED, THE NEW FREEDOM TOWER, BEING CONSTRUCTED NEAR THE SITE OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER, WILL STAND THAN THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING, AND WILL ALSO HAVE TO TACKLE MANHATTAN'S UNDERGROUND TO LAY AND SO THE RACE TO THE SKIES AND DOWN BELOW CONTINUES. >> Geller: RIGHT NOW, I'M WALKING THROUGH CENTRAL PARK, BUT 160 YEARS AGO, I WOULD HAVE IN THE 1840s, THIS AREA HELD ONE OF TWO COLOSSAL RESERVOIRS AT THE END OF NEW YORK'S VAST AQUEDUCT SYSTEM. ITS INGENIOUS ENGINEERING TODAY, THE OLD WATER SYSTEM HAS YOU KNOW WHERE TO LOOK, YOU CAN STILL FIND IT. WIDE, AND 41 MILES LONG, THE FIRST WATER-DELIVERY SYSTEM. COMPLETED IN 1842, 25 MILLION GALLONS OF CLEAN WATER FLOWED THROUGH IT EACH DAY, FROM THE CROTON DAM NORTH OF MANHATTAN TO TWO ENORMOUS RESERVOIRS IN THE CITY. NO LONGER IN USE TODAY, THIS ABANDONED AQUEDUCT HAS TALES TO IT. YOU'VE GOT TO BE JULIA. >> NICE TO MEET YOU. >> Geller: HI, JULIA. I'M ERIC. THANKS FOR MEETING WITH ME. AUTHOR AND UNDERGROUND EXPERT JULIA SOLIS HAS PERSONALLY MAPPED OUT NEW YORK'S SUBTERRANEAN AND HAS BEEN PLACES FEW KNOW EXIST, INCLUDING INSIDE NEW YORK'S FORGOTTEN AQUEDUCT. KNEW THEY NEEDED A FRESHWATER SUPPLY TO KEEP THEIR CITY ALIVE. THE BEGINNING OF THEIR VAST >> IT LOOKS LIKE A REGULAR BRIDGE, BUT THEY ACTUALLY HAD >> Geller: SO THERE'S A WATER SOURCE UNDERNEATH OUR FEET? >> RIGHT. >> Geller: THE MAIN SOURCE OF THE AQUEDUCT IS THE CROTON RIVER, WHICH WAS DAMMED IN 1837 TO CREATE THE RESERVOIRS TO FEED THE STREETS OF NEW YORK. AND HIDDEN BEHIND AN INCONSPICUOUS DOOR WAS THE ENTRANCE TO THIS VAST SYSTEM OF TUNNELS. >> Geller: SO THIS IS IT? >> THIS IS IT. >> Geller: ALL RIGHT, CAN WE GO IN? SO NOW WE'RE GOING INTO THE ACTUAL TUNNEL THAT CARRIED ALL THE WATER. >> Geller: SO THIS IS JUST NATURAL FLOW HERE. >> YES, IT IS. >> Geller: OH, WOW, WE'RE >> THERE IS SOME WATER LEFT. THIS IS ALL GROUNDWATER, WHICH GETS ESPECIALLY HIGH WHEN IT RAINS. >> Geller: BEFORE THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE AQUEDUCT, THE NEED FOR CLEAN WATER IN NEW YORK HAD REACHED CRITICAL >> BECAUSE MANHATTAN'S ON AN ISLAND, YOU'D THINK THAT THERE WOULD BE A LOT OF WATER, RIGHT? BUT IT'S ALL SALT WATER, SO THEY HAD TO GET WATER FROM PONDS AND WELLS, AND IT STARTED TO GET CONTAMINATED VERY QUICKLY. WATER SPREAD LETHAL DISEASES, LIKE CHOLERA, TYPHOID, AND YELLOW FEVER. FIRES RAGED UNCHECKED WHEN WELLS RAN DRY, DESTROYING ENTIRE CITY BLOCKS. THE GROWING CITY WAS DESPERATE FOR A RELIABLE SOURCE OF CLEAN WATER. CITY OFFICIALS TURNED TO THEIR UPSTATE NEIGHBORS IN CROTON. IN 1837, WORK WAS STARTED ON THE CROTON DAM, FLOODING 400 ACRES OF FARMLAND AND RESIDENTIAL HOMES. JOHN JERVIS. HE WAS THE MAN WHO HAD THE VISION, AND HE WAS MODELING THIS AFTER EGYPTIAN AND ROMAN ARCHITECTURE, SO IT WAS REALLY HIS GRAND PLAN. >> Geller: ONCE COMPLETED, THE DAM HAD A CAPACITY OF 35 MILLION GALLONS. THE DIFFICULT WORK OF ACTUALLY FELL TO 4,000 LABORERS, MOSTLY IRISH IMMIGRANTS WHO WERE PAID LESS THAN $1 A DAY AND LIVED IN TENT CAMPS NEAR THE AQUEDUCT. TO GET THROUGH SOME OF THE STEEPER HILLS, THE CREWS HAD TO RESORT TO BLASTING TUNNELS WITH DYNAMITE. SO, JULIA, HOW COME WE HAVE THE NATURAL BEDROCK HERE AS OUR CEILING AND HERE WE DON'T? >> IT WAS CONSTRUCTED WITH DIFFERENT METHODS. OCCASIONALLY, THEY'D HAVE TO BLAST, AND AT OTHER TIMES, THEY WENT IN FROM THE TOP, WHERE THEY THEY WOULD CONSTRUCT THE FOUNDATION AND THEN SEAL IT BACK UP. MANHATTAN'S REALLY NOTORIOUS FOR HAVING REALLY UNPREDICTABLE SOIL CONDITIONS AND BEDROCK CONDITIONS, SO -- AND ESPECIALLY IN THE 1840s, YOU WOULDN'T REALLY KNOW WHERE THERE WAS BEDROCK AND WHERE THERE WAS SO IT HAD TO BE, REALLY, AN EXPERIMENT ALL THE WAY DOWN THE LINE. >> Geller: AT THE TIME THE A CITY OF LESS THAN 400,000. POPULATION HAD GROWN TO NEARLY 2 MILLION, REQUIRING 95 MILLION GALLONS OF WATER FROM CROTON EACH DAY, BUT THE AQUEDUCT WAS ONLY MEANT TO PUMP UP TO 75 MILLION GALLONS. ITS STRUCTURE. SO THERE'S A LITTLE DRIBBLE OF WATER GOING IN HERE. WAS COMING THROUGH THIS AQUEDUCT? WAS PROBABLY ABOUT TO HERE, BUT THEN, OF COURSE, IT JUST KEPT GETTING LARGER AND LARGER, AND THIS IS WHERE IT FINALLY ENDED >> Geller: EVENTUALLY, THE DEMAND FOR WATER WAS TOO MUCH FOR THIS AQUEDUCT TO DELIVER SAFELY. SO IN THE 1880s, CONSTRUCTION BEGAN ON A SECOND CROTON SO WHERE IS THE NEW ONE? DOES IT RUN PARALLEL TO THIS? >> YES, IT DOES RUN PARALLEL TO THIS, PRETTY MUCH THE EXACT ROUTE, AND THEY DO MEET IN SOME OF THE RESERVOIRS AND GATEHOUSES IN THE BRONX. >> Geller: BOTH AQUEDUCTS DELIVERED THEIR PRECIOUS WATER TO MANHATTAN'S RECEIVING RESERVOIR, WHICH ONCE STOOD ON CENTRAL PARK'S GREAT LAWN. WATER IS THE LIFEBLOOD OF THIS CITY, AND AS NEW YORKERS GO ABOUT THEIR DAILY LIVES, FEW REALIZE THAT BENEATH THEM IS AN THE CITY UP ABOVE... >> Geller: THERE ARE 750,000 MANHOLE COVERS IN ALL OF NEW YORK CITY. LIFT ANY OF THEM, AND YOU'LL FIND A PARALLEL CITY. THE WORLD UP ABOVE COULDN'T EXIST WITHOUT THE ONE DOWN HERE. ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, THIS CROWDED UNDERWORLD BENEATH NEW YORK CITY WAS PUT TO THE TEST. AFTER THE WORLD TRADE CENTER TOWERS COLLAPSED ON 9/11, CITY ENGINEERS KNEW THAT SOME OF THE THE FORCE OF THE FALLING TOWERS EARTHQUAKE, DAMAGING THE WALLS IF THEY FAILED, MOST OF LOWER MANHATTAN WOULD BE FLOODED. THE CITY'S BEST AND BRIGHTEST ENGINEERS HAD TO ACT FAST. IT ALL STARTED OVER 40 YEARS AGO, WHEN A MASSIVE COMMERCIAL CENTER WAS COMMISSIONED. THE TWIN TOWERS WOULD TRANSFORM THE WAY NEW YORKERS LIVED AND WORKED, AS WELL AS CHANGE THE SKYLINE. WHEN CONSTRUCTION BEGAN ON THE EXCAVATE THROUGH MANY LAYERS OF HISTORY TO GET DOWN TO THE BEDROCK. RIVER, JUST A FEW HUNDRED FEET AWAY, DIDN'T DESTROY THEIR WORK. ONE MAN HELPED CONSTRUCT THE AND WHEN THE TOWERS CAME DOWN 35 YEARS LATER, HE WAS AMONG THE FIRST TO START THE EXCAVATION ZERO. WAS ABOUT TO MEET HIM AT TOWER NUMBER 7, THE FIRST OF THE TOWERS TO BE REBUILT SINCE 9/11. ARE YOU GEORGE? >> YES, SIR. HOW YOU DOING? >> Geller: HI, GEORGE. THANKS FOR MEETING WITH ME. WHY DON'T YOU COME ALONG? I WANT TO SHOW YOU A COUPLE OF THINGS DOWN THE ROAD HERE. >> Geller: OKAY, GREAT. FROM THE 7th FLOOR OF TOWER NUMBER 7, GEORGE EXPLAINED WHY CONSTRUCTION OF THE TOWERS WAS UP OVER 40 YEARS AGO. >> 500 YEARS AGO, THE RIVER WOULD HAVE BEEN OVER AT THAT WALL AT GREENWICH STREET, AND THIS SITE WOULD HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY UNDERWATER. NOW, BUT SINCE COLONIAL TIMES, EVERYTHING FROM HOUSEHOLD TRASH TO LEFTOVER BUILDING MATERIALS THE EFFECT WAS THAT THE SHORE WAS ACTUALLY EXTENDED OUT 800 FEET. TWIN TOWERS WAS NOT WITHIN EASY REACH OF THE STRONG MANHATTAN BEDROCK BUILDERS SEEK. LANDFILL. >> THE MINUTE YOU START DIGGING BELOW THE WATER LEVEL, THE GROUND WANTS TO COLLAPSE INTO THE AREA YOU'VE EXCAVATED. JUST THINK, IF YOU'RE AT THE BEACH, DIG BELOW THE SAND LEVEL, AND THE SAND KEEPS COLLAPSING, AND YOU CAN NEVER GO ANY FURTHER. THE GROUND WHEN YOU DIG THROUGH IT. >> Geller: THAT SOMETHING TURNED OUT TO BE AN ENGINEERING WORLD OF BUILDING, AND IT'S CALLED A SLURRY WALL. TO BUILD A SLURRY WALL, CREWS FIRST DUG A PANEL 3 FEET WIDE AND 22 FEET LONG ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE BEDROCK. THAT PANEL WAS FILLED WITH A A HIGHLY ABSORBENT CLAY. THE SLURRY WAS DENSER THAN WATER AND ACTED AS A SEALANT. A STEEL REINFORCING CAGE WAS INSERTED INTO THE PANEL, AND CONCRETE WAS PUMPED INTO THE THE SLURRY AS IT FILLED UP. THE PANEL WAS THEN EXCAVATED. A SERIES OF STEEL ANCHORS WERE ATTACHED TO THE WALL AND DRILLED 35 FEET INTO THE ROCK FOR SUPPORT. USING THESE SLURRY WALLS, GEORGE AND HIS FELLOW ENGINEERS BUILT A FOUNDATION THEY CALLED A BATHTUB. THE BATHTUB WAS ENORMOUS. IT WAS 70 FEET DEEP COVERING 11 ACRES. 1,500 ANCHORS, EACH CARRYING A INTO THE BEDROCK. THE PROCESS WAS NEW IN THE U.S., AND THOUGH BUILDERS COULD NEVER HAVE IMAGINED IT AT THE TIME, THIS BATHTUB MAY HAVE SAVED THE CITY FROM FURTHER DISASTER AFTER OVER 2,700 MEN AND WOMEN LOST THEIR LIVES THAT MORNING. CONCRETE RAINED DOWN ON WHEN THE TOWERS COLLAPSED, THEY SANK DIRECTLY INTO THAT MASSIVE BATHTUB, CREATING AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION. GEORGE WAS CALLED IN TO HELP EXCAVATE THE DEVASTATED AREA. IT WAS A RACE AGAINST TIME. WE HAD ABOUT 130 FOOT OF TOWER PILED WHERE WE ORIGINALLY HAD 1,300 FOOT OF TOWER. TO GROUND ZERO TO SHOW ME EXACTLY WHAT THEY WERE UP AGAINST. SO THIS IS IT RIGHT HERE? WHERE I WOULD HAVE BEEN LOOKING OUT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE TOWERS. >> YEP. STRUGGLED TO SAVE LIVES AFTER HIS TEAM HAD TO WORK QUICKLY TO ASSESS THE DAMAGE TO THE ORIGINAL BATHTUB TO AVERT THE >> WHEN THE BUILDINGS COLLAPSED, ALL THE DEBRIS WENT INTO THE THE DEBRIS SERVED TO SUPPORT THE WALLS TEMPORARILY BECAUSE YOU NOW HAD DEBRIS INSIDE, YOU HAD SOIL ON THE OUTSIDE, AND THE WALL WAS ESSENTIALLY IN EQUILIBRIUM. IT WAS SUPPORTED ON BOTH SIDES. >> Geller: THEY NEEDED TO EMPTY THE BATHTUB TO SECURE THE SITE, BUT DOING SO WOULD THROW OFF THE DELICATE BALANCE OF NEW YORK'S SCARRED SUBTERRANEAN. ONE FALSE MOVE, AND THEY'D HAVE ANOTHER DISASTER ON THEIR HANDS. >> THEY'D REMOVE SOME DEBRIS, THEY'D PUT A ROW OF REPLACEMENT ANCHORS TILL THEY GOT ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE TOP OF THE ROCK, WHICH IS WHERE YOU SEE THE SITE RIGHT NOW. >> Geller: EVENTUALLY, THE TEAM WAS ABLE TO DETERMINE THAT ONLY TWO SECTIONS OF THE BATHTUB WALL HAD BEEN SERIOUSLY DAMAGED IN THE TOWERS' COLLAPSE. MOST OF THE SLURRY WALLS HAD HELD, AND THANKS TO THE STRENGTH OF THE FOUNDATION'S 1966 DESIGN, NO MAJOR FLOODING OCCURRED. TODAY, A NEW FOUNDATION IS BEING LAID JUST NORTH OF THE SITE OF USING THE ORIGINAL BATHTUB. THE BUILDING THAT WILL RISE 1,776 FEET ABOVE IT WILL BE CALLED THE FREEDOM TOWER. >> THE NEW FREEDOM TOWER OBVIOUSLY HAS MORE SUBSTANTIAL REQUIREMENTS OF FOUNDATIONS BECAUSE THE BUILDING IS GOING TO BE TALLER THAN THE ORIGINAL SO THE FREEDOM TOWER HAS TO HAVE IT HAS TO HAVE SUFFICIENT CAPACITY TO RESIST OVERTURNING. >> Geller: INNOVATIVE ENGINEERING NOT ONLY HELPED TO ESTABLISH THE CITY'S FOUNDATIONS, IT ALSO ENSURED FROM THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING TO THE NEW FREEDOM TOWER AND ALL THE BUILDINGS IN BETWEEN, NEW YORK WILL ALWAYS HAVE AN INFAMOUS SKYLINE AND, UNDOUBTEDLY, BE ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS CITIES IN THE WORLD, BUT NO MATTER WHAT YOU SEE UP ABOVE, REMEMBER, THERE'S ANOTHER WORLD DOWN BELOW, A WORLD FULL OF PASSAGEWAYS, TRAINS, AND EVEN RIVERS, A WORLD THAT'S OFF-LIMIT TO THE PUBLIC AND IS ALWAYS JUST
