Scout councils (Boy Scouts of America) the Greater New York Councils, consisting of the five boroughs in New York City along with the City itself their own Council number (NYC, #640; then in alphabetical order, Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island). In 1971, the BSA started a new row of Council numbers starting with the Rainbow Council in Morris, Illinois (#702). In 1976, the BSA allowed the Boston Council and the other councils surrounding Boston (Cambridge, Minuteman, and North Bay) to form a "consolidated council" similar to the way that New York City and the five boroughs were organized. This consolidated council was designated as
Staten Island Tunnel funded by the city, the tunnel was expected to help expand the then-sparsely populated borough in a similar manner to the population and development explosions seen in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Under the Dual Contracts, three routes were proposed—two to Brooklyn and one to Manhattan—which would connect the Staten Island Railway's rapid transit service (SIRT) to existing subway lines. The Manhattan proposal, often called the "direct route," would have connected with the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT)'s lines under Battery Park, near the current Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel. "Direct Route A" would have utilized a five-section tunnel under the New York Harbor,