The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel's groundbreaking ceremony was supposed to be held on October 8, 1940, with President Roosevelt in attendance. At the time, the president was in the final weeks of his re-election campaign for the 1940 presidential election, and he was expected to campaign at several places around New York City. The groundbreaking was ultimately pushed back to October 28. At the ceremony, Roosevelt extolled the benefits of a tunnel as opposed to a bridge, while Mayor La Guardia invited the president to return for the opening ceremony in four years. Three days later, the city approved a motion to widen Hamilton Avenue from to make way for the Brooklyn tunnel approach, as well as awarded a contract for the tunnel's lining to Bethlehem Steel.