44

Just before the Verrazano toll plaza, a sign informs you how long it takes to travel from 92 St. (Bay Ridge exit) to HCT (Hugh Carey Tunnel, formerly the Brooklyn Battery). 9 mins. means traffic is moving well. 14 minutes that you'll creep across the Gowanus Canal viaduct until the split. Last night, it read 44 mins. At 8:30? I decided it had to be a mistake. (Perhaps some kind of psychological traffic study, like the one Calvin Trillin describes here?) In the event, there was almost no traffic; it took about six.

Emergency repairs just before the LIE backed up traffic all the way to downtown Brooklyn. The delay cost me about 40 minutes.