Saturday, October 26, 2013

New York Underground: A Centuries-Old Underworld of Caverns, Squatters, and Unmarked Doors | Vanity Fair

Good long-form underground geekery at Vanity Fair :

Deep below the streets of New York City lie its vital organs—a water
system, subways, railroads, tunnels, sewers, drains, and power and
cable lines—in a vast, three-dimensional tangle. Penetrating this
centuries-old underworld of caverns, squatters, and unmarked doors,
William Langewiesche follows three men who constantly navigate its
dangers: the subway-operations chief who dealt with the devastation of
Hurricane Sandy, the engineer in charge of three underground
mega-projects, and the guy who, well, just loves exploring the dark,
jerry-rigged heart of a great metropolis.
The scale of these works is breathtaking to behold.  I wish everybody had the opportunity to go down inside the roughed out caverns of these massive works before they are made ready for people.  It's like nothing you've ever seen.

No comments: