Tunnel People

by Tuen Voeten

By the end of the millennium, thousands of homeless people roamed the streets of Manhattan. A small group of them went underground. Invisible to society, they managed to start a new life in the tunnel systems of the city. Acclaimed war photographer Voeten gained unprecedented access to this netherworld, where he lived for five months, meeting Vietnam veterans, macro-biotic hippies, crack addicts, cuban refugees and runaways. 13 years later, Voeten tracks down the original tunnel dwellers - now evicted - to discover what happened since they left the tunnels.

337 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 13, 2011

Reviews

[Pierre_menard · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engrossing snapshot into life in the UWS Amtrak tunnel in the mid-90s. Some of the material is quite raw but the author stays away from sensationalism. The second edition updates us on some of the tunnel dwellers 13 years later and it is bittersweet. I wonder how many of the Amtrak passengers (then or now) were ever aware they were speeding through people's front yards.

[RAVEN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed reading this book. I help out and homeless encampments and documented through pictures at their request. I picked this book cause it sets back to the 90s. I wanted to know what it was like then. Well written and glad I got it.