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Tunnel People
At 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 and cultural anthropologist Teun Voeten gained unprecedented access to this netherworld. For five months in 1994 and 1995 he lived, slept and worked in the tunnel. With him, we meet Vietnam veterans, macrobiotic hippies, crack addicts, Cuban refugees, convicted killers, computer programmers, philosophical recluses and criminal runaways. Voeten describes their daily work, problems and pleasures with humor and compassion. He also witnessed the end of tunnel life. The tunnel people were evicted in 1996, but Amtrak and homeless organizations offered them alternative housing.
Some succeeded in starting again above ground, while others failed. In this updated version of the book, Voeten tracks down the original tunnel dwellers and describes what has happened in the thirteen years since they left the tunnels.
Acclaimed war photographer and cultural anthropologist Teun Voeten gained unprecedented access to this netherworld. For five months in 1994 and 1995 he lived, slept and worked in the tunnel. With him, we meet Vietnam veterans, macrobiotic hippies, crack addicts, Cuban refugees, convicted killers, computer programmers, philosophical recluses and criminal runaways. Voeten describes their daily work, problems and pleasures with humor and compassion. He also witnessed the end of tunnel life. The tunnel people were evicted in 1996, but Amtrak and homeless organizations offered them alternative housing.
Some succeeded in starting again above ground, while others failed. In this updated version of the book, Voeten tracks down the original tunnel dwellers and describes what has happened in the thirteen years since they left the tunnels.
337 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 13, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 25, 2025
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.
May 28, 2023
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.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews