NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Freedom Tunnel

The Freedom Tunnel is the name given by urban explorers, graffiti artists, and a handful of homeless people to the Amtrak tunnel under Riverside Park in Manhattan, New York City. It is also the name of the legendary and constantly evolving graffiti pieces that cover the tunnel walls. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... An urban explorer stands near the outfall of a muffin shaped brick and concrete storm drain, under Saint Paul, Minnesota. ... Graffiti (strictly, as singular, graffito, from the Italian â€” graffiti being the plural) are images or letters applied without permission to publicly viewable surfaces such as walls or bridges. ... A homeless man pushes a cart down the street. ... Acela Express in West Windsor, NJ Amtrak Cascades service with tilting Talgo trainsets in Seattle, Washington Amtrak train in downtown Orlando, Florida For other uses, see Amtrak (disambiguation). ... Riverside Park is a scenic waterfront public park on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, consisting of a narrow four-mile strip of land between the Hudson River and the gently curving rise-and-fall of Riverside Drive. ... Manhattan is a borough of New York City, New York, USA, coterminous with New York County. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ...

The Freedom Tunnel got its name because the graffiti artist Chris "Freedom" Pape used the tunnel walls to create some of his most notable artwork.^[1]^[2] Chris Pape (aka Freedom) is an American painter and graffiti artist. ...

The name may also be a reference to the freedom one may find in this tunnel, the freedom to live unobserved, the freedom to create artwork, and freedom from rent.^[3] (The tunnel has served as a home for many people who could not find a place elsewhere.) Mohandas K. Gandhi - Freedom can be achieved through inner sovereignty. ... Mole People is a term used to refer to the indefinite number of homeless people purported to live under New York City in abandoned subway tunnels. ...

History

The tunnel was built by Robert Moses in the 1930s to expand park space for Upper West Side residents, but expansion of freeways in the same area (also by Robert Moses) effectively blocked access to the river. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Robert Moses with a model of his proposed Battery Bridge Robert Moses (December 18, 1888â€“July 29, 1981) was the master builder of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County. ... The Upper West Side is a neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan in New York City that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River above West 59th Street. ... Freeways may refer to: the plural of freeway the 1977 Freeways album by Bachman-Turner Overdrive This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

After it was completed, the train tunnel was not used for long. With the automobile and trucking taking over more of the city's transport needs, trains no longer ran along the West Side, and the giant, man-made caverns became a haven for homeless people. At its height, hundreds of people lived in the tunnel. On April 4, 1991 the tunnel was reopened for trains and a massive eviction followed. The shantytowns were bulldozed and the tunnel was chained off.^[4] West Side or Westside may refer to: West Los Angeles Westside, Iowa An area in West Lafayette, Indiana An area in Chicago, Illinois An Area in St. ... A homeless man pushes a cart down the street. ... Shanty towns are units of irregular low-cost and self-constructed housing built on terrain seized and occupied illegally -- usually on lands belonging to third parties, most often located in the urban periphery of the cities. ...

To this day, however, graffiti artists and a new, more secretive, population of homeless people continue to visit the tunnel creating artwork and maintaining a network of secret homes and entrances.^{[citation needed]}

Artwork

Since the tunnel is isolated, the artists take their time and create ambitious pieces without fear of arrest. The tunnel has unique lighting provided by grates in the sidewalks of Riverside Park. The shafts of light create a gallery space for illegal artwork. Often, the artwork is centered under the light giving the space the feeling of a chapel or great cathedral. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Riverside Park is a scenic waterfront public park on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, consisting of a narrow four-mile strip of land between the Hudson River and the gently curving rise-and-fall of Riverside Drive. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Works include a chiaroscuro style study of the Venus de Milo, a re-creation of Goya's "The Third of May," and original portraits rendered with impressionistic splashes of color. The centerpiece of the tunnel is a mural painted in the style of a comic book that tells an abstract story that seems to reference the relationship of the former residents of the tunnel, the city, and the Police It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Tenebrism. ... Venus de Milo on display at the Louvre The Aphrodite of Milos, better known as the Venus de Milo, is an ancient Greek statue and one of the most famous works of ancient Greek sculpture. ... Francisco JosÃ© de Goya y Lucientes (March 30, 1746 â€“ April 16, 1828) was a Spanish painter and printmaker. ... See also Impressionist (entertainment): A girl with a watering can by Renoir, 1876 Impressionism was a 19th century art movement, which began as a private association of Paris-based artists who exhibited publicly in 1874. ... -1...

Access

The entrances to the tunnel can be quite intimidating to some. There is an entrance on 125th street in the Riverside park area, as well as a set of styleized archways fronting the parkway near 89th street. There have been requests for historic landmark status, and for the creation of safe pathways. The greatest issue for Amtrak has been liability. The tunnel is dangerous because there is nothing separating visitors from speeding trains. While some feel preservation is probably the best route, to save the artworks, graffiti purists criticize the institutionalization of such a sacred place. They feel it would kill the energy of the artwork and turn yet another corner of Manhattan into a theme park.^{[citation needed]} Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission is the New York City agency charged with administering New Yorks Landmarks Preservation Law. ...

Contents

History

Artwork

Access

See also

Sources

External links

Contents

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Artwork

Access

See also

Sources

External links

History