Amtrak "Freedom" Tunnel
New York, NY

Tracks were first laid alongside the Hudson RIver in Upper Manhattan in the mid-1800s byt the Hudson River Railroad. These tracks were later put into a cut-and-cover tunnel that was later used by the New York Central Railroad, and later still, Conrail. Due to the discontinues use of the High Line for local freight, Conrail suspended activity in the tunnel and it was abandoned in the early 1980s. In 1991, Amtrak bought the tunnel and used it to run trains between Penn Station and points north. However, during the decade of abandonment, a community of as many as 150 homeless "mole" people built a large-scale shantytown that also became the center of some fledging NYC graffiti artists such as Freedom Chris (the tunnel's street namesake), Smith, and Sane. It is because of the elaborale pieces down here that give the tunnel fame in NYC underculture.