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UNDERCITY from Andrew Wonder on Vimeo.
In a city with more than 400 years of history that is snaked with a vast network of tunnels, it is no wonder that a few pieces of beautiful history will be lost, hidden underground down unused subway tracks, cattle tunnels and old waterways. Each year, a few brave souls venture beneath the city looking for these lost bit of history, like the above video of urban archaeologist Steve Duncan taking Andrew Wonder of Undercity to see the old City Hall train station that has not been in use since the 1950s and is now only seen by maintenance workers and empty trains that trundle by. The station was built to echo the grand City Hall above but with so many other subway stops close by, was too often empty. When the wide arch of the station’s tracks was made obsolete by the length of modern trains, the glamourous station was put into retirement. Make sure and take a look at the delicate, white chandeliers above the platform, can you imagine those in the subway these days?
Duncan also takes camera man Andrew Wonder to the original Canal that is now Canal Street, under the Lincoln Tunnel where people have lived for years, including one woman they interview for 28 years, and atop the Williamsburg Bridge.
