![]() ![]() In addition, there are numerous other murals on the walls in the 90- and 100-block areas of the tunnel including a chiaroscuro style study of the Venus de Milo, and original portraits rendered with impressionistic splashes of color. A notable exception was the recreation of Francisco Goya's The Third of May, which was defaced, but subsequently restored by Freedom. Works by "Freedom" remained mostly untouched and respected by taggers. ![]() "Freedom" dedicated one of the tunnel's murals to the former homeless population there. However, the homeless population was gradually relocated from the tunnel to other places. Retired trains were also permanently parked near the south end of the tunnel allowing artists to cover whole cars with paint and murals, even if the cars themselves never left the tunnels. In the 1980s and '90s, a tent city with pirated electricity and hundreds, perhaps thousands of dwellers existed in the south end of the tunnel. Until the construction of the Trump Riverside development, the south end of the tunnel terminated in a large open area. Early artists who left their mark on the tunnel included Smith and his brother Sane (who died in 1991), Ghost, Twist, Dan Plasma, Cost, and Revs. The descending shafts of light allow graffiti art to be seen in the gloom, and artists would often center their projects under the light to take advantage of the spot-lighting effect, as if in a gallery.Īfter achieving popularity in the book Spraycan art by James Prigoff and Henry Chalfant, graffiti artists began to flock to the Freedom Tunnel and gained access through a series of broken gates near 103rd Street and Riverside Park. ![]() The tunnel has unique lighting provided by grates in the sidewalks of Riverside Park above the space. Over the tunnel's years of disuse, its isolated nature allowed graffiti artists and street artists to work without fear of arrest, leading to larger and more ambitious pieces. Graffiti artists and urban explorers have been sporadically caught and escorted out by Amtrak Police. To this day, however, graffiti artists and urban explorers continue to visit the tunnel, while the homeless population has been mostly displaced. The shantytowns were bulldozed and the tunnel was chained off. On April 4, 1991, the tunnel was reopened for trains of the Amtrak Empire Connection, and a massive eviction followed. At its height in 1994, nearly a hundred people lived in the tunnel. The giant, man-made caverns became a haven for homeless people. The railroad favored using yards in the Bronx and New Jersey, and increased use of trucking led to the demise of the West Side Line. The tunnel was built by Robert Moses in the 1930s to expand park space for Upper West Side residents – although the construction of Moses's Henry Hudson Parkway in the same area effectively blocked access to the river.Īfter it was completed, the tunnel was used for freight trains until 1980, when regular operations ended. ![]()
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