Inside An Illegal Party In An Abandoned Subway Station Deep Under NYC

http://gothamist.com/2013/06/24/photos_illegal_party_in_an_abandone.php#photo-19

by vxNsr • 13 years ago

252 116 13 years ago

afarrell• 13 years ago

Interesting how all of these folks are cool with someone taking photos of them and posting them to the internet, particularly since the site states that the party is illegal.

vxNsr2• 13 years ago

And the organizers stated clearly that photography is expressly forbidden.

EDIT: ha, I missed that part, my eyes must of just skipped over it, figuring it to be more about not taking pictures.

I just like the idea of exploring the "old" abandoned places that are literally beneath our feet.

ctdonath• 13 years ago

The organizers stated clearly "There will be professional photographers whose images will be available afterward."

jrockway5• 13 years ago

It's very unlikely that the state wants to pursue a trespassing charge based on a poorly-lit photograph. "Do you have any physical evidence that this is my client?" "No." "I rest my case."

RockyMcNuts4• 13 years ago

well, they might want to put a stop to it before there's a fire or stampede in a tight space with no exits. these folks seem pretty well organized but they're also locking people in. if there's an incident, guaranteed the city gets sued for big bucks if it it's on their property.

anigbrowl6• 13 years ago

It's not illegal to attend an unpermitted party, only to organize one. (Edit: that I know about...I'm too lazy to research NY law on unlawful assembly, and this isn't meant to be legal advice.) And an assertion on a blog doesn't rise to the standard of evidence.

As someone with a lot of experience in this area, authorities are in general not so much concerned with administrative propriety as with safety and respect for others (ie noise complaints).

delinka• 13 years ago

This is one of those things that requires the letter of the law behind any enforcement. You can admit to any crime you'd like, but absent evidence that there was indeed a crime, law enforcement can't exactly put you away for years.

Unless law enforcement found these people breaking the law, or "knew" that they did and found evidence of such, there's no recourse. Photos of people at an "illegal" gathering? Maybe the organizers indeed had a permit for whatever space they were in; maybe it was all staged inside a warehouse that they owned; maybe the whole story was concocted by the author.

Ultimately, unless they get caught or leave obvious evidence of exactly what took place in which location involving which people ... there's nothing to prosecute.

Edit: All that said, I'd hate to see the consequences of someone being seriously injured during one of these events. I'm hoping the "Agents" can get the person safely to the surface and that the injured party will remain mum on the details.

contacternst2• 13 years ago

In the comments section, the author explains that he shut down comments by others due to them exposing the location of the event. The responsible thing to do would be to take the blog post down. I'd be very surprised if he got an invite to the next event at this rate...

zeckalpha• 13 years ago

The photographers were professional hired photographers for the event. The author was asked to cover the event.

contacternst2• 13 years ago

The point is that this "professional" photographer doesn't seem to be acting as professional as this kind of event calls for.

dedward• 13 years ago

Did I read wrong, or was he not invited to cover the event?

vxNsr2• 13 years ago

I think it was less about getting caught and more about keeping the place secret so it doesn't get trashed and so that he can keep doing events like this in the future.

devb2• 13 years ago

As soon as they publicized the event, they guaranteed that it would be locked down from this point forward. If you can't tell by the graffiti, many people have been there before them and kept it to themselves, but nobody else will in the future.

jrockway5• 13 years ago

So where was this? The author claims it's in DUMBO, but I don't know of any abandoned subway stations there.

ganeumann• 13 years ago

One guess--if it was in Brooklyn and was a station with no tracks laid down (so never actually used as a station)--is that it was part of the IND second line. Maybe the South 4th Street and Broadway station?

This line was started just before the 1929 crash and never completed. See http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/indsecsys.html, there's a hand-drawn map down at the bottom.

mbrameld• 13 years ago

The author said they started at a DUMBO station. Then they walked for half an hour. The author doesn't reveal the location for obvious reasons.

gaadd332• 13 years ago

Chinatown area, the article says they walked for a bit from DUMBO which would make sense to cross the bridge. http://secondavenuesagas.com/2013/06/25/abandoned-sas-segmen...

devb2• 13 years ago

Chinatown. The stretch of tunnel goes from near Cyrystie Street, under the Manhattan Bridge approach plaza, towards Confucius Tower.

zkirill• 13 years ago

What are some potential reasons for a subway station to become abandoned?

It looks like the construction had advanced quite far before it was halted.

gaadd332• 13 years ago

In this case it was part of one attempt at the Second Avenue subway. I think it was built in the 70s, then the city ran out of money and construction was halted. I believe the new Second Ave subway will not be using the same route in this part of Manhattan (or will be at a different depth) so they will not be using these tunnels/stations.

RockyMcNuts4• 13 years ago

Here's one - got reused as a museum. honestly just seems like poor planning, they ended up not having so many local trains they needed a separate terminus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Transit_Museum#Station...

sometimes when the system gets extended, sections become redundant.

when they built the new South Ferry station they abandoned the old one. then when the new station got destroyed by Sandy they went back to the old one, which is so small everyone has to exit through the first 5 cars.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/south-ferry-subway-stati...

jliechti1• 13 years ago

This reminds of the secret night club in an abandoned water tower (also in NYC) from last month, albeit larger in scale.

article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/23/nyregion/illicit-nightclub...

photos: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2013/05/22/nyregion/2013052...

tn13• 13 years ago

Why was the party illegal ?

anigbrowl6• 13 years ago

you're supposed to get a permit for events over 50 people, and you're supposed to have separate permits to the publicly-owned venue, there are supposed to be bathrooms, proper fire escapes, yadda yadda. And in fairness, these requirements exist for good reasons, because for every artsy type that runs such an event in a reasonable responsible fashion, there's a greedy promoter that will do the same sort of thing for purely mercenary purposes and who is willing to sacrifice the safety of the guests on the altar of profit.

Gormo• 13 years ago

you're supposed to get a permit for events over 50 people

That sounds unconstitutional.

speeder• 13 years ago

You know, like here in Brazil where people bribed the fire department to get a permit for a night club with not enough emergency exits, and when a fire happened 200 people died?

driverdan• 13 years ago

Trespassing.

foobarbazqux3• 13 years ago

That looks like a fun party. It makes me happy that this kind of thing happens. There's something really exciting about dancing in abandoned spaces. It's as if they've been returned to nature, and the party goers belong to a primitive tribe involved in some ancient ritual. I know that sounds cheesy but I don't know how else to describe the experience.

For contrast, I believe that the same event organized in cooperation with the city in a functioning subway station wouldn't be nearly as fun. Perhaps it's the feeling of peaceful anarchy that's most important.

Many parties that take place in abandoned warehouses have a similar vibe - most western nations have cracked down on them on the basis of unregulated drug and alcohol use - although this location is really quite dramatic and I bet the musicians were amazing. I wish there was an mp3.

apawloski• 13 years ago

"I walked away without looking back, feeling like we'd just gotten away with an elaborate bank robbery."

I used to run treasure hunts, along with a friend of mine, where teams of four would solve puzzles and clues that would take them through a series of locations similar to the one in the article [1]. This is a really good way to describe the feeling -- I've always described it as "playing secret agent."

Incidentally though, we were always terrified to bring even small groups of people into these various abandoned buildings. I still have nightmares about it. Having a party -- with that many people and that much noise -- is absolutely insane.

[1] Some examples I dug up: http://imgur.com/a/WVw4Q

nostromo• 13 years ago

Tangent: There's a guy that's been climbing public spaces lately, including the Golden Gate Bridge and the Space Needle. The photos are absolutely stunning.

http://www.nopromiseofsafety.com/?p=1680

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2336093/Mysterious-u...

iharris• 13 years ago

Related: There's a fellow named Bradley Garrett who did his PhD dissertation on "Place Hacking". GQ has an awesome article of the crazy places he has explored and his run-ins with law enforcement when "hacking" certain restricted locations.

http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201303/urban-expl...

themckman• 13 years ago

Looking at both the pictures from the Golden Gate and from the Space Needle made my palms sweaty. It's just odd thinking about someone being up there for no other reason than to be there.

gailees• 13 years ago

It makes me so happy that this type of thing actually happens in the world.

mehmehshoe• 13 years ago

When I was a youngin, we took to the woods outside of town with generators, kegs and a couple of live bands. It certainly wasn't as hip as this party but when you get sick of getting busted in the city, you get creative. We hung lights in the trees and constructed stages for the bands.

Now I am 40... You kids need to get off my lawn!

pavel_lishin• 13 years ago

I had this exact same thought the other day, walking past groups of people sitting on the stoop, playing music out of their cars. It looked exactly like a field party, except it was in Manhattan.

ics• 13 years ago

For those curious, the newsletter this was announced on is Nonsense NYC (http://www.nonsensenyc.com/). I've been unsubscribed for the last year or two, but in years prior there have been many very interesting items every single week. Everything from knitting to robots (battlebots!) to things like this and more.

ChrisNorstrom2• 13 years ago

It's sad that this is illegal. They're not doing anything wrong and it's their tax payer dollars that built those tunnels anyway. The depths of New York belong to the people.

"But it's not safe". What is? In the USA 40,000 die each year from car accidents, 700+ children from drowning, 1 million+ from cancer and heart disease. If going down there wasn't illegal they'd be able to have lighting, security, and other safety measures to make it even more safe.

(btw, this is totally the type of place that Stefon would suggest on SNL)

jakejake3• 13 years ago

If the city could make a buck off of it they'd have no problem. Problem being that once it's officially ok'd by the city - the city becomes liable for everything. Hell if anything happened to one of the partiers the city might be sued anyway for not sealing the place up.

dubfan• 13 years ago

It all comes down to who has liability when some drunk kid gets injured or killed in there. When it's illegal and difficult to access, the government has no reasonable expectation to keep it safe, and has no liability.

ChrisNorstrom2• 13 years ago

Can it be illegal without penalties? There are a few laws that forbid the public from doing things (riding electric scooters on the sidewalk) but don't have any penalties associated with the act. Nor do the police enforce them.

Plus I doubt the city could get sued for not cementing the place shut. Is the state of Florida sued for not fencing off the ocean every time someone swims out in the Atlantic and gets caught by rip tides and dies? It's reasonable to expect every citizen to avoid abandoned buildings and enter at their own risk.

vacri• 13 years ago

Their taxpayer dollars? The ruins look considerably older than the attendees. Did they invent some kind of timewarp?

If going down there wasn't illegal they'd be able to have lighting, security, and other safety measures to make it even more safe.

'be able to have' != 'actually supply', not by a long shot.

gaius3• 13 years ago

If it wasn't illegal it wouldn't be fun, would it? It would just be a normal club with slightly unusual decor and weird acoustics.

lmm3• 13 years ago

I've had plenty of fun at those.

lmm3• 13 years ago

False dichotomy. Life isn't and can't be completely safe. But abandoned structures are considerably more dangerous than much of life (with the exception of car travel, which there's a cultural bias that leads people to ignore the risks of. Frankly you have to be crazy to get in a car in this day and age, but that's another argument). Building codes and fire escape requirements exist for a reason; sooner or later a lot of people will die at an event much like this one. It's unfortunate that there's no way to legally accept the risks of something dangerous, but it would be very difficult to make such a thing legally rigorous (if you can come up with a good proposal it will have my support).

wffurr• 13 years ago

You don't even have to be in the car. You have to be crazy to even go near a street.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/8-hurt-some-seriously-when-ca...

jborden13• 13 years ago

Reminds me of the parties thrown in the catacombs under Paris. Always wanted to do it.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/02/world/europe/wus-france-cataco...

saalweachter3• 13 years ago

"How do I get out?" she nervously asked. I followed her back up to the hatch, where some Agents did their best to calm her down, but firmly reminded her that no one would be allowed to leave until the end. She seemed a little upset, but I saw her later and it seemed that she'd happily embraced the Stockholm syndrome.

I don't mind the trespassing so much, but activities without safe words aren't cool.

Alex3917• 13 years ago

"I don't mind the trespassing so much, but activities without safe words aren't cool."

Consent goes both ways; if you're told beforehand that you're not going to be allowed to leave, then it's selfish to put everyone else at an increased legal risk that they didn't sign up for.

"Buy the ticket, take the ride."

bigiain7• 13 years ago

Ummmm, maybe.

What's the "safe word" for an long (think international) flight? What's the safe word for a deep-enough-to-require-decompression scuba dive? What's the safe word for a roller coaster? A parachute jump? There are lots of things which, once embarked upon don't have any "easy" ways out apart from seeing them through to the end.

From TFA "To remind you, this is an event with some legal and physical risks. If you are uncomfortable with these risks you should not attend. Really. Once the event begins you cannot leave for two hours."

They made it clear enough - in my opinion. If you're the sort of person who needs a safe word for all your activities, you shouldn't attend that sort of event (or do any of many things which are hard or impossible to "back out of" once started).

saalweachter3• 13 years ago

Fair point; there are some activities that it is simple not feasible to terminate at a moment's notice. But this wasn't one of them: standing between the woman and the end of a claustrophobia-induced panic attack wasn't the laws of nature but two goons scared of the legal consequences of their actions. Helluva difference.

And remember, even if the woman knew in advance she was at least somewhat claustrophobic, the exact nature of the physical and legal risks were unknown: maybe the woman would have been fine if they had been climbing up ladders onto an abandoned rooftop instead of down ladders into an abandoned subway.

anigbrowl6• 13 years ago

Your examples involve physical impossibility or significant physical danger, and are not a good comparison for an event where the non-departure rule is merely strategic.

nisse72• 13 years ago

Sometimes, the only way out is through!

FireBeyond2• 13 years ago

Right. I'm a paramedic, and if I hold someone of sound mind against their will, that's kidnapping.

Even more so, these people.

ChuckMcM• 13 years ago

Somebody has been reading "Pirate Cinema" (or perhaps Cory was just retelling this story in a fictional setting).

I tried for a while to generate interest in a 'no code' sort of limited liability contract which was literally signed with a drop of blood which said "No one is liable for anything that happens to me at this event" that was enforceable in court. Building collapses and 500 die? Oh well. Someone goes ape shit on acid and shoots people, tough. You slipped on some vomit and broke two vertebrae and now cant walk, sucks to be you dude.

The interesting bit for me has always been the contrast between people demanding that they should be allowed to throw parties like this, but then are unwilling to make themselves and no one else solely responsible for what happens.

Of all the things Cory did explore in his excellent book (mostly a screed on big content types) I wish he had tackled that one too.

bigiain7• 13 years ago

The Burningman ticket has for as long as I remember (at least as far back as '98) had words similar to "I voluntarily assume the risk of serious injury or death by attending this event".

(We had tshirts made with the exact ticket wording in '01 or '02...)

gaius3• 13 years ago

Right, but that is just hipster douchebags thinking it would be "edgy" to say that. One sniff of actual danger and they'll have Daddy come pick them up, or buy their way out with his credit card.

anigbrowl6• 13 years ago

I tried for a while to generate interest in a 'no code' sort of limited liability contract

Releases like that are pretty common in the TV world, eg stunt performers waive their claims against the production company.

I think you'd have a hard time getting attendees to sign such contracts, but people who throw unpermitted parties accept that risk as a matter of course. Of course the smart ones proactively minimize risk for attendees.

snogglethorpe• 13 years ago

Releases like that are pretty common in the TV world, eg stunt performers waive their claims against the production company.

Do they have to jump through hoops though?

I imagine a court could overturn a contract if a good case was presented that the person signing didn't realize the implications, etc., and that would be especially likely for a contract signed in the sort of quick/casual atmosphere that likely accompanies a bunch of people going off to a party...

littletables• 13 years ago

Yay, it's the Extra Action Marching Band - the dancers, drummers and horn players in the photos! (They evolved out of Crash Worship.)

bigiain7• 13 years ago

Heh - I've got a picture somewhere of a friend of mine playing trumpet with Extra Action Marching Band with David Byrne. (And some insane stories about the Extreme Elvis tour of Vegas where they played the entire first Back Sabbath album).

100k• 13 years ago

Extra Action invaded RailsConf 2007 in Portland, leading to one of the most memorable shows I've ever been to.

My friend says the Rails community bifurcated at that moment, split between those who thought it was awesome, and those who thought it was disruptive and unprofessional.

untog• 13 years ago

In case any New Yorkers are wondering, the party was held between Pell and Canal St, in a section of the subway that was created for the Second Ave Subway in the 70s, but will not be used in the one being built now (so, will likely never be used). And this is not confidential information:

http://secondavenuesagas.com/2013/06/25/abandoned-sas-segmen...

daegloe• 13 years ago

If you remain on the downtown 6 train after the last stop (Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall), you get a glimpse of the abandoned City Hall station [1] as the train turns around. This was one of the very first NYC subway stations to open in 1904!

It's a beautiful piece of history. [2]

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Hall_(IRT_Lexington_Avenue...

[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWF3IDk9Gek

laumars2• 13 years ago

This reminds me of some of the squat parties[1] that would happen in the UK (and particularly around London) in the 80s and 90s.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_party#Squat_Party

versk• 13 years ago

Still happening, except they wouldn't last 2 hours like OP's story. I took an american colleague to a rave (in dublin) about a year ago and he was freaking out at the fact that you had to meet someone somewhere then get passed off to a few more people before you got there. "Its like the movies man!"

Then we raved until 9 in the morning to some deep techno. There were no official photographers.

I honestly thought NY would have a majorly active underground party scene.

rdouble• 13 years ago

NYC had a good scene through the 90s but gentrification and a bunch of legislation in the mid 2000s killed it.

nicholassmith2• 13 years ago

I went to a warehouse rave in Manchester (because, well, par for the course), it involved calling a telephone helpline to get instructions, meeting someone who knew someone, then finally getting there.

I agree, I thought NY still had a big party scene even if it wasn't necessarily built around dance music.

laumars2• 13 years ago

Still happening

Not as much though. The police basically killed it completely come the beginning of the 00s. (though there's a chance that I'm now just completely out of the loop so oblivious to it all)

toomuchtodo• 13 years ago

Want to make an American friend for another rave? :-D

abalone• 13 years ago

Extra Action "crashed" a wedding I was at once. Everybody ended up in the pool (there was a pool). It was awesome. They had to drain the pool the next day.

This one's a little too contrived and self-congratulatory for my tastes, though.

Wintamute• 13 years ago

A few too many brass instruments and costumed performers to be totally compatible with my idea of an illegal rave, but the venue looks fun!

lmm3• 13 years ago

An illegal rave, like anything else, needs a lot of planning and organization to make it any good. The reality is that most things like this are set up by rich people with artistic pretensions (and often parents with connections in city hall), because they're the ones who can afford to take the risk.

If you go to one that wasn't set up by rich people you get a much more low-key affair; if it's not marketed well enough it can easily degenerate into a handful of people drinking in the dark in an empty building. Which is fun in its own way (but wouldn't lend itself to bloggable photos).

benjaminlhaas• 13 years ago

I know some of the people involved in this affair, and I can assure you that they are far from rich or connected. The fact is, NYC has a vibrant, organized, motivated underground arts culture and community.

svantana• 13 years ago

I have attended events like this a few times in the Stockholm area, and although quality varies, I generally love it. I wish there was an easier way to organize and invite people to these types of events - maybe a kickstarter-like website? The tricky part is keeping authorities oblivious...

Inside An Illegal Party In An Abandoned Subway Station Deep Under NYC

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