New York City is 2 cities in one — an above ground city where people live and work, as well as a below ground city where subways hustle thousands of people through its tunnels on a daily basis. There’s even an above ground NYC Police Department, as well as a below ground NYC Transit Police Department. All common knowledge. But did you know there was a 3rd sub-city?
Deep in the labyrinthine network of subway tracks and tunnels, exists a much slower-moving people, who call the very depths of New York City their home. It is a secret society with its own hierarchy and rules that most of us will never see or know — until now!
In the 2000 documentary entitled “Dark Days,” Marc Singer follows a group of homeless New Yorkers living in one particular underground tunnel. Although the characters themselves and their stories are quite compelling, what’s most fascinating is the elaborate and technologically livable homes they’ve built down below — complete with rigged electrical power for televisions, lamps and electric hot plates, as well as makeshift security systems comprised of pots and pans as a noisemaker.
The film is gritty and sometimes difficult to watch, but that’s only a testament to Singer’s genius in making the story personable and just edgy enough to make us care. We often see the homeless wandering the streets and we pass them by without a second thought. But this film pulls you into THEIR world and THEIR lives, in a must-see documentary that is certain to move you. Check it out:
`
I just watched a couple of minutes of this at work and it already got me. Gotta finish it when I get home. Definitely worth a look for all of us who forget about the homeless.