I started OPS last year but didn’t maintain it. New Year, New Intentions!  It is a section where I share Other People’s Sweat. I find stories of other people’s experiences and how they live. I’m interested in how people live their dreams and deal with Life’s hardships. I stumbled upon this video and I think it’s amazing. You have the perfect merger of two men who found beauty living beneath our feet. It is an invitation to another world.

Steve Duncan explores the Undercity of New York. He has a serious set of balls. I’m a wimp. Jumping off a 140m elevated platform is nothing in comparison. Being a non-caucasion native NY’er I place very little faith in the NYPD to treat me with any respect if they caught me in the transit tunnels.

When I was kid we climbed the fence and roamed the tunnels all the time. My brother and our friends would play on the tracks under Hell’s Kitchen. Armed with a book of matches, we would walk through the dark like a modern day Huck’s and Tom’s. We would set forth for adventures, look for imaginary treasure, and create club houses down there.  Occasionally, we would be chased by a homeless person but it was all pretty harmless.

In the late 80′s, the New York Port Authority  began to clear the tunnels for use  by the Metro North trains. It was less safe and our curiosity abated with age. Today the entire area is covered with new high rises and construction. You would never even know the tracks are there. A whole era has faded.

This video UNDERCITY shot by Andrew Wonder reminds me of that innocent time. It is a brilliant piece of renegade filmmaking.

There is also an article about Steve Duncan in the January 2, 2011 New York Times.

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/18280328[/vimeo]