In Review: The Mole People (1993)

~ There were many times during my stay in New York City in the spring of 2008, when I stood on a subway platform beneath the streets of Manhattan, and watched some work detail, or maintenance squad disappear into the dark, dimly lit tunnels of the New York subway system.

I remember thinking how a tour of that subterranean world would make my New York stay an even more memorable and fascinating experience than it had already become. So when I saw a copy of Jennifer Toth’s The Mole People at my local resellers of “quality books” – I couldn’t resist picking it up to read and review.

However, The Mole People is not a story about the thousands of maintenance men and women working for the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority. Instead, the book claims to tell the true story of thousands of New York’s homeless who had turned abandoned subway tunnels deep underneath Manhattan into their homes.

In 1993, Jennifer Toth was a 24 year old intern working for The Los Angeles Times when she began researching and writing The Mole People. I say, ‘claims’ because the book was originally met with some scepticism, and Toth was criticized for her lack of precise details regarding many of the locations mentioned throughout the book. Nonetheless, what is not in doubt or in dispute is the fact that there was then – and still are – homeless people living in abandoned and derelict sections of the labyrinthine New York subway system.

On April 23, 2009, the The Coalition for the Homeless released its tenth annual "State of the Homeless" report, an annual assessment of homelessness in New York City. The report finds that currently more than 36,000 homeless New Yorkers, including 15,500 children, sleep each night in municipal shelters. “Thousands more sleep rough on city streets, in public parks, in the subway system (my emphasis), and in other public spaces.”

Jennifer Toth reported that some of the people she met had been living underground for only a matter of weeks or months, while others said they had been living beneath New York’s towering skyline for up to 15 years or more. Some die underground, struck by trains, or electrocuted by the dangerous ‘third rail’. Others die of natural causes or diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis and pneumonia, and still more die as a result of violent confrontations with other members of the homeless community.

There has been a concerted effort to clean up the subway system in the years since Toth’s book was published, but it is patently clear from the Coalition for the Homeless report mentioned above, that the system is still the shelter of choice for many individuals.

Some live underground simply because they can not afford to pay rent for even the most substandard housing in New York. Others are on the run from the police, or their abusive parents or (in the case of some teenage tunnel dwellers) from foster parents. Still more suffer from some type of mental illness, or are drug or alcohol addicted. Some stay underground for the freedom it affords them – because they can’t deal with the regimentation associated with staying in emergency accommodation or government run shelters. Despite the hardship they face, some are able to form supportive communities underground, and generally try to look out for each others welfare.

Part melodrama, part exposé; part history, part Gothic horror story; veering between sociological study and classic investigative journalism, Jennifer Toth’s The Mole People is a depressing indictment of modern America, and its inability to help the most vulnerable and most disenfranchised people in the wealthiest country on earth.

But is the book true? I have no doubts that the story Jennifer Toth exposes so graphically, is as accurate as any 24 year journalism intern can hope to make it. In the book Bernard Isaacs, one of the long-term tunnel dwellers, makes the point that the most important truth about underground people is that there is no single truth about them.

“They tell many stories and there is truth in all their stories,” he says. “You just have to find it.”

One can only hope that things have changed dramatically since the book was written in 1993. Sadly, judging by the figures already referred to above in the Coalition for the Homeless report – I wouldn’t count on it.

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More Information

The New York Times archives: New York Times journalist John Tierney was one of the first to write about the tunnel dwellers and bring them to the attention of the general public. If you visit the New York Times website and search for "Mole people" John Tierney you will be presented with several articles John wrote as far back as 1990.

On Film: I have tried in vain to find the title of, or information about a documentary I saw many years ago (probably back in the 1970s) which showed some of New York’s homeless living underground. I clearly remember one scene in which a homeless man barbeques a large rat over an open fire before eating it! And no, it was not Voices In the Tunnels: In Search of the Mole People, the 2008 documentary by Vic David. If you want to view the trailer for Voices in The Tunnels, click here…

Other Books: New York Underground, By Julia Solis, and Invisible New York, By Stanley Greenberg & Thomas H. Garver, both shed light on this fascinating topic.

Margaret Morton: Scattered throughout The Mole People, are a number of stark, black and white photographs depicting some of the homeless featured in Jennifer Toth’s book. The images were taken by New York photographer, Margaret Morton. Morton has published several stunning pictorial books documenting the lives of New York’s homeless, and these are available for purchase via the 'Reading List' box on the left, or directly from Margaret’s website.

Jennifer Toth Today: Jennifer Toth continues to write books with strong social themes. Her second book, Orphans of the Living (Simon & Schuster, 1997) examined the system of foster care as it existed – and may still exist – in the United States at the time the book was published.

In 1998, Toth served as the editor of the book, Keeping America's Promise to North Carolina's Children. Unfortunately (at the time of writing this), apart from the title, I haven’t been able to find out any more about the book or its main theme. Just what is “America’s promise”, to the children of North Carolina?

And finally, her last book (as far as I can ascertain), is What Happened to Johnnie Jordan?: The Story of a Child Turning Violent. Billed as “…a riveting narrative of youth violence in America,” What Happened to Johnnie Jordan? was published in 2002.

Finally: More adventurous readers may be inspired by this…

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Click image below to purchase The Mole People from Amazon.Com...

The Week That Was #3

~ Welcome to my weekly collection of The Odd, The Useful, and The Downright Bizarre.

The Odd: San Fermin ‘Running of the Bulls’ Festival. Yes, it is that time of the year again, when thousands of Spanish citizens and international visitors try their luck, and risk their lives at the nine-day San Fermin Festival.

More popularly known as the Running of the Bulls Festival, the event is currently underway in Pamplona, Spain. Each year dozen of participants are injured and occasionally some die as a result of their involvement in the daily runs. In fact, since 1924, 15 people have died and over 200 have been seriously injured in the event.

The Useful: Trip Advisor Forums. Sometimes, even I can be a bit slow on the uptake. So when I discovered the Trip Advisor Forums on the Trip Advisor website recently, I knew I was amongst friends. I have no idea of the number of forums on the site, but certainly there must be thousands, since every major region in the world has its own section on the site, and those regions are subdivided into smaller sections, which are in turn subdivided into smaller zones, which ... well, you get the picture. If you are planning a visit to Paris, France (or Paris, Texas for that matter), you will find a forum with members willing and able to answer your questions and provide useful advice. Highly recommended.

The Downright Bizarre: Bizarre Travel Complaints

Travel agents must have thousands of stories to tell (both hilarious and horrifying) about their clients. Like the holidaymaker who said he felt inadequate after seeing an aroused elephant, which in turn ruined his honeymoon. Or the tourist who complained that “the beach was too sandy,” and another upset when they discovered fish swimming in the sea. Huh?

In another complaint a British guest at a Novotel hotel in Australia said his soup was too thick and strong, not realising he had been supping from the gravy boat. In an even stranger twist, one traveller blamed a hotel for her pregnancy. "My fiancé and I booked a twin-bedded room but we were placed in a double-bedded room. We now hold you responsible for the fact that I find myself pregnant,” the guest said. “This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked."

Other complaints included “there are too many Spanish people in Spain” and “too much curry served in restaurants in India”.

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing – enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Click above image (if you dare) to view full size…

WEA = Life-Long Learning

~ On Tuesday (Never to Old to Live And Learn) I wrote that I had signed up for a Spanish For Fun and Travel course at the WEA, the Worker’s Educational Association. The Association, which publishes five course guides each year, has been running classes for adults in Adelaide for almost 100 years. Since there are many courses in the current guide related to travel, I thought I would explore the possibilities further in this entry.

A quick look through the winter guide (download PDF here…) reveals a host of interesting short courses for the intending traveller.

To begin with, the most obvious ones are the language courses. Apart from the Spanish class, one could also learn some Italian, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese, and Chinese Mandarin. And if you still had time to spare, you could also be taught to communicate with the deaf and hearing impaired by learning to Sign using your hands.

If your travels are taking you to Turkey or other countries of the Islamic world, why not take the Islamic Art: A Glorious Legacy course, or the Civilisations of Turkey course?

Food lovers can prepare for their gastronomic adventures by choosing from over a dozen classes covering such regional fare as Spanish Tapas, or cuisines from Morocco, Greece, Thailand, India, Vietnam, China, Italy, and several other countries.

Less obvious are the courses for people with an interest in archaeology, history and culture. Joining these you can learn to decipher ancient Egyptian images; travel through Tuscany; or learn about Moorish Spain, the Crusades, or the early Christian sites of Syria.

Planning a visit to Brazil or other South American countries? Then why not sign up for a short course in Latin dancing? Then you will be able to Rumba, Cha-Cha and Tango with the best of the Latin Lovers!

Heck, you could even look through the Practical Art listing, and try your hand at drawing or landscape painting. Instead of coming home with 3000 images on your digital camera, imagine returning with some original canvases or sketches made while relaxing in the hills of Tuscany or the squares of Venice.

Speaking of digital cameras, why not do the Introduction to Photography course? Or if that’s too basic one of the short courses on getting the best out of your digital SLR camera? Or the one-day Close-up Photography Workshop? That way, instead of simply taking ‘happy snaps’, you might come home with photographs worthy of the best professional photographers.

Yes friends, a world of learning awaits each and everyone of us. Once again, may I remind you – there are similar institutions to the WEA elsewhere in Australia and overseas. If the information in this blog entry has inspired you to embark on a journey of life-long learning, check out the sites below, or ask at your local public library for information about similar organisations in your city.

Links to Associated Sites

• WEA Sydney
• WEA UK
• WEA Illawarra
• Council of Adult Education Melbourne
• Adult Learning Association
• International Federation of Workers’ Education Associations (IFWEA)

Download a PDF of the WEA Winter Course Guide here…