The mole people : life in the Tunnels Benneath New York City

"On an icy night five years ago, Johnnie Jordan - just fourteen years old - brutally murdered his elderly foster care mother, leaving the state of Ohio shocked and outraged. He could not tell police why he did it or even how it made him feel; all he knew was that something inside him made him kill. At the time, few people predicted the swift emergence of a class of young so-called "super-predators"--Criminals like Johnnie who injure and kill without conscience, personified to the nation by the Littleton, Colorado, tragedy in 1999." "In What Happened to Johnnie Jordan? journalist Jennifer Toth, author of The Mole People and Orphans of the Living once again takes a look at the people in our society whom we so often discard and altogether ignore. As Toth investigates Johnnie's crime and life, she unravels the mysteries of a child murderer unable to identify his emotions even after they converge in acts of fury and rage. In the course of her research, Johnnie grows dangerously into a young man who "will probably kill again," he says, "though I don't want to." Yet he also demonstrates great kindness and caring when treated as more than just a case number, when treated as a human. Through Johnnie's harrowing story, Toth examines how some children manage to overcome tragic beginnings, while others turn their pain, anger, and loss on innocents."--Jacket. Thousands Of People Live In The Subway, Railroad, And Sewage Tunnels That Form The Bowels Of New York City. This Book Is About Them, The So-called Mole People Living Alone And In Communities, In The Frescoed Waiting Rooms Of Long-forgotten Subway Tunnels And In Pick-axed Compartments Below Busway Platforms. It Is About How And Why People Move Undergraound, Who They Are, And What They Have To Say About Their Lives And The Treacherous Topside World They've Left Behind. There Are Even The Voices Of Young Children Taken Down To The Tunnels By Parents Who Are Determined To Keep Their Families Together, Although As One Tunnel Dweller Explains, Once You Go Down There, You Can't Be A Child Anymore. Though They Maintain An Existence Hidden From The World Aboveground, Tunnel Dwellers Form A Large And Growing Sector Of The Homeless Population.^ They Are A Diverse Group, And They Choose To Live Underground For Many Reasonssome Rejecting Society And Its Values, Others Reaffirming Those Values In What They View As Purer Terms, And Still Others Seeking Shelter From The Harsh Conditions On The Streets. Their Enemies Include Government Agencies And Homeless Organizations As Well As Wandering Crack Addicts And Marauding Gangs. In Communities Underground, However, Many Homeless People Find Not Only A Place But Also An Identity. On These Pages Jennifer Toth Visits Underground New York With Various Straight-talking Guides, From Outreach Workers And Transit Police To Vetern Tunnel Dwellers, Graffiti Artists, And Even The Mayor Of A Large, Highly Structured Community Several Levels Down.^ In Addition To Chilling And Poignant Firsthand Accounts Of Tunnel Life, She Describes The Fascinating And Labryrinthine Physical World Beneath The City And Discusses The Literary Allusions And Historical Points Of View That Prejudice Our Culture Against Those Who Go Underground. Toth Has Gained Unprecedented Access To A Strange And Frightening World, But The Mole People Is Not A Daredevil Journalistic Account Of A Foreign Place. It Is One Young Woman's Personal Examination Of Her Society, The Despair It Permits And Her Own Inherited Prejudices And Fears. It Is A Thoughtful Exploration Of Our Times, When Rising Levels Of Urban Poverty, Drug Addiction, And Mental Illness Coincide With Shortages In Low-income Housing, Diminishing Welfare Services, And Crime And Brutality On The Streets.^ With Clarity And Compassion This Book Exposes People Too Long Hidden From View, Individuals Helping One Another And Even Hoping For A Better Life As They Struggle To Survive Their Cruel Portion Of America. 1 Finding A Home 7 -- 2 Seville's Story 11 -- 3 Mac's War 29 -- 4 The Underground Population 35 -- 5 Underground Spaces 43 -- 6 The Bowery 49 -- 7 Living With The Law 59 -- 8 Hell's Kitchen 73 -- 9 Children 77 -- 10 Roots 87 -- 11 Bernard's Tunnel 97 -- 12 Tunnel Art 119 -- 13 Graffiti 129 -- 14 Runaways 135 -- 15 Tunnel Outreach 151 -- 16 Dark Angel 165 -- 17 The Underground In History, Literature, And Culture 169 -- 18 Wanderers 181 -- 19 Harlem Gang 183 -- 20 J.c.'s Community 191 -- 21 City Of Friends 203 -- 22 Women 213 -- 23 Jamall's Story 229 -- 24 Blade's Piece 237. Jennifer Toth. Includes Index. A Duplicate Copy Of This Title Was Part Of The Julio Mario Santo Domingo Collection, But Was Not Retained. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 257-260) And Index. Annotation Thousands of people live in the subway, railroad, and sewage tunnels that form the bowels of New York City and this book is about them, the so-called mole people. They live alone and in communities, in subway tunnels and below subway platforms and this fascinating study presents how and why people move underground, who they are, and what they have to say about their lives and the topside" world they've left behind

Thousands of people live in the subway, railroad, and sewage tunnels that form the bowels of New York City and this book is about them, the so-called mole people. They live alone and in communities, in subway tunnels and below subway platforms and this fascinating study presents how and why people move underground, who they are, and what they have to say about their lives and the 'topside' world they’ve left behind.

HE'D HEARD ABOUT THE TUNNEL. SOME MONTHS EARLIER A corpse was found in it, not far beyond the tracks, its face half-eaten by rats, one eye scratched out and punctured with small teeth.