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the mole people
by Alex Burns (alex.burns@disinfo.net) - October 18, 2000

New York citizens are notorious for romanticising their metropolis, but the grim revelations that 5000 homeless people (1989 estimate) were surviving in the noir catacombs of 'Grand Central Station' and the subway tunnel system distressed even the most cynical.

During the 1980s, stories of 'Mole People' were regarded as urban legends. When 'Los Angeles Times' and Raleigh 'News & Observer' journalist Jennifer Toth published her landmark sociological study 'The Mole People: Life In The Tunnels Beneath New York City' (Chicago Review Press, 1993), she uncovered a more unusual phenomenon: an underworld society of tribal bands bonded by mutual alienation of 'surface dwellers'. The small communities and territorial networks survived, the loner 'crack' addicts often died within a few years. Displaced from conventional moral codes, the 'Mole People' emphasized kinship and proximity, living in a 'cyclical' perception of time that was closer to Joseph Campbell or Mircea Eliade than the Internet's Hyperculture.

Other books followed, notably photographer Margaret Morton's 'The Tunnel: The Underground Homeless Of New York City' (Yale University Press, 1996), which provided a parallel view. These book fueled media coverage and outrage which accelerated US Federal government 'public housing' reforms. Transit personnel adopted more sensitive mindsets (notably psychoanalyst Carl Rogers' technique of unconditional positive regard for other people) to resolve the 'Mole People' conflict. A cottage industry rapidly developed.

Some cultural analysts saw the 'Mole People' as an alternative society model, a critique of liberal progress doctrines. Douglas Rushkoff's 'Cyberia: Life In The Trenches Of Cyberspace' (Harper SanFrancisco, 1994) included the 'Mole People' in its description of fringe communities. 'Mole People' became a description of the lowest caste within emerging New Media industries.

The popularity of 'Urban Exploration' chic and the blind wisdom of the consumption-driven American Dream hides a disturbing truth: the Third World is not some faraway famine-wracked land trapped in the glare of your surveilling television monitors. It is most likely underneath the very pavement you walk on everyday.

The Mole People
Signs that the 'Mole People' phenomenon has been grafted into Role-Playing Games (RPGs) cross a dangerous line from harsh reality into brooding fantasy.

The Mole People By Jennifer Toth
An English highschool essay on the 'Mole People' phenomenon and Jennifer Toth's research, from a mediocre free essay service.

Rail & Transit
An early rail/transit oriented Web site with some interesting links for the railway obsessed.

Life Underground
A review of Margaret Morton's 'The Tunnel: The Underground Homeless Of New York City' (Yale University Press, 1996), a landmark study of a homeless community surviving in an underground train tunnel.

Penny Bridge
An early rail-oriented Web site with resources useful for understanding the growth of the New York subway system.

Kill The Surface Dwellers!
Could this article be misanthropic testimony from the 'Mole People' about the decline of modern society, or is it a clever fake?

Abandoned Subway Stations
A detailed listing of abandoned and disused underground subway stations on the New York Transit system, including location and historical details.

Structure Out Of Chaos
A photographic survey of American poverty, from homeless people living in shanty towns to the 'Mole People' surviving in New York subway tunnels. Is the American Dream dead?

Underground Cities
A growing collection of guides and commentaries to the underground communities and explorers beneath many urban cities today.

NetSlaves Combat Manual: The Mole People
Now the term originally used to describe New York homeless has been applied to a sociological study of castes within the Web development industry. A sign of the times?

Village Life Magazine
'Village Life' magazine (December 10th, 1996) devoted an entire issue to 'Homelessness', including interviews, bibliographical research, and activist resources.

Homeless People And The Internet
A Web site that considers Internet access solutions for the homeless and other disadvantaged groups.

Darkness Yields Beauty
This 'Honolulu Star-Bulletin' article (July 15th, 1999) by George F. Lee examines a performance piece by the Tangentz Dance Company: "People going underground, choosing to live beneath the realm touched by sunlight. The dehumanization of a society as embodied in the ridicule of one poor, little girl."

Notes From Underground
This 'Salon' magazine article (April 8th, 1997) by Dwight Garner examines New York City's noir fascination with its labyrinth subway system.

Sub-Human
This 'Greenwich Village Gazette' article (May 12th, 2000) on a documentary about the New York Subway system reveals that it is still in a derelict condition, even after the 'Mole People' scandal.

Interview With Jennifer Toth
This Web site features an author biography and interview with Jennifer Toth, who brought the Mole People to public prominence. RealAudio.

New York City Subway Resources
The premiere unofficial site about the history of New York City's subway system - online since 1995. Discover subway site maps, intriguing history, and network with others!

Metropolitan Transportation Authority Home Page
The official guide to the labyrinth New York City Transit system manages to hide the 'Mole People' phenomenon amidst a flashy multimedia Web site.

The Ishmael Community
An online network formed around writer Daniel Quinn explores the re-emergence of tribalism as a model of organizing communities: "The tribe is just a wonderfully efficient social organization that renders making a living easy for all - unlike civilization, which renders it easy for a privileged few and hard for the rest."

Cyberia: Life In The Trenches Of Cyberspace
The complete text of Douglas Rushkoff's classic book 'Cyberia: Life In The Trenches Of Hyperspace' (Harper SanFrancisco, 1994), which briefly mentions the 'Mole People'.

Disinformation Dossier On Urban Exploration
Check out the Disinformation dossier on Urban Exploration.

HomeAid
HomeAid's mission is to build or renovate shelters for transitionally homeless men, women and children.

National Coalition For The Homeless
The National Coalition for the Homeless is a national advocacy network of homeless persons, activists, service providers, and others committed to ending homelessness through public education, policy advocacy, grassroots organizing, and technical assistance.

Real Change
A Seattle based community newspaper which publishes views of homeless people and runs various empowerment projects. Demolishes many myths.

Project America
Compiled by two high school students from a small town in New Jersey, this site's has goal is to break through apathy and inspire people to take action to improve their communities. At the heart of Project America is a belief in the power of the individual to make a difference. Find out how you can take action to be one of those who are making a difference.

International Union Of Gospel Missions
Founded in 1913, the International Union of Gospel Missions is an association of over 250 rescue missions and faith-based charitable organizations that help the homeless, the poor, 'at risk' urban youth, and alcoholics and drug addicts in inner cities throughout the world.

Fantasy In 'The Mole People'
Joseph Brennan offers a provocative critique of Jennifer Toth's 'Mole People' research: "Here's the problem in a nutshell: every fact in this book that I can verify independently is wrong. I'm referring to her descriptions of the tunnels. I know this is not the main point of the book. That is of course the lives of the people who live underground."

Burrowed Frontiers
This 'Bad Subjects' article (November, 1994) by Richard Singer examines the socio-political impact of Jennifer Toth's research into the 'Mole People' and questions the liberal concept of progress. Very useful cultural background included.

The AFU & Urban Legends Archive
Sadly, the 'Mole People' are a very real phenomenon, but you can discover how they have infiltrated popular culture through the incredible 'AFU & Urban Legends Archive' Web site. Pizza, anyone?

Fragile Dwelling
Since 1989, Margaret Morton has documented the dwellings that homeless people in New York City create for themselves. A highly recommended Web site!

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