The Freedom Tunnel is a railroad tunnel carrying the West Side Line under Riverside Park in Manhattan, New York City. Used by Amtrak trains to and from Pennsylvania Station, it got its name because the graffiti artist Chris "Freedom" Pape used the tunnel walls to create some of his most notable artwork. The name may also be a reference to the former shantytowns built within the tunnel by homeless populations seeking shelter and freedom to live rent-free and unsupervised by law enforcement. The tunnel runs approximately 2.6 miles (4.2 km), from 72nd Street to 124th Street.
Most artwork is centered under the light
Exits at many points let in light and noise from the nearby playgrounds and parks.
Demolished shantytowns
Graffiti in the tunnel
The West Side Line, also called the West Side Freight Line, is a railroad line on the west side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. North of Penn Station, from 34th Street, the line is used by Amtrak passenger service heading north via Albany to Toronto; Montreal; Niagara Falls and Buffalo, New York; Burlington, Vermont; and Chicago. South of Penn Station, a 1.45-mile (2.33 km) elevated section of the line, abandoned since 1980, has been transformed into an elevated park called the High Line. The south section of the park from Gansevoort Street to 20th Street opened in 2009 and the second section up to 30th Street opened in 2011, while the final section to 34th Street opened in 2014.
The West Side Line in Midtown Manhattan, seen in 2013. This opening was permanently covered by residential construction later that year.
Hudson River R.R. St. John's Depot c. 1890
View from under Henry Hudson Parkway toward maintenance gate to tracks on 82nd Street in Riverside Park
Spuyten Duyvil Bridge, Bronx end, when the swing is open
