Quantcast RochesterSubway.com : City of Rochester Squashes Subway Tunnel Excursion
Rochester Subway
Subscribe for Email UpdatesBecome a Facebook FanFollow Us on TwitterRSS Feed Rochester History + New Ideas. Fresh from the Rochester Subway.

Topics


Rochester Subway Gift Shop


¤ Visit the Gift Shop


Modern Rochester Subway Map


Modern Rochester Subway Map

¤ View Details
¤ Buy at MetroPosters.com


City of Rochester, New York


City of Rochester, New York

¤ View Details
¤ Buy at MetroPosters.com


Rochester Neighborhoods Map

Rochester Neighborhoods Map

¤ View Details
¤ Buy at MetroPosters.com


Rochester Subway DVD

The End of the Line - Rochester’s Subway (DVD)

¤ View Details
¤ Buy at MetroPosters.com


Rochester Landmarks Poster

Rochester Landmarks Poster

¤ View Details

 | 

SOLD OUT


Work in Rochester

Work in Rochester

¤ View Details
¤ Buy from Amazon


Original Streetart by SPACEMAN

Original Streetart by SPACEMAN

¤ View All Spaceman Art


Old Rochester Photos<br>and Historical Views

Old Rochester Photos
and Historical Views

(Framed Reprints Available)

¤ View All Rochester Photos


Rochester Subway Cap

Embroidered Subway Cap

¤ View Details


Rochester Subway T-Shirt

Rochester Subway T-Shirt

¤ View Details


Rochester Subway Token T-Shirt

RTC Token T-Shirt

¤ View Details


Rochester RTC Token

RTC Token (1948)

¤ View Details

 | 

SOLD OUT


Roch. & Brighton Token

Roch. & Brighton Token
(1887-90)

¤ View Details

 | 

Add To Cart


Rochester Railway Co. Token

Rochester Railway Co. Token (1900-09)

¤ View Details

 | 

SOLD OUT


Rochester School Fare Token

School Fare Token (1948)

¤ View Details

 | 

Add To Cart


Rochester NYS Railways Token

NYS Railways Token (1909-38)

¤ View Details

 | 

Add To Cart


Rochester Subway Vintage Postcard

Vintage Postcard (1941),
Rochester Rail Equipment

¤ View Details

 | 

Order Reprint

¤ See All Vintage Postcards


Rochester Subway Vintage Postcard

Vintage Postcard (1938),
Subway & Broad Street

¤ View Details

 | 

Order Reprint

¤ See All Vintage Postcards


Rochester Subway Vintage Postcard

Vintage Postcard (1942),
Rochester City Hall & Subway

¤ View Details

 | 

Order Reprint

¤ See All Vintage Postcards


Rochester Subway Vintage Postcard

Vintage Postcard (c.1912),
Rochester’s Four Corners

¤ View Details

 | 

Order Reprint

¤ See All Vintage Postcards


Rochester Subway Vintage Postcard

Vintage Postcard (c.1905),
Erie Canal Aqueduct

¤ View Details

 | 

Order Reprint

¤ See All Vintage Postcards


Rochester Subway Vintage Postcard

Vintage Postcard (c.1928),
South Entrance to Subway

¤ View Details

 | 

Order Reprint

¤ See All Vintage Postcards


Rochester Subway + Trolley Transit Passes

Original Subway, Trolley,
and Bus Weekly Transit Passes

¤ View All Transit Passes





City of Rochester Squashes Subway Tunnel Excursion

March 16th, 2010

Our subway excursion WOULD HAVE started at the east end of the tunnel... near the Dinosaur BBQ. Oh well. Guess I'll have to go to Disney this year instead.
A few months ago two of my readers (I’ll call them Tim and Jeff) contacted me to find out if RochesterSubway.com gave tours of the abandoned subway tunnel. I explained that while I wasn’t in the business of giving tours, I would be happy to go down there with them when the weather warmed up. Tim and Jeff were both on board and I soon posted an “event” on the RochesterSubway.com Facebook page external link to invite others to join us—cause “safety in numbers” is my credo. Anyway, I figured I’d get 3-6 people to come along and it’d be a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Soon enough that little Facebook event had attracted 43 Yes’s and 55 “Maybe’s”. Oh shit!

At that point I thought it’d be a good idea to ask the City’s permission before I bring 90 people into their precious urine-soaked hole-in-the-ground. So sent a few emails to various people I knew in the planning department. Nothing specific, just a quick something like, “Hey man, how would one go about getting permission to tour the subway tunnel? How about those Amerks? Alrighty, see ya.”

Fast-forward to this morning when to my surprise I get an email from an RPD “Crime Prevention Officer”… you heard me… CRIME PREVENTION! His email read…

It has come to our attention that your group and some others may be doing “tours” of the old subway system. If this is in fact true, we are requesting that you discontinue doing so. There is safety issues being down there and also legal issues as it is trespassing. If your group is not one that participates in organizing these tours, then I apologize. Thank you and feel free to give me a call if you have further questions.

Officer [ name omitted ]
Rochester Police Department
Crime Prevention Officer
Southwest N.S.C.
[ phone # omitted ]

Wow, I had been schooled. So naturally I picked up the phone and gave the officer a call to see if I could figure out who the whistle-blower was. He sounded like a nice enough guy. Simply doing his police man work and whatnot. But of course he didn’t give up any information either. Just that with construction work starting down there now, it wasn’t safe to be in the tunnel bla bla bla, and all the same stuff he outlined in his email.

So that’s pretty much that. Another Rochester “crime” averted I guess. I bet it was Christine who blew me in. Sorry Tim and Jeff.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 at 8:39 pm and is filed under Events, Rochester News, Rochester Subway, Urban Exploration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

14 Responses to “City of Rochester Squashes Subway Tunnel Excursion”

  1. Andy Hildreth says:

    Thanks for the heads-up. I was really looking forward to going down there on Saturday. Foiled again.

  2. admin says:

    @Andy, I was looking forward to it too. Stay tuned. There’s still the possibility I could get permission to do it at a later date.

  3. Andy Hildreth says:

    Just what I wanted to hear 🙂

  4. Jay says:

    This has also caused a headache for local geocachers, as there are a few active caches down there that should be removed.

  5. Tim Kuhn says:

    I wonder if there is any way to get an officer to go down there with a group. I for one have always wanted to know more about the old subway – it is a rich part of Rochester history that I missed due to my age. I hope the city works something out for us – we are trying to do this in a legal way with permission. Thanks for trying to set this up for us!

  6. Larry says:

    That sucks. I was really looking forward to it. Thanks for trying and hopefully we can do it some other time.

  7. Otto Vondrak says:

    As great as it is to visit the Subway tunnel, it remains property of the City of Rochester. It’s not so much that they want to keep us out, they are trying to reduce their liability. If we go down there and get hurt, even though we are trespassing, a court could find the City responsible. Perhaps with some advance planning and working with the City on liability waivers, a few tours could be arranged. Sorry to be a downer here…

  8. Me an my buddies use to play paintball 5 nights a week down there. There is no safety concern in regards to people. The guys who live down there don’t want any trouble. They’re just homeless, not monsters.

  9. Please keep me up if you plan any more tours….I have been reading your site the past few months and between hearing my mothers stories of the subway and reading up on here would love to see the old subway and click some pics!

    Thanks!

  10. admin says:

    Thomas, I will. If you’re a Facebook fan of RocSubway you’ll hear about it. As of right now there are no plans. Also, if your mom has any stories worth sharing email me. I send free posters to anyone who has a story worth posting on the site. Even if it’s just a fond memory of riding the subway as a kid — or throwing snowballs at it.

  11. Admin;

    I’ll have to tell her and see if she has any good ones…I know I have heard how nice the city USE to look like before it went downhill! I do not think the City of Rochester will ever recapture how everyone felt as safe walking in the city as they do walking in Toronto….It is so sad!

  12. I sent my mom an e-mail with the web site so when she gets time she will prob. submit some to you….I remember when my grandfather Paul Lansing use to run the ICE at the War Memorial he was a engineer and ran all the cooling, lights ect and in his office there was a door that went down to the subway like a laundry shoot and he use to open it and we could hear the bums down there talking….they use to light fires down there also and the smoke would come up once and awhile into the office and smoke my grandfather out of it! LOL….

  13. Jim Fay says:

    Any chance of a Subway tour this year? My email is (…edited…)

  14. @Jim,
    Subway tours are often conducted as part of Rochester’s River Romance Weekend in September. Subscribe to our e-newsletter and/or follow RocSubway on Facebook to keep updated.

    PS-I removed your email address from your comment so you don’t get spammed.


Post a Comment...



Earn 60,000 Bonus Points for travel with the Chase Sapphire card when you use this referral link.

  Most Popular...
  1. Inside Rochester’s Terrence Tower
    (views: 65.6k)
  2. Pot Holds Bowie in Rochester
    (views: 38.7k)
  3. University of Rochester’s Lost Swimming Pool
    (views: 36.3k)
  4. Inside Abandoned Medley Centre (a.k.a Irondequoit Mall)
    (views: 34.2k)
  5. Inside Rochester’s Abandoned Walters Psychiatric Building
    (views: 32.8k)
  6. The Old Barber House
    (views: 32.7k)
  7. History of Seabreeze Amusement Park
    (views: 28.4k)
  8. Deep Inside Rochester’s Big Old Sibley Building
    (views: 26.2k)
  9. Abandoned Glass House
    (views: 23.2k)
  10. Durand Eastman Park and the Lady In White
    (views: 21.2k)
  11. Abandoned Girl Scout Camp Beech-Wood
    (views: 18.6k)
  12. Rochester Mafia, the Banana King, and the Infamous “Barrel Murder”
    (views: 18.6k)
  13. Exploring the Caves of Rochester, NY
    (views: 17.8k)
  14. Inside the Abandoned Vacuum Oil Refinery
    (views: 15.5k)
  15. Inside the Abandoned Camp Haccamo, Penfield
    (views: 15.2k)
  16. The Best Holiday Light Displays in Rochester v1.0
    (views: 14.8k)
  17. Inside 65-67 Chestnut St. – Old Hotel Richford
    (views: 13.2k)
  18. Abandoned Theme Park: Frontier Town
    (views: 13.1k)
  19. Martha Matilda Harper – Innovator in Beauty and Business
    (views: 13k)
  20. Inside the Abandoned Sykes Datatronics Building
    (views: 11.1k)

Topics

  • Architecture (64)
  • Art + Culture (124)
  • Events (110)
  • Freebies (9)
  • Interviews (32)
  • Opinion (109)
  • Other (12)
  • Reader Submitted Stories (126)
  • Rochester Apartments (6)
  • Rochester Destinations (104)
  • Rochester Gifts (19)
  • Rochester History (203)
  • Rochester Homes for Sale (12)
  • Rochester Images (208)
  • Rochester News (375)
  • Rochester Subway (51)
  • Rochester Subway Stories (17)
  • Subways Around the Globe (11)
  • Train/Railroad Stuff (47)
  • Transit + Infrastructure (207)
  • Uncategorized (20)
  • Urban Development (261)
  • Urban Exploration (61)


  • Earn 60,000 Bonus Points for travel with the Chase Sapphire card when you use this referral link.

    Rochester Subway Information

    Get Email Updates...
    Stay up-to-date on Rochester-related stories, artifacts, and ideas that you won't find in the mainstream news. Totally free, never spammy, and you can unsubscribe at any time.


    ¤ See Past Issues
    ¤ Our Privacy Policy

    Links

    Get Involved...

    ¤ Reconnect Rochester

    Related Blogs...

    ¤ A Town Square
    ¤ Moderate Urban Champ
    ¤ Our Tiny Earth
    ¤ The Rochesterian
    ¤ RocVille
    ¤ Rust Wire

    Resources...

    ¤ RochesterDowntown.com
    ¤ Rochester's Public Library
    ¤ ROCwiki


    Earn 60,000 Bonus Points for travel with the Chase Sapphire card when you use this referral link.



    Want to Advertise
    on RocSubway?
    Drop us a line.


    Other ways to follow RochesterSubway.com...

    Subscribe for Email Updates

    Email

    Become a Facebook Fan

    Facebook

    Follow Us on Twitter

    Twitter

    RSS Feed

    RSS

    Questions + Comments

    For questions about the Rochester Subway Poster or about your order, please email [email protected].

    Want to SAVE Shipping Costs?
    Buy the Subway Posters at these local shops...

    About the Rochester Subway Poster...

    ¤ Parkleigh [ ...map it ]
    ¤ Poster Art [ ...map it ]
    ¤ Rochester Public Library Store [ ...map it ]

    ¤ Rochester Subway Poster Press Release
    ¤ Article by Otto M. Vondrak
    ¤ Design by Mike Governale

    More About The Rochester Subway

    Help Support...

    ¤ Rochester Subway (Wikipedia)
    ¤ The End of the Line - Rochester's Subway, DVD
    ¤ Abandoned Subway Photos (Opacity.us)
    ¤ Walking the Rails (YouTube Video)

    ¤ Friends of RochesterSubway.com




    RochesterSubway.com