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FOR A NEW radio documentary, Pavel Barter ventured hundreds of feet beneath Manhattan with New York’s urban miners, The Sandhogs.
Outside a door, a few blocks from Grand Central Station, a couple of Sandhogs loitered for a cigarette before going back into the gloom.
I followed them down a flight of stairs and we emerged into a tunnel where rock dust hung heavy in the air. We stepped into a man hoist above a shaft. The sentry nodded and the hoist dropped into the belly of Manhattan.
The shaft emerged into a cathedral-sized cavern. The Sandhogs, New York City’s urban miners, carved this place out of rock. Hundreds of feet above us, people went about their daily commutes in Grand Central, totally unaware of our existence beneath them.
“This is the largest concrete job in North America,” Richard Fitzsimmons, business manager for Local Union 147, the Sandhog union, yelled over the clattering of jackhammers, compressed air machines, and heavy machinery.
Many stories have been told about how the Irish built New York from the ground up. But the Irish also went down. Very deep down.
Beneath Manhattan is an elaborate maze of tunnels – subway, sewer, water and train tunnels – and the Sandhogs dug them all. They dug the Lincoln, Holland, Queens-Midtown, Brooklyn-Battery Tunnels, and plenty more besides.
My radio documentary, The Sandhogs, began after a chance encounter with John “Chick” Donohue, retired political director for the union.
The Sandhogs gained their name from working in soft ground close to the water before graduating to hard rock, he explained.
Irish immigrants, not long off the famine ships, laid the foundations for the Brooklyn Bridge in the 1860′s, working in compressed chambers on the bed of the East River. Many of them perished from the bends, due to a lack of knowledge about compressed air and disregard amongst contractors.
Yet from these earliest days, Sandhogs were fiercely protective of their kin. They went on strike, formed a union, and demanded safer conditions.
This was one of the more enlightened unions in North America, employing freed slaves after the Civil War and African-Americans into the 20th Century, when most others refused to do so.
At Sandhog base in the Bronx, Fitzsimmons explained the generational aspect of the union. “Either our grandparents were from Ireland, or our parents. The Irish keep us in business. We’re tight: being that we’re all somewhat related or friends.”
Thomas Kelly, a television showrunner, working with Baz Luhrmann on new Netflix series The Get Down, worked in the tunnels during construction boom of the 1980′s. Kelly wrote a fictional novel, The Sandhogs, inspired by his experiences.
“It was the kind of job where only the hungriest would go anywhere near it,” he told me. “The Irish made it their own. The Irish seemed to have an obsession with being the hardest workers, doing the most dangerous jobs.”
Some tunnel worker traditions continue today. Fitzsimmons took me into the Hoghouse: the locker rooms where miners change before going to work. Since the First World War, they have drunk evaporated milk with their coffee – and opened the seal with a nail.
People come to the Hoghouse looking for employment: a process known as “shaping”. They wait, often weeks, to take the place of an absent miner. But this job is not for the faint-hearted. ”I’ve seen men come into the tunnel on their first shift, only to turn around again and never come back,” said Hugh Connolly, a 64-year-old Hog from Monaghan, who has worked in the tunnels since 1974.
Their fears are well founded. The union used to have a saying, “A man a mile”. For every mile of tunnel dug, there would be a dead tunnel worker.
Some of the accidents are the stuff of legend. In 1916, a miner named Marshall Mabey was working in a compressed air tunnel when a hole burst in the wall; he was sucked through and shot out over the East River on a four storey high geyser. The following day, he returned to work. The story inspired Colum McCann’s 1998 novel The Other Side of Brightness.
While conditions have improved, Sandhogs still face danger on a daily basis. In 2011, 26-year-old Michael O’Brien was working in tunnels 120 feet beneath Manhattan when a block of concrete fell from the ceiling and killed him. Robert O’Brien, Michael’s father, was working ten feet away at the time.
Perhaps his death was not in vain. Without the transport tunnels beneath the city, New York would grind to a halt. Without the tunnels that ferry in the city’s water from upstate, it would be a ghost town.
“Anyone who turns on a tap, flushes a toilet, rides a subway, should give silent thanks to the people who made this for them,” said John Ryan, President of Local Union 147. “Without the men risking their lives, there would be no New York City. It wouldn’t even be close.”
‘The Sandhogs’ will be broadcast on Newstalk 106-108fm on Saturday 29 August at 7am, and repeated at 10pm.
The Sandhogs can also be listened to online at: www.newstalk.com and the podcast will be available here after the broadcast.
This is what happens when a vermin population goes unchecked for so long. Absolutely shocking and tragic for the family. We need much harsher prisons and much harsher sentences. Amnesty international can piss off. Id vote for death penalty no problem. Id also be happy to see a vigilante group wipe out our criminal element at this stage. Currently our methods do nothing but encourage.
@Thomas Quinn: 100% agree with that comment
@Thomas Quinn: What if this was a vigilante group who considered their target “vermin”?
@Adrian: violence breeds violence
@Thomas Quinn: wouldn’t vote for death penalty now to be honest. That gives them a easier way out id give them LIFE. They’d suffer more rotting in prison until the end of their days.
@CC: Yes, but you will be paying for it.
@Nick Caffrey: I read a long time ago that putting someone to death costs more than keeping them in prison for the rest of their lives, what with legal fees etc.
@Thomas Quinn: Coz the death penalty has obviously solved America’s problems. However, O do believe this has gone unchecked for too long. We need to arm our police.
@Thomas Quinn: I believe that there has to be much,much more resources given to the Gardai to combat violent gangs. I would like to see several more specially trained armed units in isolated rural areas visible all the time. There should be huge financial incentives for detectives in bringing violent thugs to court including bonuses for each conviction. There should be a massive increase in the number of detectives being recruited and specially trained. Known gangsters should be hounded on a daily basis with their whereabouts being known all the time.
@Thomas Quinn: We need Frank Castle
@Thomas Quinn: So-called experts claim that death penalty does not prevent crime.
I strongly disagree with this.
@Thomas Quinn: Fully agree. You can’t feel safe anymore. I hope the law changes soon and there will be action, consequences and penalty for any type of criminal action. Every serious criminal has the beginning in petty crimes, which so far are too small for Garda to take action on.
@Thomas Quinn: Ireland has one of the lowest murder rates per capita in the entire world.
@Gavin Daly: Prove it please. Stronger wins
@CrabaRev: this is not the place for facts.
@Maciej Zadorozny: In the US, States with the death penalty have on average a25% higher murder rate than those without.
@Thomas Quinn:
Yes I’d totally agree Thomas, death penalty for this lot ,horrendous crime against a family .. if we don’t stop this kind of thing our country is completely gone out of control,these four murdering thugs need to feel the pain this family are feeling now.
@Maciej Zadorozny: Better wins.
@Thomas Quinn: May you be the first innocnet man on Irelands death row, and after your name is cleared and you’re released may the vigilantes get you cos they still think you’re guilty. Your sacrifice will be worth it tho becauase clearly vigilantism and the death penalty make society much safer.
@Thomas Quinn: Ireland’s criminal underworld has exploded since the Provos have decommissioned.. Do you think that feud in Dublin would be rumbling on for over two years back if they were still around.. Do you think We’d have lads on scramblers causing havoc in working class areas.. Like it or not the Provo’s kept a lid on things, now its a free for all..
@David Garland: An awful lot of the crime and drug dealing is now done by redundant Provos!
@Mark O Sullivan: This is not a question of comparing ireland with other places…. It’s about comparing it with the Ireland of 15 yrs ago.
@Tom Reilly: wouldn’t agree with commission but the criminals need to be be constantly hounded.
@Tom Reilly: That sounds great turning our police force into bounty hunters, maybe you should consider the Phillipines, yer man over there is wiping everyone out.
@John Mc Donagh: Stop reading everything that Paul Williams writes..
@Veronica: i cant see how it could be ….a dead person. is not costing the state to keep them in prison uless its cost in terms of how it impacts on others somehow ie partner childen etc
@Thomas Quinn: So you exclaim you want to become part of the vermin population by reintroducing the death penalty. Mr. Death Wish speaks.
No doubt the likes of The Learned Judge Martin Nolan will give these killers stiff 7-year sentences with partial suspensions; should they be brought to court.
@Rudi Giuliani 8th: Doubtful he’s a circuit judge, I’d say this case would probably go to the central
@Rudi Giuliani 8th: probably 7 years between them knowing his previous sentences
@Rudi Giuliani 8th: Mandatory life for guilty murder, facts are important
@DJ François: You really think that these men will face murder charges…I’d say one will be charged with murder but this will be pled down to manslaughter. The other 3 will be up for different categories of assault.
This is Ireland, DJ…
Really hope they get these skûm soon. Although what they did was so horrific and messed up, nothing can do justice for this bar the same being done to them. Hard to believe people like this are walking around.
Truly callous and evil. When I imagine the type of individuals he may have come across as maybe rivals in a garden maintenance business, as well as the use of machetes in the attack, it does make you wonder… I hope as much resources as possible are made available to the Gardai on finding these sub human skum either way.
@The Dons: I was going to post a similar comment but you worded it better, hope the Gardai are thinking the same way
10 min attack by 4 men with MACHETES. Holy hell, I can’t even get my head around it. And his wife and children witnessed it?? The poor man, I hope he was unconscious very soon after it started.
@Veronica: he was conscious throughout and tried to speak to the guards after the attack :(
@Dave Malon: Sweet Jesus, that’s beyond horrific. What kind of person can bear to put another person through that kind of pain??
God I feel sick thinking about it. The poor poor man.
@Veronica: I know and his poor little kids witnessed it too.
@Veronica: I can get my head around it. How can human inflict that degree of violence upon another, especially in front of small children? It’s insane.
@Veronica: I would say a (un)healthy dose of drugs and Severe Antisocial Personality Disorder also known as Psychopathy.
@Ennui Kenny: I would just pure an utter evil animals and nothing else.
Machetes are banned. That’s working well then.
@Patrick J. O’Rourke: Machetes are not banned.
@Brendan O’Brien:
They are illegal, The firearms and offensive weapons act prohibits their possession in a public place. It also includes your vehicle when travelling. The legal definition is any article which has a blade or is sharply pointed. It doesn’t matter what kind of knife it is.
@Native:
Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act, 1990
PART III OFFENSIVE WEAPONS
Possession of knives and other articles.
9.—(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), where a person has with him in any public place any knife or any other article which has a blade or which is sharply pointed, he shall be guilty of an offence.
@Native: They are not banned. If you have one on your possession and you have ” good reason or lawful authority for having the article” then you are not breaking the law. So if you are a landscaper for instance and you are using the machete for work and you can prove that then you are OK. You might have difficulty however if you are in possession of it while walking down Patrick Street at 2 AM dressed in your best Saturday night clubbing clothes.
@Ennui Kenny:
Read my first post and see where I said banned.
@Native: You either deliberately or just carelessly missed the rest and more relevant bits.
(2) It shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (1) to prove that he had good reason or lawful authority for having the article with him in a public place.
(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), it shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (1) to prove that he had the article with him for use at work or for a recreational purpose.
@Brendan O’Brien:
OK…under the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act, 1990 section 12
“(a) manufactures, sells or hires, or offers or exposes for sale or hire, or by way of business repairs or modifies, or
(b) has in his possession for the purpose of sale or hire or for the purpose of repair or modification by way of business, or
(c) puts on display, or lends or gives to any other person,
It applies to S.I. No. 66/1991 and under that list of weapons is
( q ) the broad knife known as a machete or matchet.
They are technically illegal.
Why am I interested? Because I used one for years elsewhere and was thinking of getting one for my own piece of jungle. However when I found out the legalities I had to make do with my Khukuri.
@Patrick J. O’Rourke: Under Section 12 it is an offence to sell, hire etc all of those weapons mentioned in the S.I but it says nothing about possession. You can possess it but the person who sells, hires or lends it to you is guilty of an offence. You can buy one on the Internet but it might not be the postman who delivers it to your door!
@Ennui Kenny: I was told quite categorically by the Gardai that they are illegal to own, as are knuckle dusters etc. That’s why I didn’t pursue the matter. I could have made my own very easily.
@Patrick J. O’Rourke: I’ve talked to a few Gardai myself and they admitted to me that they are a little confused as to the legislation. For instance I quite often carry a lock knife in a pouch on my belt for work or just to have it handy for cutting ropes or fishing lines etc. I’ve often walked around the street or even ito pubs without thinking because I’d forgotten that I had it on me so I asked a few cops that I know as to what the law was in relation to it. Now the knife I bought is available from B&Q so it’s not like I bought it off the internet.
Their response was that it depended on the garda that stopped me. One might accept that it was carried quite innocently but another might arrest and prosecute you for it. Technically carrying a multitool like a Leatherman or a Gerber, even a Swiss Army knife is against the law unless you can prove that you had a lawful purpose for it. So it really is down to the cop that you meet.
If you have a machete in the boot of your car and you are going to or from a premises where you were cutting weeds or hedges then there should be no problem. A slash hook is a ” article which has a blade or which is sharply pointed” so you could arrest half the landowners in the country for being on a public road even though they were cutting back hedgerows. On the other hand if you turn up at a funeral with one I think that it’s fair to say that you weren’t there to do a bit of gardening!
There use to be a time when FG were tough on crime . too busy these days on social media pimping themselves to the public
Who’s going to give evidence or any information against these maniacs?this one could quite easily go down in the unsolved category.
Reporting these types of vicious ,sub human , personal attacks in any detail is frightening the lives out of elderly people ,living alone, I believe.
No doubt, the attackers probably get some personal satisfaction from reading reports of their activities too.
So, let’s remember the readers when reporting these incidents.
There is a very thin line to be walked here and judgment is everything.
@Gerry Caden: we understand that but going on the information at hand, it was certainly not a random attack for the public at large to be worried about, and with certain calling cards in the attack already known to the public, there’s a strong likelihood that these individuals wouldn’t be capable of reading anything. Lets hope the skum are caught soon.
@The Dons: the public needs to be very concerned about any attack where a man is hacked to death in front of kids. Barbaric
Personal Grudge ..Whatever that means ???
I hope the picture you used wasn’t taken from someone’s Facebook page or something like that without permission with other people totally unrelated clearly visible in the background
@Alison Kenny: Ah ffs… cmon, a man was just killed in a horrific attack with machetes and you’re worried about background people in a photo!!
@Declan O’Neill: yes obviously it’s horrific what happened. I think that goes without saying. We don’t know why this happened. I’m pointing out that they probably shouldn’t be posting pics of the couples and people close to them who may not want to have pictures shared.
Most recently Irish media wrote that Russian mafia is suspected for this attack, as ” Irish gangs could possibly not been THAT VIOLENT”. I found it discriminating, dismissive, ignorant and misleading in the investigation, as everyone knows about Cork travellers recently posted video online in their gang masks snd matches threating to rip guts out of their enemies…I urge Irish Gardai to be more sensible before making rediculous asumptions about foreginers in Ireland especially when murder investigation is being carried out
Most recently the Irish media wrote that Russian magia is suspected for this attack as ” Irish gangs could possibly not been THAT VIOLENT”. I found it discriminating, dismissive, ignorant and misleading in the investigation, as everyone knows about Cork travellers recently posting video online in madks snd matchetas threating to rip guts outvif their enemies…I urge Irish Gardai to be more sensible before making rediculous asdumptions about foreginers in Ireland especially when murder investigation is being carried out
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