Hidden Cities: Travels to the Secret Corners of the World's Great Metropolises: a Memoir of Urban Exploration

by Moses Gates

Overview

In this fascinating glimpse into the world of urban exploration, Moses Gates describes his trespasses in some of the most illustrious cities in the world from Paris to Cairo to Moscow.

Gates is a new breed of adventurer for the 21st century. He thrives on the thrill of seeing what others do not see, let alone even know exists. It all began quite innocuously. After moving to New York City and pursuing graduate studies in Urban Planning, he began unearthing hidden facets of the city--abandoned structures, disused subway stops, incredible rooftop views that belonged to cordoned-off buildings. At first it was about satiating a nagging curiosity; yet the more he experienced and saw, the more his thirst for adventure grew, eventually leading him abroad. In this memoir of his experiences, Gates details his travels through underground canals, sewers, subways, and crypts, in metropolises spanning four continents.

In this finely-written book, Gates describes his immersion in the worldwide subculture of urban exploration; how he joined a world of people who create secret art galleries in subway tunnels, break into national monuments for fun, and travel the globe sleeping in centuries-old catacombs and abandoned Soviet relics rather than hotels or bed-and-breakfasts. They push each other further and further--visiting the hidden side of a dozen countries, discovering ancient underground Roman ruins, scaling the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg bridges, partying in tunnels, sneaking into Stonehenge, and even finding themselves under arrest on top of Notre Dame Cathedral.

Ultimately, Gates contemplates why he and other urban explorers are so instinctively drawn to these unknown and sometimes forbidden places--even (and for some, especially) when the stakes are high. Hidden Cities will inspire readers to think about the potential for urban exploration available for anyone, anywhere--if they have only the curiosity (and nerve!) to dig below the surface to discover the hidden corners of this world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781585429349
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/21/2013
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	1,084,812
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.06(h) x 0.94(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Moses Gates is an urban planner, licensed New York City tour guide, and visiting assistant professor of demography at the Pratt Institute. His explorations of New York have been featured on the History Channel, the Travel Channel, WNYC, and in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian. He has given talks and consulted for books and television on hidden New York City, the Paris Catacombs, and urban exploration around the world. He lives in New York City.

What People are Saying About This

Robert Sullivan

Hidden Cities is a measured and heartfelt look at some wild times in some crazy places, but most of all it is a paean to curiosity and where it takes you. (Robert Sullivan, author of Rats and My American Revolution)

Kevin Walsh

Follow Moses Gates and others as they truly experience the world's great cities in ways far removed from how Frommer's, Fodor's, or any Michelin guide would encourage you to. Hidden Cities is a rollicking travelogue packed with secrets of the world's metropoli that the local constabulary would rather you not discover. (Kevin Walsh, author of Forgotten New York)

Robert Neuwirth

An intrepid urban Sherpa's impassioned salute to 'the joy of trespassing.' Part guidebook, part social history, part coming of age story. Dig in: you'll never look at cities the same way again. (Robert Neuwirth, author of Stealth of Nations and Shadow Cities)

From the Publisher

"Urban exploration with Gates makes for wildly entertaining reading. A solidly entertaining ride for those seeking a gritty travel experience."
—Publishers Weekly

"Gates's travelogue does more than introduce the reader to the gritty undergrounds and highest climbing spots of the world's greatest cities--Hidden Cities ultimately celebrates the urban history and architectural evolution of mankind. For those of us who will never get to experience such places, Gates is a perfect travel companion."
—Roni K. Devlin, owner, Literary Life Bookstore for Shelf Awareness for Readers

"Hidden Cities offers a thrilling glimpse into the secret worlds that surround us. Moses Gates has crafted an endlessly absorbing book that succeeds on many levels—as a compelling travelogue, a nuts-and-bolts how-to manual, and a deep-feeling and highly relatable personal memoir. Anybody who reads it will emerge invigorated by possibility."
—Davy Rothbart, creator of Found Magazine, author of My Heart is an Idiot, and frequent contributor to NPR’s This American Life

“Hidden Cities is a measured and heartfelt look at some wild times in some crazy places, but it is most of all a paean to curiosity and where it takes you.”
—Robert Sullivan, author of Rats and My American Revolution
 
“An intrepid urban Sherpa’s impassioned salute to ‘the joy of trespassing.’ Part guidebook, part social history, part coming of age story. Dig in: you’ll never look at cities the same way again.
—Robert Neuwirth, author of Stealth of Nations and Shadow Cities
 
“Follow Moses Gates and others as they truly experience the world’s great cities in ways far removed from how Frommer’s, Fodor’s, or any Michelin guide would encourage you to. Hidden Cities is a rollicking travelogue packed with secrets of the world's metropoli that the local constabulary would rather you not discover.”
—Kevin Walsh, author of Forgotten New York
 
 “A great city at night is a massive playground, a wonderland imprinted by the dreams, desires and accomplishments of those millions that have lived and do yet live there. Moses Gates knows this and has beautifully described that yearning some humans have to explore the built environment.” 
—John Law, co-author of Tales of the San Francisco Cacophony Society,   Suicide Club member emeritus and co-founder of the Burning Man Festival

John Law

A great city at night is a massive playground, a wonderland imprinted by the dreams, desires and accomplishments of those millions that have lived and do yet live there. Moses Gates knows this and has beautifully described that yearning some humans have to explore the built environment. (John Law, co-author of Tales of the San Francisco Cacophony Society, Suicide Club member emeritus and co-founder of the Burning Man Festival)

Editorial Reviews

Urban exploration with Gates makes for wildly entertaining reading. Whereas most travel authors highlight the museums, fashionable streets, and restaurants of the great cities of the world, Gate’s passion lies elsewhere. He revels in surmounting contrived barriers, whether in New York, Paris, or Ukraine. “We live our whole lives as prisoners of artificial boundaries—boundaries put in place not by mountains, rivers, or walls but by people and institutions who tell us that they’re there.” Gates chronicles his exploits exploring subway tunnels in New York and Stockholm; climbing the Lateran Obelisk sewers in Rome; ringing a bell on the top of Norte Dame; and traipsing through abandoned buildings in Brazil. Gates, an urban planner and licensed New York City tour guide, has a practiced eye for seeing the details of off-the-radar environments, as well as the peculiar qualities of the characters that pursue out-of-the-ordinary urban adventures. His memoir also describes facing adulthood after he loses his job his marriage breaks up. “After I turned thirty, I found myself shivering in an abandoned firehouse across from a power plant. After I turned thirty-five, I found myself in a rusting emergency train exit under a park. I don’t want to turn forty and find myself hanging out in a steam tunnel.” A solidly entertaining ride for those seeking a gritty travel experience. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"Urban exploration with Gates makes for wildly entertaining reading. A solidly entertaining ride for those seeking a gritty travel experience."
--Publishers Weekly

"Gates's travelogue does more than introduce the reader to the gritty undergrounds and highest climbing spots of the world's greatest cities--Hidden Cities ultimately celebrates the urban history and architectural evolution of mankind. For those of us who will never get to experience such places, Gates is a perfect travel companion."
--Roni K. Devlin, owner, Literary Life Bookstore for Shelf Awareness for Readers

"Hidden Cities offers a thrilling glimpse into the secret worlds that surround us. Moses Gates has crafted an endlessly absorbing book that succeeds on many levels--as a compelling travelogue, a nuts-and-bolts how-to manual, and a deep-feeling and highly relatable personal memoir. Anybody who reads it will emerge invigorated by possibility."
--Davy Rothbart, creator of Found Magazine, author of My Heart is an Idiot, and frequent contributor to NPR's This American Life

"Hidden Cities is a measured and heartfelt look at some wild times in some crazy places, but it is most of all a paean to curiosity and where it takes you."--Robert Sullivan, author of Rats and My American Revolution "An intrepid urban Sherpa's impassioned salute to 'the joy of trespassing.' Part guidebook, part social history, part coming of age story. Dig in: you'll never look at cities the same way again.--Robert Neuwirth, author of Stealth of Nations and Shadow Cities "Follow Moses Gates and others as they truly experience the world's great cities in ways far removed from how Frommer's, Fodor's, or any Michelin guide would encourage you to. Hidden Cities is a rollicking travelogue packed with secrets of the world's metropoli that the local constabulary would rather you not discover."--Kevin Walsh, author of Forgotten New York "Lonely Planet for the realm beyond the "No Trespassing" signs."
--Kirkus Reviews

"A great city at night is a massive playground, a wonderland imprinted by the dreams, desires and accomplishments of those millions that have lived and do yet live there. Moses Gates knows this and has beautifully described that yearning some humans have to explore the built environment."
--John Law, co-author of Tales of the San Francisco Cacophony Society, Suicide Club member emeritus and co-founder of the Burning Man Festival

From the Publisher

A handbook of spelunking's edgier, smellier cousin--navigating the secret passageways of urban areas, particularly sewers and subway tunnels--with a liberal dose of ego and occasional misogyny. Gates, a tour guide and urban archaeologist, began venturing into the vast substratum below Manhattan ostensibly since he "wanted to see everything in New York City," but it quickly becomes clear that the places that catch his interest are only those where the normal life of the city is absent--the drains and shafts and catwalks that form the hidden infrastructure of the metropolis but that, to the untrained eye, seem primarily distinguished by their rivers of raw sewage and colonies of rats. Occasionally interesting and often befuddling, the narrative chronicles the author's travels on five continents, hosted by an itinerant but close-knit community of urban explorers who break into cathedrals in the dead of night, climb suspension bridges while intoxicated and practice seduction techniques gleaned from pickup artists. The historical interludes, minilectures on the catacombs of Paris, the aqueducts of Naples, or the Nazi-era bunkers of Odessa, are the book's redeeming feature, but the occasional lazy sociocultural commentary--e.g., a bizarre paragraph explaining Italy's "lack of macho territorial energy that is so prevalent in countries with a more Anglo-Saxon heritage"--will make readers question the author's judgment. Neither living human society nor the natural world elicit much more than a passing glance here. An epic road trip from Brazil through Bolivia to Peru merits barely three pages, much of which is devoted to a qualitative analysis of the smell of the polluted Choqueyapu River. Lonely Planet for the realm beyond the "No Trespassing" signs.

Kirkus Reviews