After having read about proposed development near the old Rochester subway (D & C), I thought it was time to see the subway myself.
At the subway entrance near South Avenue, I met a couple on their way out, Shaunna and Hunter. Asking if they had read the article, they had not.
I explained that while development would be good for downtown, there are fears that access to the murals and artwork decorating the walls and buttresses will be limited. And shelter less people who seek the subway as a refuge will be blocked.
Looking a little dismayed, Shaunna and Hunter said they have wandered the subway a few times and enjoy the art. They said they would read the article online and maybe sign the petition for subway preservation.
After I took their picture, Shaunna, clearly happy, introduced me “to her husband, Hunter,” married last month. Just newlyweds. On her phone, Shaunna showed me the inscription they had drawn on the subway wall.
After they left, I met another man who enjoys walking the subway and taking photos. He had a different, bleaker take on the couple. Pointing to two filled trash bags down the way in the tunnel, he thought he had seen them sleeping nearby having spent the night in the darkened tunnel. He didn’t think they were really married.
After my brief conversation with Shaunna and Hunter, I am sure he must have been mistaken. I found it highly unlikely they were the people he claimed to have seen.
But I did walk over to the bags. On the way, catching my first look at the dazzling images and graffiti art, flanked on both sides by a bright city-and-riverscape.
Someone had been at the bags — filled with old clothes — recently. It wasn’t Shaunna and Hunter, but someone had left a message of hope.
(Also, no urban exploration is complete without BG who you have met before.)
SEE ALSO
Providing hope for the homeless in the back alcove of Rundel Library
Local artists’ enduring message of hope for troubled youth at Pre-Trial Services