18. The Echo Vault

Photo of the Echo Vault by the f/11 Crew, shared with Untapped Cities

The evening we spent here with Wanderlust Projects, the same group of underground events responsible for the Night Heron Speakeasy in a watertower, goes down as one of the most incredible experiences we’ve had in the New York. With impeccable coordination, 200 of us climbed down through a hatch in the midst of a busy area of New York City and entered an unused station. Lines of what would have become tracks became places to run around and explore. Staircases led to openings that looked down on a central “Echo Vault” on which performances were shortly about to take place.

Then the Extra Action Marching Band turned the whole thing into a rocking, other worldly event, which Gothamist writer John Del Signore captured perfectly as an “exorcism disguised as a dance party.” The dispersal was just as magical (apart from a slight, hilarious delay where the staff couldn’t get the hatch lock to work). We emerged from the hatch onto the city streets and left in all different directions, calmly into the night reinserting ourselves into society. We’re keeping this location mum.