Most people come to New York City to see the sights, and understandably they look up. Steve Duncan, a historian and self-described urban explorer, looks down–way down–into the maze of tunnels that run beneath the city. Directed by Andrew Wonder, Undercity, is a short documentary that follows Duncan as he shows us some of the city’s secrets and introduces us to some of the peculiar characters that that lurk below the streets. Not content to explore underground, Duncan sets his sights on some hard-to-reach landmarks above–way above–ground. Before long he is carefully climbing the Wiliamsburg Bridge. It’s a thrilling tour with a high degree of exposure and serious illegality, but Duncan, a confident climber, seems to know what he is doing as he shows us the city from angles rarely before seen.
–DH