New York City is home to some of the most famous landmarks and tourist sights—the Empire State building, the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, and other places New Yorkers are no longer excited about.
The city is also home to lesser-known gems and oddities, like the subway entrance that leads to nowhere, catacombs, hidden patisseries, the oldest of structures, the first of structures, and more.
Untapped Cities founder Michelle Young started the site during a gap year in college, documenting her detours in New York. Since then, it has grown to have over 400 contributors from around the world.
Epoch Times asked Young about discovery, cities, and our relationship to places.
Epoch Times: What is it about cities that you are trying to share with Untapped Cities?
Michelle Young: Untapped Cities is about urban discovery and about rediscovering the city in which you live. New Yorkers live such busy lives, looking for the most efficient route from A to B. At Untapped Cities, we encourage everyone to take in their cities differently—peek behind that strange door, take a detour for fun, uncover hidden layers of history. And most importantly, we want to take these bottom-up discoveries and share them with everyone through great photography and video.
There is a real desire to know more about how our cities work these days, what’s behind the scenes, what is left to discover in a world where everything is documented and online.
Luckily, there is always something new in cities, so the source is boundless. I think deep down, residents also want to know more about each other and seek opportunities to share in the urban experience.
