[00:04.780 --> 00:05.620]  All right.
[00:07.140 --> 00:08.940]  Day three of HOPE Number Six.
[00:09.440 --> 00:11.620]  A couple of quick announcements.
[00:12.020 --> 00:20.980]  Lockpicking is going on downstairs from 11 to 3 today, so if you want to muck around with lockpicking, and I believe they're actually selling lockpicks.
[00:21.980 --> 00:31.880]  The radio test that's going on, you have up until 12.30 to start that, because the test takes about an hour, and they will be leaving at 1.30.
[00:32.160 --> 00:34.640]  So if you want to check that out, that's on the first floor.
[00:36.160 --> 00:41.040]  Our next panel is urban exploring, hacking the physical world.
[00:41.700 --> 00:47.880]  I saw these guys at the Fifth HOPE, and they did a great discussion of urban exploring.
[00:47.880 --> 01:05.040]  Every now and then in the New York Times and other publications, you'll see some cool articles about urban exploring and people that know secret entrances to old abandoned tunnels in New York City and even up in Rochester and different cities that have infrastructures that are fun to explore.
[01:05.300 --> 01:11.440]  So without further ado, this is John Leita and Laura Leita, number 66 and 82.
[01:12.380 --> 01:13.320]  How are you doing?
[01:13.520 --> 01:13.800]  Hello.
[01:19.240 --> 01:30.460]  We run a site called longislandoddities.com up there on the screen, and among other things, it covers urban exploring on the Long Island area, but by no means do we limit our exploring to Long Island.
[01:30.560 --> 01:32.720]  We explore all over, every place we can.
[01:34.880 --> 01:36.600]  Like I said, I am an urban explorer.
[01:36.760 --> 01:38.720]  That means I am an active trespasser.
[01:41.340 --> 01:48.480]  Trespassing is fun, it's also illegal and dangerous, so I'm not responsible for anything that you do because of this talk.
[01:48.660 --> 01:53.100]  You're responsible for yourself, and any good urban explorer will have that same opinion.
[01:53.500 --> 01:56.560]  On the other hand, I'm also not going to condemn people who do what I do.
[01:56.720 --> 02:00.340]  I'm not going to say that I'm elite and I should do it and nobody else should.
[02:01.180 --> 02:02.860]  Just take your own responsibility.
[02:02.860 --> 02:03.780]  You can be arrested.
[02:03.780 --> 02:04.560]  You can be hurt.
[02:06.880 --> 02:08.040]  Definition of urban exploring.
[02:08.220 --> 02:14.880]  For those of you who don't know it, I think most of you might by now because it's been getting a lot of media attention as of lately.
[02:15.020 --> 02:16.340]  We were even in Newsday.
[02:16.460 --> 02:22.420]  They did a whole Long Island Life section on us, and there's articles all over each regional area on different urban exploring groups.
[02:23.700 --> 02:29.840]  Urban exploring is the examination of off-limit areas, and more than that, I'd like to expand on this.
[02:29.940 --> 02:32.740]  It also doesn't have to always be trespassing.
[02:32.740 --> 02:43.880]  If you just notice things that are of urban infrastructure around you that most people don't notice, I count that as exploring, and I think a lot of urban explorers would.
[02:44.540 --> 02:56.300]  A good example of that is if you go across the street to Penn Station, if you look around and you keep a keen eye from legal areas where you're not trespassing, you can find remnants of the late, great Penn Station that used to be there.
[02:56.300 --> 03:07.520]  Granted, they're small little pieces, like an old sign on the wall that'll say Hudson River Railroad, which is now called PATH, but you can actually see little things like that.
[03:07.520 --> 03:19.720]  And these are things that millions of people walk by and don't notice or care, and us as urban explorers, we get kind of geeky with history and with infrastructure around us, which is where this starts to go into hacking.
[03:19.720 --> 03:21.860]  And how is it related to hacking?
[03:22.220 --> 03:33.940]  Well, a lot of times urban explorers will utilize things that are not meant for them to get around, and they will utilize it to get around, and for steam tunnels at universities is a good example of that.
[03:33.940 --> 03:51.680]  Other examples of urban exploring is abandonments, like large state hospitals, that happens to be my favorite thing to explore, just because I get to see how things worked in another era, and they're like entire abandoned cities, some of them with 100 plus buildings with their own police and fire departments,
[03:52.240 --> 03:56.000]  power plants, steam tunnels, sewage, water, everything.
[03:56.000 --> 04:01.000]  And it's like you get this whole city to do a post-mortem on, like an autopsy.
[04:01.040 --> 04:06.240]  And you don't get to do that in your own city entirely as much as you do in an abandoned state hospital.
[04:06.780 --> 04:10.600]  Active buildings, this doesn't always have to even be tunnels or anything.
[04:10.720 --> 04:18.600]  I mean, there's a lot of people who like to go into their area, Main Street, get into an apartment building stairwell or something, and go up on the rooftop.
[04:18.600 --> 04:19.820]  That's called rooftoping.
[04:21.090 --> 04:23.890]  They're active buildings, but not everybody gets to go on the rooftop.
[04:23.890 --> 04:25.650]  You get a different view of your city.
[04:25.650 --> 04:30.230]  And I'm not even talking about places like Manhattan where you're on an 18-story building such as this one.
[04:30.800 --> 04:38.090]  Even like little main streets out on Long Island where I am, some people like to go up there and have picnics and look around and see the city from a different light.
[04:39.800 --> 04:41.540]  Also, drains, like storm drains.
[04:41.680 --> 04:44.730]  I don't do that because, you know, you need to be really small and...
[04:44.730 --> 04:48.090]  I don't know, they flood out and everything and I don't like getting wet that much.
[04:48.300 --> 04:52.350]  But a lot of, you know, teenagers and stuff, they explore storm drains and that can be fun.
[04:52.350 --> 04:58.950]  That's a whole other infrastructure hidden under your city that's not meant for you to travel, but you can get from one place to the other using them.
[05:00.290 --> 05:00.920]  Transit tunnels.
[05:01.410 --> 05:04.770]  In the city here, that's a very popular means of exploring.
[05:06.530 --> 05:09.740]  I'm going to tell you about something, those of you who are in town, that you can explore.
[05:09.860 --> 05:14.410]  And this is illegal and you're not supposed to do it, but it's mild and I think most of you can get away with it.
[05:14.410 --> 05:15.980]  Take the number six train.
[05:16.450 --> 05:17.230]  Go downtown.
[05:17.850 --> 05:21.300]  When they say it's the last stop, pretend you're asleep and don't get off.
[05:21.410 --> 05:23.620]  If the conductor sees you, he'll try to get you off the train.
[05:23.860 --> 05:26.300]  If he just thinks that you fell asleep, he might not care.
[05:26.410 --> 05:27.330]  He didn't when I did it.
[05:28.000 --> 05:31.460]  Stay on the train and when it starts to move, open your eyes and look out the window.
[05:31.460 --> 05:34.780]  You're going to pass the original City Hall station.
[05:34.890 --> 05:37.540]  That was one of the original New York City subway stations.
[05:37.710 --> 05:41.830]  And it's been abandoned for some time now because it's right under City Hall directly.
[05:42.430 --> 05:49.340]  And it has all these, you know, curves and stairwells that lead up to nowhere anymore and chandeliers.
[05:49.480 --> 05:51.390]  And it's still lit up, oddly enough.
[05:51.460 --> 05:53.840]  And when you go around that loop, you can see it really well.
[05:53.960 --> 05:58.020]  You could probably even take a picture or two, although they probably wouldn't like that too much.
[05:58.020 --> 05:59.000]  But the hell with it.
[06:01.660 --> 06:03.980]  So that's something you can all do.
[06:04.180 --> 06:06.860]  Well, you all can't do, but you should.
[06:09.150 --> 06:14.560]  Now for some places that interest, you know, me and my wife here, Laura, who is always by my side wherever I explore.
[06:16.950 --> 06:19.420]  I already told you some of the places I like are state hospitals.
[06:19.580 --> 06:20.280]  This is the next slide.
[06:21.450 --> 06:26.740]  Examples of that are by me they had because we were like a filling station for the New York's Mentally Insane.
[06:26.740 --> 06:35.540]  We had, at one time, four abandoned large state hospitals with a population of over 40,000 to 50,000 people in the 1950s.
[06:35.740 --> 06:39.960]  One of those facilities, Kings Park, is now a 67 abandoned building facility.
[06:41.220 --> 06:42.680]  And it's just fun to explore.
[06:42.780 --> 06:44.840]  And I have some pictures to show you of that and some other things.
[06:44.950 --> 06:56.280]  Another one I like is, for those of you who are a little north of the city here, is Poughkeepsie has Hudson River State Hospital, which has a building that's like a quarter of a mile long, and it looks like it's a castle from your dreams.
[06:56.330 --> 06:57.500]  I'll show you a picture of that later, too.
[06:57.860 --> 07:02.240]  I did say that urban exploring is illegal, and I want to go over that a little bit more.
[07:02.890 --> 07:04.920]  And, Laura, you'll just keep me track of the time, okay?
[07:05.160 --> 07:05.450]  Thanks.
[07:07.870 --> 07:08.500]  So, yes.
[07:08.620 --> 07:09.660]  New York State Penal Code.
[07:09.800 --> 07:14.540]  Every state is different, because the exploring that I'm going to be talking about is not federal property.
[07:14.710 --> 07:16.680]  Federal laws most likely don't apply.
[07:17.460 --> 07:18.600]  I am not a lawyer.
[07:18.740 --> 07:20.160]  This is not meant as legal advice.
[07:20.300 --> 07:23.780]  This is just stuff that I found on the web that I thought you guys might find helpful.
[07:25.900 --> 07:27.390]  And, like I said, it is illegal.
[07:27.390 --> 07:33.920]  And if you're going to trespass on federal property, which can also be interesting, there's a whole new set of laws, and I imagine they're a lot more stringent.
[07:34.950 --> 07:36.060]  And I'm not going to cover them.
[07:36.120 --> 07:41.860]  I'm going to cover New York State laws, because it's what I bothered to look up, because I come from New York State.
[07:43.830 --> 07:48.720]  Trespassing in New York State is all under 140 of the Penal Code, so it's always 140-point-something.
[07:49.480 --> 07:56.450]  And 140.05, the one that's here on top, is the one that you'll probably almost never get charged with.
[07:56.650 --> 08:02.740]  If you do, you can just count your blessings, because that's the most mild level of getting charged with something.
[08:03.000 --> 08:06.770]  And that simple trespass, it's a violation, which means it's like a parking ticket.
[08:07.020 --> 08:11.180]  It's probably not going to affect your record, and if it does, probably not too bad.
[08:11.180 --> 08:12.060]  Again, I'm not a lawyer.
[08:12.180 --> 08:13.220]  That's not legal advice.
[08:15.130 --> 08:19.830]  That one, you could just, if you wanted to, you could just check off guilty or not guilty and send it in.
[08:20.100 --> 08:21.480]  It's just like a parking ticket.
[08:22.010 --> 08:24.830]  Almost always, they're going to charge you with one of the next few.
[08:26.310 --> 08:30.020]  140.10, criminal trespass in the third degree.
[08:31.550 --> 08:34.180]  Actually, we were caught once, and I'll go into that story a little bit.
[08:34.340 --> 08:39.220]  But that's what we were charged with, and the charges were dropped, but that's what they tried to nail us with.
[08:39.220 --> 08:43.190]  And out of, for those of you who were thinking, oh my God, I could get caught now.
[08:43.380 --> 08:50.520]  That was after like, I'd say about 5,000 times of going into really hairy missions and close calls, and only one time of getting caught.
[08:50.670 --> 08:51.570]  And it was dropped.
[08:52.430 --> 09:01.050]  So it tends to be, you know, physical trespassers tend to be treated a lot more leniently in our society than computer trespassers do.
[09:01.050 --> 09:02.720]  I don't think that's fair.
[09:03.240 --> 09:13.620]  I think that people who are exploring to learn things and not to do harm should be treated the same, whether they're physically trespassing or virtually trespassing on a computer.
[09:13.900 --> 09:16.570]  And by treated the same, I mean, you know, slap on the wrist.
[09:23.250 --> 09:25.190]  So criminal trespass in the third degree.
[09:25.670 --> 09:27.950]  If you're charged with that, it's class B misdemeanor.
[09:28.070 --> 09:30.550]  It's the same as being caught with a little bit of pot in New York.
[09:30.870 --> 09:32.930]  It's a little bit more than your traffic ticket.
[09:33.690 --> 09:40.770]  You can, theoretically, go to jail for up to 90 days for that, although in reality nobody really does because it's such a minor crime.
[09:41.790 --> 09:49.170]  And there is fines, usually about $500 to $2,000, that if you found guilty or plead guilty, which is the same, you can end up paying.
[09:49.170 --> 09:55.950]  The next one is criminal trespass in the second degree, which is if you trespass inside of a dwelling that somebody lives in.
[09:56.650 --> 09:59.450]  And remember, police can sometimes play games with things.
[09:59.650 --> 10:06.150]  I mean, if there's a park director that's on site and they say that, you know, he's moving into that building, whether or not he...
[10:06.150 --> 10:07.950]  I mean, who knows what they could say.
[10:08.030 --> 10:09.290]  I have no idea.
[10:09.410 --> 10:11.390]  But that would be a class A misdemeanor.
[10:11.650 --> 10:13.190]  The stakes get raised a little bit.
[10:13.270 --> 10:14.850]  You can do up to a year in jail for that.
[10:14.950 --> 10:17.330]  But in reality, it would probably get plea bargained down to something much less.
[10:18.330 --> 10:19.950]  Criminal trespass in the first degree.
[10:20.150 --> 10:22.050]  I have no sympathy for those who do this.
[10:22.370 --> 10:25.470]  And that is those who explore with deadly weapons.
[10:25.730 --> 10:35.330]  It used to say in the law just firearms, but now it's deadly weapons, which can include a large knife, a gun, something that could, you know, potentially hurt somebody.
[10:35.590 --> 10:37.610]  I've ran into homeless people in buildings.
[10:37.750 --> 10:42.890]  As a matter of fact, we threw her 29th birthday where we had cake in an abandoned room that we swept up and cleaned out.
[10:43.050 --> 10:47.310]  And the homeless people in the building came to join us and they actually made it more fun and they were very into it.
[10:47.330 --> 10:53.910]  And I've never... if they see that you're not there to harm them, even if they're crackheads, then most of the time they're not going to bother you.
[10:54.010 --> 10:57.090]  I've never ran into a circumstance where it was any different than that.
[10:57.390 --> 11:01.450]  But if you do trespass with a weapon, that makes it a class D felony.
[11:01.690 --> 11:05.390]  You can go to prison for over a year for that and there's going to be really steep fines.
[11:06.290 --> 11:11.330]  And although it will probably be plea bargain to a misdemeanor, your options of plea bargaining are not going to be as good.
[11:12.110 --> 11:15.510]  Burglary, you're going to ask... you're not going to go in there to steal something.
[11:15.650 --> 11:17.370]  You're just going in there to take pictures and look around.
[11:17.510 --> 11:18.630]  Why would burglary apply?
[11:18.930 --> 11:20.310]  Ah, but it does.
[11:20.430 --> 11:22.990]  Because burglary does not mean that you're stealing something.
[11:23.550 --> 11:33.290]  Burglary in New York State, anyway, means that you're trespassing with the intent to commit another crime while you're inside, no matter how minor that other crime can be.
[11:35.930 --> 11:38.610]  So, you know, like, there's a lot of things they can get you with.
[11:38.690 --> 11:42.270]  Did you read some documents that maybe you didn't have access to read?
[11:44.050 --> 11:51.570]  You know, this is not urban exploring, but, you know, if you wrote graffiti or something like that in the building, some people consider graffiti art part of exploring.
[11:51.650 --> 11:52.870]  That's a very controversial area.
[11:52.870 --> 11:54.970]  I personally don't consider that part of exploring.
[11:55.110 --> 11:58.770]  But if you did that, that would then raise the trespassing to burglary.
[11:58.770 --> 12:06.570]  And that's going to look a lot worse on your record because when a potential employer reads burglary, they're going to think that you were in someone's house running out with a TV set.
[12:06.690 --> 12:08.970]  At least that's what most people would think when they see it.
[12:09.510 --> 12:12.450]  Burglary second degree, they're pretty much the same as the trespassing from here.
[12:12.630 --> 12:14.070]  Again, I think it's like a dwelling.
[12:14.590 --> 12:17.330]  Burglary in the first degree is with a deadly weapon.
[12:17.610 --> 12:19.410]  And possession of burglar tools.
[12:19.710 --> 12:21.550]  They can go with a lot of latitude on this.
[12:21.650 --> 12:28.210]  If they think that anything you have was used to gain entry or you intended to use it to gain entry, they can get you with that.
[12:28.310 --> 12:32.010]  And that's a totally separate crime that could be charged on top of the trespassing.
[12:32.650 --> 12:39.570]  And a burglary tool could be something as simple as a screwdriver or a mag light if you used it to push in a board or something like that.
[12:39.790 --> 12:42.850]  Anything that you use to gain forcible entry is a burglar tool.
[12:42.970 --> 12:46.590]  Common misnomer in New York State is that there's breaking and entering.
[12:46.830 --> 12:48.670]  There is no such crime in New York State.
[12:48.830 --> 12:50.110]  It's covered under all of these.
[12:50.230 --> 12:53.090]  They would just call it criminal trespassing or a burglary tool.
[12:53.210 --> 12:54.970]  Some states do call it breaking and entering, though.
[12:57.270 --> 13:00.610]  And you can find all these laws on FindLaw, as I did.
[13:00.730 --> 13:06.490]  And this is just from the lawyers, the legal definitions that I cut and pasted from the web with credit on the bottom to them.
[13:07.990 --> 13:13.410]  I'm just going to go through these real quick because nobody likes to read legalese, but I'm just showing that it is there and I did do my homework.
[13:15.430 --> 13:17.530]  So what really happens if you get caught?
[13:19.110 --> 13:21.890]  99.99% of the time you're going to be asked to leave.
[13:22.790 --> 13:25.730]  Especially if you look innocuous.
[13:25.970 --> 13:28.850]  They're not going to really harass you too much.
[13:29.330 --> 13:38.950]  They're going to escalate it a little if they do see a camera because simply for the fact security guards don't like the pictures being taken because if they get out on the web, which most of them do, it makes them look bad.
[13:39.150 --> 13:40.990]  It's proof that they're not doing their job.
[13:42.650 --> 13:51.170]  Your next step up, if they escalate it, would be to ask for your ID so that they can threaten that if you come back again you will be arrested and now they can say they know who you are.
[13:52.210 --> 13:54.430]  Usually that means the same as just being asked to leave.
[13:54.630 --> 13:56.810]  Usually it doesn't go anywhere even if you are caught again.
[13:57.490 --> 14:04.830]  The next step up would be arrest where they actually have the police come or the police are already there and you're physically taken to the precinct and arrested.
[14:06.510 --> 14:08.650]  If they arrest you, get yourself a lawyer.
[14:08.770 --> 14:09.710]  You're going to go through arraignment.
[14:10.530 --> 14:16.750]  You're probably going to be released on very low bail or on your own recognizance if all you were doing was trespassing and no other complications.
[14:17.010 --> 14:22.510]  I know we were inside a building where a state park director kind of told us that he knew what we were doing and was cool with it.
[14:22.690 --> 14:31.190]  But then when his underlings caught us and he was given pressure from above not to allow people to trespass, he turned on us and he had charges pressed against us.
[14:32.510 --> 14:35.650]  And we actually spoke to the police over the phone.
[14:35.770 --> 14:37.630]  We came down, turned ourselves in at the precinct.
[14:37.630 --> 14:38.830]  They were very admirable about it.
[14:38.890 --> 14:42.290]  They admitted that they liked our site and that they were actually fans of it.
[14:42.410 --> 14:45.550]  And one of them was giving me tips on things that he explored when he was a kid.
[14:47.050 --> 14:53.030]  And he told me how it's going to work that I do should get a lawyer because they do have to charge me because they're being forced to.
[14:54.810 --> 15:02.470]  And that there'd be an arraignment and there was and that's where they just decide like you know, you don't go into arraignment and tell them you're not guilty or don't argue with the judge at that.
[15:02.590 --> 15:05.370]  That's just, you know, I plan on showing up to all my court dates.
[15:05.470 --> 15:06.910]  Please let me go on low bail.
[15:07.130 --> 15:08.130]  That's what arraignment is.
[15:08.850 --> 15:12.490]  Pre-trial dealings, that's where your case is most likely going to end for something this simple.
[15:12.690 --> 15:21.710]  You're going to be forced into either ACOD, which is a German on contemplation of dismissal, which if you've never been in trouble before, that means that you keep your nose clean for six months.
[15:21.730 --> 15:22.670]  And this is not probation.
[15:22.730 --> 15:24.050]  You don't have to jump through any hoops.
[15:24.050 --> 15:27.970]  And the judge looks at it after six months and drops your charges off your record.
[15:28.070 --> 15:33.150]  They stay on the record that you were arrested, but there's ways of dealing with that down the future too.
[15:33.230 --> 15:34.030]  But again, I'm not a lawyer.
[15:34.130 --> 15:34.770]  You need one for that.
[15:35.250 --> 15:44.770]  If you don't plea bargain, you go to court and if you're found guilty, you'll get sentencing, which usually plea bargaining is the option for such a minor crime.
[15:45.590 --> 15:50.790]  UE ethics, you shouldn't really take anything from the building.
[15:50.790 --> 16:03.550]  I think that one exception that I have to that is if it's documentation that's historic in note and you plan on somehow distributing it or giving it to other people so they can enjoy too.
[16:03.710 --> 16:06.810]  And it's something that looks like it was going to be destroyed in the first place.
[16:06.810 --> 16:20.990]  For example, if you walk into a building and you see a bunch of maps of the place from how it was 50 years ago and they left them there with water dripping on them and there's black mold all over them, I would say by all means take those home, dry them off,
[16:21.330 --> 16:27.430]  scrape that black mold off, get them out there for other people to see because they're not going to do anybody any good rotted away on a table.
[16:27.670 --> 16:33.770]  A lot of urban explorers are against that ethic and personally I think the reason for it is is because they don't want you to take stuff that they can find.
[16:38.250 --> 16:43.910]  This is my ethics and I just want to go through this really quick because I have some pictures to show and all.
[16:44.390 --> 16:45.410]  UE field guide.
[16:45.610 --> 16:46.370]  What to bring?
[16:46.990 --> 16:51.830]  I always bring a small flashlight, never a large one, like one like this.
[16:52.350 --> 16:54.670]  And a lot of people think they're going urban exploring.
[16:54.850 --> 16:56.770]  You bring a spotlight or a mag light.
[16:57.050 --> 16:59.370]  All you need is something good enough for yourself to see.
[16:59.370 --> 17:02.970]  If you want to take pictures, get yourself a camera that has manual shutter settings.
[17:03.170 --> 17:06.270]  Don't rely on a flashlight because it's going to make your picture a little crappy.
[17:06.650 --> 17:18.370]  And the reason I want it small, because suppose I have to leave the building in a hurry because maybe there's somebody in the building like a cop or something like that or somebody I do think is dangerous like a vandal and I want to leave the building really quick.
[17:18.430 --> 17:25.950]  I don't want to be walking around the neighborhood with this ten foot long mag light in my hand because it draws attention to me and says look at me, I'm doing something I'm not supposed to.
[17:25.950 --> 17:30.370]  I clipped this under my waist and when I walked up here not one person probably noticed I had it.
[17:30.910 --> 17:36.410]  And I always carry these on me so that I can explore anything that I see, whether it be in this hotel or in this city or anywhere.
[17:37.290 --> 17:39.190]  Bring some water, bring some toilet paper.
[17:39.330 --> 17:41.290]  These are things you're going to need if you're exploring a long time.
[17:41.390 --> 17:46.150]  A lot of people giggle when I say toilet paper, but you won't be giggling if you're caught in a building without any and you have to go.
[17:47.590 --> 17:48.670]  Don't bring weapons.
[17:49.010 --> 17:51.470]  Don't bring people with poor judgment skills.
[17:51.590 --> 17:53.790]  That's a common mistake of a lot of urban explorers.
[17:53.790 --> 17:59.870]  You'll bring somebody in and all of a sudden they pull out like from a place you didn't even see it, a pickaxe and start chopping things up.
[17:59.950 --> 18:00.590]  And you're like, no!
[18:02.370 --> 18:04.370]  Don't bring unnecessary heavy items.
[18:04.550 --> 18:07.730]  I mean, do you really need that bowling ball to roll down the hallway?
[18:07.950 --> 18:08.590]  Probably not.
[18:09.750 --> 18:11.450]  Don't bring anything that looks too suspicious.
[18:11.450 --> 18:14.630]  I have one friend that explores and he wears full camo gear.
[18:14.630 --> 18:27.330]  I mean, he thinks he's being discreet, wearing a camouflage bandana, a little camouflage paint on his face, camouflage shirt, camouflage pants, camouflage flashlight, while he's walking around an asylum with all paved roads and brick buildings.
[18:27.470 --> 18:29.570]  He stands out like a sore thumb.
[18:30.370 --> 18:34.490]  Dress in normal clothes that would make you fit into the area you are and you'll get away with it a lot easier.
[18:35.570 --> 18:38.510]  As far as things like how you can find places to explore.
[18:38.630 --> 18:40.310]  And once you find them, TopoZone.
[18:40.390 --> 18:41.550]  This is a map from TopoZone.
[18:41.650 --> 18:42.590]  It's a great resource.
[18:43.890 --> 18:44.610]  TopoZone.com.
[18:44.750 --> 18:47.070]  And this is King's Park, which isn't too far from me.
[18:47.150 --> 18:49.650]  And you can see that just by pulling this up, I now have a grounds map.
[18:49.850 --> 18:58.290]  I can see all the buildings that are part of the center and where, you know, all the hills and accessways are, which might help you for finding entryways.
[18:58.430 --> 19:04.950]  You always want to find entryways in the backs of buildings where it's all covered by weeds and nobody goes because neither do the people that board them up usually.
[19:05.670 --> 19:06.290]  Google Earth.
[19:06.430 --> 19:08.570]  I don't like Google Earth because it sucks.
[19:08.950 --> 19:12.190]  And if you look at this map, this is proof that it sucks.
[19:12.270 --> 19:13.530]  I don't just say things without merit.
[19:13.570 --> 19:16.530]  It's good for some areas, but this is Hudson River State Hospital.
[19:16.610 --> 19:21.510]  How many people here could make a plan on what they want to see and how they're going to explore based on this?
[19:21.550 --> 19:22.310]  I know I couldn't.
[19:22.770 --> 19:24.130]  There's always ways around.
[19:24.530 --> 19:27.930]  New York State Interactive Mapping is most states have a GIS system.
[19:28.110 --> 19:30.570]  This one is from the state and this is the same map.
[19:30.790 --> 19:31.990]  Now I can make plans.
[19:31.990 --> 19:36.770]  I see down here at the bottom, there's a parking lot, the way it's bottom center.
[19:36.950 --> 19:38.170]  And it looks kind of filled.
[19:38.510 --> 19:40.590]  I see a little orange and indeed that's a Home Depot.
[19:41.030 --> 19:41.750]  Park there.
[19:42.210 --> 19:43.030]  Walk back here.
[19:43.110 --> 19:43.510]  What's this?
[19:43.650 --> 19:44.190]  Train tracks.
[19:44.690 --> 19:50.610]  That's going to be... that would be my first way to think of getting in because nobody's going to be patrolling most likely on the train tracks.
[19:51.010 --> 19:53.950]  And here's that large building I told you about that's a Kirkbride.
[19:54.690 --> 20:00.070]  It's like a quarter mile long and it comes all the way from here and goes like this, this, this, all around here.
[20:00.210 --> 20:00.850]  It's connected to this.
[20:00.950 --> 20:02.510]  And that's, you know, really cool.
[20:02.610 --> 20:08.190]  And it's all connected by tunnels to like this building over here which is like a 11 story, you know, huge one with wings.
[20:09.510 --> 20:16.230]  And so that is a good way to figure out how you're going to gain access just by looking at different GIS and aerial systems.
[20:17.130 --> 20:18.590]  And you can see where you're going to park.
[20:18.590 --> 20:24.650]  And a lot of things that a lot of urban explorers including myself can't stand is when we get aims from somebody saying, where do I park?
[20:24.750 --> 20:25.470]  How do I get in?
[20:25.550 --> 20:26.610]  How do I avoid security?
[20:26.770 --> 20:27.390]  What is it like?
[20:27.710 --> 20:28.970]  Like, I mean, come on.
[20:29.070 --> 20:32.910]  Like just, you didn't even bother to look at a map first and you want me to do all the work for you.
[20:33.050 --> 20:36.850]  At least look at a map first and say, I noticed there's a parking lot in the bottom.
[20:36.990 --> 20:38.830]  Is that a good place to park or do they patrol?
[20:39.170 --> 20:43.490]  If somebody says that I have a lot more respect for them than if they just say, where do you park?
[20:43.630 --> 20:44.370]  How do you get in?
[20:44.370 --> 20:46.430]  Like, entrances change all the time.
[20:46.530 --> 20:47.570]  You know, you've got to find your own.
[20:48.570 --> 20:50.790]  This is a topo map of Hudson River.
[20:50.870 --> 20:52.730]  Also from New York State Interactive Mapping.
[20:52.990 --> 20:55.910]  As you zoom in, it goes from topo map to aerial.
[20:58.150 --> 20:59.870]  And these are things I already told you about.
[20:59.990 --> 21:00.630]  Blending in.
[21:01.150 --> 21:02.490]  Always take safety precautions.
[21:02.590 --> 21:03.590]  Always be looking at the ground.
[21:03.670 --> 21:08.030]  I know too many people who have either fallen in manholes or stepped on something that have went through their foot.
[21:08.190 --> 21:10.290]  I have a few friends that that has happened to.
[21:10.590 --> 21:12.710]  Just looking at the ground can usually avoid that.
[21:12.710 --> 21:16.850]  And I just want to show you a few pictures before we move on to Laura's half of the talk.
[21:27.000 --> 21:29.040]  Well, actually, first I want to show video clips.
[21:29.460 --> 21:31.040]  I'm going to change the order of this a little.
[21:32.200 --> 21:33.000]  Live system.
[21:33.580 --> 21:35.160]  This is the 2600.
[21:35.840 --> 21:38.040]  The magazine actually started in Stony Brook University.
[21:38.240 --> 21:41.340]  And this is the subterranean steam tunnels that are under that university.
[21:41.660 --> 21:43.160]  So it's a little bit related to this.
[21:44.420 --> 21:45.980]  It's a little video we put together.
[21:47.100 --> 21:49.600]  This is the main part of the academic mall at night.
[21:50.820 --> 21:52.120]  And we're going to go underground.
[21:57.250 --> 21:59.170]  That's what's directly under that pavement.
[21:59.570 --> 22:00.510]  Whole network of them.
[22:01.570 --> 22:02.950]  You can hear the noises of them.
[22:03.030 --> 22:04.010]  It's an active steam tunnel.
[22:04.110 --> 22:05.970]  So there's lots of clicks, pops, things expanding.
[22:05.970 --> 22:08.350]  That tunnel right there is about 110 degrees.
[22:09.750 --> 22:14.710]  Every now and then, just now, you'll hear steam vents that will open up to vent stuff out.
[22:14.890 --> 22:16.230]  You don't want to get shot with that.
[22:17.950 --> 22:19.930]  You can see it just goes all over the place.
[22:20.170 --> 22:21.810]  And that's what's fun about them.
[22:22.010 --> 22:24.610]  Getting lost in them and figuring out where you are and where they go.
[22:25.090 --> 22:27.610]  And also, you can use it to hack your way around.
[22:27.610 --> 22:35.150]  Like, if you want to, like, get from one building to another while it's raining, the illegal and, you know, dry way to do it is through there.
[22:35.270 --> 22:42.030]  Or in the cold, when everybody else is walking to class in, you know, 20 degree weather, I'm walking to class in 110 degree weather.
[22:52.840 --> 22:57.660]  And I'm going to tell you a quick mission log of some place I recently went while I show you the video of it.
[22:57.740 --> 22:58.920]  I want to turn the volume down a little.
[23:01.420 --> 23:03.400]  This is a place I wanted to go for a great number of years.
[23:03.400 --> 23:06.380]  It's off the coast of Plum Island, which is just east of Long Island.
[23:06.900 --> 23:09.260]  It's actually considered part of Suffolk County still.
[23:09.420 --> 23:13.760]  It's a little military island that's now used for bird research called Great Gull Island.
[23:13.840 --> 23:14.900]  And I could never find a way there.
[23:14.980 --> 23:22.240]  I tried coaxing a friend of mine to take me, but he was afraid of the nearby race, which he said would swallow his 20-foot boat up.
[23:22.560 --> 23:26.700]  And it was a gun placement used in the 1800s all the way up to World War II.
[23:29.780 --> 23:35.060]  And basically, finally, at a friend's funeral once, I ran into a bunch of people from the Coastal Defense Study Group.
[23:35.100 --> 23:37.120]  And you always keep your ears open as an urban explorer.
[23:37.420 --> 23:41.640]  And I mentioned Great Gull Island to him, and he said that his group is planning a trip there in a month.
[23:42.200 --> 23:48.040]  So I hitched aboard their trip, helped them load their equipment on and everything, and I got to spend a weekend at this abandoned island.
[23:48.380 --> 23:50.900]  This is one of the batteries where they used to load the shells into.
[23:50.980 --> 23:54.560]  A lot of things that you try to do with urban exploring is figure out how things work.
[23:54.780 --> 23:56.400]  You can see the train tracks going in.
[23:56.440 --> 23:57.800]  Obviously, it wasn't a train station.
[23:57.800 --> 23:59.960]  It was used for loading these large shells.
[24:00.140 --> 24:01.540]  This was a 16-inch battery.
[24:02.640 --> 24:06.680]  As I found some paperwork that one of the people brought from the research group.
[24:07.240 --> 24:09.520]  And we learned all about how this gun worked.
[24:09.660 --> 24:13.300]  It actually recoils and sinks into that pit so that it's kind of hidden.
[24:13.980 --> 24:20.720]  And we explored the hell out of this place and found all sorts of little hidden entrances like this one that led up to a stairway.
[24:20.940 --> 24:23.660]  It was like a little... I barely fit through it.
[24:23.680 --> 24:25.740]  I squeeze into a lot of things that a lot of you wouldn't believe.
[24:25.880 --> 24:31.520]  But it led to a staircase that led to a lookout tower that you could see the whole island from.
[24:31.580 --> 24:34.180]  And it was just kind of really cool to see how they had that kind of hidden.
[24:34.480 --> 24:36.540]  And all these rooms where they loaded the munitions.
[24:36.680 --> 24:42.900]  We also found a room where they were using it as a brig because it had all bars on the window.
[24:42.900 --> 24:44.680]  There was a barred door that was taken off.
[24:45.140 --> 24:48.640]  And you see it says do not land because they don't want anybody going there for the bird research.
[24:48.940 --> 24:52.740]  But anyway, we figured out it was a brig because there was chalk tally marks on the wall.
[24:52.820 --> 24:54.360]  And one of them said 28 days left.
[24:54.560 --> 25:03.860]  And seeing as this island isn't explored by anybody but the museum people, I believe them when they said that they didn't do it because it's the same people that have been doing the research for 30 years now.
[25:04.760 --> 25:06.160]  So that's Great Gull Island.
[25:06.460 --> 25:08.520]  And I'm going to kind of skip out of this.
[25:11.220 --> 25:14.680]  And this is King's Park, the asylum I wanted to show you that's in my neighborhood.
[25:16.040 --> 25:20.860]  And this is, like, it was part of a trailer for a documentary that we made on the place.
[25:20.860 --> 25:23.940]  But it just shows how urban exploring can increase your creativity.
[25:23.940 --> 25:28.060]  I learned skills on how to make music videos and how to compile things.
[25:28.140 --> 25:29.240]  Let me just shut up so you can hear it.
[26:14.200 --> 26:14.820]  Haitian artwork.
[26:17.720 --> 26:19.900]  You can see, like any city, the place had artwork.
[26:19.900 --> 26:22.520]  It had large buildings.
[26:22.840 --> 26:23.780]  It even had a morgue.
[26:23.840 --> 26:25.380]  I don't know if any of you caught that in the video.
[26:25.540 --> 26:27.700]  But it kind of panned into one of the morgue slabs.
[26:28.520 --> 26:33.160]  And it's just fun to explore these places because you can find out how your society works.
[26:35.600 --> 26:38.400]  And I just want to show a few pictures really quick.
[26:44.080 --> 26:45.820]  I'm going to go through these really lightning fast.
[26:45.820 --> 26:51.920]  This is an abandoned airplane factory where they made World War II fighter planes.
[26:52.080 --> 26:56.420]  This is a library inside of a psych center in Poughkeepsie, the one I showed you a map of before.
[26:56.860 --> 27:00.860]  Again, this is one of the buildings, that quarter-mile-long building called the Kirkbride.
[27:02.160 --> 27:07.520]  This is a records room with records from the 1800s to 1960s in the basement of Central Islip's admin building.
[27:07.840 --> 27:12.420]  This is cards that patients used to use as money so they wouldn't lose it.
[27:12.500 --> 27:13.700]  Again, that's that same records room.
[27:13.800 --> 27:15.120]  So there's a lot of stuff left behind.
[27:15.400 --> 27:17.660]  A lot of people try to say, oh, why do you even bother going in there?
[27:17.740 --> 27:18.260]  There's nothing left for it.
[27:18.320 --> 27:23.240]  This is Norwich State Hospital where the beds are pretty much set up as they probably would have been when they're there.
[27:23.300 --> 27:24.700]  There's a tunnel in the same hospital.
[27:25.960 --> 27:27.560]  I love stonework on buildings.
[27:27.700 --> 27:29.200]  They don't do it really that much anymore.
[27:29.420 --> 27:31.720]  And on these older buildings, it's sometimes the only place you can find it.
[27:32.040 --> 27:36.540]  This is tuberculosis pens where they used to keep people outside so they would get fresh air.
[27:36.840 --> 27:41.640]  This was an abandoned truck under a supermarket where it used to be a road because it was an open-air market.
[27:41.780 --> 27:42.660]  There you could see the road.
[27:43.660 --> 27:47.620]  This is a Nike missile base, a nuclear missile base that was next to a high school.
[27:47.840 --> 27:48.760]  It's now abandoned.
[27:48.780 --> 27:50.540]  I got permission from the army to explore it.
[27:50.700 --> 27:54.200]  This is a steam tunnel that you would find under most state hospitals.
[27:54.200 --> 27:56.940]  This is a state hospital row of seclusion rooms.
[27:56.940 --> 27:58.980]  You can see the little stereotypical windows.
[27:59.160 --> 28:01.520]  This is a power plant that had all these tunnels going through it.
[28:01.640 --> 28:03.160]  I love exploring power plants.
[28:03.620 --> 28:05.120]  Unfortunately, they destroyed it.
[28:06.140 --> 28:10.180]  This is another power plant in the same area because the center was so big it had a few of them.
[28:10.300 --> 28:12.280]  And it's now a town building that they're using.
[28:12.360 --> 28:19.310]  But they let me in the basement and there was all remnants of when it was a power plant, including the tunnels and the chimney, which they're now using as a storage facility.
[28:19.940 --> 28:21.100]  This is looking up the chimney.
[28:21.100 --> 28:22.940]  This is Stony Brook University.
[28:23.120 --> 28:24.100]  Stony Brook University.
[28:25.140 --> 28:27.220]  And we went full circle on this, which is good.
[28:30.500 --> 28:31.080]  Let's see.
[28:31.260 --> 28:38.500]  I just want to show some power plants because I like exploring those because it's fun to see all the machinery and how it works and figure out how your society works.
[28:39.020 --> 28:45.660]  And the same way they did things in a state hospital was pretty much the same way your neighborhood would, with the exception of they also distributed steam.
[28:45.660 --> 28:49.860]  These were coal burners where the coal was poured in from the top, brought up by conveyor belts.
[28:50.660 --> 28:53.940]  Right here you can see... let me stop this so I can do it at my own speed.
[28:54.180 --> 28:55.360]  You can see these tanks.
[28:55.620 --> 28:56.300]  It's like...
[28:58.840 --> 29:00.480]  This tank right here you can see.
[29:01.180 --> 29:02.880]  It's like where they kept all the coal.
[29:03.020 --> 29:06.900]  It was brought in by train through a trestle and it was brought up to here and poured in.
[29:06.900 --> 29:08.820]  And it was dropped into those coal burners.
[29:09.000 --> 29:10.160]  And so they could work on it.
[29:10.280 --> 29:10.980]  They had these catwalks.
[29:11.620 --> 29:14.400]  And you have to be careful because if you look carefully at this...
[29:15.820 --> 29:19.640]  If you look carefully at this catwalk, you can see that there's a section missing.
[29:19.700 --> 29:22.060]  And I was filming video not looking at the floor this time.
[29:22.180 --> 29:25.020]  And if I would have went through that, that would have been a five-story drop underneath.
[29:25.480 --> 29:28.100]  These places are not meant for humans to walk anymore.
[29:28.220 --> 29:28.980]  They're not maintained.
[29:30.200 --> 29:32.600]  Electrical control panels, each one controlled a different building.
[29:32.720 --> 29:33.940]  It's almost like a breaker box.
[29:34.300 --> 29:35.320]  Another view of the same.
[29:35.320 --> 29:39.080]  These are the turbines where the steam was pumped through to actually generate the electricity.
[29:39.400 --> 29:40.380]  Looking up the chimney.
[29:40.960 --> 29:43.140]  The trestle where the coal was delivered from.
[29:43.360 --> 29:44.540]  This is another power plant.
[29:44.640 --> 29:48.060]  You can see the conveyor belt that took the coal up to the top and distributed it.
[29:48.760 --> 29:52.200]  There's the coal tank right here at the top where the coal was kept.
[29:52.260 --> 29:54.040]  And it was dropped into these six boilers.
[29:54.180 --> 29:58.180]  If I was standing here, I would come up to about here as tall as I am.
[29:58.460 --> 30:00.140]  So this whole thing was like a cathedral.
[30:00.140 --> 30:02.480]  The size of it was immense inside.
[30:02.480 --> 30:04.140]  You can get more of a view of that from here.
[30:04.200 --> 30:06.040]  You can tell by how tall these windows are and all.
[30:06.920 --> 30:08.400]  And we came full circle on that.
[30:08.580 --> 30:09.880]  And that's my part of the talk.
[30:10.040 --> 30:14.460]  I'm going to turn it over to Laura now, who's going to give you her angle on urban exploring.
[30:15.080 --> 30:15.560]  Boy.
[30:21.570 --> 30:22.610]  You want the cheats?
[30:23.270 --> 30:23.750]  Sure.
[30:30.670 --> 30:32.670]  I think we need another half an hour, right?
[30:34.490 --> 30:37.190]  Funny thing about the Gull Island while I get set up.
[30:37.310 --> 30:39.290]  Not Gull Island, the Nike missile base.
[30:39.430 --> 30:43.630]  In order to get permission, we actually had to speak to a guy named Major Miner.
[30:50.770 --> 30:51.830]  That should be it.
[30:52.370 --> 30:55.090]  Yeah, so that was... I actually thought that was a joke the first time.
[30:55.190 --> 30:57.090]  John's like, yeah, they told me to call Major Miner.
[30:57.210 --> 30:59.910]  But then we called Major Miner speaking, so it's real.
[31:00.510 --> 31:05.050]  A lot of times it's easier to try to get permission first if you can.
[31:05.510 --> 31:10.150]  And I don't know why this doesn't want to run.
[31:10.370 --> 31:11.350]  Where's my...
[31:11.350 --> 31:12.430]  Just double click on it.
[31:13.030 --> 31:13.890]  I can't see.
[31:18.650 --> 31:19.710]  Maybe it's open already.
[31:25.190 --> 31:25.970]  There we go.
[31:26.270 --> 31:26.370]  Oh.
[31:27.190 --> 31:28.870]  Yeah, you just try to open it while it's open.
[31:28.990 --> 31:30.010]  We'll say yes to all this.
[31:31.350 --> 31:32.590]  And I'll play it for you.
[31:32.850 --> 31:37.310]  Yeah, a lot of people urban explore for the thrill of being chased by the police and all that.
[31:37.310 --> 31:40.810]  But any true urban explorer would not like that.
[31:41.430 --> 31:42.370]  Yeah, and that's me.
[31:42.490 --> 31:46.230]  That's another excuse why to take something from a building.
[31:46.230 --> 31:52.490]  We rescued that little cat from an abandoned building that used to be part of a psych center and that was inhabited by homeless.
[31:52.630 --> 31:54.530]  Poor little scrawny thing was like all bones.
[31:54.870 --> 32:00.390]  And he's now living quite a healthy and happy life at my mother-in-law's house.
[32:00.550 --> 32:01.990]  He's four times his weight now.
[32:02.130 --> 32:02.490]  Yes.
[32:04.010 --> 32:07.090]  And probably four times his rambunctious also.
[32:08.150 --> 32:08.910]  Things to see.
[32:09.030 --> 32:10.030]  Some of these we mentioned.
[32:10.370 --> 32:15.150]  This is just a kind of a brief summary of things that you can see, you know, urban exploring.
[32:15.170 --> 32:16.710]  And I'm sure you'll find a lot more.
[32:17.030 --> 32:23.610]  For us, we tend to focus a lot on the asylums, you know, just because there's something haunting about them that it really gets to you.
[32:23.750 --> 32:27.090]  And she doesn't mean haunting like as in ghosts, too, although some people claim that.
[32:27.230 --> 32:27.950]  That's another story altogether.
[32:27.950 --> 32:28.730]  It haunts her soul.
[32:28.730 --> 32:29.350]  Yes.
[32:30.030 --> 32:30.450]  It's...
[32:30.450 --> 32:34.210]  I've actually had dreams of walking the hallways after going exploring.
[32:34.430 --> 32:38.210]  It's just something and it kind of gets to you after a while and it has a special feeling.
[32:38.410 --> 32:40.370]  But these are some things...
[32:40.370 --> 32:43.830]  When we first started urban exploring, you know, it was a matter of curiosity.
[32:43.830 --> 32:44.730]  We were afraid.
[32:44.730 --> 32:49.610]  We were told that the one place we wanted to explore that there were arsonists and crazy people living in the buildings.
[32:49.610 --> 32:51.610]  But I just had to see what was in there.
[32:52.430 --> 32:55.510]  And, you know, through years of, you know, learning what you're doing.
[32:55.710 --> 33:00.190]  And at first you're very afraid, but the curiosity will, you know, will just overcome that eventually.
[33:00.950 --> 33:03.630]  One of the things you gain is the power of observation.
[33:03.630 --> 33:05.050]  You watch what you're doing.
[33:05.050 --> 33:07.590]  You look at how people are moving to see if they see you.
[33:07.610 --> 33:10.390]  You look at, you know, routes of security, things like that.
[33:10.390 --> 33:14.610]  You also want to listen for any noises and you kind of heighten your senses in that way.
[33:15.510 --> 33:15.950]  Entrances.
[33:16.930 --> 33:18.510]  Now, this refers to buildings.
[33:18.510 --> 33:22.230]  Of course, if you're going into subway tunnels or something, you'll find your own tips and tricks.
[33:22.410 --> 33:25.370]  But a lot of times, you know, security will try to lock up a building.
[33:25.370 --> 33:37.050]  But if there's a place that's really thatchy or a place where they have to climb over weeds and tumble and brush or do any sort of hard work to get at, they usually don't lock them, which means it's usually one way to check out.
[33:37.590 --> 33:38.950]  You know, you want to...
[33:38.950 --> 33:42.790]  Usually, it's a good idea to try to do more work than you think the security will do.
[33:43.410 --> 33:44.010]  If you...
[33:45.070 --> 33:47.330]  You know, stealth, also quietness.
[33:47.810 --> 33:56.610]  There's been a couple of times where, you know, we've had close encounters and just being dead still, not making a noise, not moving, you know, has gotten us out of it.
[33:57.090 --> 33:58.290]  I'll tell a quick story.
[33:58.510 --> 34:05.610]  There was one time in a certain tunnel, which I'm not going to say where, in a live area.
[34:06.090 --> 34:10.110]  We were there, and somebody tried to come down the stairs into the tunnel that we're at.
[34:10.210 --> 34:12.090]  There was a door, and it was locked.
[34:12.210 --> 34:15.290]  So we hear the steps coming down, and we figure, oh, well, they're not going to get in anyway.
[34:15.310 --> 34:15.850]  It's locked.
[34:16.030 --> 34:17.250]  Then we hear the jingle of keys.
[34:17.550 --> 34:20.450]  And we're standing right by the door, not allowed to be there.
[34:21.010 --> 34:24.090]  So one of us goes on one side of the door, one of us goes on the other.
[34:24.310 --> 34:26.450]  The dude opens the door, walks in.
[34:26.530 --> 34:27.170]  It's pitch black.
[34:27.170 --> 34:28.230]  He doesn't see us.
[34:28.410 --> 34:30.950]  He looks one way, and I can literally feel the breath.
[34:31.590 --> 34:33.470]  And we're just sitting there, dead quiet.
[34:34.350 --> 34:37.370]  Walks, looks both ways, and goes back out the door.
[34:38.430 --> 34:43.270]  Unfortunately, he turns around a second time, and flicks on the light, and then sees both of us.
[34:45.350 --> 34:47.390]  Now tell them about how we got uncaught.
[34:47.610 --> 34:47.970]  Okay.
[34:48.410 --> 34:50.430]  Running from police is a bad idea?
[34:50.870 --> 34:50.930]  Yes.
[34:50.930 --> 34:52.150]  Running from security guards?
[34:52.650 --> 34:53.290]  Go ahead.
[34:57.720 --> 34:59.200]  At your own risk, of course.
[34:59.960 --> 35:02.320]  You don't want to break your neck and end up getting caught anyway.
[35:03.240 --> 35:07.740]  So he sees us, and his face went white, because one of us is on one side, one of us is on the other.
[35:07.820 --> 35:09.400]  It's like we just appeared out of nowhere.
[35:09.940 --> 35:12.620]  And he looks, he goes, you guys want to come up?
[35:14.360 --> 35:16.840]  So we're like, all right, maybe we can talk our way out of this.
[35:16.960 --> 35:18.620]  And we're like, all right, sure, you know, let's go.
[35:18.840 --> 35:21.860]  So we start going up, and John decides to ask the guy a question.
[35:21.880 --> 35:23.000]  Oh, yeah, what were these guys for?
[35:23.000 --> 35:27.280]  I let him have a lot of lead going up the stairs, and I make sure I prop the door from the tunnel we were in open.
[35:28.140 --> 35:29.360]  Yeah, that's always my job.
[35:29.440 --> 35:31.240]  I make sure that none of the doors lock behind us.
[35:31.320 --> 35:34.280]  I'm like ramming a chair in there, like trying not to let him notice.
[35:34.720 --> 35:38.440]  So John's asking this guy a question, and you know, trying to feel out how friendly he was.
[35:38.540 --> 35:41.740]  And the guy just goes on his rating and goes, I got the two trespassers.
[35:41.740 --> 35:43.040]  And John goes...
[35:43.040 --> 35:45.380]  So I looked up the stair, and I looked at him and said, you know what?
[35:45.760 --> 35:46.120]  Not.
[35:46.400 --> 35:50.320]  And I ran back down the stairs, grabbed Laura, dragged her down the stairs.
[35:50.400 --> 35:51.680]  She's running as fast as she can.
[35:51.880 --> 35:54.120]  And that same chair that was propping opened the door.
[35:54.200 --> 35:57.220]  We now wedged it under the doorknob with the door closed, locking the door.
[35:57.520 --> 36:00.320]  He's trying every one of his keys, wondering why he can't get in.
[36:00.480 --> 36:04.900]  We ran through the tunnel, came out a manhole, got in our car, and rode around the building.
[36:05.120 --> 36:07.960]  The security was all around trying to find a way in.
[36:07.960 --> 36:10.480]  We actually got to watch him try to look for us as we drove by.
[36:10.600 --> 36:10.860]  Hi!
[36:11.180 --> 36:12.980]  I actually count that as a mishap, though.
[36:13.080 --> 36:17.400]  Because if, you know, if we weren't heard, that wouldn't have even happened.
[36:17.480 --> 36:20.820]  I think the guy was coming down there because it was a vent that I climbed up a ladder to look out.
[36:21.300 --> 36:23.260]  And I think that I was heard when I did that.
[36:23.340 --> 36:24.940]  And I think he was coming down to check that out.
[36:25.340 --> 36:26.340]  So it happens.
[36:26.460 --> 36:27.300]  Human era.
[36:27.500 --> 36:29.060]  Don't think that you're perfect when you explore.
[36:29.180 --> 36:30.200]  You're going to make mistakes.
[36:30.580 --> 36:33.300]  And if you want to get out alive, don't try to cover your mistakes.
[36:33.520 --> 36:34.060]  Work with them.
[36:34.060 --> 36:34.740]  Yeah.
[36:35.020 --> 36:36.160]  One other thing is endurance.
[36:36.680 --> 36:40.640]  Especially, you know, what we do a lot of times when we go into the asylums is we'll do a whole day trip.
[36:40.780 --> 36:44.900]  And some of these asylums have, you know, 20 to 100 or more buildings.
[36:44.940 --> 36:47.080]  And obviously, you can't cover them all in one day.
[36:47.160 --> 36:52.420]  But we try to, especially if there's a tunnel system that goes from one to the other, we'll try to knock out as much as possible.
[36:52.460 --> 36:59.220]  And you're talking maybe eight, nine hours of walking and climbing through stuff and muck and carrying a heavy backpack.
[36:59.220 --> 37:01.880]  And after, you know, you really have to, you kind of build endurance.
[37:01.880 --> 37:03.000]  And creativity too.
[37:03.120 --> 37:05.180]  Like I said, the asylums particularly.
[37:06.060 --> 37:10.660]  You know, I never really knew of myself that I was any sort of a good photographer or anything like that.
[37:10.740 --> 37:13.060]  And this exploring, you know, has really brought it out.
[37:13.840 --> 37:14.860]  Now, mission logs.
[37:14.940 --> 37:16.840]  I had a couple to share with you and I still have time.
[37:17.060 --> 37:20.220]  One of the things about mission logs, you've got to be careful what you reveal.
[37:20.220 --> 37:28.800]  Because if they can, and this is at least in New York State, if they can match the time and the date and the location and prove both, they have a lot stronger case.
[37:28.800 --> 37:30.180]  It doesn't have to be exact either.
[37:30.360 --> 37:35.880]  I was actually reading the instructions that judges give to juries to convict on this stuff if you go to trial.
[37:35.880 --> 37:38.960]  And it is a jury trial if you have a felony or something like that.
[37:39.040 --> 37:42.980]  And one of the things that they kind of need is an on or about date.
[37:42.980 --> 37:47.980]  Which means they can't just say, oh, this guy, we think he trespassed sometime within the past five years.
[37:48.160 --> 37:49.140]  That's not going to float.
[37:49.140 --> 37:52.140]  They should be able to say, we think it was on or about this date.
[37:52.920 --> 37:54.800]  They also need to actually prove you were there.
[37:55.140 --> 37:57.600]  Having pictures of an abandoned place does not prove you were there.
[37:57.800 --> 38:01.440]  I could have given anybody in this audience a camera, told them, could you take some pictures for me?
[38:01.500 --> 38:04.900]  They could have taken pictures in a place I didn't even know where it was, given me the pictures.
[38:05.040 --> 38:07.440]  And that doesn't mean I did something illegal because I'm posting them.
[38:07.600 --> 38:11.980]  A lot of explorers are afraid to post pictures because they're like, that's an admission that I did something illegal.
[38:12.300 --> 38:17.340]  And I mean, if that was the case, then the news should be arrested for having video of people robbing 7-Elevens.
[38:17.480 --> 38:18.080]  I mean, come on.
[38:19.020 --> 38:21.000]  Yeah, so that's the one thing you want to be careful of.
[38:21.040 --> 38:31.440]  You don't want to say, you know, oh, I was in Kings Park Building 7 yesterday, you know, July whatever, July 21st or 22nd, you know, because you're just handing them information.
[38:31.660 --> 38:41.380]  And not all the time are they going to want to go after it, but, you know, I mean, honestly, for us, a site like ours, you know, it's kind of, you know, it becomes a trophy sort of thing.
[38:41.560 --> 38:43.120]  But, you know, what not to reveal.
[38:43.240 --> 38:50.420]  Some people will just hide the location altogether and they'll say, I'm trying to get Laura to go to her pictures because she's a wonderful photographer, far better than I could ever be.
[38:51.120 --> 38:51.940]  Oh, thank you.
[38:52.360 --> 38:54.080]  Well, anyway, this is a couple links.
[38:54.200 --> 38:54.880]  You can look at them.
[38:54.980 --> 38:58.180]  If you can't write them down, you can always email me at Long Island Oddities.
[38:58.240 --> 39:02.220]  I'll send you links again to buy, to make your own camera stabilizers.
[39:02.400 --> 39:07.720]  If you're taking video because you're walking, you're climbing over wreckage and you're going to get this like shaky footstep footage.
[39:07.900 --> 39:08.760]  And this helps.
[39:08.880 --> 39:12.540]  And this is cheap ways to build things to kind of harness it and stabilize it.
[39:13.040 --> 39:18.780]  You know, also, like I said, urban exploring brought out a lot of talents and interests that I know I never thought I had.
[39:18.980 --> 39:21.320]  And I probably will to anyone who gets into the hobby.
[39:22.100 --> 39:25.560]  Before I get to my photography, I'll just show you this slide real quick.
[39:25.700 --> 39:28.780]  This is some other things that people do.
[39:29.420 --> 39:32.180]  There's free running, which I'm sure some of you have seen videos of.
[39:32.280 --> 39:33.680]  They have a style called parkour.
[39:33.780 --> 39:36.720]  I'm not that familiar with it, but I've seen the videos.
[39:37.280 --> 39:42.100]  And I can tell you that I probably will never do that in my life, but I have a lot of respect for the people that do.
[39:42.300 --> 39:46.040]  These are people who can climb up a 10-story building without a ladder on the outside.
[39:46.040 --> 39:49.580]  But, I mean, some of these videos of them, you can find them on Google Video and YouTube.
[39:49.960 --> 39:52.400]  Some of these people look like Spider-Man, for Christ's sake.
[39:52.640 --> 39:52.780]  Yeah.
[39:53.140 --> 39:56.500]  When they do that with a band of buildings, I have a great admiration for those talents.
[39:57.020 --> 39:58.760]  But you'll find your own ways to explore.
[39:58.880 --> 40:03.180]  If you're not agile, I mean, personally, I don't even like to... I can't even climb a chain-link fence.
[40:03.400 --> 40:04.440]  My feet are too big.
[40:04.440 --> 40:05.480]  It just doesn't work, you know.
[40:05.480 --> 40:05.840]  We look for open doors.
[40:05.840 --> 40:07.420]  So we find other ways, you know.
[40:07.840 --> 40:09.940]  There's always... And building is also similar.
[40:10.220 --> 40:12.960]  There's people that climb the outside of the buildings and scale.
[40:13.600 --> 40:16.240]  So there's some links you can go to to check some of that out.
[40:16.840 --> 40:18.260]  And let me get out of this.
[40:18.820 --> 40:20.160]  This is our website again.
[40:20.560 --> 40:23.160]  Some of the things we have, and I'll switch back to this.
[40:23.340 --> 40:26.200]  We've done documentaries on these places, Forgotten Wards.
[40:26.220 --> 40:28.380]  You can see them on our site about the asylums.
[40:28.600 --> 40:29.680]  We'd love to have you visit.
[40:29.960 --> 40:30.120]  Yeah.
[40:30.660 --> 40:34.140]  A lot of it is dedicated to Long Island, but we've got a good community message board.
[40:34.220 --> 40:35.780]  We've got an Internet radio show.
[40:36.460 --> 40:39.300]  You know, Tuesdays, 8 p.m., you just go to the site and listen.
[40:39.300 --> 40:41.400]  And on our message board, too.
[40:41.780 --> 40:43.920]  So let me get out of this and show you my pictures.
[40:44.480 --> 40:47.420]  As soon as I can maneuver this.
[40:48.760 --> 40:49.460]  Apologize, guys.
[40:49.580 --> 40:51.920]  This is not the laptop I normally use.
[40:56.170 --> 40:57.510]  You want to get me out of this?
[40:58.090 --> 40:58.970]  I can't see.
[40:59.930 --> 41:00.890]  Just close it.
[41:01.130 --> 41:01.750]  Yeah, I'm trying.
[41:04.470 --> 41:07.470]  This is why I make my laptop mouse about three inches big.
[41:08.850 --> 41:11.370]  But, um, some of the pictures I have, I have...
[41:11.370 --> 41:12.810]  Yeah, let me get into the... There we go.
[41:13.170 --> 41:13.530]  Oh, good.
[41:13.610 --> 41:14.230]  Which directory?
[41:14.510 --> 41:15.790]  Uh, tours, not photos.
[41:16.550 --> 41:17.450]  I can't see.
[41:18.490 --> 41:19.830]  Not artistic photography?
[41:19.850 --> 41:20.590]  Here we go.
[41:25.160 --> 41:25.960]  Sorry, guys.
[41:27.660 --> 41:28.460]  I cannot...
[41:28.460 --> 41:29.220]  There's mine.
[41:29.780 --> 41:30.500]  Here we go.
[41:30.680 --> 41:32.220]  Alright, just a couple quick ones.
[41:33.480 --> 41:35.080]  I'll just go through them like this.
[41:37.540 --> 41:39.120]  Does it get cut off if I do that?
[41:39.120 --> 41:41.280]  No, but the lighting is kind of bad to show it.
[41:41.780 --> 41:42.080]  Oh, alright.
[41:42.800 --> 41:43.760]  It's not cut off, though?
[41:44.100 --> 41:44.360]  Alright.
[41:44.740 --> 41:46.100]  Well, this was a watch factory.
[41:46.100 --> 41:49.240]  Is there a way you guys could darken the screen so they could see some of these pictures better?
[41:49.280 --> 41:50.860]  Because it's killing the lighting on it.
[41:51.160 --> 41:51.880]  There you go.
[41:52.200 --> 41:53.420]  Alright, there we go.
[41:53.820 --> 41:54.080]  Yeah, this is...
[41:54.080 --> 41:54.800]  Let me brighten up.
[41:55.120 --> 41:56.700]  Yeah, and move it over a little if you could.
[41:57.180 --> 41:59.800]  Yeah, this is a watch factory out east.
[42:00.460 --> 42:01.800]  This is light streaming into the door.
[42:01.800 --> 42:03.320]  It looks a lot better than it does on there.
[42:03.540 --> 42:05.020]  Yeah, this is a good shot.
[42:05.160 --> 42:07.540]  It's, you know, you can find a lot of pictures on our website.
[42:07.540 --> 42:09.940]  This is an asylum at Byberry.
[42:10.040 --> 42:12.960]  And this is where people used to sit and watch the autopsies go on.
[42:13.040 --> 42:15.200]  Of course, it's been graffitied to high heck now.
[42:15.340 --> 42:16.200]  Northeast Philadelphia.
[42:16.620 --> 42:17.680]  Yeah, it's unfortunate.
[42:19.640 --> 42:20.780]  Philadelphia in the house.
[42:23.160 --> 42:24.680]  And this is also Byberry.
[42:24.820 --> 42:28.780]  It's a beautiful asylum, but it really has been, you know, damaged in some parts with graffiti.
[42:28.940 --> 42:29.700]  This is a...
[42:29.700 --> 42:30.600]  It's being torn down right now.
[42:31.060 --> 42:32.400]  Yeah, don't make me think about that.
[42:32.400 --> 42:34.080]  They've torn down, like, several of the buildings.
[42:34.340 --> 42:37.200]  I refuse to go back there because it would just...
[42:37.960 --> 42:41.340]  You get attached to these places, and you don't want to go back and see it half torn down.
[42:41.840 --> 42:43.120]  Yeah, this is just a...
[42:43.120 --> 42:46.280]  You know, I do experiments with photography, light and shadow and stuff.
[42:46.420 --> 42:47.460]  Again, this is an asylum.
[42:47.640 --> 42:49.120]  This is a tubercular ward.
[42:49.540 --> 42:53.740]  This used to be where they believed that the patients had to get a lot of fresh air, so everything was open.
[42:55.540 --> 42:56.340]  And this is...
[42:56.340 --> 42:57.580]  I thought this was really ironic.
[42:57.580 --> 43:01.700]  There's a window and a book that says, Take Care of Yourself in an Abandoned Asylum.
[43:01.860 --> 43:04.900]  There was just something about that trick that took me.
[43:05.200 --> 43:08.200]  This is just a couple of hallway shots from some asylums.
[43:08.480 --> 43:09.880]  This is Eastern State Penn.
[43:11.040 --> 43:11.700]  It's a prison.
[43:11.700 --> 43:13.360]  Legal place to explore, also in Philadelphia.
[43:13.360 --> 43:16.660]  You pay your fee, and they let you go in, and it's an abandoned prison.
[43:16.920 --> 43:18.140]  Yeah, you go wherever you want.
[43:18.240 --> 43:22.120]  You just sign a waiver that, you know, you're not going to hold them responsible if you trip and fall or something.
[43:22.120 --> 43:24.200]  And it's really a very cool place.
[43:24.840 --> 43:26.320]  Now, Gold Coast Estates.
[43:26.340 --> 43:36.780]  I don't know if any of you have it anywhere else, but on Long Island in the early 20s, of these grand estates from very wealthy families on Long Island, they all pretty much started dying out around the time of the Great Depression.
[43:37.000 --> 43:37.940]  You know, property taxes.
[43:38.140 --> 43:38.440]  The Great Gatsby era.
[43:38.720 --> 43:39.480]  Yeah, exactly.
[43:39.480 --> 43:41.900]  But this is from some of the estates on Long Island.
[43:42.040 --> 43:43.160]  I love the stonework.
[43:43.300 --> 43:45.060]  This is just something that I'm very much into.
[43:45.340 --> 43:46.520]  This used to be a fountain.
[43:47.080 --> 43:51.900]  It was an estate that was at one time owned by the exiled king of Albania.
[43:52.120 --> 43:53.800]  But he never actually showed up.
[43:54.060 --> 43:57.260]  But yet they said that his treasure was trapped in the walls.
[43:57.440 --> 44:02.340]  So kids tore the whole place down with their hands, with hammers, with shovels, whatever they could.
[44:02.520 --> 44:04.660]  It was burnt down and eventually demolished.
[44:05.300 --> 44:08.000]  The ironic part is that the treasure wasn't in the walls.
[44:08.000 --> 44:08.840]  It was the walls.
[44:09.520 --> 44:09.900]  Yeah.
[44:10.820 --> 44:12.140]  A lot of them are very beautiful.
[44:12.300 --> 44:14.920]  Now this unfortunately is cut off because of monitor resolution.
[44:14.920 --> 44:18.040]  But this was, I believe, Greystone, which is another asylum.
[44:18.420 --> 44:22.680]  They've got a lot of old wheelchairs there, which makes for great photography.
[44:22.840 --> 44:23.220]  There you go.
[44:23.300 --> 44:23.620]  Thank you.
[44:24.100 --> 44:28.440]  One of the things about photography, if anyone's interested, you try to line things up on third lines.
[44:28.680 --> 44:29.880]  You know, not dead center.
[44:29.880 --> 44:35.460]  So, you know, just, I don't know, you know, if anyone's interested in photography particularly.
[44:35.640 --> 44:37.520]  Let me just get to the next picture here.
[44:37.520 --> 44:38.480]  Two minutes, we'll take questions.
[44:39.020 --> 44:39.240]  Yeah.
[44:40.240 --> 44:40.480]  Oop.
[44:42.120 --> 44:44.320]  This, actually, does anyone recognize this photo?
[44:45.440 --> 44:46.060]  You should.
[44:46.080 --> 44:46.780]  It's this hotel.
[44:48.720 --> 44:51.240]  Does anybody remember last HOPE?
[44:51.580 --> 44:53.420]  There was an abandoned part of the hotel.
[44:54.480 --> 44:56.060]  I walked into it accidentally.
[44:56.340 --> 44:58.060]  I'm walking around trying to get back to HOPE.
[44:58.120 --> 44:59.340]  I'm like, what is this?
[44:59.820 --> 45:03.600]  So, and I also, you know, like to explore things like that.
[45:03.740 --> 45:06.940]  And actually, last night, we were taking the elevator down from the 18th floor.
[45:06.980 --> 45:10.660]  And I don't know what button somebody hit, but all of a sudden down near, we hit M.
[45:10.860 --> 45:14.060]  But for some reason, the elevator opens into this pitch blackness.
[45:14.480 --> 45:17.040]  I think it was the basement, but nobody hit the basement button.
[45:17.260 --> 45:19.600]  So, I have no clue where that came from.
[45:19.800 --> 45:22.500]  If this conference wasn't so damn good, I would have explored the hotel.
[45:22.820 --> 45:28.720]  But every time I wanted to, like I just met somebody or heard somebody talking and got so interested in that.
[45:28.800 --> 45:31.120]  And we don't want to, you know, ruin anything for the conference.
[45:31.320 --> 45:33.000]  But these things just kind of hit you in the face.
[45:33.200 --> 45:34.700]  You know, the elevator just opens.
[45:34.840 --> 45:35.780]  It says, come on in.
[45:38.770 --> 45:41.350]  And this is just a couple of pictures of some asylums.
[45:41.750 --> 45:45.130]  A lot of times, the best thing to do if you're taking photography is kill the flash.
[45:45.270 --> 45:46.010]  Don't even use it.
[45:46.010 --> 45:46.590]  Bring a tripod.
[45:46.590 --> 45:48.950]  Start lining up for questions while she's showing the last of her pictures.
[45:49.090 --> 45:50.290]  And this is an old auditorium.
[45:50.350 --> 45:52.430]  They have beautiful, beautiful auditoriums.
[45:53.230 --> 45:54.710]  You know, in these asylums.
[45:54.890 --> 45:57.510]  This is another hallway here, you know, just to show you quickly.
[45:57.850 --> 46:00.690]  A window in another asylum in Long Island.
[46:00.890 --> 46:02.750]  Why don't you scroll through them while we take some questions?
[46:02.990 --> 46:03.590]  All right, sure.
[46:03.810 --> 46:04.550]  Okay, first question.
[46:04.550 --> 46:05.730]  I'll come into your slideshow a little bit.
[46:05.930 --> 46:06.630]  Ten minute warning.
[46:06.810 --> 46:08.330]  Okay, we have time for some questions.
[46:08.730 --> 46:15.010]  I was just going to say, I guess the picture of Laura with a cat would be a good example of a photograph you wouldn't want to have in your possession.
[46:16.210 --> 46:17.510]  Because it sort of could be identified where she was.
[46:17.510 --> 46:20.670]  I just showed it to the public that building isn't there anymore.
[46:21.210 --> 46:26.750]  In order for them to prove that you were there, they actually have to, like, kind of show, like, by photo, the area.
[46:27.050 --> 46:29.690]  Like, good luck going back in time to take a picture of that room.
[46:29.910 --> 46:30.850]  Right, yeah, it's gone.
[46:30.990 --> 46:31.250]  That's fine.
[46:31.250 --> 46:31.850]  Who's going to...
[46:31.850 --> 46:34.650]  If they're going to do that much work for a misdemeanor.
[46:35.630 --> 46:37.250]  And, I mean, look at this little girl.
[46:37.350 --> 46:38.290]  She rescued a cat.
[46:38.430 --> 46:38.790]  Come on.
[46:42.370 --> 46:44.570]  This is a morgue, by the way, just so you know.
[46:44.710 --> 46:45.670]  This is an old morgue.
[46:45.770 --> 46:51.150]  Yeah, you should use discretion when showing pictures that you're in, but nobody's going to know where that is.
[46:51.550 --> 46:54.350]  The only other thing was the running from security guards.
[46:54.470 --> 46:59.750]  I had an experience where I was held at gunpoint for about 45 minutes, and it was a shotgun.
[46:59.750 --> 47:00.710]  It was not, you know...
[47:00.710 --> 47:01.630]  By a security guard?
[47:01.750 --> 47:02.410]  By a security guard.
[47:02.410 --> 47:03.310]  You should have had him arrested.
[47:03.330 --> 47:03.910]  That's illegal.
[47:04.090 --> 47:07.570]  Yeah, he was pointing the gun at me for almost, you know, it felt like an hour.
[47:07.730 --> 47:10.290]  It was maybe 45 minutes or whatever while they called people.
[47:10.510 --> 47:12.250]  He was this huge guy named Tiny.
[47:12.570 --> 47:13.030]  Were you trespassing?
[47:13.390 --> 47:15.910]  Well, we were not in the building.
[47:16.030 --> 47:18.050]  We were just parking lot and walking around the building.
[47:18.290 --> 47:20.550]  Anyway, so I was just going to say...
[47:20.550 --> 47:22.930]  And he just walked up to you and pulled out a shotgun and said, freeze.
[47:23.090 --> 47:25.590]  And held us while, you know, he called other people and parents.
[47:25.730 --> 47:26.010]  I was...
[47:26.010 --> 47:29.630]  I probably would have been gutsy enough because I would have been so pissed to look in square my eyes.
[47:29.630 --> 47:31.050]  and said, I'm walking away.
[47:31.170 --> 47:31.750]  What are you going to do?
[47:31.850 --> 47:32.270]  Shoot me?
[47:32.370 --> 47:33.170]  I was 14 years old.
[47:33.270 --> 47:33.790]  I didn't do that.
[47:33.850 --> 47:34.830]  That's what I would have said to him.
[47:35.150 --> 47:36.250]  Anyway, his name was Tiny.
[47:36.430 --> 47:38.110]  He was a huge guy and he was clearly sub...
[47:38.110 --> 47:38.730]  I don't mean this as a...
[47:38.730 --> 47:40.110]  Put that thing away before you hurt somebody.
[47:40.290 --> 47:42.490]  As an insult, but he was really...
[47:43.010 --> 47:44.490]  well below average intelligence.
[47:44.770 --> 47:46.510]  So it was like there wasn't any...
[47:46.510 --> 47:47.970]  Half the security guards are.
[47:48.210 --> 47:48.470]  Yeah, I know.
[47:48.890 --> 47:50.090]  They're just like padlocks.
[47:50.350 --> 47:51.890]  They're a very simple device that's just there.
[47:52.250 --> 47:53.070]  But half of them...
[47:53.070 --> 48:00.210]  I know ones that are very cool and they're very intelligent and I've actually had one security give me a tour and show me things I would have never seen before.
[48:00.430 --> 48:02.870]  I will add one detail and you'll understand why I didn't run.
[48:03.110 --> 48:04.410]  This was in South Carolina.
[48:08.570 --> 48:10.010]  Hi, I just wanted to add...
[48:11.370 --> 48:18.150]  I've been doing UE for about 15 years now and one thing that's happened I've noticed and I don't know if you've had this here.
[48:19.490 --> 48:25.930]  Basically in the past five to six years it's gotten a lot more risky to UE in certain areas, particularly utilities.
[48:26.470 --> 48:28.130]  The authorities are aware of it now.
[48:28.130 --> 48:29.950]  They are aware that there's a hobby of trespassing.
[48:30.230 --> 48:39.690]  That and actually Homeland Security is getting involved now with busting you for being in certain utilities and that's actually happened on the University of Texas campus.
[48:40.370 --> 48:43.950]  For instance, somebody actually released photos of the steam tunnels recently after an exploration.
[48:44.290 --> 48:49.430]  Yeah, but they also broke into a door with tools and damaged a doorway to get in.
[48:49.510 --> 48:52.590]  Yeah, but you didn't just have to worry about federal investigators getting involved.
[48:52.590 --> 49:00.390]  So I've never heard of anybody arrested for exploring something after they explored it when they didn't do any damage and just took pictures unless they were caught on the spot.
[49:00.550 --> 49:05.350]  But if you go in there and you bust down someone's door, that's a disgusting thing you just did.
[49:06.150 --> 49:09.730]  Especially if it's an active place or a place of historic significance.
[49:10.430 --> 49:12.810]  I'm glad that you're arrested if you do something like that.
[49:12.870 --> 49:14.290]  Not that you would, but whoever did that.
[49:14.450 --> 49:14.730]  Well, yeah.
[49:15.010 --> 49:16.790]  It's just a little bit of something to think about though.
[49:16.930 --> 49:21.430]  Where you're going nowadays, there is a bit more repercussions these days and there are more people...
[49:21.430 --> 49:24.150]  Well, you should always think about where you're going when you explore.
[49:24.310 --> 49:25.290]  You should always...
[49:25.290 --> 49:27.530]  It's not like just jump right into it.
[49:27.610 --> 49:31.570]  It's like you should reflect on what happens if you get caught, how you're going to avoid getting caught.
[49:31.770 --> 49:34.450]  And then you don't just run up to the door and try to get into the building.
[49:34.550 --> 49:36.150]  It's kind of like going into a cold pool.
[49:36.370 --> 49:38.150]  You put your toe in and you wiggle it around.
[49:38.390 --> 49:45.930]  Like if it's a steam tunnel, maybe I'll just hang out around the basement areas where I'm allowed to be and see how many times the security or a cop come by.
[49:47.050 --> 49:50.510]  Then the next day maybe I'll come by a week later and I'll try some of the doors.
[49:50.910 --> 49:56.310]  Sometimes to get into some places can be like a year or two thing where you slowly step by step do it.
[49:56.390 --> 50:00.470]  But then when you finally do get in, you know that you have all the bases covered that you could think of.
[50:00.770 --> 50:00.870]  Yeah.
[50:01.170 --> 50:02.230]  It's just something to think about.
[50:02.510 --> 50:08.850]  Just be careful that certain city utilities or university places are going to be monitored by more than just the police if you get caught.
[50:09.050 --> 50:09.410]  Definitely.
[50:09.590 --> 50:12.030]  And you just got to be a little bit more careful about that.
[50:12.350 --> 50:12.510]  Yeah.
[50:12.550 --> 50:19.150]  After scoping it out, the most trouble I've ever gotten into with the police is actually while I was scoping out a place and actually didn't even make it in.
[50:19.330 --> 50:22.710]  And I'm actually banned from the University of Texas just for scoping out a place.
[50:22.890 --> 50:23.210]  Wow.
[50:23.210 --> 50:23.950]  Which is quite interesting.
[50:24.230 --> 50:29.490]  So if you were scoping it out from an area that was legal, like how would they know you were scoping it out?
[50:30.030 --> 50:30.810]  They just assumed.
[50:30.950 --> 50:32.330]  They saw us with lights and everything.
[50:32.550 --> 50:34.310]  That doesn't sound like you were given due process.
[50:34.630 --> 50:38.990]  I mean you're walking around places you're allowed to be and they're going to say oh you're scoping out to trespass.
[50:39.150 --> 50:39.610]  I mean that...
[50:39.610 --> 50:41.510]  It really doesn't bother me.
[50:41.670 --> 50:41.750]  I'd fight that.
[50:41.850 --> 50:42.690]  It would bother me.
[50:42.910 --> 50:43.970]  I ignore it.
[50:43.970 --> 50:46.190]  Let me take the next question because there's a line of people.
[50:47.370 --> 50:48.010]  Thank you.
[50:49.530 --> 50:52.650]  On Long Island there's the Montauk Point.
[50:53.030 --> 50:54.150]  Camp Hero, yes.
[50:54.710 --> 50:56.110]  Do you have any information about that?
[50:56.310 --> 50:56.750]  Is it...
[50:56.750 --> 50:57.230]  Yes.
[50:57.370 --> 50:58.950]  Camp Hero is now a state park.
[50:59.170 --> 51:01.850]  You're allowed to walk around outside the buildings of most of it.
[51:01.950 --> 51:04.090]  There is a fenced off area where there's a radar tower.
[51:06.510 --> 51:08.490]  You know people have gotten in the radar tower.
[51:08.650 --> 51:10.310]  There's still old military equipment in there.
[51:10.390 --> 51:11.190]  It's very historic.
[51:11.470 --> 51:16.890]  There's also conspiracy theorists running around saying there's tunnels under the place that used to do all sorts of experiments.
[51:17.590 --> 51:26.870]  And there was an underground well buried bunkers well they're not really bunkers they're batteries from the gun placements because German submarines were a threat to land there during World War I and II.
[51:27.970 --> 51:28.570]  Next question.
[51:30.330 --> 51:30.730]  Hi.
[51:30.950 --> 51:31.950]  First of all I love your site.
[51:32.070 --> 51:33.290]  Thank you very much for all the work you're doing.
[51:34.310 --> 51:42.030]  Second of all I was wondering if there was any particular advice you had and how common it was to like while you're exploring run into people who you might consider dangerous?
[51:42.650 --> 51:48.870]  It happens sometimes but usually vandals are very dumb and you're going to hear them before they hear you.
[51:49.270 --> 52:00.330]  There's no way a vandal is going to hear an urban explorer no matter how large you are like I am before or see us before you see them and I could actually with her duck into a corner and have them walk right by.
[52:00.430 --> 52:17.870]  A good story of that is at Pilgrim State Hospital we were inside one of the buildings I won't say which one and we noticed a car parked right out by the door which no urban explorer would do because that's just stupid and flagging yourself down and I thought maybe they were in the building with us so I was looking out the windows when all of a sudden I saw a group of 16,
[52:18.010 --> 52:25.130]  17-year-olds and one of them pulled out a gun and started dancing around with it and then he was like pointing it at the windows like he was going to shoot.
[52:25.310 --> 52:39.110]  I jumped on top of her like the Secret Service protecting the president and then we crawled into the tunnels and we went out another building they weren't even aware that we were in there and because as an urban explorer you're there to observe you're going to see them before they see you.
[52:39.270 --> 52:44.030]  People also don't tend to see things that are above their eyesight or on the floor.
[52:44.250 --> 52:48.350]  You always have the vandals at their disadvantage for that reason.
[52:48.690 --> 52:49.190]  Thank you.
[52:49.670 --> 52:51.070]  The homeless will find you though.
[52:51.450 --> 52:54.650]  They'll move around like a church mouse and they'll find you.
[52:56.330 --> 53:01.330]  So there's probably a lot of people here that are like oh this is really interesting and I've done this before I want to try it.
[53:02.750 --> 53:11.250]  what I'm wondering is is there any advice you want to give to the new guys the new guys in particular that is you know don't do this when you go on your first exploration.
[53:11.430 --> 53:15.730]  Like for example like never go hacking alone and other stuff like that.
[53:16.030 --> 53:37.830]  Don't bring weapons because it's really going to if you are caught increase what is going to happen and also I've brought one friend that I found out later that without telling me he brought a weapon which actually kind of indemnifies me because I didn't know about it and the law says you have to have knowledge of it and as soon as I found out I immediately demanded that he leave and what he did
[53:37.830 --> 53:42.630]  was very dangerous he brought a shotgun shell inside of a flare gun which would have killed us all if he would have fired it.
[53:43.610 --> 53:47.730]  Don't bring weapons that's the biggest thing I can say and don't bring stupid people.
[53:48.130 --> 53:49.890]  Make sure you know who you explore with.
[53:50.110 --> 53:58.470]  Also for a matter of safety especially if it's your first time tell someone trustworthy where you're going and when you expect to be back in case you get lost or injured or something.
[53:58.470 --> 54:01.850]  You're better off going alone than with a person who has poor discretion.
[54:02.910 --> 54:03.350]  Next.
[54:04.410 --> 54:06.750]  I just wanted to share a quick experience.
[54:07.390 --> 54:07.770]  Don?
[54:08.070 --> 54:08.770]  When I was in...
[54:08.770 --> 54:09.350]  Last question.
[54:09.490 --> 54:09.630]  Okay.
[54:09.830 --> 54:10.250]  Sorry.
[54:10.330 --> 54:10.570]  Go ahead.
[54:10.850 --> 54:33.790]  When I was in my college psych class we had gone to the St. Joe Psychiatric Museum and right across the street was the actual the new psychiatric hospital and we just happened to get the right tour guide who actually took us into the tunnels and told us the stories of what they're there.
[54:34.110 --> 54:35.650]  That's very beautiful when it happens.
[54:35.830 --> 54:36.810]  It's a very good thing.
[54:37.290 --> 54:46.930]  I've been given tours of places that would probably make you look like Osama Bin Laden if you were in and yet you meet the right person they like what you're doing and they're like you know what?
[54:47.290 --> 54:48.190]  Come on in.