The Oral History of the Tunnel
Rap was in its adolescent phase, a marginalized teenager with energy to burn and people to piss off. The story of the biggest club in hip-hop history, as told by the people who lived it.
How Mayor Giuliani Decimated New York City Nightlife
As mayor of NYC from 1994 through 2001, Rudy Giuliani demonized nightlife as our city’s bastard child in order to make things safe for tourists and co-op owners.
A retired detective says he was its founder and architect
Parker, who retired in 2002 and now runs a security firm, says the basis of this unit was his personal expertise, initiative, and a starting assignment in the 1990s to be a one-man shop to keep tabs on any and all incidents involving rappers or their crews.
Onyx Reminisce About The Tunnel: “Blood and Moet on the Floor!”
Onyx was one of the first records Flex was playing and that’s where the Tunnel started. The Tunnel just represented all of New York: Mind your business, face to the ground, and it was just grimy like that. It was Timberland boots.
Rudy Giuliani tries to explain why his administration profiled black New Yorkers: “It wasn’t racist”
“In other words, the African-American community was selecting for us who to go look for,” he said.
Rudy Giuliani helped incite a riot of racist cops
Giuliani never condemned the riots, the signs or the racist cops. He rode the wave of support from police and law-and-order voters into the mayor’s mansion. When his own campaign produced a report criticizing him for egging on the cops and then acquiescing to them after the fact, he ordered the report destroyed.
Why Are the NYPD ‘Hip-Hop Police’ Spying on Rappers?
The rap intel unit’s existence was revealed in a blockbuster 2004 Miami Herald article (the NYPD initially denied the unit’s existence after the article’s publication). In 2005, their files would leak. This public exposure led many to decry the unit’s existence, saying it engaged in racial stereotyping.
