ucla tunnel tour

Wednesday, April 3, 2024

A tour of UCLA’s underground tunnel system

By Lexy Atmore

Jan. 18, 2013 4:20 p.m..

Director of maintenance and alterations Leroy Sisneros points out details on the roof a tunnel near Dickson Plaza.

(Lexy Atmore/Daily Bruin)

Director of maintenance and alterations Leroy Sisneros shines his flashlight on a steam leak. Sisneros said he would dispatch a maintenance worker to fix the leaky pipe after discovering it.

Pipes in the underground tunnel system are designed to be seismologically stable, featuring wheels to allow the pipes to slide along each other in the case of an earthquake.

Tunnel maintenance staff write down the installation dates of the light bulbs they use in order to measure the lifetimes of the bulbs as accurately as possible. This bulb, installed on April 11, 2012, had recently burned out.

The underground tunnel system runs beneath Young Research Library, where shelves previously used for holding Dewey Decimal system cards are currently stored.

The underground tunnel system features a number of elevation changes navigated with ramps and ladders.

Director of maintenance and alterations Leroy Sisneros points out the epoxy on the roof of a tunnel below the Sculpture Garden.

The underground tunnel system connects to a room below Macgowan Hall in which a wide variety of theater props are stored.

The storage area below Macgowan Hall is provisioned with several types of props including a large collection of alcohol bottles.

A massive hydraulic elevator roughly the size of the orchestra pit lifts heavy props from the props room below the Freud Playhouse to the stage area.

• News & Views

Hidden but Not Forgotten 

As UCLA nears the end of its 101st academic year, we would like to take a look back to nearly a century ago when, on October 22, 1927, the first structure on campus was completed: Arroyo Bridge. Hidden, but not forgotten, this architectural marvel continues to ferry unsuspecting Bruins across Dickson Court, from Murphy Hall to the flagstaff at the end of the plaza. 

A tour of the tunnels is also a tour of the campus from a unique perspective. Throughout the decades each departamental building has found ways to utilize the storage space certain sections of the tunnels provide. Below Macgowan Hall, for example, a storage room houses a wide variety of theater props and beneath the Ralph Freud Playhouse there’s an impressive multi-motor split stage liftcapable of lifting its stage. Underneath the Young Research Library one could also find the remnants of a by-gone era: cabinets organized according to the Dewey Decimal system. At times, the tunnel system has even served as private routes for high profile guests of the university.    

Though the beautiful Romanesque-arches that line the walls of the bridge are no longer visible today, the tunnels themselves hold a beauty of their own; both educational and wonderful, exploring the tunnels is an activity that fosters a deep appreciation for their mechanical ingenuity and the sense of history they provide. Should one ever have the pleasure of spelunking down under on a guided tour, remember to mind the low-hanging fixtures, be sure to leave behind your jacket, and take lots of pictures! 

Read "A Tour of UCLA’s Underground Tunnel System" (Daily Bruin)

Read "The Bridge Over Nothing" (Los Angeles Times)

(310) 825-2411

[email protected]

© 2024 Regents of the University of California

• Accessibility
• Report Misconduct
• Privacy & Terms of Use

Places Not On Your Freshman Orientation Tour

By marissa lee | jan 11, 2009.

You've heard the saying, "Where there's a will, there's a way"? Well, where there are bored college kids, there are ways. At many campuses across the United States, students have managed to wiggle into underground maintenance tunnels or skulk up roof access ladders. This practice is known in some circles as tunneling, roof and tunnel hacking, urban spelunking or vadding. The tunnels, set up to channel steam and other utilities (that T1 line has to come from somewhere) are filled with pipes and machinery and typically lined with scrawls of graffiti from past travelers. Stories of these tunnels are made of both truth and legend...

Miskatonic (Bradford)

The ghost hunters at HollowHill.com claim that the tunnels at Bradford College (now defunct) are not only haunted, but also have a famous connection with H.P. Lovecraft. According to legend, Lovecraft dated a girl at the college who helped him bury the real Necronomicon in an unused tunnel that ran under the pond. The tunnel was sealed off and the exact location of the evil book is unknown.

Hey, Free Uranium! (Columbia)

Columbia University continually vows to lock and guard their extensive underground tunnel system . Understandable, given that in 1987, freshman Ken Hechtman and his merry band of tunnel hackers (known as ADHOC: Allied Destructive Hackers of Columbia) used the tunnels to steal uranium -238 from Pupin Hall. Despite the tunnel lockdown, student spelunkers still manage to sneak into the labyrinth - which winds around the 19th century Bloomingdale Insane Asylum, abandoned bomb shelters, and Manhattan Project research facilities - to throw parties.

Exterior Decorating (MIT)

Freshmen at MIT can take an Orange Tour led by upperclassmen who know their way around the roofs and tunnels. It's an important tour to take, because MIT students are infamous for the pranks they pull by hacking university buildings. The IHTFP Hack Gallery documents all types of structural hacking. The Great Dome on the McLaurin building, for instance, has been transformed into a giant R2D2 , the one ring to rule them all (above), and most famously, a parking spot for a police cruiser .

Underground Creek (UCLA)

UCLA's six mile network of tunnels is allegedly one of the cleanest, and connects to all major buildings on campus. The tunnels mask an underground room 100x200 feet wide with a thirty feet drop lined in brick, dubbed "The Bridge" because it once served as one. A creek used to run across campus, but was later dammed up and filled in for construction purposes. When it rains, the tunnels sometimes still flood with water. Rumor has it that the system was so extensive it even reached the residence halls, but that these tunnels were sealed up for security reasons when UCLA's dorms served as the Olympic Village during the 1984 summer games.

Be the Ultimate Underground Dungeon Master

Due to sensationalist journalism in the late 1970s and early 1980s, skulking in steam tunnels is also associated with Dungeons & Dragons and Live Action Role Playing (LARP). These urban myths claim that hardcore role playing gamers traipse into the steam tunnels while prancing about hitting each other with sticks and pretending to be paladin elves and sorcerer dwarves. The disappearance of Michigan State student James Dallas Egbert is often used as an attack on RPGs. Many misconceptions about the dangers of roleplaying gaming and LARPing stem from stories of these steam tunnel incidents.

The alt.college.tunnels newsgroup and defunct sites Steam Tunnels and Infiltration all have information about college steam tunnels. Specific campuses have student-run sites as well, which can be located on Facebook and through Google searches.

Oh! The places you'll go! (Or not. You're not really supposed to.) Obviously, the areas hacked are restricted, so you'd be, er, trespassing and definitely violating university policy. That said, if you do ever venture down the campus hidey holes, be sure to wear long sleeves and the proper footwear, and take plenty of water and a flashlight. Do not go alone, do not go inebriated, and understand there are dangers like sudden drops, heatstroke, burns, electrocution, and asbestos, just to name a few.

These are just some of my favorite stories about little-known places and tunnels at universities "“ I know every college has its secrets. Does your school have any interesting tunnel lore?

L.A. Metro’s D Line hits a milestone: Tunneling is complete for expansion to the Westside

• Show more sharing options
• Copy Link URL Copied!

After five years of construction and numerous delays, crews have finished tunneling operations for the 9-mile westward expansion of the Metro D Line, which will stretch from the current terminus in Koreatown to a new Westwood/VA Hospital Station.

The expansion project will add seven Metro stations and a high-speed connection from downtown Los Angeles to the Westside, according to L.A. Metro’s website. Construction of the $9.5-billion project began in 2019.

“As one of L.A.’s busiest areas, the Westside is the region’s second-largest job center,” Metro says on its website. “We are closer than ever to connecting busy areas and improving travel for everyone who lives, works and plays in L.A. County.”

Construction of L.A. Metro’s Westside Purple Line halted over safety issues

Los Angeles transit officials have shut down construction of the Westside’s $2.4-billion Purple Line Extension for two weeks amid a litany of “serious safety concerns” that have injured dozens of workers since July 2021.

Oct. 24, 2022

The extension of the D Line, also known as the Purple Line, is taking place in three phases in sections that are roughly 3 miles long each.

Section 1, which will include the Wilshire/La Brea Station, Wilshire/Fairfax Station and Wilshire/La Cienega Station, is slated to open first, in 2025.

Section 2, consisting of the Wilshire/Rodeo Station and Century City/Constellation Station, is set to open in 2026. Section 3 is expected to be completed in 2027, with Westwood/UCLA and Westwood/VA Hospital stations.

“This safe completion of tunneling through this part of Los Angeles is a milestone in Metro’s work to expand fast and reliable public transit across the region,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said Tuesday at a news conference.

Now that tunneling is finished, construction crews will work on building the new stations, installing electrical components and completing street restoration work, a Metro representative said.

Construction was halted multiple times in 2022 due to safety concerns. A 40-year-old construction worker was killed that March when he was struck by a service vehicle used to carry parts and people around the site. Work was stopped again in October 2022 after dozens of other workers were injured.

Pushback against tunneling under Beverly Hills, including Beverly Hills High School, threatened to stop the project before construction began. The Beverly Hills Unified School District sought to block the work entirely in a Superior Court lawsuit. The district also sued in federal court in an effort to get the project rerouted.

Editorial: Seriously, Beverly Hills? Cut your Purple Line hysteria, already

Beverly Hills High School students are being encouraged to “walk out” of their classrooms on Friday, board buses and travel to a local park to protest the extension of the Purple Line subway, a $9-billion project that will require tunneling underneath their campus beginning next year.

Oct. 12, 2018

In 2018, Beverly Hills High students staged a walkout to protest the digging of tunnels beneath campus. Several studies have shown that being above ground during tunneling does not present a safety threat, The Times previously reported.

Metro also said that tunneling crews faced challenges such as underground gas pockets, tar sands and abandoned oil wells.

Still, officials expect the entire expansion project to be completed before the 2028 Olympic Games.

More to Read

$2-billion downtown L.A. mega-project gets boost from governor’s office, hopes for approval in 2024

March 7, 2024

L.A. Metro to offer free bus and train rides on primary election day

March 2, 2024

The electric rail to Las Vegas keeps rolling with new federal funding approved

Jan. 24, 2024

Start your day right

Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.

Caroline Petrow-Cohen is a 2023-24 reporting fellow at the Los Angeles Times. She is a recent graduate of Duke University, where she studied journalism, English and environmental science and policy.

More From the Los Angeles Times

How to take a photo of the eclipse without damaging your phone

Deputies kick down bathroom door, fatally shoot armed teen in midst of mental health crisis

Horse running on busy freeway killed, creating gridlock near City of Industry

Why Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is playing against — and not for — UConn in Final Four

DISCOVER THE INNOVATIVE WORK WE ARE DOING ON:

• Air, Food & Water
• Art & Culture
• Cities & Towns
• Climate Change
• Energy & Technology
• Environmental Justice
• Law & Policy
• Nature & Conservation
• Sustainable Business

Guided UCLA Botanical Garden Tour

Join a Garden Guide for a free tour on April 6, 2024.

Explore a living museum featuring collections of plants from around the globe!

Hear the stories of selected plants in the Garden and their relevance to human society. All ages are welcome. Tours meet at the La Kretz Garden Pavilion at the northern end of the Garden and are given a grace period of 5 minutes. No RSVP required. Tours are free; become a member  to support free public programming and access member-exclusive events.

For more information, visit BotGard.UCLA.edu

UCLA Mildred E Mathias Botanical Garden

EVENT DETAILS

April 6, 2024 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

• Undergraduate Students
• Masters Students
• PhD/Doctoral Students
• Postdoctoral Scholars
• Faculty & Staff
• Families & Supporters
• Prospective Students
• Explore Your Interests / Self-Assessment
• Build your Network / LinkedIn
• Search for a Job / Internship
• Create a Resume / Cover Letter
• Prepare for an Interview
• Negotiate an Offer
• Prepare for Graduate School
• Find Funding Opportunities
• Prepare for the Academic Job Market (PhD Students Only)
• Search for a Job or Internship
• Advertising, Marketing, and Public Relations
• Arts & Entertainment
• Consulting & Financial Services
• Engineering & Technology
• Government, Law & Policy
• Hospitality
• Management & Human Resources
• Non-Profit, Social Justice & Education
• Retail & Consumer Services
• BIPOC Students & Scholars
• Disabled Students & Scholars
• First-Generation Students & Scholars
• Former Foster Youth
• Formerly Incarcerated Students & Scholars
• International Students & Scholars
• LGBTQ+ Students & Scholars
• Students & Scholars with Dependents
• Transfer Students
• Undocumented Students & Scholars
• Women-Identifying Students & Scholars

Madison Square Garden Entertainment/Sports/Networks

Sphere vip tours & hospitality academic season 2024-2025 student associate program (las vegas).

• Share This: Share Sphere VIP Tours & Hospitality Academic Season 2024-2025 Student Associate Program (Las Vegas) on Facebook Share Sphere VIP Tours & Hospitality Academic Season 2024-2025 Student Associate Program (Las Vegas) on LinkedIn Share Sphere VIP Tours & Hospitality Academic Season 2024-2025 Student Associate Program (Las Vegas) on X

Who are we hiring?

The VIP Tours Student Associate will support our Sphere + Sphere Studios tour program. Site tours support several internal business units including VIP bookings, Creative Development, Sales & Partnerships, Government Affairs, Investor Relations. You will assist with the coordination of site tours as well as on-site day-of logistics. This role includes interfacing with internal and external C-Suite executives as well as A-List creative talent.

What will you do?

Student Associate Program Overview

We believe in developing talent and helping to create the leaders of tomorrow. One way we do this is through our Student Associate Program. This program is designed to create real, valuable opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to learn, grow, and explore MSG Entertainment, MSG Sports, and Sphere. As a Student Associate, you will gain valuable experience that will be applicable throughout your career. While participating in the Student Associate Program, students will have the opportunity to work with our employees to get a full understanding of the business. We also provide additional learning and development opportunities through an executive speaker series, mentorship program, career development workshops, and other social events.

Sphere VIP Tours

• Maintain internal tour database and executive facing tour tracker.
• Assist with the coordination of catering + hospitality for high profile tours.
• Interface with Sphere operations and security to ensure all site tours run smoothly.
• Responsible for collecting notes and general feedback on Sphere tours.
• Support the Product Marketing Team

What do you need to succeed?

Knowledge & Skills:

• Heavy attention to detail
• Experience with working in a fast-paced environment
• Experience interacting with high profile executives and talent
• Entertainment, hospitality, business strategy, or event planning experience
• Interest in live music, entertainment, e-sports

Requirements:

• This role is based in Las Vegas. No relocation flexibility.
• Must be available to work 21-35 hours a week.
• Must be available from early October- end of April.
• Must be enrolled as a rising junior, senior, or graduate student.
• Must have a GPA of 3.2 or above.

Application deadline is May 1, 2024 at 11:59 PM EST.  

A resume is required for submitting an application. 

When applying, please select “College/Universities” when asked “How did you hear about this opportunity?” and then select your respective institution.  

*This is an in-office position located in Las Vegas*

News | Tunneling is finished on LA Metro D Line…

Share this:.

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
• Click to print (Opens in new window)
• Investigative Reporting
• Environment

SUBSCRIBER ONLY

News | tunneling is finished on la metro d line extension, a milestone for $9.5b project, the underground subway will extend from koreatown to west l.a. and open in phases, 2025 through 2027.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, left, joins a Metro tour of the not yet completed Metro D (Purple) Line’s Wilshire/Fairfax station on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 in Los Angeles. Metro has completed the tunneling of the D (Purple) Line Subway Extension Project connecting downtown and West L.A. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

With Metro construction workers behind her and on what will eventually be the Metro D (Purple) Line’s Wilshire/Fairfax station entrance adjacent to the Peterson Automotive Museum, Mayor Karen Bass celebrates the completion of the tunneling for the D (Purple) Line Subway Extension Project connecting downtown and West L.A. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Metro gives a tour of the not yet completed Metro D (Purple) Line’s Wilshire/Fairfax station on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 in Los Angeles. Metro has completed the tunneling of the D Line Subway Extension Project connecting downtown and West L.A. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

A construction car is moved along the tracks of the Metro D (Purple) Line beneath Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 2, 2024. Metro has completed the tunneling of the D (Purple) Line Subway Extension Project connecting downtown and West L.A. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Crane operator Chris Melendez sits in a crane on what will eventually be the Metro D (Purple) Line’s Wilshire/Fairfax station entrance adjacent to the Peterson Automotive Museum on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 in Los Angeles. Metro has completed the tunneling of the D (Purple) Line Subway Extension Project connecting downtown and West L.A. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Tunneling for a new subway — the extension of the D (Purple) Line — is complete. LA Metro celebrated the milestone on Tuesday, April 2 at the future Wilshire/Fairfax subway station near the Miracle Mile section of Los Angeles. Under construction since 2014, the 9-mile, $9.5 billion extension is being built in three sections extending the subway from Koreatown to the Westwood/VA station, the western terminus.

Metro contractors used huge tunnel boring machines that excavated 40 to 60 feet per day, making it through tar sands and around abandoned oil wells under Beverly Hills High School.

“The D Line Subway Extension is one of the most complex engineering feats that Metro has undertaken,” said Lindsey Horvath, chair of the LA County Board of Supervisors and Metro board member. The machines also line the tunnel with precast concrete segments bolted together to form secure rings that are water-tight and gas-tight, Metro reports. Work will focus on completing seven new underground stations.

“When completed, the extension will make Metro transit available to 53,300 more weekday riders traveling between Downtown Los Angeles and the Westside,” said Karen Bass, L.A. mayor and Metro board chair. Phase one, from Wilshire/Western to Wilshire and La Cienega, is expected to open in 2025; phase two, which extends to Century City is slated to open in 2026, and the third phase extending to Westwood is expected to open in 2027.

• Newsroom Guidelines
• Report an Error

More in News

News | The Old Road, used when The Grapevine is closed, set for $250 million widening

News | Los Angeles council members tout an unarmed response during mental health crises

News | Lego ship building contest – wear shoes! – launches April 13 in San Pedro

Politics | City Council looking into wage increase for DTLA bus drivers

• Calls & Conferences
• Dutch Studies

Underground History: Splendor and Misery of the Moscow Metro

A public lecture by GABOR RITTERSPORN, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, Centre d'Etudes des Mondes Russe, Caucasien et Centre-Europeen

Duration: 43:53

The Moscow metro is a rare achievement of the Soviet regime continuing to receive virtually unanimous acclaim from post-Soviet citizens. Even those who decry it as a product of Stalinism recognize qualities of the subway's sumptuous architecture and decoration at least by taking it for spectacular kitsch.

The metro is expected to impress the world. It was intended to convey a clear message at the beginning. For fifty-five years the architecture and decoration had been meant to manifest a will to represent and celebrate the Soviet project, which was supposedly the construction of a radically new world of abundance, justice and happiness. The post-Soviet metro is also grappling with the task of representing values, those of the New Regime's architects.

One can make sense of Soviet and post-Soviet imageries of the best of possible worlds through interpreting the decoration of the underground and putting it in historical perspective. The exercise may reveal meanings contemporaries have been unlikely to grasp. It can also open eyes on trends historians are not necessarily aware of.

Please upgrade to a browser that supports HTML5 audio or install Flash.

Published: Saturday, February 7, 2009

^ top of page ^

• Center for European and Russian Studies • 11367 Bunche Hall• Los Angeles• CA• 90095-1446 • Email: [email protected] • Campus Mail Code: 144603 • Tel: (310) 825-8030 • Fax: (310) 206-3555 •

© 2024 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Terms of Use / Privacy Policy

Advertisement

Supported by

Federal Agents Raid Homes Tied to Sean Combs in Los Angeles and Miami

In response to questions about Mr. Combs’s residences, Homeland Security Investigations said the searches were part of “an ongoing investigation.”

• Share full article

By Ben Sisario ,  Julia Jacobs and William K. Rashbaum

Federal agents raided homes in Los Angeles and the Miami area on Monday that are connected to the hip-hop mogul Sean Combs, a person with knowledge of the case said.

Homeland Security Investigations carried out the raids but did not provide details about the case, including whether Mr. Combs was a target or which criminal charges were being investigated. Mr. Combs, who is also known as Puff Daddy or Diddy, has been accused of sexual assault and sex trafficking in multiple civil lawsuits over the last several months.

A spokesperson for Mr. Combs did not respond to a request for comment.

The criminal inquiry was being conducted by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York and federal agents with Homeland Security, a law-enforcement official said. Nicholas Biase, a spokesman for the Southern District, declined to comment.

In a statement, Homeland Security said that agents from New York had “executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami and our local law enforcement partners.”

Video from Fox 11 (KTTV), a local television station in Los Angeles, showed armed officers entering a home in the Holmby Hills area of the city, which a law-enforcement official said was connected to Mr. Combs. Public records in California also indicate that the home is owned by a company led by Mr. Combs.

The raids were a stunning development in the career of Mr. Combs , 54, a producer, label executive and occasional rapper who has been one of the most influential and widely recognized figures in the music business over the last 30 years.

He played an integral role in the transformation of hip-hop into a global commercial force, crafting hits and larger-than-life personas for rap and R&B performers like the Notorious B.I.G. and Mary J. Blige. He also made smash hits himself with songs like “I’ll Be Missing You” (1997), a ballad to the Notorious B.I.G. after his killing in a drive-by shooting, which featured Faith Evans, the rapper’s widow, and sampled the Police’s hit “Every Breath You Take.”

But Mr. Combs has also been dogged for decades by accusations of violence. In November, he was sued for sexual assault by Casandra Ventura , his former girlfriend, who was also signed to his label, Bad Boy, as the performing artist Cassie .

In her suit, Ms. Ventura accused Mr. Combs of forcing her to engage in sexual activity with male prostitutes over a period of years. The suit said that as a result of those encounters, which took place in a number of cities across the United States, Ms. Ventura was a victim of sex trafficking.

Ms. Ventura’s civil suit was settled in just one day, with her and Mr. Combs saying their dispute had been resolved “amicably.”

That case, filed in a detailed 35-page complaint, drew headlines around the world and imperiled the business brand he had steadily built up over decades. In the months before Ms. Ventura’s suit, Mr. Combs was given industry awards and released his first studio album in 17 years.

Even after its settlement, Ms. Ventura’s suit was followed by several more cases, each accusing Mr. Combs of sexual assault. In one case filed last month , a music producer, Rodney Jones, said that Mr. Combs had made unwanted sexual contact with him, and forced him to hire prostitutes and participate in sex acts with them. In recent months, many of Mr. Combs’s business partners have distanced themselves from him.

Federal investigators in New York have been leading the investigation, and have been conducting interviews asking potential witnesses about sexual misconduct allegations against Mr. Combs for several months, according to a person familiar with the interviews.

Mr. Combs has denied the accusations against him. In December, after an anonymous woman filed a suit accusing Mr. Combs and two other men of raping her in a New York recording studio in 2003, when she was 17, the music mogul said: “Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday. Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged.”

After Mr. Jones’s suit last month, Shawn Holley, a lawyer for Mr. Combs, said Mr. Jones is “nothing more than a liar who filed a $30 million lawsuit shamelessly looking for an undeserved payday,” and called his accusations “pure fiction.” Ms. Holley and two other lawyers for Mr. Combs also did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.

In a statement on Monday, Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer who represents Ms. Ventura and the anonymous woman who sued Mr. Combs alleging the assault at a New York studio, said: “We will always support law enforcement when it seeks to prosecute those that have violated the law. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a process that will hold Mr. Combs responsible for his depraved conduct.”

The home searched in Miami Beach was on Star Island, an exclusive enclave of mansions in Biscayne Bay popular with celebrities and the wealthy. On Monday its usual tranquillity was interrupted by a Homeland Security Investigations van with flashing red-and-blue lights, law enforcement officials in blue windbreakers and at least two agents with dogs, as well as journalists dotting its palm-lined lawns.

A similar scene played out near Mr. Combs’s home in Los Angeles, where by late afternoon a few dozen people, many of them journalists, milled about the tony neighborhood of Holmby Hills, unable to cross the yellow caution tape strung across South Mapleton Drive.

A few Los Angeles Police officers blocked the road leading up to Mr. Combs’s property. Those passing took an interest, with drivers of luxury sport utility vehicles slowing down to take photos of the scrum.

The neighborhood, just a mile east of the University of California, Los Angeles, is accustomed to attention. Boasting a long list of celebrity residents, it is where Hugh Hefner once threw lavish parties at the Playboy Mansion and where Michael Jackson lived in a château just before his death. Most estates are surrounded by gates and greenery or vine-covered stone walls — pillars of privacy for a community known for its exclusivity.

Hamed Aleaziz contributed reporting from Washington, D.C., Chelsia Rose Marcius from New York, Corina Knoll from Los Angeles and Verónica Zaragovia from Miami.

Ben Sisario covers the music industry. He has been writing for The Times since 1998. More about Ben Sisario

Julia Jacobs is an arts and culture reporter who often covers legal issues for The Times. More about Julia Jacobs

William K. Rashbaum is a senior writer on the Metro desk, where he covers political and municipal corruption, courts, terrorism and law enforcement. He was a part of the team awarded the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News. More about William K. Rashbaum

2018 Primetime Emmy & James Beard Award Winner

In Transit: Notes from the Underground

Jun 06 2018.

Spend some time in one of Moscow’s finest museums.

Subterranean commuting might not be anyone’s idea of a good time, but even in a city packing the war-games treasures and priceless bejeweled eggs of the Kremlin Armoury and the colossal Soviet pavilions of the VDNKh , the Metro holds up as one of Moscow’s finest museums. Just avoid rush hour.

The Metro is stunning and provides an unrivaled insight into the city’s psyche, past and present, but it also happens to be the best way to get around. Moscow has Uber, and the Russian version called Yandex Taxi , but also some nasty traffic. Metro trains come around every 90 seconds or so, at a more than 99 percent on-time rate. It’s also reasonably priced, with a single ride at 55 cents (and cheaper in bulk). From history to tickets to rules — official and not — here’s what you need to know to get started.

A Brief Introduction Buying Tickets Know Before You Go (Down) Rules An Easy Tour

A Brief Introduction

Moscow’s Metro was a long time coming. Plans for rapid transit to relieve the city’s beleaguered tram system date back to the Imperial era, but a couple of wars and a revolution held up its development. Stalin revived it as part of his grand plan to modernize the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 30s. The first lines and tunnels were constructed with help from engineers from the London Underground, although Stalin’s secret police decided that they had learned too much about Moscow’s layout and had them arrested on espionage charges and deported.

The beauty of its stations (if not its trains) is well-documented, and certainly no accident. In its illustrious first phases and particularly after the Second World War, the greatest architects of Soviet era were recruited to create gleaming temples celebrating the Revolution, the USSR, and the war triumph. No two stations are exactly alike, and each of the classic showpieces has a theme. There are world-famous shrines to Futurist architecture, a celebration of electricity, tributes to individuals and regions of the former Soviet Union. Each marble slab, mosaic tile, or light fixture was placed with intent, all in service to a station’s aesthetic; each element, f rom the smallest brass ear of corn to a large blood-spattered sword on a World War II mural, is an essential part of the whole.

The Metro is a monument to the Soviet propaganda project it was intended to be when it opened in 1935 with the slogan “Building a Palace for the People”. It brought the grand interiors of Imperial Russia to ordinary Muscovites, celebrated the Soviet Union’s past achievements while promising its citizens a bright Soviet future, and of course, it was a show-piece for the world to witness the might and sophistication of life in the Soviet Union.

It may be a museum, but it’s no relic. U p to nine million people use it daily, more than the London Underground and New York Subway combined. (Along with, at one time, about 20 stray dogs that learned to commute on the Metro.)

In its 80+ year history, the Metro has expanded in phases and fits and starts, in step with the fortunes of Moscow and Russia. Now, partly in preparation for the World Cup 2018, it’s also modernizing. New trains allow passengers to walk the entire length of the train without having to change carriages. The system is becoming more visitor-friendly. (There are helpful stickers on the floor marking out the best selfie spots .) But there’s a price to modernity: it’s phasing out one of its beloved institutions, the escalator attendants. Often they are middle-aged or elderly women—“ escalator grandmas ” in news accounts—who have held the post for decades, sitting in their tiny kiosks, scolding commuters for bad escalator etiquette or even bad posture, or telling jokes . They are slated to be replaced, when at all, by members of the escalator maintenance staff.

For all its achievements, the Metro lags behind Moscow’s above-ground growth, as Russia’s capital sprawls ever outwards, generating some of the world’s worst traffic jams . But since 2011, the Metro has been in the middle of an ambitious and long-overdue enlargement; 60 new stations are opening by 2020. If all goes to plan, the 2011-2020 period will have brought 125 miles of new tracks and over 100 new stations — a 40 percent increase — the fastest and largest expansion phase in any period in the Metro’s history.

Facts: 14 lines Opening hours: 5 a.m-1 a.m. Rush hour(s): 8-10 a.m, 4-8 p.m. Single ride: 55₽ (about 85 cents) Wi-Fi network-wide

Buying Tickets

• Ticket machines have a button to switch to English.
• You can buy specific numbers of rides: 1, 2, 5, 11, 20, or 60. Hold up fingers to show how many rides you want to buy.
• There is also a 90-minute ticket , which gets you 1 trip on the metro plus an unlimited number of transfers on other transport (bus, tram, etc) within 90 minutes.
• Or, you can buy day tickets with unlimited rides: one day (218₽/ US$4), three days (415₽/US$7) or seven days (830₽/US$15). Check the rates here to stay up-to-date.
• If you’re going to be using the Metro regularly over a few days, it’s worth getting a Troika card , a contactless, refillable card you can use on all public transport. Using the Metro is cheaper with one of these: a single ride is 36₽, not 55₽. Buy them and refill them in the Metro stations, and they’re valid for 5 years, so you can keep it for next time. Or, if you have a lot of cash left on it when you leave, you can get it refunded at the Metro Service Centers at Ulitsa 1905 Goda, 25 or at Staraya Basmannaya 20, Building 1.
• You can also buy silicone bracelets and keychains with built-in transport chips that you can use as a Troika card. (A Moscow Metro Fitbit!) So far, you can only get these at the Pushkinskaya metro station Live Helpdesk and souvenir shops in the Mayakovskaya and Trubnaya metro stations. The fare is the same as for the Troika card.
• You can also use Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.

Rules, spoken and unspoken

No smoking, no drinking, no filming, no littering. Photography is allowed, although it used to be banned.

Stand to the right on the escalator. Break this rule and you risk the wrath of the legendary escalator attendants. (No shenanigans on the escalators in general.)

Get out of the way. Find an empty corner to hide in when you get off a train and need to stare at your phone. Watch out getting out of the train in general; when your train doors open, people tend to appear from nowhere or from behind ornate marble columns, walking full-speed.

Always offer your seat to elderly ladies (what are you, a monster?).

An Easy Tour

This is no Metro Marathon ( 199 stations in 20 hours ). It’s an easy tour, taking in most—though not all—of the notable stations, the bulk of it going clockwise along the Circle line, with a couple of short detours. These stations are within minutes of one another, and the whole tour should take about 1-2 hours.

Start at Mayakovskaya Metro station , at the corner of Tverskaya and Garden Ring,  Triumfalnaya Square, Moskva, Russia, 125047.

1. Mayakovskaya.  Named for Russian Futurist Movement poet Vladimir Mayakovsky and an attempt to bring to life the future he imagined in his poems. (The Futurist Movement, natch, was all about a rejecting the past and celebrating all things speed, industry, modern machines, youth, modernity.) The result: an Art Deco masterpiece that won the National Grand Prix for architecture at the New York World’s Fair in 1939. It’s all smooth, rounded shine and light, and gentle arches supported by columns of dark pink marble and stainless aircraft steel. Each of its 34 ceiling niches has a mosaic. During World War II, the station was used as an air-raid shelter and, at one point, a bunker for Stalin. He gave a subdued but rousing speech here in Nov. 6, 1941 as the Nazis bombed the city above.

Take the 3/Green line one station to:

2. Belorusskaya. Opened in 1952, named after the connected Belarussky Rail Terminal, which runs trains between Moscow and Belarus. This is a light marble affair with a white, cake-like ceiling, lined with Belorussian patterns and 12 Florentine ceiling mosaics depicting life in Belarussia when it was built.

Transfer onto the 1/Brown line. Then, one stop (clockwise) t o:

3. Novoslobodskaya.  This station was designed around the stained-glass panels, which were made in Latvia, because Alexey Dushkin, the Soviet starchitect who dreamed it up (and also designed Mayakovskaya station) couldn’t find the glass and craft locally. The stained glass is the same used for Riga’s Cathedral, and the panels feature plants, flowers, members of the Soviet intelligentsia (musician, artist, architect) and geometric shapes.

Go two stops east on the 1/Circle line to:

4. Komsomolskaya. Named after the Komsomol, or the Young Communist League, this might just be peak Stalin Metro style. Underneath the hub for three regional railways, it was intended to be a grand gateway to Moscow and is today its busiest station. It has chandeliers; a yellow ceiling with Baroque embellishments; and in the main hall, a colossal red star overlaid on golden, shimmering tiles. Designer Alexey Shchusev designed it as an homage to the speech Stalin gave at Red Square on Nov. 7, 1941, in which he invoked Russia’s illustrious military leaders as a pep talk to Soviet soldiers through the first catastrophic year of the war.   The station’s eight large mosaics are of the leaders referenced in the speech, such as Alexander Nevsky, a 13th-century prince and military commander who bested German and Swedish invading armies.

One more stop clockwise to Kurskaya station,  and change onto the 3/Blue  line, and go one stop to:

5. Baumanskaya.   Opened in 1944. Named for the Bolshevik Revolutionary Nikolai Bauman , whose monument and namesake district are aboveground here. Though he seemed like a nasty piece of work (he apparently once publicly mocked a woman he had impregnated, who later hung herself), he became a Revolutionary martyr when he was killed in 1905 in a skirmish with a monarchist, who hit him on the head with part of a steel pipe. The station is in Art Deco style with atmospherically dim lighting, and a series of bronze sculptures of soldiers and homefront heroes during the War. At one end, there is a large mosaic portrait of Lenin.

Stay on that train direction one more east to:

6. Elektrozavodskaya. As you may have guessed from the name, this station is the Metro’s tribute to all thing electrical, built in 1944 and named after a nearby lightbulb factory. It has marble bas-relief sculptures of important figures in electrical engineering, and others illustrating the Soviet Union’s war-time struggles at home. The ceiling’s recurring rows of circular lamps give the station’s main tunnel a comforting glow, and a pleasing visual effect.

Double back two stops to Kurskaya station , and change back to the 1/Circle line. Sit tight for six stations to:

7. Kiyevskaya. This was the last station on the Circle line to be built, in 1954, completed under Nikita Khrushchev’ s guidance, as a tribute to his homeland, Ukraine. Its three large station halls feature images celebrating Ukraine’s contributions to the Soviet Union and Russo-Ukrainian unity, depicting musicians, textile-working, soldiers, farmers. (One hall has frescoes, one mosaics, and the third murals.) Shortly after it was completed, Khrushchev condemned the architectural excesses and unnecessary luxury of the Stalin era, which ushered in an epoch of more austere Metro stations. According to the legend at least, he timed the policy in part to ensure no Metro station built after could outshine Kiyevskaya.

Change to the 3/Blue line and go one stop west.

8. Park Pobedy. This is the deepest station on the Metro, with one of the world’s longest escalators, at 413 feet. If you stand still, the escalator ride to the surface takes about three minutes .) Opened in 2003 at Victory Park, the station celebrates two of Russia’s great military victories. Each end has a mural by Georgian artist Zurab Tsereteli, who also designed the “ Good Defeats Evil ” statue at the UN headquarters in New York. One mural depicts the Russian generals’ victory over the French in 1812 and the other, the German surrender of 1945. The latter is particularly striking; equal parts dramatic, triumphant, and gruesome. To the side, Red Army soldiers trample Nazi flags, and if you look closely there’s some blood spatter among the detail. Still, the biggest impressions here are the marble shine of the chessboard floor pattern and the pleasingly geometric effect if you view from one end to the other.

Keep going one more stop west to:

9. Slavyansky Bulvar.  One of the Metro’s youngest stations, it opened in 2008. With far higher ceilings than many other stations—which tend to have covered central tunnels on the platforms—it has an “open-air” feel (or as close to it as you can get, one hundred feet under). It’s an homage to French architect Hector Guimard, he of the Art Nouveau entrances for the Paris M é tro, and that’s precisely what this looks like: A Moscow homage to the Paris M é tro, with an additional forest theme. A Cyrillic twist on Guimard’s Metro-style lettering over the benches, furnished with t rees and branch motifs, including creeping vines as towering lamp-posts.

Stay on the 3/Blue line and double back four stations to:

10. Arbatskaya. Its first iteration, Arbatskaya-Smolenskaya station, was damaged by German bombs in 1941. It was rebuilt in 1953, and designed to double as a bomb shelter in the event of nuclear war, although unusually for stations built in the post-war phase, this one doesn’t have a war theme. It may also be one of the system’s most elegant: Baroque, but toned down a little, with red marble floors and white ceilings with gilded bronze c handeliers.

Jump back on the 3/Blue line  in the same direction and take it one more stop:

11. Ploshchad Revolyutsii (Revolution Square). Opened in 1938, and serving Red Square and the Kremlin . Its renowned central hall has marble columns flanked by 76 bronze statues of Soviet heroes: soldiers, students, farmers, athletes, writers, parents. Some of these statues’ appendages have a yellow sheen from decades of Moscow’s commuters rubbing them for good luck. Among the most popular for a superstitious walk-by rub: the snout of a frontier guard’s dog, a soldier’s gun (where the touch of millions of human hands have tapered the gun barrel into a fine, pointy blade), a baby’s foot, and a woman’s knee. (A brass rooster also sports the telltale gold sheen, though I am told that rubbing the rooster is thought to bring bad luck. )

Now take the escalator up, and get some fresh air.

R&K Insider

Join our newsletter to get exclusives on where our correspondents travel, what they eat, where they stay. Free to sign up.

21 Things to Know Before You Go to Moscow

Featured city guides.