I live in the tunnel.

Years ago, I explored the freedom tunnel, an Amtrak train tunnel that runs under the west side highway in New York City.

I came here looking for mole people, a name given to the homeless who live in the tunnels beneath the city.

On my very first visit to the freedom tunnel, I met Carlos.

How are you doing? My name is Carlos. I'm a Christian.

Carlos immigrated from Cuba when he was 21.

I'm more American than Cuba man. I'm 27 years here.

You've been here 27?

I'm 48.

How did you get here?

In the boat. Key West, 1980.

Carlos was friendly but skeptical of me and my camera.

I wanna say the truth. You say right. I don't trust you, because you don't know me. You don't trust me either.

Because we cannot trust men.

Gradually, I gained his trust and he opened up quite a bit about his life in the tunnel.

How long you've been here?

More than two years.

(Do) you like living down here?

Yeah, because I got everything that I need. You know?

I got my place, everything's okay, heat, everything, electricity.

Nobody bothers you? - No.

They know we that we're here, you know.

Do you have any trouble getting food down here?

No, no. God provides food.

What do you do for food?

Supermarkets, they throw away food.

Food that expired the date, and some food that they damaged, you know, broken? It's in good shape, so we take it.

For food, I don't have to worry.

Eventually, Carlos showed me his home.

You got the camera on? - Yeah.

Oh, wow.

How do you get down there?

I got the stairs, the ladder there.

Oh, yeah.

I was astonished to find out Carlos's home was a sewer.

Water.

He had an impressive set up complete with computers, refrigerators and a microwave.

I was blown away by what I saw and eager to learn more about Carlos's living situation.

Where are you getting that electricity from?

From all the way in the back.

Oh, yeah.

He had run a line down the tunnel and tapped into a power source.

Nobody really knows you guys are down here, do they?

The police know we're here. We're two years here.

How did you find out about the spot in the tunnel here?

My friend, he found this place... more than five years ago.

Carlos's friend, Brian, lived in the sewer next to his.

You going out? At 5:00? Alright, see you later.

Where were you living before you live here?

I was homeless for a long time. For many years.

For many years I used to live in the shelters, in the facility, you know, government facilities, the shelters.

But it's a very bad place. The shelter is a very, very, wicked place.

So... I think...

8, 9 years, I don't know exactly. I got out from the shelter.

What makes the shelter so wicked?

Wicked. Drugs, fighting, it's wicked.

Now, what originally led to you to be homeless?

It's not easy for me to maintain my job, you know? To hold a job, you know?

You could see Carlos's sadness as he talked about how he used to live.

In contrast, he was proud of his new home.

Anybody who wants to come over here has got to take the shoes off.

Oh, this is garbage.

Do you want me to hand you down some of the stuff or?

Put it there, put it somewhere in the corner, I'm going to throw it away.

This is milk.

I mean some of this other stuff, the keyboard. Do you want that?

Yeah, give me the keyboard.

So how (do) you like it? (Do) you like it?

It's nice, man.

It's cool as hell.

Everything is from the garbage, I found it.

It doesn't smell bad here, no?

No, not at all.

I would have never guessed that it used to be a sewer.

I marveled at all the work and inventiveness Carlos put in to create comfort for his home.

Something that most of us take for granted like water was a daily chore for him.

You see how much workl I gotta do here?

Where do you get the water from?

Oh, from the pump. I told you already.

I helped him bring his belongings into his place as he shared more about his life in the tunnel.

I got to be bring the computer. Can you help me with that computer?

Yeah.

What are you doing with it?

I got to put it here.

I got a printer too, but I need one cable for the printer.

Well, what kind of cable (do) you need?

Can I show you the printer? The back.

Yeah. Let me see. I might have one.

This is the print. - This one here?

I visited Carlos a number of times and brought an extra printer cable I had at home on my next visit.

Oh, yeah, it fits. Look. Nice.

It fits. The cable fits.

Yeah, I thought, I thought that was the right one.

I cannot do it today nothing, because today is the Lord's day, you know? - Yeah.

I have done already too much.

Carlos was very religious and would not work when it was time for him to pray.

I'm going to pray down there.

All right, man.

So you have a nice day, okay?

I'll probably come by next weekend, all right?

The next weekend when I saw Carlos, I got a wonderful surprise.

I want you to go inside with me, in the room.

I want you to figure out the computer. I have something, some problem. You can check it out?

I'll take a look at it.

Yeah, please.

I was really excited to be invited into his home.

Ready?

Yep.

You gotta take your sweater.

You gotta take your sweater off, becasue it's warm inside.

Once inside, I did my best tech support to show my gratitude for this unique experience.

You don't have enough empty space on your hard drive.

So, what can I do? What can I do?

You can put another one in.

Oh, like I have here. Let me see.

Like this one, like that?

Luckily, I built a few computers at that point.

So I was able to answer Carlos's questions.

That just gives it power, it doesn't matter which one you use. - OK, good, good.

In a few minutes, I learn a lot about everything that you said.

After we got the hard drive installed, we called it a day.

I saw Carlos several more times on my visits to the tunnel, but that day was my only time in his home.

I'm grateful he warmed up to me and was willing to share his way of life.

Spending time with Carlos and visiting his extraordinary home is a unique experience that I will always remember.

Carlos no longer lives in the tunnel.

The authorities cleared everyone out several years ago and sealed up Carlos and Brian's homes.

All that remains is a small pile of old clothes and debris.

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