Last week we reminded readers of the documentary film Dark Days, which chronicled the goings on of the “Mole People” who live beneath NYC – more specifically, those living in the depths of Penn Station.

I watched the film, which is very well executed by director Marc Singer.

Yes, these “Mole People” definitely have built some interesting little shacks down there that have a sort of ice-fishing-cabin aesthetic to them. They have electricity, hotplates, mini-fridges, televisions and space heaters. Running water is a no-go, although some romanticize about the old days when they did have it. A leaky cold water pipe serves up an invigorating shower.

Hold up before strapping on your miner’s helmet and filling up your Ikea cart though.

During the day, they are forced to go topside to recycle cans and forage for food in the trash. Vigilance against vermin is ritual. A bucket serves as well – you know what. Disagreements can escalate to razings.

The population, predictably, is largely comprised of crack addicts, but there are some others as well, some just needed a place to stay for a night and just never got up the gumption to leave. Most of them have at least some sort of communal relationship to others.

SPOILER ALERT

Later in the film, the residents are forced to leave by Amtrack and the NYFD for safety reasons – Amtrack officials state there are 3-4 fatalities a year down there from exposure and train hits. The city actually sets them up fairly nicely in some great little apartments which, by contrast, are most noticeably sunny.

In Roger Ebert’s review of the film, he recognizes a sort of lament in the relocated – that, although thankful for the new digs, they also sense the loss of their little community. However, I didn’t get this impression at all. I felt they were not only genuinely thankful of their new surroundings, but that the lament was in having realized they had wasted years of their live down in the hole.