Mac MacCuffy of New York City liked to explore basements. One Saturday afternoon, he found the basements of basements. It was hidden behind an old wooden door under an apartment building in Little Italy next to a row of small storage rooms. It had electricity, water pipes, and it was dry. Mac thought maybe it was the end of an abandoned subway line. Assuming he could chase the rats out and keep them out, to Mac, this place looked like free real estate. It just needed fixing up a little. Mac went to the planning department where he couldn’t find the space on any plan or map. It seemed to be his for the taking. He rented a small storage room under the apartment building, which gave him a key. First he put in a bathroom and kitchen, which let him drop his lease in the Upper West Side. At the far end, he installed a basement lift that opened onto a sidewalk of a side street. Here he paid for his own electric meter. Over the next five years, Mac built workshops, a bakery, a few apartments, and stairwells into existing buildings. This was particularly easy for buildings with absentee owners. A large number of small monthly rents gave Mac the capital to expand his operations. After the fifth year, he began his own excavations to the west.
Tales