Striking photos of the homeless community that lived beneath Manhattan

By Christian Storm From Business Insider

New York City has a long and sordid history with its homeless. While the city has been attempting to deal with the problem for years, the issues still persists.

In fact, since 2006, the number of homeless people have steadily risen, reaching all-time highs of over 58,000 homeless people sleeping in shelters each night.

And those numbers don’t account for New York’s homeless who seek refuge on the streets.

Photographer and filmmaker Andrea Star Reese discovered a community of such people, living in makeshift dwelling inside a 2.5-mile long Amtrak tunnel on Manhattan’s west side. Over the course of 7 years, Reese met and photographed many of them, gaining intimate access to their lives.

She found that the people she met, mostly shunned by society and living in relative squalor, were strong, resilient, and had knowledge to share.

“They took care of one another, saved lives, stood together against predators and extended comfort to the damaged, to the sad,” Reese tells Business Insider.

Reese’s work has been compiled into a new photo book, titled “The Urban Cave,” which will be made available soon. You can see more photos can been seen on her website: http://www.andreastarreese.com and on her Kickstarter page at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2066133663/the-urban-cave-by-andrea-star-reese-a-photo-book

IMAGE: The Urban Cave Andrea Star Reese

For more on this story and photos go to: http://www.businessinsider.com/nyc-homeless-living-underground-2014-11?op=1#ixzz3JdABJngm