An Arcade For Squatters Living In An Abandoned Skyscraper

There are 2500 people living in The Centro Financiero Confinanzas, an unfinished skyscraper in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. Despite being essentially squatters, they still have somewhere to play video games.

The building, despite being incomplete, isn’t just a home to those 2500 souls. It’s a city unto itself, complete with bars, dentists, stores and even recreational facilities.

Oh, and an arcade. Humberto Hidalgo, 23, an immigrant from Colombia, has four TV sets in his family’s living room, a PlayStation hooked up to each one. He charges the “local” kids 50 cents for half an hour on the consoles. They may not be Street Fighter IV cabinets, but for a bunch of squatters, that’s a pretty sweet setup.

“There’s opportunity in this tower”, he says. His wife, Julieth Tilano, helps him run a store on the building’s seventh floor.

It’s an incredible story, and there’s plenty more of it over on the New York Times.

A 45-Story Walkup Beckons the Desperate [New York Times, via io9]