The city government promised the Vila Laboriaux Residents’ Association a space for meetings and community events after it allowed temporary squatters into the association’s prior headquarters to get out of hand. After several years, what were they offered? The city presented them with this dark basement, the floor of which is covered in open sewage. Issues of water and sewage continue to be at the forefront of community associations’ agendas throughout the city as the government fails to provide these basic needs.