http://brooklynian.com/forum/park-slope/little-kids-being-used-to-collect-money-for-gangstas-in-park-slope en-US Thu, 20 Jun 2013 10:37:58 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q http://brooklynian.com/forum/search.php http://brooklynian.com/forum/park-slope/little-kids-being-used-to-collect-money-for-gangstas-in-park-slope#post-762621 Thu, 27 Dec 2012 20:53:19 +0000 whynot_31 762621@http://brooklynian.com/forum/ <p>Less than savvy donors (aka "suckers"), fall prey to scams like this all of the time:</p> <p><a href="http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?id=8933578&amp;rss=rss-wabc-article-8933578&amp;section=news%2Flocal%2Fnorthern_suburbs" rel="nofollow">http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?id=8933578&amp;rss=rss-wabc-article-8933578&amp;section=news%2Flocal%2Fnorthern_suburbs</a> </p> http://brooklynian.com/forum/park-slope/little-kids-being-used-to-collect-money-for-gangstas-in-park-slope#post-762606 Thu, 27 Dec 2012 01:25:25 +0000 Smokin' Joe 762606@http://brooklynian.com/forum/ <blockquote><p><cite>The Psycho-ologist <a href="http://brooklynian.com/forum/park-slope/little-kids-being-used-to-collect-money-for-gangstas-in-park-slope#post-762526">said</a>:</cite><br /> Like WHY NOT said "give wisely" ie give to trustable verifiable organizations that help needy kids. An even better thing you can do right there on the stop is say "If you are asking for money or food I will take you to the corner bodega and buy a sandwhich". Those that are really needy will take you up on your offer and you will still feel like a kind person who did something good. </p></blockquote> <p>both are excellent ideas. i've offered to buy food in response to panhandling many times and am no longer surprised when they decline. and if you want to give to homeless people, send a check to coalition for the homeless (www.coalitionforthehomeless.org). they do good work and get food and services to people who need them. </p> http://brooklynian.com/forum/park-slope/little-kids-being-used-to-collect-money-for-gangstas-in-park-slope#post-762526 Fri, 21 Dec 2012 13:47:34 +0000 The Psycho-ologist 762526@http://brooklynian.com/forum/ <p>I am in agreement with Slopeduder here. The issue really is child exploitation and believe me when I say your "kindness" will be wasted as the parents and older thug siblings will just rip the cash from the poor child's behind as soon as your back is turned. A more popular scheme is to get your child declared disabled in some way and become the "payee" for the childs Social Security Disability check and use that money to support a drug habit rather than the child. My sister is a social worker for ACS and is all too familiar with the latter scenario as am I who also works in mental health for social service agencies. Like WHY NOT said "give wisely" ie give to trustable verifiable organizations that help needy kids. An even better thing you can do right there on the stop is say "If you are asking for money or food I will take you to the corner bodega and buy a sandwhich". Those that are really needy will take you up on your offer and you will still feel like a kind person who did something good. </p> http://brooklynian.com/forum/park-slope/little-kids-being-used-to-collect-money-for-gangstas-in-park-slope#post-762481 Thu, 20 Dec 2012 02:37:59 +0000 SlopeDuder 762481@http://brooklynian.com/forum/ <p>I have kindness in my heart just not for a lying child that will then give that money to some street thug. </p> http://brooklynian.com/forum/park-slope/little-kids-being-used-to-collect-money-for-gangstas-in-park-slope#post-762457 Wed, 19 Dec 2012 03:59:04 +0000 witch-king 762457@http://brooklynian.com/forum/ <blockquote><p><cite>SlopeDuder <a href="http://brooklynian.com/forum/park-slope/little-kids-being-used-to-collect-money-for-gangstas-in-park-slope#post-762413">said</a>:</cite><br /> Oh so i should reward a 7 year old for not robbing me. Cute. Are you in the habit of giving money to anyone that asks in the off chance that they might rob you? Where do you live exactly, mind if I stop by?<br /> I like how you sidestepped the entire child-as-money-gathering-slave aspect which is the entire issue i was trying to address. </p></blockquote> <p>1. I would mind if you stopped by, you seem a bit unbalanced.<br /> 2. I sidestepped the hyperbole in your jeremiad.<br /> 3. You should give the kid money if you have any kindness in your heart. If you do not, you are free to rationalize any reason for not doing so. </p> http://brooklynian.com/forum/park-slope/little-kids-being-used-to-collect-money-for-gangstas-in-park-slope#post-762417 Mon, 17 Dec 2012 09:07:24 +0000 whynot_31 762417@http://brooklynian.com/forum/ <p>I wonder if they believe they are more likely to be successful during the holiday season, and are more active as a result.</p> <p>...they certainly wouldn't be the first to adopt such tactics; my mailbox and inbox is full of such appeals. </p> <p>My only appeal to you is this: Give Wisely. </p> http://brooklynian.com/forum/park-slope/little-kids-being-used-to-collect-money-for-gangstas-in-park-slope#post-762415 Mon, 17 Dec 2012 07:39:27 +0000 GoodProspect 762415@http://brooklynian.com/forum/ <p>They were out in Prospect Heights the other day, too. </p> http://brooklynian.com/forum/park-slope/little-kids-being-used-to-collect-money-for-gangstas-in-park-slope#post-762413 Mon, 17 Dec 2012 01:11:41 +0000 SlopeDuder 762413@http://brooklynian.com/forum/ <blockquote><p><cite>witch-king <a href="http://brooklynian.com/forum/park-slope/little-kids-being-used-to-collect-money-for-gangstas-in-park-slope#post-762393">said</a>:</cite><br /> Just give the kid a buck or two. Better that he's asking rather than simply taking it by force.</p> </blockquote> <p>Oh so i should reward a 7 year old for not robbing me. Cute. Are you in the habit of giving money to anyone that asks in the off chance that they might rob you? Where do you live exactly, mind if I stop by?<br /> I like how you sidestepped the entire child-as-money-gathering-slave aspect which is the entire issue i was trying to address. </p> http://brooklynian.com/forum/park-slope/little-kids-being-used-to-collect-money-for-gangstas-in-park-slope#post-762393 Sun, 16 Dec 2012 15:14:00 +0000 witch-king 762393@http://brooklynian.com/forum/ <p>Just give the kid a buck or two. Better that he's asking rather than simply taking it by force. </p> http://brooklynian.com/forum/park-slope/little-kids-being-used-to-collect-money-for-gangstas-in-park-slope#post-762390 Sun, 16 Dec 2012 11:43:30 +0000 The Psycho-ologist 762390@http://brooklynian.com/forum/ <p>This is SOO common. I work in mental health, and I go to a lot of low income neighborhoods, where older siblings and PARENTS routinely parade their kids around to help beg for money. Calling the cops does nothing. Cops rarely respond in a timely manner to catch these folks, and if Cops are nearby, all they will tell these perpetrators to do is to stop begging. The perpetrators will just move to a new location.</p> <p>The only thing I have been able to try to do, is get one of the kids alone, and try to get a first, last name and a partial address, to see if I could report the parents to ACS. Even that doesn't always do anything.</p> <p>It is so sad, but I see parents doing this to their own children too. </p> http://brooklynian.com/forum/park-slope/little-kids-being-used-to-collect-money-for-gangstas-in-park-slope#post-762369 Sat, 15 Dec 2012 00:05:03 +0000 SlopeDuder 762369@http://brooklynian.com/forum/ <p>They weren't just "begging for money." This thug, at 6:30pm on a school night, was parading these kids around in the bitter cold forcing them to go door to door and ask for money on fraudulent terms. And I know it was not the first occasion. I flat out ask the child if he rather be home playing and he said yes. If this doesn't qualify as some form of child abuse then I don't what does.<br /> I suspect if they walked on 4 legs and had pointy ears then their plight would receive more attention. </p> http://brooklynian.com/forum/park-slope/little-kids-being-used-to-collect-money-for-gangstas-in-park-slope#post-762359 Fri, 14 Dec 2012 12:58:53 +0000 PragmaticGuy 762359@http://brooklynian.com/forum/ <p>There's nothing illegal about begging for money. May be bothersome but it's not illegal. Go to Mexico, kids there do it all the time. The best way to put an end to it is for everyone not to give them any. Once they see they can't make any they'll give up. Then when they get older they'll probably mug you. </p> http://brooklynian.com/forum/park-slope/little-kids-being-used-to-collect-money-for-gangstas-in-park-slope#post-762319 Wed, 12 Dec 2012 19:45:11 +0000 SlopeDuder 762319@http://brooklynian.com/forum/ <p>Little boy rings my bell just now, no older then 7 or 8, tells me he's collecting money for "after school program".<br /> He has a single photocopied sheet of paper with his "speech", and some random address/phone# in the corner which I guess is supposed to be a schools or something. Not legit in any way shape or form.</p> <p>He looks like he is freezing his butt off. I tell him he should be home doing his schoolwork or playing not collecting money for anyone. I then ask who he is with and he says his brother, who is sitting on the stoop across the street. I then see 2 other kids who are even SMALLER than this one walking back to the brother, who then gets up and does his lazy-legged crip-walk down the sidewalk to the next block of houses. </p> <p>IS THIS LEGAL? I really wanted to call the police. My wife says she has seen them before asking for money on the sidewalk, this is first time we've seen them come to people's houses. Anybody else run into them? What can be done? </p>