New Career Potential?! [No, not from a spam-bot...]
Every once in a while I get in to that- "damn, I really don't want to go to work... ever" mood- I know that I'm not alone in this. During these little flights-of-fancy, I've sometimes thought, "without a proper job, what would I do to make ends meet?! I know- I could panhandle!!!"
I'm fairly rational and I'm not going to take up residence in front of a bodega any time soon, but it does raise the question- how well do some of these professional panhandlers do?! I mean, Charismatic Eye-patch is always wearing clean clothes and doesn't look any worse for the wear of being unemployed and I think that they run shifts at some of the bodegas on 7th in PS...
Anybody have any insight on how much some of these guys make?! I hear rumors that some make six figures tax-free...
I'm fairly rational and I'm not going to take up residence in front of a bodega any time soon, but it does raise the question- how well do some of these professional panhandlers do?! I mean, Charismatic Eye-patch is always wearing clean clothes and doesn't look any worse for the wear of being unemployed and I think that they run shifts at some of the bodegas on 7th in PS...
Anybody have any insight on how much some of these guys make?! I hear rumors that some make six figures tax-free...
Comments
-
Maybe but no 401K or Health
-
Don't know abount panhandling, but I have noticed a progressive trend nowadays of people being generally lazier and willing to pay for services that see a bit frou-frou.
The whole concept of paying someone to rip your CDs and load an iPod with MP3s come to mind. Ditto with closet consultants who tell you how to... Organize your closets!
Remember: Technology is making things easier in some ways. But opening up whole new avenues for boutique ideas in other ways. -
According to this week's NewYork Magazine, one panhandler claims to make $24,000.
-
mc wrote: According to this week's NewYork Magazine, one panhandler claims to make $24,000.
That's a lot more than a starting NYC teacher makes after taxes.
-
here's a formula i came up with to help me decide whether or not to give up my day job and become a panhandler:
21,900hd/f=s
where:
h=average size of handout
d=duration; how many hours a day you can stand on the streetcorner begging. assumes you'll have to do this every day of the year (panhandlers get no vacation days)
f=average frequency, in minutes, of handout
21,900=365 days/year * 60 minutes/hour
s=your annual 'salary'
so if you expect to clear $.50 every 15 minutes for 12 straight hours, your formula would be:
21,900*.5*12/15=$8,760 per year. -
queen_of_pies wrote: here's a formula i came up with to help me decide whether or not to give up my day job and become a panhandler:
It's the geek in me, I know... but I really enjoy it when people make up formulas like this. I just gotta figure out how to formulate my Jesus pants. :roll:
21,900hd/f=s
where:
h=average size of handout
d=duration; how many hours a day you can stand on the streetcorner begging. assumes you'll have to do this every day of the year (panhandlers get no vacation days)
f=average frequency, in minutes, of handout
21,900=365 days/year * 60 minutes/hour
s=your annual 'salary'
so if you expect to clear $.50 every 15 minutes for 12 straight hours, your formula would be:
21,900*.5*12/15=$8,760 per year. -
There was an article about a year back (on MSN.com) about NYC subway musicians. One part-time guy, I think that he played an electric violin, said some of the full-time guys made well in to the six figures... Do you think that there's a big discrepancy between what the panhandlers and street musicians make?
-
nybt wrote: There was an article about a year back (on MSN.com) about NYC subway musicians. One part-time guy, I think that he played an electric violin, said some of the full-time guys made well in to the six figures... Do you think that there's a big discrepancy between what the panhandlers and street musicians make?
I think people tend to give street musicians more ("h" is bigger, typically a dollar), and the subway has a lot of traffic. If you were in a heavily-trafficked station like Times Sq, Grand Central, Penn Station or Union Square, I think you would average more like one "handout" per 5 minutes.
Using queen of pies' formula:
s=21,900hd/f
s=(21,900 (1.0)(12))/5
s=$52,560/year
This would be equivalent to a taxed salary of over $100,000/year. -
queen_of_pies wrote: here's a formula i came up with to help me decide whether or not to give up my day job and become a panhandler:
This works, but I think that I might have laid it out a little differently- I feel like you also have to factor in taxes, or rather, what you would have to make pre-tax to equal the real world dollars... for instance, if you panhandled and took home 30k for the year, you would have to make roughly 46k gross at a 9-to-5 to equal that 30k (assuming you pay somewhere around 35% by way of taxes).
21,900hd/f=s
where:
h=average size of handout
d=duration; how many hours a day you can stand on the streetcorner begging. assumes you'll have to do this every day of the year (panhandlers get no vacation days)
f=average frequency, in minutes, of handout
21,900=365 days/year * 60 minutes/hour
s=your annual 'salary'
so if you expect to clear $.50 every 15 minutes for 12 straight hours, your formula would be:
21,900*.5*12/15=$8,760 per year. -
Carnivore wrote: I think people tend to give street musicians more ("h" is bigger, typically a dollar)...
I think that, if you were to take a look at the size of the donations, the mode maybe be higher for musicians, but I don't think that the average is necessarily more- I think that the sympathy factor is huge. Maybe you get a ton of people giving you 50 cents, but there's a couple people per day (hour?!) that really feel sorry and hand over a 10 or 20-spot... -
nybt wrote: but there's a couple people per day (hour?!) that really feel sorry and hand over a 10 or 20-spot...
That's got to be quite rare. -
You also have to factor in fringe benefits, such as free food donations, either from passers-by, homeless shelters, or other charities. If a typical breakfast, lunch and dinner cost $6, $10 and $12 in New York then our 24-7-365 panhandler would make an additional $10,220 of "in kind" donations; and again, he/she would need $15,000 in taxed income to pay for all that food (estimating here, nybt knows how to do the math).
Then there's rent... staying at a homeless shelter will save you $1000 a month, or $12,000 a year, or at least $17,000 in taxable income.
Somebody should put all this in a spreadsheet... -
Plus you'd probably qualify for Medicaid, which is about the best health insurance you could have.
-
Carnivore wrote: [quote=nybt]but there's a couple people per day (hour?!) that really feel sorry and hand over a 10 or 20-spot...
That's got to be quite rare.
A few weeks ago, one of my co-workers was talking about a panhandler in his neighborhood (UES?). He said that "she does pretty well." He said that he and his wife routinely gave her 10s or 20s (no, not every day, but a few times per month) and that he was certain others did as well... Different neighborhood, sure, but if you're going to run your own business, location is important, so a smart panhandler is going to open shop in the place that they feel is best for success... -
dailyheights wrote: Then there's rent... staying at a homeless shelter will save you $1000 a month, or $12,000 a year, or at least $17,000 in taxable income.
Of course, you'd have to subtract how much was stolen from you in the shelter. And the medical bills for when you got stabbed (unless covered by Medicaid- see above). -
Also, the estimate of 50 cents every 15 min is way too low.
I see the way you people throw around your spare change. -
dailyheights wrote: ... our 24-7-365 panhandler would make an additional $10,220 of "in kind" donations
Charismatic Eye-Patch (the Natural Land panhandler) routinely takes food donations.dailyheights wrote: Somebody should put all this in a spreadsheet...
That's something stupid that I would waste hours on... -
dailyheights wrote: Also, the estimate of 50 cents every 15 min is way too low.
Hipsters! :twisted:
I see the way you people throw around your spare change. -
I was taking a train to Jersey about five years ago from Manhattan. I don't remember where, but only that it was cash only and a dollar or two (I can't recall). During the rush hour, hundreds of people were rushing the stairs to the turnstiles, all clutching dollar bills. Parked midway in the stairwell was this old toothless dude with a cup, begging change. I watched him empty bills out, hide them under his ass over and over again as I waited for a friend. That dude was making out really well. I wouldn't be suprised if he didn't clear a few hundred each rush hour.
-
I don't think that all of these guys live in shelters- some are too clean to convince me that they're homeless...
-
Maybe they live in Canarsie and take the train?
-
i don't think i could panhandle really, it seems too risky...however, i'd totally be one of those people that picks up bottles and cans in a big shopping cart, i'd even wear a crazy hat just so people would be able to recognize me, and i'd get a cool nickname on a neighborhood web forum. of course the bourgoisie in me would have to get all my vaccinations prior to going off the grid and living the mr. wendell life.
-
dailyheights wrote: Also, the estimate of 50 cents every 15 min is way too low.
oh, i agree! i think i could cadge at least $1 every 15 minutes, maybe even more. alas, there is no nobel prize for economics or i would have won it already and had one more thing to add to my panhandling spiel.
I see the way you people throw around your spare change. -
While some of you are enjoying yourselves drinkin', I'm at work looking up any studies on panhandling!!! Here's what I've found (very unscientific!)-
A recent study in Denver found that 42% of the adult population gave to panhandlers to the tune of $1.82 per "donation," and a little over $25/year each and a grand total of 4.6m/year for the city.
If we use those same averages (I think that it would be a little higher because the cost of living is higher...), according to my math (and it's been a long day, so take it with a shaker of salt) that means that 64.5m is being handed out to NYC panhandlers each year... now, if we could just find some solid numbers on the panhandler population, we could work out their average earnings per year...
-
Well...here's a little bit of hard evidence:
My husband works for a bank in TriBeCa, and one of his customers is a young girl that panhandles. He works for the bank that has those free coin counters, so she dumps all the change she makes all day in them, and then makes a deposit. She regularly deposits $200 a day! :shock: -
Cathleen wrote: Well...here's a little bit of hard evidence:
My husband works for a bank in TriBeCa, and one of his customers is a young girl that panhandles. He works for the bank that has those free coin counters, so she dumps all the change she makes all day in them, and then makes a deposit. She regularly deposits $200 a day! :shock:
tax free, on her [ass] and making plenty cash. she is working for the joy of saving. -
Carnivore wrote: [quote=mc]According to this week's NewYork Magazine, one panhandler claims to make $24,000.
That's a lot more than a starting NYC teacher makes after taxes.
or a nyc school teacher after 5 years + ed. steps... -
Cathleen wrote: Well...here's a little bit of hard evidence:
Wow... if she averages that 5 days/week, every week of the year, that's 52k tax-free or the equivalent of 80k/year being taxed 35%...
My husband works for a bank in TriBeCa, and one of his customers is a young girl that panhandles. He works for the bank that has those free coin counters, so she dumps all the change she makes all day in them, and then makes a deposit. She regularly deposits $200 a day! :shock:
I'm changing careers. -
Salary Guide: Who Makes How Much
An impertinent look at other people's paychecks.
http://newyorkmetro.com/guides/salary/14497/index.html
Chris (last name withheld)
$24,000
Panhandler, Bleecker and Broadway -
dailyheights wrote:
Chris needs to go through some sales courses to realize his full potential! I wonder if he's an active panhandler, or if he's one of those magic-marker-on-a-piece-of-cardboard, I-got-stuck-in-the-big-bad-city-and-I-need-money-to-get-back-home types...
Chris (last name withheld)
$24,000
Panhandler, Bleecker and Broadway
Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
- 40K All Categories
- 27.1K Neighborhoods
- 5.1K Crown Heights/Prospect Lefferts Gardens
- 7.1K Prospect Heights
- 2.3K Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy
- 8K Park Slope
- 549 Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick
- 442 Flatbush/Midwood/Ditmas Park
- 657 BoCoCa (Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens)
- 151 Red Hook
- 104 Gowanus
- 304 Bay Ridge/Bensonhurst
- 130 Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Sheepshead Bay
- 270 Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO and Downtown
- 598 Windsor Terrace / Kensington
- 673 Greenwood Heights and Sunset Park
- 749 Brooklyn and Beyond
- 6.3K Stuff
- 86 Brooklyn Back When
- 1.2K Brooklyn Pets
- 257 Brooklyn Kids
- 241 Brooklyn Eats
- 51 Brooklyn Booze
- 3.6K The Lounge / Random Stuff
- 611 Brooklyn Politics
- 122 Brooklyn Sports and Fitness
- 111 Brooklyn Photos
- 339 Site Issues
- 8 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- 6.2K Listings
- 1.1K APARTMENTS and REAL ESTATE
- 1.3K Sales Openings Events
- 2.3K The Classifieds