Guy asking for money on Berkeley 7th

anfield · May 2006

Here's what I do - when I see a panhandler about to engage me I ask him/her if they can spare a dollar. Ain't got a dollar yet but that first one will get a 20 spot. Not holding my breath. Also, NYT magazine had an article on subway panhandlers a few years back. Make no bones about it 99% of the money you give any panhandler goes to drugs/alcohol. Not judging them, God knows I like to get my beer on, just full disclosure.

steveo · May 2006

Does anyone know of a good organization that helps hungry and/or homeless folks in the PS/PH area?

I sometimes give to panhandlers, but when you see the same guy doing it for years, you have to wonder what good your dollar is really doing. I might like to try donating to a legitimate charity, and then be able to say, "I've decided to start making contributions to X instead of giving money to people on the street. If you want a meal or other help, go to X."

anonymous · May 2006

Guestpks wrote: Also very ironic. I come from a developing country (not Australia, but rather my native country) where there is an incredible amount of poor people on the street. If you've been to an urban area in a developing country, you know what I'm talking about. The people there don't bother me in the slightest. You know why? Because either they are carrying more weight on their backs than seems humanly possible, or they are grabbing your ankles to ask for money because they don't have legs, or they are 12 years old, female, wearing way too much makeup and threadbare clothes, and it is very clear that THESE PEOPLE DON'T HAVE ANY OTHER CHOICE. As opposed to our friend, Jake. .

Thank god we are a nation still able to be shamed and will NOT tolerate seeing people suffer visibly in our midst. I think the disgust after Katrina showed that Americans deep down won't tolerate inhumanity for long (we just have a short attention span). Luckily we are still outraged by misery and child prositution. Those are not values we need to adopt.

And I guess we go round and round because I agree with Findcate that most people who "panhandle" need to either do so financially or to support a drug habit or who knows what private misery they have. I don't say you have to give them money but just don't buy that crap that they are making a good living and do it as a career choice.

findcate · May 2006

anyway, what's the point of this thread? to argue about how unfortunate the less fortunate are? out of all the injustices in the world, why would anyone focus on this guy on 7th ave to begin with??

drano · May 2006

Guestpks wrote: Wow. Who knew my original post would spark such an interesting discussion.

Classic troll. C'mon, you knew exactly what you were doing.

anonymous · May 2006

steveo wrote: Does anyone know of a good organization that helps hungry and/or homeless folks in the PS/PH area?"

Your post inspired me to get out my check book. What about Coalition for the Homeless? They are a very good organization that provides food, shelter and basic necessities to the homeless in the entire NYC area.

http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/take_action/take_action.html

For a more local organization there is CHIPS which has a soup kitchen on Fourth Avenue in the Slope:
http://www.chipsonline.org/

armchair_warrior · May 2006

here is a useless comment by me. same people who would support the homeless with donations and etc... wouldnt support a homeless shelter probably being built in their area. thats what we have lack of them in around nyc. not in my backyard mentality.

steveo · May 2006

kensingtonmom wrote: [quote=steveo]Does anyone know of a good organization that helps hungry and/or homeless folks in the PS/PH area?"

Your post inspired me to get out my check book. What about Coalition for the Homeless? They are a very good organization that provides food, shelter and basic necessities to the homeless in the entire NYC area. http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/take_action/take_action.html

For a more local organization there is CHIPS which has a soup kitchen on Fourth Avenue in the Slope: http://www.chipsonline.org/
Cool Mom. Thanks for the info. And I'm glad to hear you were inspired.

I should have thought of CHIPS, since I have heard that the food coop will give work credit if you volunteer there. The coalition looks like a good org too.

I'm getting out my checkbook too.

joncane · May 2006

findcate wrote: joncane, that sounded a bit unlikely...link?

Findcate, I don't blame your skepticism, but it is true. I remember reading it in the local papers when it happened, then not seeing him for quite a while. We were all quite happy for him at the time and disappointed to see him back on the street so soon. Here's the link to the publication that profiled him, but the article is not available for free online. http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/23/index.html

JC

silverfortress · May 2006

I've seen Jake at ACE for 11 years, at least. What bugs me is the "career begging" mentality, and the idea that it is "his corner". He acts like a neighborhood pet, a presumption I find very disturbing.

I used to live in Madrid, and there was a career beggar there in front of a certain tourist-y church, Jesus de Medinaceli.
He had cut his legs with a razor and picked at the sores, until they were frightful to look at. He would sit on the steps of the church smoking and reading the paper, covering his legs with a blanket or long pants until a tourist came by. Then he would put on "a show" for them, roll up his cuffs, point at his sores, faux-weep on his knees, scratch himself, mime as dumb and deaf, etc. I lived there long enough to know it was all theater.

Every time I see Jake at ACE or Citibank, I think of the Madrid guy. It's a different theater, a different act, and that level of kitsch would never work in NYC, but... it's still public theater. Jake gives one thing back to those who give money to him: the opportunity to feel "more righteous". But begging at a single location for decades is shameful. And indiscriminate charity seems the sign of a (collective) guilty conscience.

anonymous · May 2006

silverfortress wrote: I've seen Jake at ACE for 11 years, at least. What bugs me is the "career begging" mentality, and the idea that it is "his corner". He acts like a neighborhood pet, a presumption I find very disturbing..

I sweat this is my last comment on this thread. But with ALL the shit happening in the world. With ALL the stuff this administration is doing to dismantle our government and destroy the planet. And Jake is what is bugging you? Who cares. Walk by! So what he is a career begger or career homeless person or whatever. A lot of people like him. And the way the planet is heating up--none of us will be here in a hundred years to worry about people who don't or can't work anyway!

whyfi · May 2006

kensingtonmom wrote: I sweat this is my last comment on this thread. But with ALL the shit happening in the world. With ALL the stuff this administration is doing to dismantle our government and destroy the planet. And Jake is what is bugging you? Who cares. Walk by!

This doesn't make any sense - essentially you're saying, "there are bigger problems going on in the world, so don't sweat smaller ones." Okay, so by your rational, we should only worry about the largest issue at any given time?

Shit... Our Sol is going to supernova in a few billion... I'm gonna have to see about that...

escap · May 2006

Yeah, I'm gonna use that with my wife. What, you're mad cause I left the dishes in the sink? Don't you know that Bush lied about the WMD's??!!!

bagels · May 2006

escap says: Yeah, I'm gonna use that with my wife. What, you're mad cause I left the dishes in the sink? Don't you know that Bush lied about the WMD's??!!!

Looks like the terrorists have won again

anonymous · May 2006

What all the handwringing about professional scamster versus genuinely unfortunate person back and forth obscures is the fact that giving money to either party has no significant impact. Either way the person is back out on the same corner asking for money again the next day.

Is he a professional? Well then you're charity is only validating his career choice. You've spent your money well.

Is he legitimately down on his luck/mentally il/alcoholic/insert heartstring tugging condition here? Well then your pocket change isn't going to cure his illness/get his job back/help him quit drinking.

If the neighborhood's charity hasn't elevated his standard of living for the last ten years then what makes you think that your 50 cents is going to help him out today.

Granted that holding onto your 50 cents isn't going to make you feel better about his plight, but if it really concerns you wouldn't you be doing yourself (and him) a favor and holding onto your 50 cents every day until the end of the year and writing a check $182.50 ($183 on leap years!) to a responsible charity that is mandated to produced measurable results for the donation?

dailyheights · May 2006

This is the cover photo from the interview with Jake Greene in Stay Free Magazine a few years back.

anonymous · May 2006

Subject: Pan handling

I have noticed lately that the amount of pan handling in the Park Slope area has greatly increased, new men I have never seen before. Sometimes I see several men, loud and playing music and obviously drunk sitting outside a bodega I go to often - I find that VERY annoying. I find it annoying being asked each and every time I come out of the bodegas or supermarkets or now the banks for money I can spare - I don't have money to spare and being made to feel guilty about not giving $ and having to say "Sorry no change" to these men is annoying. I have actually been wondering if a new homeless shelter opened up somewhere in the area, maybe somewhere on 3rd ave or maybe it is because of people like the person who said they wanted their parents to think they lived in a affluent neighborhood - get out of my neighborhood - I don't want anyone in my neighborhood whose only concern is parental approval - how about worrying about the neighborhood and the actual people. How about worrying about actually having affordable housing so these men do not have to beg.

armchair_warrior · May 2006

Subject: Re: Pan handling

LifeLongSloper wrote: I have noticed lately that the amount of pan handling in the Park Slope area has greatly increased, new men I have never seen before. Sometimes I see several men, loud and playing music and obviously drunk sitting outside a bodega I go to often - I find that VERY annoying. I find it annoying being asked each and every time I come out of the bodegas or supermarkets or now the banks for money I can spare - I don't have money to spare and being made to feel guilty about not giving $ and having to say "Sorry no change" to these men is annoying. I have actually been wondering if a new homeless shelter opened up somewhere in the area, maybe somewhere on 3rd ave or maybe it is because of people like the person who said they wanted their parents to think they lived in a affluent neighborhood - get out of my neighborhood - I don't want anyone in my neighborhood whose only concern is parental approval - how about worrying about the neighborhood and the actual people. How about worrying about actually having affordable housing so these men do not have to beg.

i hate it when those stores letting folks like that hangout on outside their place. they shouldnt be allow to loiter. hmm i got a idea. dont buy from those places till they start to kick them off the curb.

kosherdave · May 2006

Living in NYC you get used to panhandlers and use to ignorning them if you want to (which I do) or tossing them some spare change (like the tourists do

What gets me though, is if I walk past someone and then they harass me for not giving them change. I was coming out of a store on 7th ave and one of the name streets this weekend and passed a guy asking for change, I ignored him and didn't make a smirk or offenseive remark or anything toward him, just went along on my own business, and he started to follow me say he loves me, and to yell at me and call out that I'm so nice for ignorning him and bla bla bla. This pisses me off.

j0518 · June 2006

Anonymous wrote: What is with the guy who has an eye patch on Flatbush and 7th?

that's my buddy, Kamell. he's a very nice guy. for years, he's made my wife and I some of the most thoughtful greeting cards which we've given to family members and paid him good money for. honestly, they've almost brought tears to my eyes.

he has an alcohol problem, and can sometimes be a bit overbearing if he's drinking a bit too much. i know some people can't stand him. i do think there is some type of psychiatric issue which gets worse when he is drinking, as some strange stories will come out of his mouth at times. i am very appreciative of him and his partner in crime, Gary, though. they are both the type of guys who, if you were to ever find yourself in trouble out on Flatbush at 2 AM, would jump out of nowhere to your rescue.

the guy in question in this thread has always appeared nice. i usually see him at Citibank on weekends.

anonymous · June 2006

Subject: Beggar man of Berkley

I live around the corner and he is a nuisance. People find him charming cause he cracks a smile and doesn't act crazy like other bums. Its funny we shun the real sick people on the streets and we give this guy who is a tall, ambulatory, generally well appearing man money for nothing. I see him walking to his beggar spot from Grand Army often with a big grin as he takes your hard earned cash. I love hearing about the saps that give him anything what a joke!!!

If you have compassion for people on the street. Don't facilitate the laziness and sloth of this guy rather donate to psychiatric organizations that help the homeless.

anonymous · June 2006

Subject: .

last week i one of the guys was outside of the Appletree bodega and some lady is asking what the panhandler guy wanted to drink and she actually went inside and bought him a doctor pepper. i wanted to punch her in her big stupid face. stop encouraging these people to camp out in my neighborhood you fucking idiots.

anonymous · June 2006

Subject: Re: .

Anonymous wrote: last week i one of the guys was outside of the Appletree bodega and some lady is asking what the panhandler guy wanted to drink and she actually went inside and bought him a doctor pepper. i wanted to punch her in her big stupid face. stop encouraging these people to camp out in my neighborhood you fucking idiots.

Punching someone in the face for a generous act is a great idea. I hadn't thought about that before. I should try that next time someone holds a door open for me--I'll turn around and punch the person in their big stupid face. Or maybe if I see someone writing a check to a Katrina fund, I'll run over, rip their pen out of their hand and punch them in their big stupid face. And if I see someone dropping clothes off at a homeless shelter, I'll take that bag, dump it in the street and punch the person in their big stupid face. Stop helping people you f'ing idiots otherwise other people in the neighborhood and world might expect generosity or help. It's every man/woman/child/homeless person whatever for themselves.

anonymous · June 2006

Subject: Panhandlers in the Slope

I've been living in Park Slope since P.S. 321 was a new building and anyone that reads this and can remember those days knows that there were never any panhandlers in the Slope back then.

The first panhandler in Park Slope was "George the Bum." This was the late 1970s I'd guess and technically George the Bum wasn't a true panhandler since I don't remember him asking for money--although he had no problem accepting handouts. He used to hang out outside Bohacks (now Key Food) and eat out of their dumpster.

I heard he froze to death one winter sitting on someone's stoop on Garfield but I don't know if that is true.

After he died there was a fairly long period of freedom and then there was this blond-haired-ponytailed guy whose name was "Mike" who wore cowboy boots and stank like he hadn't had a shower in years.

He was nuts and he would walk around the Slope muttering to himself and like George the Bum I never saw him ask for money, although, I did once see him in the Greater New York Savings Bank DEPOSITING money!

The first time someone asked me for money on "The Avenue" I laughed in their face. I mean, this is f==king Brooklyn right? I was like "Whadda ya out of your f==king mind? Look around, do I look like I got money to burn?"

OK, so the neighborhood has changed a bit and now all the good neighborhood bars have turned into grocery stores (they are not bodegas...Appletree [site of Ryans Bar] is not a bodega. If you want to go see a bodega you might try 4th Avenue over towards Flatbush but I'm not sure there are any left over there anymore either) and most of the orginals have been replaced with a more affluent crowd, but that doesn't mean we have to encourage these people.

Personally, I'm all for change and growth, but there is something about my Christmas tree costing $100 bucks and people asking me for money that makes me feel like we have lost something in the last 40 years.

Get a f==king life I say!

drano · June 2006

Innarestin' article...not that it clears much up:

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mbegprofit.html

I don't personally feel the need to cough up money to strangers on the sidewalk - hell, if I gave a buck to everyone that asked me, I'd be their competition before long.

anonymous · June 2006

Subject: Re: .

kensingtonmom wrote: [quote=Anonymous]last week i one of the guys was outside of the Appletree bodega and some lady is asking what the panhandler guy wanted to drink and she actually went inside and bought him a doctor pepper. i wanted to punch her in her big stupid face. stop encouraging these people to camp out in my neighborhood you fucking idiots.

Punching someone in the face for a generous act is a great idea. I hadn't thought about that before. I should try that next time someone holds a door open for me--I'll turn around and punch the person in their big stupid face. Or maybe if I see someone writing a check to a Katrina fund, I'll run over, rip their pen out of their hand and punch them in their big stupid face. And if I see someone dropping clothes off at a homeless shelter, I'll take that bag, dump it in the street and punch the person in their big stupid face. Stop helping people you f'ing idiots otherwise other people in the neighborhood and world might expect generosity or help. It's every man/woman/child/homeless person whatever for themselves.

What part of "stop encouraging these people to camp out in my neighborhood you fucking idiots" dont you understand. Are you really this stupid? Is anybody? I dont want these shitheels in my neighborhood.

carnivore · June 2006

Subject: Re: .

Anonymous wrote: What part of "stop encouraging these people to camp out in my neighborhood you fucking idiots" dont you understand. Are you really this stupid? Is anybody? I dont want these shitheels in my neighborhood.

I guess you have a "final solution" instead? :roll:

anonymous · June 2006

Subject: Re: .

Carnivore wrote: [quote=Anonymous]What part of "stop encouraging these people to camp out in my neighborhood you fucking idiots" dont you understand. Are you really this stupid? Is anybody? I dont want these shitheels in my neighborhood.

I guess you have a "final solution" instead? :roll:

who are you and what are you going on about?

anonymous · June 2006

In case you hadn't noticed, dude, you're not the Grand Poobah of Park Slope. If you don't wish to give money to the homeless, that's your business, but it's really not your place to order the rest of the neighborhood around. In other words, people understand you just fine, they just don't especially care what you want them to do.

anonymous · June 2006

Subject: Beggars

I will say people think they are saving lives by getting some guy a Dr. Pepper. You are just creating a bigger problem. Someone else posted donating to psychiatric organizations and thats definitely the right way to go.

Equate this to feeding a hungry bear. You think your helping the bear out but then he keeps hanging out expecting to be fed. Until one day he claws off your face because he didn't get his Dr. Pepper on time.

So the real solution is castrating all the bears, removing there claws and teeth. Or maybe just stop fucking giving bums money. People thing park slope is some kind of utopian wonderland where a women can give a bum a bag of M and M's and an orangina in front of her kids and feel like Bono. Well the truth of the matter is this is brooklyn and the bums are sophisticated and know that park slope is full of idiot saps who will give away money to cover up the guilt of that abortion they had in college.

Guy asking for money on Berkeley 7th

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