Panhandlers
Can anyone explain why they're so many beggers along 7th ave? They appear to be actually "working" in shifts. I wish people wouldn't feel it necessary to give these people monies for drinking and drugs.
Comments
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Why drink the tonic when you can smoke the cronic 8)
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don't get me started on a group of kids that panhandle. there are these kids in baseball uniforms. with adult far away. they run into traffic and panhandle. they claim they need money to goto another country for games.
but this is every year same kids might be a family operation or extended family. -
actually the original poster makes a good point in that it is the same dudes in the same spots and yah they do seem to trade off who gets to work the spot when. i stopped going to the market on 7th garfield years ago , very specifically because there was always a panhandler practically blocking the entrance / exit.
another fellow used to stand in front of keyfood and quite politely ask if he could have a quarter. he was so clean and courteous i at least believed the change wasnt going to drugs or booze.
i recently saw him pay his landlord...by check....
years ago i did some benefits for the DOE fund and the coalition for the homeless.
i dunno if these places are still around but at the time they actually seemed to get the $ where it was needed in a positive way. like educating these guys and giving them some type of job skill so that they could be functional on their own. -
I know one guy on 7th Avenue who is NOT on drugs or alcohol, but he is mentally ill.
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Subject: Re: Panhandlers
ParkslopeCynic wrote: Can anyone explain why they're so many beggers along 7th ave? They appear to be actually "working" in shifts. I wish people wouldn't feel it necessary to give these people monies for drinking and drugs.
I agree with you 100%.
Cats go where the tunafish is.
At least twice a day, I see residents giving cash to beggers on 7th Avenue. I see residents even encourage their small children to give money to the beggers (as if all beggers are harmless).
I swear to you all that there's a fat woman who hangs out in Citibank on 7th Avenue screaming about how she has to sell her body to cops for $10.00 to feed herself (as if she couldn't stand to lose 30 pounds). I once saw the fat begger on the street speaking with another begger. Apparently, the fat woman was kicked out of Citibank and trying to figure out if she would move in on the other begger's space at Chase. They seem to have a system. -
There's a new man in the Chase on 9th St. and 5th Ave. The guy in front of Apple Tree on Garfield has been there for years; the guy in front of Met Food on 7th Ave. and 2nd St. has also been there for years.
But I've noticed an increase, very gradually - I first came here in the 80s, when homelessness/begging was at what seemed to be an all-time high. It seems to be on the rise again, and that is a sad thing - what services have been cut? Why are people on the street in increasing numbers now? There was a reason in the 80s - services for the mentally ill had been cut drastically - but I can't figure this one out. -
There is also that guy who hangs out inside the Citibank ATM on 7th & President. He's always nice and friendly, but I can't understand why Citibank seems to permit it. I mean, having some dude asking you for money while you're inside an ATM just seems like a bad idea, no?
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Slopehead wrote: There is also that guy who hangs out inside the Citibank ATM on 7th & President. He's always nice and friendly, but I can't understand why Citibank seems to permit it. I mean, having some dude asking you for money while you're inside an ATM just seems like a bad idea, no?
Not to the guy. -
I notice it too. I usually see this lady with dark hair and she's dressed pretty decently. She's usually by pinos on 7th ave. I give her money anyways. I always give to panhandlers.. I feel bad if i dont.
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So those clowns are still out doing their thing, huh. Funny how panhandlers as brash as those MFs can only exist somewhere like 7th Ave.
The one guy, stocky, filthy looking dark-skinned one who's always drunk, named 'Buckwheat', came close to getting crashed by me several times on 7th Ave and also on Flatbush because of his attitude. Apparently he's supposed to be 'the tough one' out of the crew, and when he's feeling wily he won't hesistate to make a snide comment to you if you don't pay him his well-deserved contributions for the day.
I know just about all the other rough-looking ones as well, for reasons I won't go into, but in case anyone was in doubt, yes they are all crackheads and YES every penny that you give them goes right into the pipe, I know this for a fact first hand. As for food and clothing, they get it all for FREE and eat better than a lot of working people I know. They'll throw out food if it's not up to their palate's standards, walking around in brand new Timberlands.. give me a break. :roll:
Never forget the time Buckwheat was standing up on the Q station steps doing his usual "Can ya PUH-LEASE help meah, somebaday!!" routine when some frat-boy idiot in front of me stuffs a 5 in his cup saying "Here you go man, I know it's tough out there, here you go" , brilliant. #-o -
I have also noticed the incresed presense of bums begging in front of stores.
This is because our "rich" mayor has cut back on the quality of life issues that Rudy Guiliani concentrated on. The aggressiveness of them, the bums, is a result of them knowing that they will not be arrested or moved anymore by the police.
Bloomberg has to reconcentrate his energies on the basics again. His vision and dreams are nice, except that he has let slip the basics.
Has anyone also noticed that our roads are also in bad shape again?
The small quality of life issues that caused the city's re-emergence is being lost.
Get ready for the quality of life we all had under Koch and Dinkins to rear its ugly head agin. -
I'm sorry to say you're right, nkotsonis. 100% right. I see things heading right back in that direction, where I hoped we would never return again. But we can all take comfort in knowing that Bloomberg is on top of the things that really matter, like transfats in restaurant food. And his doomed dreams of becoming President.
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bklyngirl wrote: [quote=Slopehead]There is also that guy who hangs out inside the Citibank ATM on 7th & President. He's always nice and friendly, but I can't understand why Citibank seems to permit it. I mean, having some dude asking you for money while you're inside an ATM just seems like a bad idea, no?
Not to the guy.
I guess my problem with the line of thinking is this: I needed money and I went in there to get it, right? What kind of money did I get? I got $20 bills! Now I don't know about you all, but even assuming I like having doors held open for me (when the dude is feeling ambitious) I wouldn't pay 20 bucks for the treatment.
And no, I don't have a coinpurse at the ready for these guys. -
if everyone stop giving money to these hustlers they would go some where else or get a real job!
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another problem is the diminishing lack of vibrancy on 7th avenue. landlords who keep stores for rent for months on end because of their greed. these empty storefronts create a sense of a run down stretch. there are more beggers on 7th than 5th, which if you've been in this neighborhood long enough, you know is pretty bad.
you know why? because people like mr. kotsonis prefer to keep empty storefronts than rent them out for a more reasonable price. case in point his building on 7th and union. that storefront has sat empty since march even though he said there were 3 leases out for it at the time.
bring back the vibrancy to 7th avenue and you won't have so many beggers. -
If I'm giving you my hard earned scrill you'd better work for it. Now get out that linoleum and breakdance, mofo.
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nkotsonis wrote: I have also noticed the incresed presense of bums begging in front of stores.
You have no idea what you are talking about. If anything - the current rich mayor has expanded on the enforcement of quality of life crimes. Noise crimes and littering come to mind.
This is because our "rich" mayor has cut back on the quality of life issues that Rudy Guiliani concentrated on. The aggressiveness of them, the bums, is a result of them knowing that they will not be arrested or moved anymore by the police.
Bloomberg has to reconcentrate his energies on the basics again. His vision and dreams are nice, except that he has let slip the basics.
Has anyone also noticed that our roads are also in bad shape again?
The small quality of life issues that caused the city's re-emergence is being lost.
Get ready for the quality of life we all had under Koch and Dinkins to rear its ugly head agin.
It is fun to blame the mayor for everything - as if he created the problem of homelessness and pan handling - but it does not really add anything to the discussion. -
i agree with you jamzer, and find it highly ironic that someone like mr. kotsonis would make those comments about bloomberg. talk about someone who ACTUALLY does no good for the community.
let's see...he kicked out a much loved neighborhood dance studio of 34 years, he keeps stores unrented for months, sometimes years, he complains about snow removal in front of his building, the list goes on and on. i've talked to his tenants and all say he is a greedy liar.
i'm curious what you are doing for our neighborhood, mr. kotsonis?
i think bloomberg is doing a far better job than you, and he's overseeing an entire city, not a few buildings in park slope. -
^yeah, that guy's something else. Complains that the road suck when he can't be bothered to shovel his own sidewalk. "Not my legal responsibility, blah, blah blah." Sounds like a guy for whom it's always someone else's fault.
The panhandlers bother me less than folks like that. -
armchair_warrior wrote: if everyone stop giving money to these hustlers they would go some where else or get a real job!
Maybe its not that easy for some of them. I guess none of you have seen the movie The Pursuit of Happiness. I'm just saying we have to ask ourselves why they are living on the street. Maybe because they can't afford to live in Brooklyn anymore and have no family and no real way to get out. Its not like if they walked into your place of business you would give them a job and a place to live. I know the guy who use to be by the LIRR lost his entire family in a fire years ago and lost his mind. He has lived in the streets every since. I feel bad for people like him. -
Perhaps they :shock: are undercover folks.
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I'm familiar with a few of them considering where I work. Not all of them drink, some just come in to cash in change (which we allow when we aren't busy and they are cool about it). There's one guy, tall, always wears a button down shirt, giggles alot. He drinks but there seems to be some mental illness going on. He's very smart, we talk about books he reads and sometimes stuff comes out of his mouth that surprises me. One of our last conversations involved him telling me he was reading Faust and Gilgamesh. He said he would like to read Faust in German since he was trying to teach himself German. He also told me that Gilgamesh was originally written in cuneiform but he couldn't remember who created cuneiform. He thought it might be the Phoenicians or Babylonians (turns out it was the Sumerians). The stuff he says isn't an attempt to sound smart, he says it very nonchalantly. He's definitely an interesting character.
One other guy sits in front of the Met on 7th. Quiet skinny guy, doesn't drink, and doesn't appear to do drugs. I wonder how he ended up where he is now.
Don't get me started on the guy who sits in front of Key Food, shouting "Somebody help me!" -
Restless Native wrote: As for food and clothing, they get it all for FREE and eat better than a lot of working people I know.
Dude, some of the beggers are FATTER than a lot of working people I know. -
Well, poor people can be fat, in fact they are more likely to be fat, because cheap food tends to have lots of calories and not many nutrients. There is no shortage of food in this country, but there is certainly a shortage of decent housing and medical care.
When I came to NYC as an idealistic young person, I gave money to anyone who asked for it. I really didn't care if they were going to spend it on drugs, because I thought if I were homeless, I would want to do drugs, you know? But I haven't given money to a panhandler in many years. It makes more sense to me to donate to charities that can help people with housing, health care, drug treatment, and so forth. -
Oh, and the 2 little white guys who are sometimes in front of Key Food? They're both dope fiends who were trying to buy booze for teenagers until we banned them.
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I recommnd donating to the 'Send Kev Back to Park Slope' fund. I'll send receipts, photos, and maintain a event planner if needed.
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caseopele wrote:
Vietnam Veteran?
One other guy sits in front of the Met on 7th. Quiet skinny guy, doesn't drink, and doesn't appear to do drugs. I wonder how he ended up where he is now. -
Derek (AKA Vietnam) has been turning 60 for the past 5 years. This guy is a bit shorter, slimmer, and goes by the name Irwin. Anyone who doesn't turn down some good food and isn't in buying cheap vodka 3 times a day is okay with me.
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Rose wrote: Well, poor people can be fat, in fact they are more likely to be fat, because cheap food tends to have lots of calories and not many nutrients. There is no shortage of food in this country, but there is certainly a shortage of decent housing and medical care.
This.
I don't quite get the need for some of the fat-bashing comments that have worked their way into this thread. -
the comments about poor people being more likley to be fat isn't bashing.
it's a fact.
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