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Beggars and annoyances on the subway


nyctransit

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On an express bus, no.... On a local bus, I've seen my fair share of em.....

 

On a bus? You mean ppl asking for money for a fare, or literally panhandling? I don't take buses too often, if I see that I have to take buses, usually I just drive by car instead out of habit, that's why I'm asking.

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On an express bus, no.... On a local bus, I've seen my fair share of em.....

Really? Wow that's shocking... Speaking of annoying folks, I took the (S) this morning after running an errand and we all get on in the car as if everything is normal and these three worn out looking black guys wait until the doors are all nice and closed and then BAM!  They hit us with the friggin' singing... Ugh...  <_< I'm like these little friggin' pricks timed this sh*t so that they could do their little song and force us to be stuck in the car listening to them because no one is going to move when there's one short stop.  It would be too much of a hassle so we all stayed there though I was not thrilled to say the least.  This black lady looked at me as if to say yeah I know they're a trip aren't they (as in they're some big scammers) and started to chuckle.  

 

Some tourist actually gave them something and his girlfriend looked at him like he was a fool for being sucked into the moment and by the guy's motioning for change/money. lol I'm sure I've heard them before on another line, but man these guys looked like they had had a few rough nights as in they had been out hustling and doing other "activities" if you will.  Faces looked all sunken in and they just looked worn out.  Dare I say like junkies... Smh Then again if they've been around hustling as long as I think they have then I shouldn't be too shocked.  Hustling is a 24/7 "gig"...

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For beggars, I just ignore them. I don't even look up. They don't shove the cup in my face and go their way and nothing has to happen. I am grateful it never goes past that. If I'm on an empty train and the beggar comes, I'm getting off the car by moving to the next car or get off at the next station. If I can't, I just say I don't have change.

I have seen some sob stories with a family and someone gave the couple a $10. I'm just smh at why people would give strangers that much. I don't care how desperate someone is, I'm not giving even a penny to anyone. If someone plays some really good music on a violin or something I might be inclined to give a quarter.

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For beggars, I just ignore them. I don't even look up. They don't shove the cup in my face and go their way and nothing has to happen. I am grateful it never goes past that. If I'm on an empty train and the beggar comes, I'm getting off the car by moving to the next car or get off at the next station. If I can't, I just say I don't have change.

I have seen some sob stories with a family and someone gave the couple a $10. I'm just smh at why people would give strangers that much. I don't care how desperate someone is, I'm not giving even a penny to anyone. If someone plays some really good music on a violin or something I might be inclined to give a quarter.

LOL! A quarter??!? Jesus, that's really frugal.  :lol: The folks that play on the platforms, if they're playing a violin piece that I know like Strauss or Vivaldi or something and I think they do a good job playing the piece, I put a dollar into their cup or whatever they're using.  I don't carry change (skeeves me out) so it's bills or nothing at all.  Who knows though, with the way technology is going you may have some clever folks start going around with card machines. That's a trick I like to use... Oh sorry I don't have any money on me which is generally true since only a fool would walk around loaded unnecessarily when you can just use your card to swipe for your charge. 

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...You mean ppl asking for money for a fare, or literally panhandling?

I was waiting for someone to ask that...

 

Anyway, I mean literally panhandling (although of course I've also seen many people asking for help to cover the fare or w/e)....

I'm not implicating that the panhandling on buses is common, but I have seen it on a few occasions....

 

Really? Wow that's shocking... Speaking of annoying folks, I took the (S) this morning after running an errand and we all get on in the car as if everything is normal and these three worn out looking black guys wait until the doors are all nice and closed and then BAM!  They hit us with the friggin' singing... Ugh...  <_< I'm like these little friggin' pricks timed this sh*t so that they could do their little song and force us to be stuck in the car listening to them because no one is going to move when there's one short stop.  It would be too much of a hassle so we all stayed there though I was not thrilled to say the least.  This black lady looked at me as if to say yeah I know they're a trip aren't they (as in they're some big scammers) and started to chuckle.  

 

Some tourist actually gave them something and his girlfriend looked at him like he was a fool for being sucked into the moment and by the guy's motioning for change/money. lol I'm sure I've heard them before on another line, but man these guys looked like they had had a few rough nights as in they had been out hustling and doing other "activities" if you will.  Faces looked all sunken in and they just looked worn out.  Dare I say like junkies... Smh Then again if they've been around hustling as long as I think they have then I shouldn't be too shocked.  Hustling is a 24/7 "gig"...

LMAO on both fronts!

 

For beggars, I just ignore them. I don't even look up. They don't shove the cup in my face and go their way and nothing has to happen. I am grateful it never goes past that. If I'm on an empty train and the beggar comes, I'm getting off the car by moving to the next car or get off at the next station. If I can't, I just say I don't have change.

 

I have seen some sob stories with a family and someone gave the couple a $10. I'm just smh at why people would give strangers that much. I don't care how desperate someone is, I'm not giving even a penny to anyone. If someone plays some really good music on a violin or something I might be inclined to give a quarter.

As a man myself, I cannot see a grown man dragging his family down to resorting to begging on the subway.... He'll do the "dirty work" (begging) himself & have the wife/girlfriend & kids seek some kind of shelter or something... The system panders to single mothers anyway, but that's a whoooooole 'nother topic..... So if I see a family consisting of a man, woman, and kid(s) panhandling on the subway, I chalk that up to 100% pure, unfiltered, grade A bullshit.... Don't even give it a second thought if "maybe this could possibly be one of the real (homeless) ones".....

 

If I'm on an empty car, my spidey senses (lol) immediately go up - regardless of what financial status the person is....

I'm not getting up to go move over to another car that has people in it, because I want to be in a car with as few people as possible (excluding the damn "hot car" when it's not cold out)....

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I was waiting for someone to ask that...

 

Anyway, I mean literally panhandling (although of course I've also seen many people asking for help to cover the fare or w/e)....

I'm not implicating that the panhandling on buses is common, but I have seen it on a few occasions....

Gotcha. That's what I've observed whenever I have to take the bus.

 

I only seen literal panhandling on the bus once in all the years I've lived in NY to this point. More like ppl asking if they can help out with money to make up a fare for a ride.

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LOL! A quarter??!? Jesus, that's really frugal.  :lol: The folks that play on the platforms, if they're playing a violin piece that I know like Strauss or Vivaldi or something and I think they do a good job playing the piece, I put a dollar into their cup or whatever they're using.  I don't carry change (skeeves me out) so it's bills or nothing at all.  Who knows though, with the way technology is going you may have some clever folks start going around with card machines. That's a trick I like to use... Oh sorry I don't have any money on me which is generally true since only a fool would walk around loaded unnecessarily when you can just use your card to swipe for your charge. 

I'll pay what I feel like. If i feel like sticking around for the whole 5+ minutes for the entire piece, then maybe a dollar. I always carry change in case I end up short on the bus fare. I don't want to go through my wallet to dig out a bill. Just take the coin out of the pocket and the wallet stays in.

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I'll pay what I feel like. If i feel like sticking around for the whole 5+ minutes for the entire piece, then maybe a dollar. I always carry change in case I end up short on the bus fare. I don't want to go through my wallet to dig out a bill. Just take the coin out of the pocket and the wallet stays in.

LOL... I know what you mean...

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No one gets a damn cent from me.

 

I have to know you, trust you, and be willing to lose 100% of what I'm giving you to ever give you anything...and not because you asked.

 

Strangers? Beggars? Street hustlers and all the other charletans? They get NOTHING.

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On an express bus, no.... On a local bus, I've seen my fair share of em.....

 

I haven't really seen ppl. beg for money on the bus, like what are they gonna do, hop from bus to bus and beg for change? Unless they're trying to get on the bus and break a bill for coins, then yes.

 

LOL! A quarter??!? Jesus, that's really frugal.  :lol: The folks that play on the platforms, if they're playing a violin piece that I know like Strauss or Vivaldi or something and I think they do a good job playing the piece, I put a dollar into their cup or whatever they're using.  I don't carry change (skeeves me out) so it's bills or nothing at all.  Who knows though, with the way technology is going you may have some clever folks start going around with card machines. That's a trick I like to use... Oh sorry I don't have any money on me which is generally true since only a fool would walk around loaded unnecessarily when you can just use your card to swipe for your charge. 

 

Oh yeah, if you're doing a service and trying to get a few extra dollars in your pocket, I can give you more leeway, especially if you're playing music, and REALLY good music, not some crappy cover or banging a drum with no rhythm at all. I'll be more inclined to give them a dollar because they're not asking to give you money, it's your choice. You ask me for money, then no. Play some good music that will make me take my headphones off and listen to what you're playing, then MAYBE.

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On a bus? You mean ppl asking for money for a fare, or literally panhandling? I don't take buses too often, if I see that I have to take buses, usually I just drive by car instead out of habit, that's why I'm asking.

 

I've seen some homeless on buses before, but not with a cup or with a pitch for services for anything - usually they're just begging to make the bus fare.

 

There have also been some pretty disruptive ones, including one who was flirting with (and creeping out) women at least 10 or 15 years his minor, and another who was railing on about conspiracies and how Obama hated black people.

 

It probably doesn't help that my bus routes pass by a psychiatric hospital.

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Oh yeah, if you're doing a service and trying to get a few extra dollars in your pocket, I can give you more leeway, especially if you're playing music, and REALLY good music, not some crappy cover or banging a drum with no rhythm at all. I'll be more inclined to give them a dollar because they're not asking to give you money, it's your choice. You ask me for money, then no. Play some good music that will make me take my headphones off and listen to what you're playing, then MAYBE.

You're good, because there is no amount of noise (which is all they're contributing; the bucket drummers & those that go out all w/ the instruments & the singing) they can make that would compel me to stop & take off my headphones for a listen.... I'd go as far as to deem it as noise pollution.... And then to go the extra mile to come out of pocket, not happening....

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You're good, because there is no amount of noise (which is all they're contributing; the bucket drummers & those that go out all w/ the instruments & the singing) they can make that would compel me to stop & take off my headphones for a listen.... I'd go as far as to deem it as noise pollution.... And then to go the extra mile to come out of pocket, not happening....

My sentiments exactly... Playing on a platform at least you have the option to move away from the noise.  With the subway though you're usually stuck in a car esp. seeing how sardine can like the trains are these days.  IMO Columbus Circle has the WORST performers and they're always on the (A)(C)(B)(D) platforms... 

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My sentiments exactly... Playing on a platform at least you have the option to move away from the noise.  With the subway though you're usually stuck in a car esp. seeing how sardine can like the trains are these days.  IMO Columbus Circle has the WORST performers and they're always on the (A)(C)(B)(D) platforms... 

I guess that is why I don't see my old HS buddies there playing the African drum.

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  • 1 month later...

LOL... I rarely use the subway on the weekends, but sometimes I do during the week if traffic is bad and it never fails me... The other day I was on the (6) because traffic was a mess coming in from Riverdale.  I get on and some guy comes in begging for change and I mean really begging.  I'm like what is with these people?? It's a recession... Most folks are just trying to make it so I don't know why they come on begging as if people have money floating about and you can tell that many folks feel the same way.  The Lex trains are infamous for the beggars or the folks with the sandwiches.  <_< I find it annoying esp. in the morning. The preachers always seem to be on the (D) train if I get it at Columbus Circle...

 

As for MetroNorth, this isn't a problem because #1 it's pricey... It's 10.75 one way ($8.25 for a peak ticket from Riverdale + $2.50 for Hudson Rail Link) and #2 with the ticket collectors there they would have no problem getting the police to throw you off of the train in a heartbeat so no farebeating... Sometimes I don't care if there's traffic... I'll stay on the express bus anyway just to have a piece of mind unless I have a meeting or something important.

Before the green fee on metrocards, I would look in trash cans for $metrocards when I got hold of an unlimited card, and at Astor place, that guy did actually OFFER me a sandwich.

 

MTA employees are not authorized to remove them from trains...only to notify and request police to do so.

 

The real solution is this: More ads in trains (like in the 90's) saying NOT TO GIVE to panhandlers on the train, and for people to actually stop doing it.

 

Dry up their income and they'll go do something else. Or they'll die. Either way, everybody wins except them.

Conductors and automated announcements are made from time to time.  

 

I remember seeing a guy on the (N) late nights with tons of couch cushions (black filthy) and tons of garbage. There's a homless white guy with white hair RTOMan might see on the Queens blvd line who sleeps on a bench with about 8 to 10 shopping bags of newspapers underneath the bench where he sleeps. Winter he's on the Queens Blvd lines (R), Warm weather he's at Astoria Blvd (N)

There was a Railroad Clerk in 1990 that slept on couch cushions in the Rockaways overnights.

 

I actually got woken up by a hobo once, who upon my awakening, proceeded to ask me for money...

 

Is there really nothing that the MTA can do to at least get some of the homeless off the trains? Many buildings and communities around the nation, and in the metro area, have rules against loitering - I'm pretty sure camping on the trains would be disallowed under something like this.

 

In regards to the homeless, it's also a public health issue, because it's unsanitary, the smell is gagging, and at least once I've seen a hobo publicly urinate or defecate on a train. I'm not even in college yet.

 

As for the preachers, they get annoying as well - there are Christian preachers by the 7 at Times Square, and on the LIRR concourse at Penn, and the fact that the ones at Times Square have a megaphone don't make it any better.

 

Some musicians and dancers are okay, but I'm pretty positive that some of the accordion people are scammers. In particular, I've noticed that along the (E), there will be an accordion player with a small child with a hat out for money. This wouldn't be so concerning, except it seems to be a different accordion player and child each time. There is no way something that consistent with so many different people is legitimate.

One overnight in the 90's, a train operator manually closed his car to passengers at Flatbush ave station (south car) because of the many homeless people in that car. I helped.

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I'm not directing this at anybody specific, but you people need to chill out getting so righteously angry about beggars on the subway. Don't like it? Don't give. I'm so sorry that your music coming out of your $200 iPod was momentarily interrupted by a guy whose situation is so desperate that he's reduced to begging, the lowest form of interaction. Really, I'm so sorry to hear that a person who lives on the street begging for money *ruined* your subway experience... Honestly now. 

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I'm not directing this at anybody specific, but you people need to chill out getting so righteously angry about beggars on the subway. Don't like it? Don't give. I'm so sorry that your music coming out of your $200 iPod was momentarily interrupted by a guy whose situation is so desperate that he's reduced to begging, the lowest form of interaction. Really, I'm so sorry to hear that a person who lives on the street begging for money *ruined* your subway experience... Honestly now. 

Give me a friggin' break.  Most of those so called "beggars" are scam artists. I've seen the same black guys working the (S) train on several occasions.  The same song, the same lines, the same BS. Just a different day.  <_< I don't know who begs me more... The black "brothas" or the white "brothas"...  <_<  The Latinos aren't too far behind but they are usually the most genuine in terms of actually being in need.

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Give me a friggin' break.  Most of those so called "beggars" are scam artists. I've seen the same black guys working the (S) train on several occasions.  The same song, the same lines, the same BS. Just a different day.  <_<

 

How is that a scam? They do the same thing each day cause that's their best option. If you had one trick to try to make enough money to eat, I bet you'd do it. A scam is pretending to be in a different situation then you're in. Street performances? Not a scam. The guy at West 4th on the southbound side at the northern exit, he's been playing the exact same banjo riff for at least 15 years. Is that a scam? No, it's repetitive, but it's not a scam.

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How is that a scam? They do the same thing each day cause that's their best option. If you had one trick to try to make enough money to eat, I bet you'd do it. A scam is pretending to be in a different situation then you're in. Street performances? Not a scam. The guy at West 4th on the southbound side at the northern exit, he's been playing the exact same banjo riff for at least 15 years. Is that a scam? No, it's repetitive, but it's not a scam.

And seasonal too... Most of these "pitiful" folks get benefits... They play the part very well.  That much I'll admit. Some of them have it so down pat that they've got vacations worked in.  

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