Homeless Problem Spreads to NYCT Buses

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Yesterday I saw something rather disturbing. On a leisure stroll down to Whole Foods, I took the BxM3 to the city, made a stop at a café for an espresso, and then made my way over to 15SBS from 23rd street and 2nd.  After 14th street, a large crowd got off and a very seedy looking man moved towards the back of the bus where a number of passengers immediately got up from their seats and moved to another area.  He looked rather unkept.  He took a seat and began to eat something, scratching along the way.  I moved from where I was standing too, as I was getting off at Allen Street anyway and generally don't sit on the local buses since I am only on them for very short distances.  The sight made me think of something though. SBS allows you to get on through any door and there aren't many checkers.  A route like the M15 is somewhat long which means homeless people can get on with ease.  They won't be able to stay on forever, but they can simply get off and get on again.  In fact I took the M15SBS twice to and from Whole Foods, and then got the M34SBS to 3rd and 34th to get the BxM1 back home. 

 

There were no checkers on any of those trips.

[trainfan22]

I ridden a B41 before where a homeless person got on...

 

I forgot weather he paid or not though.

 

Either way, homeless people can still get non SBS route with ease as long as someone exits though the backdoor....

 

Based on the thread title I was expecting this to be a news article

[Via Garibaldi 8]

I ridden a B41 before where a homeless person got on...

 

I forgot weather he paid or not though.

 

Either way, homeless people can still get non SBS route with ease as long as someone exits though the backdoor....

 

Based on the thread title I was expecting this to be a news article

It has been YEARS since I saw a visibly homeless person riding the local bus and it was on an M2 bus along Park Avenue South.  What is noticeable is that the homeless are literally taking over the subways, even during the rush, so to see this spreading to the Manhattan local buses is disturbing. I don't use the local buses much outside of Manhattan, but if this trend continues, I may just start taking cabs. The quality of life in general in Manhattan seems to be on the decline....  Regressing back to the pre-Giuliani days when the squeegee men were all about (they too are making a comeback as I read in another recent article), aggressive panhandling (seeing and witnessing that also).  I think people should really be concerned with this guy de Blasio in office.

 

This is a recent article but pertains to the rise of homeless in the subways in Herald Square which I've also seen and in the city in general:

 

20 years of cleaning up NYC pissed away

 

By Tom Wilson

July 10, 2015 | 10:53pm

Modal Trigger

Photo: David McGlynn

 

Here’s an up-close look at a quality-of-life offense the City Council wants to decriminalize.

This urinating vagrant turned a busy stretch of Broadway into his own private bathroom yesterday – an offense that would result in a mere summons if Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and her pals get their way.

Wrapped in rags and a Mets blanket the hobo wandered into traffic at around 10:30 a.m. and relieved himself as cabs, cars and buses whizzed by between West 83rd and 84th streets on the Upper West Side.

He finished his business at a nearby garbage bin, then strolled back to the front of a Victoria’s Secret store at Broadway and 85th Street, where he camped out for the rest of the day.

Mark-Viverito in April announced plans to decriminalize public urination along with five other low-level offenses: biking on the sidewalk, public consumption of alcohol, being in a park after dark, failure to obey a park sign and jumping subway turnstiles.

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton — who in the early ’90s implemented a “broken windows” approach to policing to dramatically cut crime — is against the new plan, saying such offenses lead to more serious crimes.

Bill Caprese, 38, who lives on 82nd Street with his 6-year-old daughter, was appalled by the street urinator.

“It’s absolutely a failure of government. It’s a total abject failure,” he said. “The mayor could fix it. The governor could fix it. We need asylums.”

An employee at the Victoria’s Secret, where the homeless man often lounges, said he drives away business.

Photo: David McGlynn

 

“He curses people out, threatens lives,” said the employee, who works in the lingerie chain’s loss-prevention department.

“Customers complain about him all the time.”

And the growing problem isn’t solely on city streets.

Transit hubs, including Penn Station, are plagued by surging numbers of homeless people who publicly masturbate, harass bystanders and demand free food as the city looks the other way, commuters complain.

“It reminds me of the pre-[Rudy] Giuliani era,” said Jim Hoover, 60, who has been commuting through Penn Station since 1986. “The police aren’t chasing them away anymore.”

Just outside the Port Authority Bus Terminal, a homeless man drunkenly knocked a woman to the floor while stumbling around the sidewalk.

The bum, who goes by “Monk,” was arrested by a cop at the scene and taken away by an FDNY ambulance.

“He’s going to get a hospital bed and a slap on the wrist,” said Timothy Arroyo, who was watching from a crowd that gathered.

“He’ll be back out here tomorrow.”

A PA source said there has been a “noticeable uptick” in vagrants at the terminal in recent months.

“It’s a trend,” the source said.

 

Source: http://nypost.com/2015/07/10/apparently-its-now-ok-to-pee-on-the-streets-of-new-york-city/

[NewFlyer 230]

The city should help get homeless people off the streets and subways. Not all people became homeless because of their actions. I'm tired of seeing the homeless in the subways. It is quiet sad to know that some die in the tunnels and stations. In the winters you really see a lot of them taking the bus and subway to avoid the cold.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

The city should help get homeless people off the streets and subways. Not all people became homeless because of their actions. I'm tired of seeing the homeless in the subways. It is quiet sad to know that some die in the tunnels and stations. In the winters you really see a lot of them taking the bus and subway to avoid the cold.

There's a number of reasons why this situation is festering.  For starters NYC has one of the most liberal policies when it comes to housing homeless people, more than any other place in the U.S. Many homeless people are sent here for that reason.  With so many people being displaced, housing can't be built fast enough to deal with the crisis.  When Giuliani was the mayor he made sure there was a crackdown on the homeless camping out. De Blasio has promised more affordable housing, but he hasn't done much to actually lower the homeless rate.  It's actually increasing, and what's worse is the amount of mentally unstable people walking about.  People should really be aware out here when using the subways and buses because I am seeing a return of the pre-Giuliani days when the subways were terrible.  We aren't there yet, but it's getting progressively worse day by day all around.

[MHV9218]

Don't even post these bullshit NY Post articles. Ignorant fear-mongering and the disgusting abuse of one poor guy who has a life worse than everybody else on this board. 

 

All of your facts are wrong. 

 

Giuliani was comically inhumane when it came to the homeless. Any decrease in crime under Giuliani was the product of Dinkins's police academy and retraining program. de Blasio is adding affordable housing faster than any other mayor. The reason the numbers have gone up are because he has loosened the draconian rules of the Bloomberg administration when it came to the homeless, allowing more people who needs shelters into shelters. Pre-Giuliani and post-Giuliani is a myth that gives our worst mayor credit for a crime drop he had nothing to do with. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Don't even post these bullshit NY Post articles. Ignorant fear-mongering and the disgusting abuse of one poor guy who has a life worse than everybody else on this board. 

 

All of your facts are wrong. 

 

Giuliani was comically inhumane when it came to the homeless. Any decrease in crime under Giuliani was the product of Dinkins's police academy and retraining program. de Blasio is adding affordable housing faster than any other mayor. The reason the numbers have gone up are because he has loosened the draconian rules of the Bloomberg administration when it came to the homeless, allowing more people who needs shelters into shelters. Pre-Giuliani and post-Giuliani is a myth that gives our worst mayor credit for a crime drop he had nothing to do with. 

What facts do I have wrong? Homelessness isn't on the rise and they aren't taking over the transit system? Squeegee men aren't making a comeback? Aggressive panhandlers aren't all about? Maybe you only see what you want to see, but I know what I've been seeing and reading, and it's not pretty.  De Blasio may be building more affordable housing, but his liberal policies are doing nothing more than drawing more homeless people here that we can't house and adding to an already out of control crisis.  All I know is I'm glad I don't live in Manhattan because that seems to be where the majority of the issues are concentrated.  New Yorkers voted and went for Giuliani and he got the aggressive panhandling and welfare problems under control.  Meanwhile de Blasio's policies are inviting the homeless back in droves.  That's the reality when a liberal like de Blasio comes in.

[MHV9218]

What facts do I have wrong? Homelessness isn't on the rise and they aren't taking over the transit system? Squeegee men aren't making a comeback? Aggressive panhandlers aren't all about? Maybe you only see what you want to see, but I know what I've been seeing and reading, and it's not pretty.  De Blasio may be building more affordable housing, but his liberal policies are doing nothing more than drawing more homeless people here that we can't house and adding to an already out of control crisis.  All I know is I'm glad I don't live in Manhattan because that seems to be where the majority of the issues are concentrated.  New Yorkers voted and went for Giuliani and he got the aggressive panhandling and welfare problems under control.  Meanwhile de Blasio's policies are inviting the homeless back in droves.  That's the reality when a liberal like de Blasio comes in.

 

Homelessness on the rise. TRUE, for some reasons I elucidated that fall on Bloomberg's shoulders and the federal government for cutting mental health services

Homeless people are taking over the transit system. FALSE

Squeegee men are taking a comeback. FALSE

Aggressive panhandlers are all about. FALSE, not more than before

 

de Blasio's policies are not 'inviting the homeless back.' That's preposterous and unfounded. The Post has gone on a completely fictional crusade as of late about some 'takeover of the homeless' that those of us who actually walk the streets is completely untrue. Just compare their portrait of Tompkins Square Park to the reality, which I see nearly every day. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Homelessness on the rise. TRUE, for some reasons I elucidated that fall on Bloomberg's shoulders and the federal government for cutting mental health services

Homeless people are taking over the transit system. FALSE

Squeegee men are taking a comeback. FALSE

Aggressive panhandlers are all about. FALSE, not more than before

 

de Blasio's policies are not 'inviting the homeless back.' That's preposterous and unfounded. The Post has gone on a completely fictional crusade as of late about some 'takeover of the homeless' that those of us who actually walk the streets is completely untrue. Just compare their portrait of Tompkins Square Park to the reality, which I see nearly every day. 

Hmm... A friend of mine sent me a pic yesterday of a homeless guy sleeping on the train. The smell was so bad that everyone had to move to another car, and I know of colleagues who use the subway everyday and have commented about the situation becoming worse.  It isn't just a figment of their imaginations. 

The squeegee men are reportedly making a comeback and if they aren't what I have been seeing is a different form of panhandling, with random men trying to make a quick buck selling "ice cold" waters by the Major Deegan, and doing so in the same aggressive manner that squeegee men do.

De Blasio is building massive amounts of affordable housing and NYC has THE most liberal policy when it comes to accommodating the homeless population. All you have to do is take a stroll in ANY of the recently constructed plazas to see how many homeless people are setting up shop.  Hell I was in Bryant Park the other night and every other person entering or leaving the park was a homeless person.  Walk a few more blocks down to the Herald Square area and that entire plaza is overrun with homeless people.  Bloomberg gave one way tickets for the homeless to leave, and now they're coming back.

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

Hmm... A friend of mine sent me a pic yesterday of a homeless guy sleeping on the train. The smell was so bad that everyone had to move to another car, and I know of colleagues who use the subway everyday and have commented about the situation becoming worse.  It isn't just a figment of their imaginations. 

The squeegee men are reportedly making a comeback and if they aren't what I have been seeing is a different form of panhandling, with random men trying to make a quick buck selling "ice cold" waters by the Major Deegan, and doing so in the same aggressive manner that squeegee men do.

De Blasio is building massive amounts of affordable housing and NYC has THE most liberal policy when it comes to accommodating the homeless population. All you have to do is take a stroll in ANY of the recently constructed plazas to see how many homeless people are setting up shop.  Hell I was in Bryant Park the other night and every other person entering or leaving the park was a homeless person.  Walk a few more blocks down to the Herald Square area and that entire plaza is overrun with homeless people.  Bloomberg gave one way tickets for the homeless to leave, and now they're coming back.

That's been going on for years already; I've always seen people do that along the LIE. Nothing new at all.

 

What I will say is, there really needs to be a better way to handle the aggressive ones. That happened to me once, where some homeless guy was harassing and threatening me and whatnot. A police officer saw but said afterward that she can't really do anything about that, unless the guy actually touched me or harmed me. That I believe needs to change. 

[Culver]

I gotta say, I'm tired of constantly seeing one member post racist/ignorant/sadistic/false crap on these forums that divert from transit and onto said certain member's sadistic right-wing world view. Can this just get locked?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

That's been going on for years already; I've always seen people do that along the LIE. Nothing new at all.

 

What I will say is, there really needs to be a better way to handle the aggressive ones. That happened to me once, where some homeless guy was harassing and threatening me and whatnot. A police officer saw but said afterward that she can't really do anything about that, unless the guy actually touched me or harmed me. That I believe needs to change. 

Yes but that wasn't going on during the Giuliani years.  The squeegee men in certain areas are making a come back too.  None of this is good for encouraging transit use nor for the economy and the tourists who come here.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Hmm... A friend of mine sent me a pic yesterday of a homeless guy sleeping on the train. The smell was so bad that everyone had to move to another car, and I know of colleagues who use the subway everyday and have commented about the situation becoming worse.  It isn't just a figment of their imaginations. 

The squeegee men are reportedly making a comeback and if they aren't what I have been seeing is a different form of panhandling, with random men trying to make a quick buck selling "ice cold" waters by the Major Deegan, and doing so in the same aggressive manner that squeegee men do.

De Blasio is building massive amounts of affordable housing and NYC has THE most liberal policy when it comes to accommodating the homeless population. All you have to do is take a stroll in ANY of the recently constructed plazas to see how many homeless people are setting up shop.  Hell I was in Bryant Park the other night and every other person entering or leaving the park was a homeless person.  Walk a few more blocks down to the Herald Square area and that entire plaza is overrun with homeless people.  Bloomberg gave one way tickets for the homeless to leave, and now they're coming back.

It's interesting that you say homelessness is on the rise, but none of the other things are increasing.  It's only natural that if there are more homeless people that the likelihood of the other things becoming a problem would increase.  Even the spokesman Adam Lisberg admits it's going on.  The article below is from the spring, so now that it's summer the problem will only worsen.

 

Herald Square subway corridor turning into homeless camp

By Isabel Vincent and Melissa Klein

March 29, 2015 | 6:00am

Modal Trigger

Homeless people line the corridor between the 33rd Street PATH station and the Herald Square subway station last week. Photo: Stephen Yang

 

A Herald Square subway corridor has become a homeless encampment.

More than a dozen sleeping homeless men and women nightly occupy the corridor linking the 34th Street station to the PATH train platforms.

Flattened pieces of cardboard, dirty blankets and luggage line the crowded, 20-foot-wide, block-long passage.

“It’s like the bad old days,” an NYPD cop lamented as he walked through the tunnel last week.

With some 60,000 people packing city shelters every night — a record high — the foul-smelling underground hall has become a hotel for the desperate.

“The shelter system sucks,” said one woman who has been living in the station for a month and a half.

The homeless population in the subway system stood at some 1,800 last winter, according to the city’s annual survey for 2014. That is about 1,000 more people than were counted in 2005.

Mayor de Blasio has been so frantic to solve the increasing problem that he made robocalls to landlords this month offering $1,000, plus city money for rent, if they take in homeless families.

The occupants of the Herald Square station — a busy nexus of seven lines plus the PATH trains to New Jersey — say they are largely left alone, as long as they are past the sign that says “Welcome to NYC Transit.”

That side of the corridor is run by the MTA and patrolled by the NYPD while the other portion is the territory of Port Authority cops who are more likely to roust them, some of the homeless told The Post.

Previous Next

1/6

Helayne Seidman

One Port Authority officer ripped the cardboard from under a sleeping man a few weeks ago, a woman told The Post.

“He did nothing wrong,” she said of the man. “We yelled for someone to get a camera.”

She said the NYPD moves the encampment only when it’s time for the MTA to clean the corridor.

“But they’re not violent,” she said.

Photo: Stephen Yang

Another woman, sitting on top of an oversized duffel bag with more bags to her side, said she has made the passageway her home since the weather turned harsh in January.

“I don’t think anybody wanted to put anyone out,” she said.

The MTA acknowledged that the station was one of its homeless “hot spots” that has generated complaints from subway riders. The agency has sent outreach workers to Herald Square to try to persuade the occupants to seek shelter elsewhere.

“As soon as we convince some to enter the shelter system and accept services, more come in and take their place,” said MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg.

Cops are not mandated to take “enforcement action” when they encounter a homeless person in the subway system, said a department spokeswoman, who added that a special NYPD unit conducts joint patrols with an outreach agency.

Port Authority cops ask homeless people “not to lie down in the passageway on cold nights because of the need to keep the walkway clear, and to relocate on warmer nights,” said a Port Authority spokesman.

 

Source: http://nypost.com/2015/03/29/herald-square-subway-corridor-turning-into-homeless-camp/

[NewFlyer 230]

Homeless people were always in the transit system. Just because you happen to see one on the bus doesn't mean anything. I saw one get on a Q17 before. It is rare that I seem them on the bus. You see the mainly in the subway. Even then I still don't see them everyday. VG8 you seem to exaggerate things just a little too much. You always complain how the subways are dirty and so on. It is a subway millions of people use it everyday so yeah it can not stay clean. In subway station you don't see homeless people everyday. And you usually don't see a whole bunch in the same station. The only station I know up where you see a bunch of homeless people at is Jamaica Van Wyck but they are outside in that little park area on Jamaica and Metropolitan. And even then they are not always there.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Homeless people were always in the transit system. Just because you happen to see one on the bus doesn't mean anything. I saw one get on a Q17 before. It is rare that I seem them on the bus. You see the mainly in the subway. Even then I still don't see them everyday. VG8 you seem to exaggerate things just a little too much. You always complain how the subways are dirty and so on. It is a subway millions of people use it everyday so yeah it can not stay clean. In subway station you don't see homeless people everyday. And you usually don't see a whole bunch in the same station. The only station I know up where you see a bunch of homeless people at is Jamaica Van Wyck but they are outside in that little park area on Jamaica and Metropolitan. And even then they are not always there.

You wouldn't see lots of them in the outer boroughs anyway.  They are concentrated more so in Manhattan, and I can tell you that every time I use the subway in Manhattan I see some.  They all cluster there because they are more likely to get money from tourists and it's also safer in those spots.  You're right there have always been homeless people in the system, but it's getting a lot worse than it's been.  It's important that people are aware of it because not all of these people are stable mentally as shown by the guy urinating in the middle of the street.  The ' s outreach program needs to improve to mitigate this problem.

[B35 via Church]

Homeless people were always in the transit system. Just because you happen to see one on the bus doesn't mean anything. I saw one get on a Q17 before. It is rare that I seem them on the bus. You see the mainly in the subway. Even then I still don't see them everyday. VG8 you seem to exaggerate things just a little too much. You always complain how the subways are dirty and so on. It is a subway millions of people use it everyday so yeah it can not stay clean. In subway station you don't see homeless people everyday. And you usually don't see a whole bunch in the same station. The only station I know up where you see a bunch of homeless people at is Jamaica Van Wyck but they are outside in that little park area on Jamaica and Metropolitan. And even then they are not always there.

......Spillover from the Lincoln Motor Inn homeless shelter on the opposite side of the van wyck from Jamaica Hospital.....

[NewFlyer 230]

......Spillover from the Lincoln Motor Inn homeless shelter on the opposite side of the van wyck from Jamaica Hospital.....

Oh wow I never noticed it was a homeless shelter I pass by there often too.

[paulrivera]

It's interesting that you say homelessness is on the rise, but none of the other things are increasing.  It's only natural that if there are more homeless people that the likelihood of the other things becoming a problem would increase.  Even the spokesman Adam Lisberg admits it's going on.  The article below is from the spring, so now that it's summer the problem will only worsen.

 

Herald Square subway corridor turning into homeless camp

By Isabel Vincent and Melissa Klein

March 29, 2015 | 6:00am

Modal Trigger

Homeless people line the corridor between the 33rd Street PATH station and the Herald Square subway station last week. Photo: Stephen Yang

 

A Herald Square subway corridor has become a homeless encampment.

More than a dozen sleeping homeless men and women nightly occupy the corridor linking the 34th Street station to the PATH train platforms.

Flattened pieces of cardboard, dirty blankets and luggage line the crowded, 20-foot-wide, block-long passage.

“It’s like the bad old days,” an NYPD cop lamented as he walked through the tunnel last week.

With some 60,000 people packing city shelters every night — a record high — the foul-smelling underground hall has become a hotel for the desperate.

“The shelter system sucks,” said one woman who has been living in the station for a month and a half.

The homeless population in the subway system stood at some 1,800 last winter, according to the city’s annual survey for 2014. That is about 1,000 more people than were counted in 2005.

Mayor de Blasio has been so frantic to solve the increasing problem that he made robocalls to landlords this month offering $1,000, plus city money for rent, if they take in homeless families.

The occupants of the Herald Square station — a busy nexus of seven lines plus the PATH trains to New Jersey — say they are largely left alone, as long as they are past the sign that says “Welcome to NYC Transit.”

That side of the corridor is run by the MTA and patrolled by the NYPD while the other portion is the territory of Port Authority cops who are more likely to roust them, some of the homeless told The Post.

 

Previous Next

1/6

Helayne Seidman

One Port Authority officer ripped the cardboard from under a sleeping man a few weeks ago, a woman told The Post.

“He did nothing wrong,” she said of the man. “We yelled for someone to get a camera.”

She said the NYPD moves the encampment only when it’s time for the MTA to clean the corridor.

“But they’re not violent,” she said.

Photo: Stephen Yang

Another woman, sitting on top of an oversized duffel bag with more bags to her side, said she has made the passageway her home since the weather turned harsh in January.

“I don’t think anybody wanted to put anyone out,” she said.

The MTA acknowledged that the station was one of its homeless “hot spots” that has generated complaints from subway riders. The agency has sent outreach workers to Herald Square to try to persuade the occupants to seek shelter elsewhere.

“As soon as we convince some to enter the shelter system and accept services, more come in and take their place,” said MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg.

Cops are not mandated to take “enforcement action” when they encounter a homeless person in the subway system, said a department spokeswoman, who added that a special NYPD unit conducts joint patrols with an outreach agency.

Port Authority cops ask homeless people “not to lie down in the passageway on cold nights because of the need to keep the walkway clear, and to relocate on warmer nights,” said a Port Authority spokesman.

 

Source: http://nypost.com/2015/03/29/herald-square-subway-corridor-turning-into-homeless-camp/

That homeless hangout seems to be new, I don't recall seeing entire groups of homeless people at that passageway...

 

I think they close that passageway at night, don't they?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

That homeless hangout seems to be new, I don't recall seeing entire groups of homeless people at that passageway...

 

I think they close that passageway at night, don't they?

I have no idea.  There's always been homeless people using the benches at Herald Square, but I have never seen homeless people in the passageway and certainly not nearly as many homeless people about in the system.  That's the troubling part to me.  I think this is purely a Manhattan problem (for now), but mark my words.  People will be up in arms when they start opening more shelters in the outerboroughs (which is happening).  One is proposed for the Glendale/Middle Village out in Queens and another in Pelham Bay in the Bronx, solid middle-class areas.  Both neighborhoods are opposed of course, but it's definitely getting worse.

[B35 via Church]

Around 34th b/w 6th & 8th, there are groups of homeless sleeping all over... You have the ones inside penn station itself, the ones over in this seated area (up those steps) across from the north end of MSG, the ones that sleep at Herald Sq itself (i.e., the ped mall along [what was] broadway b/w 34th & 35th).....

 

Inside herald sq (subway station), it used to be a huge problem.... Sometime ago (don't know when exactly), yes, that passageway was locked.... But as of late (this calendar year), I've personally seen anywhere from 1-3 people sleeping in that passageway around 4-5am on saturdays, which was obviously open.... When they opened it back up again (during/for the wee hrs. of the morning, I mean), I have no idea...... Basically what I'm saying in this paragraph is, judging by that photo in that article & how I remember the homeless situation at that subway station, it's slowly going back to the way it was..... I'm simply talking during the late nights & early mornings with this....

 

You had some that used to sleep in Greeley Sq (across manhattan mall, 6th av side), but ever since they beautified/spruced it up, they lock those gates after a certain time....

[NY1635]

I have no idea.  There's always been homeless people using the benches at Herald Square, but I have never seen homeless people in the passageway and certainly not nearly as many homeless people about in the system.  That's the troubling part to me.  I think this is purely a Manhattan problem (for now), but mark my words.  People will be up in arms when they start opening more shelters in the outerboroughs (which is happening).  One is proposed for the Glendale/Middle Village out in Queens and another in Pelham Bay in the Bronx, solid middle-class areas.  Both neighborhoods are opposed of course, but it's definitely getting worse.

 

Actually, the opposite would happen: The more homeless shelters open means less homeless people on the streets. I'm guessing it's a problem in Manhattan because there's no place for the homeless to stay except for the parks and subways.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Actually, the opposite would happen: The more homeless shelters open means less homeless people on the streets. I'm guessing it's a problem in Manhattan because there's no place for the homeless to stay except for the parks and subways.

Actually that's not true at all.  Homeless people don't want to stay in the shelters for a number of reasons.  Many of them feel safer in the subway stations, subways or the buses. 

[I love NY]

On 7/19/2015 at 12:53 PM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

It's interesting that you say homelessness is on the rise, but none of the other things are increasing.  It's only natural that if there are more homeless people that the likelihood of the other things becoming a problem would increase.  Even the spokesman Adam Lisberg admits it's going on.  The article below is from the spring, so now that it's summer the problem will only worsen.

 

Herald Square subway corridor turning into homeless camp

By Isabel Vincent and Melissa Klein

March 29, 2015 | 6:00am

Modal Trigger

Homeless people line the corridor between the 33rd Street PATH station and the Herald Square subway station last week. Photo: Stephen Yang

 

A Herald Square subway corridor has become a homeless encampment.

More than a dozen sleeping homeless men and women nightly occupy the corridor linking the 34th Street station to the PATH train platforms.

Flattened pieces of cardboard, dirty blankets and luggage line the crowded, 20-foot-wide, block-long passage.

“It’s like the bad old days,” an NYPD cop lamented as he walked through the tunnel last week.

With some 60,000 people packing city shelters every night — a record high — the foul-smelling underground hall has become a hotel for the desperate.

“The shelter system sucks,” said one woman who has been living in the station for a month and a half.

The homeless population in the subway system stood at some 1,800 last winter, according to the city’s annual survey for 2014. That is about 1,000 more people than were counted in 2005.

Mayor de Blasio has been so frantic to solve the increasing problem that he made robocalls to landlords this month offering $1,000, plus city money for rent, if they take in homeless families.

The occupants of the Herald Square station — a busy nexus of seven lines plus the PATH trains to New Jersey — say they are largely left alone, as long as they are past the sign that says “Welcome to NYC Transit.”

That side of the corridor is run by the MTA and patrolled by the NYPD while the other portion is the territory of Port Authority cops who are more likely to roust them, some of the homeless told The Post.

 

Previous Next

1/6

Helayne Seidman

One Port Authority officer ripped the cardboard from under a sleeping man a few weeks ago, a woman told The Post.

“He did nothing wrong,” she said of the man. “We yelled for someone to get a camera.”

She said the NYPD moves the encampment only when it’s time for the MTA to clean the corridor.

“But they’re not violent,” she said.

Photo: Stephen Yang

Another woman, sitting on top of an oversized duffel bag with more bags to her side, said she has made the passageway her home since the weather turned harsh in January.

“I don’t think anybody wanted to put anyone out,” she said.

The MTA acknowledged that the station was one of its homeless “hot spots” that has generated complaints from subway riders. The agency has sent outreach workers to Herald Square to try to persuade the occupants to seek shelter elsewhere.

“As soon as we convince some to enter the shelter system and accept services, more come in and take their place,” said MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg.

Cops are not mandated to take “enforcement action” when they encounter a homeless person in the subway system, said a department spokeswoman, who added that a special NYPD unit conducts joint patrols with an outreach agency.

Port Authority cops ask homeless people “not to lie down in the passageway on cold nights because of the need to keep the walkway clear, and to relocate on warmer nights,” said a Port Authority spokesman.

 

Source: http://nypost.com/2015/03/29/herald-square-subway-corridor-turning-into-homeless-camp/

On the PATH site there is written that the "Passageway from PATH to NYC Subway N, Q, and R trains closed daily from 11 p.m. until 5 a.m. Use NYC Subway entrance at 34 St & 6 Av." But what means exactly this? Does mean it that isn't possible to access overnight from 33rd st Station of the PATH to the N,Q and R lines, but is it instead possible to access to the F and D lines 24 hours a day using the same passageway? But aren't the BMT and the IND lines linked at Herald Station? Does exist a 24/7 passageway from 33rd st Station of the PATH to the F and D lines?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

52 minutes ago, I love NY said:

On the PATH site there is written that the "Passageway from PATH to NYC Subway N, Q, and R trains closed daily from 11 p.m. until 5 a.m. Use NYC Subway entrance at 34 St & 6 Av." But what means exactly this? Does mean it that isn't possible to access overnight from 33rd st Station of the PATH to the N,Q and R lines, but is it instead possible to access to the F and D lines 24 hours a day using the same passageway? But aren't the BMT and the IND lines linked at Herald Station? Does exist a 24/7 passageway from 33rd st Station of the PATH to the F and D lines?

The passageway from PATH basically links riders to ALL subway lines that stop at Herald Square. When it closes overnight, you simply walk one block over to 34th and 6th which is Herald Square where you can access all of the subway lines. Not all of the subway lines are on the same platform so some walking within the station is needed, but you can access all of the subway lines nonetheless.

[bobtehpanda]

On 7/19/2015 at 4:29 PM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Actually that's not true at all.  Homeless people don't want to stay in the shelters for a number of reasons.  Many of them feel safer in the subway stations, subways or the buses. 

It's true. The homeless shelters have been documented as full of the violent, and mentally ill people, and aren't great for families; so many of the people who are sane and just down on their luck would rather take their chances outside.

Really this is all a side effect of completely defunding mental healthcare in this country. When the institutions were declared unconstitutional (as they should've been, they were inhumane), they were supposed to be replaced dollar for dollar by community health places where people would just check in like people on probation do, but we cut all of that under Reagan.