Action: Protect the Homeless Monday Morning in NYC
Posted 10 years ago on Feb. 23, 2014, 3:58 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt (1) from Plainfield, NJ
In 2013, it was reported that the homeless population of New York City increased 13% Yet, in the face of the worst winter the city has experienced in years, the Transit Authority seeks to clear the homeless out of the one place that is relatively public, warm, and safe.
No one is fooled by this attempt to “protect” our most vulnerable populations. "This is just an excuse for the shelters to make profits off those who have deliberately chosen to avoid them. This is not about helping homeless people. It's about putting them where wealthy people don't have to see them. Also, how do they determine who is actually homeless? Arresting people for being in a place that they have paid to be is a blatant violation of civil rights. If we can arrest somebody for being homeless, we need to start arresting their employers or ex-employers as accomplices." reports a post at Picture the Homeless
Indeed, if the health and protection of the homeless is really the issue, why not just give them housing like they do in Nashville, TN? I mean seriously, New York City, NASHVILLE is out-performing you in this key social area, and their mayor is not a former Communist!
If paying for existing housing is not an option, we could always build homes. There are many options, and instead of embracing an innovative solution, NYC has chosen to just throw people to the hospitals and privately run homeless shelters that offer “a bed” for taxpayer supported prices starting at $122+ a night.
From Picture the Homeless:
Our main concerns are:
Folks will be profiled as homeless and told to leave the trains after they've paid their fare.
Folks will be told to leave the train if they are homeless regardless if they've been on the train for 15 minutes or 15 days. It isn't against the law to be riding a subway while homeless!
Besides being a misguided, broken windows strategy, this is a clear violation of the newly-passed Community Safety Act, and its ban on profiling based on "housing status" or perceived homelessness.
While it is problematic that there is a huge increase in homelessness in NYC, policing is not the solution, housing is.
And then at 3AM, when the MTA is scheduled to roll out this new policy, we'll be on hand with legal observers to monitor the enforcement and ensure no ones rights are violated!
3AM, Monday February 24th Jamaica Center Subway Station, E Platform