51吃瓜

Despite the city government鈥檚 efforts to provide affordable housing, NYC is still struggling toprovide for聽a聽growing homeless population.

In spite of聽its inhospitable weather and soaring cost of living, New York City is the primary homeless hub in the Northeastern United States.聽Approximately 64,000 of the city鈥檚 8聽million inhabitants are homeless, living in crowded shelters or roughing it on the streets 鈥� more than there have been since the Great Depression. Of the city鈥檚 homeless, 57% are African-American, 32% are Latino and only 8% are Caucasian. Compared to the city鈥檚 overall demographics 鈥� 44% Caucasian, 26% African-American and 27% Latino 鈥� these statistics paint a picture of persistent social inequality.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has taken steps to build affordable housing, 750 new apartments per year. De Blasio is turning a tide set in motion by his predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, who the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) from giving priority to homeless families and children and gave preference to for-profit shelters. This had a catastrophic effect on the city鈥檚 unhoused population. The year before Bloomberg鈥檚 policies went into effect, NYCHA provided 3,500 apartments to low-income or homeless families. In 2013, 95 apartments were provided. Homelessness during Bloomberg鈥檚 11聽years as mayor: from 32,000 in 2002 to 52,000 in 2013. Though de Blasio鈥檚 efforts are welcome, other elected officials and homelessness advocates are pushing him to increase his quota to 2,500 new units a year.

Despite the city鈥檚 efforts to provide housing, most of the homeless men and women interviewed by 51吃瓜 preferred sleeping outside unless the cold prevented it. Jacob Straus spoke to people living on the streets of New York about the challenges of their daily lives.

A man and a young woman sitting in a doorway. The man is dark-skinned, wearing all black. He’s wearing a do-rag, a baseball cap and blue-tinted reflective sunglasses, with a cross around his neck. The girl is wearing a tank top and shorts. They’re both tattooed. She has a cardboard sign.

Straus: What’s your name?

Anonymous: Anonymous.

Straus: Are you homeless?

Anonymous: Yes.

Straus: How long have you been homeless?

Anonymous: Five years.

Straus: Always in New York City?

Anonymous: No.

Straus: Where’d that start?

Anonymous: Transient.

Straus: From where?

Anonymous: California.

“Oh, you鈥檙e young and you鈥檙e white and you鈥檙e female, why aren鈥檛 you in college, why aren鈥檛 you making six figures, why aren鈥檛 you doing this?鈥� They don鈥檛 even understand how it is.

Straus: What other cities besides New York have you been in?

Anonymous: I really… it would take me a couple hours. I’ve been to every state except like three.

Straus: How long have you been here?

Anonymous: Like a month.

Straus: How have you found it comparatively?

Anonymous: It has its pros and its cons.

Straus: Like what?

Anonymous: Well, for one, people are a lot nicer here than the stereotype. Which is rather amusing to me, because you go anywhere else in the country, and all you hear is 鈥淣ew York this, New York that, everybody’s rude and stuck up.鈥� And then you get here and they’re not even like that. And then you’re just like, 鈥淚 wonder why they got that. Where that came from.鈥�

Straus: What’s a con?

Anonymous: Lots of businesses. Lots of things to do. Even if you don’t got money, there’s stuff you can do to entertain yourself.

Straus: Why are you homeless? What happened five years ago?

Anonymous: It’s mostly lack of income. Not able to go to college ’cause I got denied financial aid for not being a resident for five years. La da da da da. And I was like, well, if I’ve got to be homeless, I might as well travel. Do something worthwhile with my time.

Straus: Have you been traveling alone?

Anonymous: On and off. Sometimes you meet other travelers along the road and you travel together until you hit certain points.

Straus: You’ve been transient, so you haven’t really explored any one city for too long, but what have you found community-wise? Are there networks?

Anonymous: NYC has a lot of services for homeless people. There are lots of shelters and food services and churches that actually try to help. Which is something not a lot of cities offer. Most cities are just like, 鈥淯h, you鈥檙e not one of the 1%, go f**k yourself. Go get a job! Go be a lawyer!鈥�

Straus: What services do you use?

Anonymous: Sometimes I go to churches to sleep. They offer food. It鈥檚 really good in these kinds of cities where things are like four times as expensive for legitimately everything. Sometimes you鈥檙e not able to make enough during the day, but you don鈥檛 have to worry about food and getting a place to sleep, so it takes a lot of the stresses off.

Straus: Where do you usually sleep?

Anonymous: Usually in the churches. They offer beds, so that鈥檚 always a nice thing.

Straus: On an average day, thousands of people walk by you. What鈥檚 the reaction most people have?

Anonymous: Honestly most of them are too stuck up to even look, but some of them are still humble enough as human beings to acknowledge my existence.

Straus: What percent would you say acknowledge you?

Anonymous: About 40%.

Straus: How do you think being female and homeless is different? Is it harder, or easier?

Anonymous: What I鈥檝e noticed with me is people seem to expect more because of my race and being female. “Oh, you鈥檙e young and you鈥檙e white and you鈥檙e female, why aren鈥檛 you in college, why aren鈥檛 you making six figures, why aren鈥檛 you doing this?鈥� They don鈥檛 even understand how it is. A lot of these families are born into middle or upper class, so they don鈥檛 know the struggle, they don鈥檛 understand it.

Straus: What are your plans, for the next few days, for the next month, for the next years?

Anonymous: Honestly in a week I鈥檓 going back to California. I鈥檓 actually going to try getting an apartment. I realized attempting to do those things in my home state will be a lot easier, 鈥榗ause there鈥檚 usually like a 5-year waiting list if you鈥檙e not from there, but being the fact that I was born and raised there should make things a lot easier to get services and help from my own state.

Straus: How are you getting back there?

Anonymous: I鈥檓 taking Amtrak.

Straus: That鈥檚 an expensive ticket.

Anonymous: I know, I鈥檓 not paying for it.

Straus: Who鈥檚 paying for it?

Anonymous: Actually there鈥檚 something called the Traveler鈥檚 Assistance Program that helps people one time. Like homeless people, if they have a home, and they can verify that someone is going to give you a place to say, they鈥檒l cover it. But it鈥檚 a once thing.

But based on being homeless, you will only know what it really is, what it鈥檚 all about, unless you experience it yourself. People tend to take things for granted, the little things in life. What happens when there is no more money?

Straus: You can鈥檛 just get free rides anywhere.

Anonymous: Right.

Straus: Who鈥檚 your friend? Did you guys just meet?

X: We met in New York City.

Straus: How long have you known each other?

X: A few weeks. Probably about two weeks.

Anonymous: Two weeks.

Straus: What鈥檚 your name?

X: People know me as X.

Straus: Are you also homeless?

X: Sort of.

Straus: On and off?

X: Drifter. I鈥檓 a drifter.

Straus: Like her, everywhere, or mainly in New York?

X: I travel, you know, other states, but I really don鈥檛 have words. It is what it is. Self-explanatory. Not much to explain. We already know where the problem is.

Straus: Where鈥檚 the problem?

X: The ones that are in control.

Straus: So what do you think needs to happen?

X: They need to all be removed.

Straus: Total blank slate?

X: [Nods]

Straus: How do you think we can do that?

X: I think at this moment it鈥檚 going to be very impossible. They like to do the bad instead of the good. They鈥檙e all for themselves. They鈥檙e selfish. While the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. They eat lobster while you eat crumbs. We work hard so they can build their empire.

Straus: How long have you been on and off homeless?

X: I just decided to take myself off the grid. I was given a name, I got a social and all that, but it remains anonymous. You can just know me as Mr. X. Everyone know who I am. If you鈥檝e seen me you know who I look like. Other than that, right now, I鈥檓 on vacation. Welcome to the living room: 34^th St and 8^th Avenue. You can see everybody, 聽Russia, Morocco, Argentina.

But based on being homeless, you will only know what it really is, what it鈥檚 all about, unless you experience it yourself. People tend to take things for granted, the little things in life. What happens when there is no more money?

Anonymous: Like air conditioning! Yuppies really don鈥檛 care about air conditioning. But I bet if you stick them out in a desert for like an hour, and then put them in the air conditioning, they鈥檇 be like, 鈥淥h my fg god, this is what it feels like? I had this the whole time and didn鈥檛 know?鈥�

X: But um, that鈥檚 the truth. They will never know. The tables will one day turn, and they will understand. But they will never know, or have any type of knowledge of how to survive here. They will one day come to me and ask, 鈥淗ow did you do it?鈥� There鈥檚 one above watching all, and one below listening.

This world, there鈥檚 bad and good. And remember: Good always wins. That鈥檚 why I don鈥檛 have to worry about nothing. I鈥檓 already rich. 鈥� Stay positive, that鈥檚 my moral. If you have morals and values, you鈥檙e an old-fashioned American, you have class. But if you want to be like the president鈥�

Anonymous: I don鈥檛 know why you鈥檇 want to be like the president.

X: 鈥楥ause everybody looks up to him.

Anonymous: I don鈥檛 want to be president. That job sucks. No matter if you do good or bad, everybody鈥檚 going to hate you anyway. Every decision you make is the wrong decision, to someone. Except he can do something I can鈥檛 do: He鈥檚 good at golf.

X: While people die, he鈥檚 gonna go play golf.

Anonymous: We鈥檙e not the world police. People die every day. Cry me a river, build me a bridge and get the f**k over it.

Straus: Can you guys tell me 鈥� I understand if you don鈥檛 want to talk about this 鈥� the worst thing that happened to you on the streets. I鈥檝e heard some horror stories.

Anonymous: Honestly, I don鈥檛 have any horror stories, other than the fact that cops tend to harass and steal from the homeless.

Straus: Like what?

Anonymous: Like physically abuse. Alright, this one time I was in Philly, and we鈥檙e standing there, about to cross the street. This off-duty cop literally stops his car in the middle of the street, with a green light, pushes my friend Twitch into the street, and then yells at him, telling him if he doesn鈥檛 get the fuck out of the street he鈥檚 going to arrest him. That鈥檚 just one instance. Here in New York, they get f****d with in Union Square just for sitting down. All the time. They鈥檒l just like random search you and take your s**t. Not even illegal stuff, just stuff that they want. They鈥檒l take it form you and put it right in their pocket and walk away like it didn鈥檛 happen.

Man wants power. How you get power? Control. Corporations. Warehouses. What happens to the homeless people?

X: I鈥檒l tell you the worst thing that happened to me. It was the very first time when they gave me that look, 鈥淲hen are you all gonna die already?鈥� That look. When they could give you that look and they鈥檇 be like, 鈥淵ou are a parasite. You are nothing.鈥� Also the look, 鈥淵ou should go back to where you came from.鈥� Now the thing is, I鈥檓 wondering why they would say something like that, when they came in three boats, and America was built on fraud. They robbed my families and my ancestors. They raped and murdered my brothers and sisters. And they tell me to go back to the hole I came from.

Straus: Are you Native American?

X: I鈥檓 Taino Indian.

Anonymous: And we think we can pay them back by giving them money from casinos.

X: No, no, it鈥檚 like this.

Anonymous: We killed all your people, but here鈥檚 a casino!

X: That was the past 鈥� Yes, it has everything to do with me, because it鈥檚 a cycle. That鈥檚 my blood, that鈥檚 my ancestors. I鈥檓 the outcome of all that. In the end, they took all the gold, they found out the secret how to make corn on the cob into Redenbacher popcorn. I believe Thanksgiving is not a day of thanksgiving where we cut turkeys and we have a nice feast and then the next day we all slaughter each other. Thanksgiving is a massacre. Just like every other holiday. Like Christmas is all about money. If you have money in your pocket, then that is your god. And if that is your god, just to let you know, money can burn too.

Straus: You鈥檙e wearing a cross. Are you religious?

X: No.

Anonymous: [Laughs]

Straus: Why the cross, then?

X: Religion and belief is two different things.

Straus: So you believe, then?

X: I鈥檓 a firm believer.

Straus: In Jesus Christ?

X: Well, Jewish people call it Jeshaw [sic.]. Some people call it 鈥減rophet.鈥� Whatever you want to call it. There is one that is supreme. And he can die. 鈥� And every living creature has a story to tell until we cross lines with destiny. And every man has their own destiny. Man wants power. How you get power? Control. Corporations. Warehouses. What happens to the homeless people? And the question is why are they building secret concentration camps?

Anonymous: They鈥檙e not a secret.

X: Well, secret society, Illuminati. Everybody knows they鈥檙e around, they just don鈥檛 know where they at.

Anonymous: Actually, we do know where they at.

Straus: Where are they?

Anonymous: They鈥檙e building one out in LA.

Straus: A concentration camp?

Anonymous: Well, they鈥檙e 鈥渨orking camps鈥� for homeless people. They鈥檝e actually been starting to build them and eventually they鈥檙e going to sweep the streets and put all the homeless people can either willingly go to this 鈥渨orking camp鈥� or they can go to jail.

X: As long as you got money, as long as you got dead presidents like Washington and Roosevelt, Franklin, you cannot be touched. You be like the Great Gatsby. Welcome to New York.

The views expressed聽in this article are the author鈥檚 own and do not necessarily reflect聽51吃瓜鈥檚聽editorial policy.

听/