Have you ever been chilling on the High Line and then randomly solicited by a Buddhist monk who just wanted money to send to his monastery back home?
He likely placed some sort of Buddhist bracelet in your hands and told you that bracelet could be yours, if only you'd give him $10 to send to his other praying monk friends.
And since the bracelet was already in your hands... you'd sort of feel like a douche if you said no, right?
Well, you're not alone. Some of these monks have been demanding upwards of $40. And officials are fed up.
"We recognize that this is an issue and we are in discussions with the New York City Parks Department to address the matter," said Martin Nembhard, VP of Park Operations for Friends of the High Line, the non-profit in charge of the High Line's operations.
Even worse, the New York Post reported that these monks' behavior has been anything but divine.
The incidents of solicitous behavior haven't just occurred on the High Line. In Bryant Park, one was spotted swiping a plastic water bottle from a clueless sidewalk vendor.
"I'd be shocked if any of them are really Buddhist monks," Dan Biederman, the head of the Bryant Park Corporation, has recently stated.
Nembhard urges anyone "approached in this manner to immediately report it to a Parks Department officer on site."
Because, let's face it. Monks are beautiful, wonderful happiness spreaders.
And while they might carry a "beggar's bowl" to receive gifts of food and money, they "would not aggressively ask for cash," said Reverend T. Kenjitsu Nagasaki, president of the Buddhist Council of New York.
So people, don't give money to fake monks. And fake monks, if you could stop disrespecting real monks and New Yorkers everywhere, that'd be excellent too.
This has been a public service announcement. Well, kinda sorta.
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[via and Feature Image Courtesy: New York Post]