Police Commissioner Bill Bratton spoke to reporters at City Hall on Monday, and said panhandlers would miraculously vanish if only people would stop giving them money, according to the New York Post.
Wait, really, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton? That's what we need to end homelessness? End the compassion, end the plight?
You're right. That doesn't make sense.
"My best advice to the citizens of New York City: if this is so upsetting to you, don't give. One of the quickest ways to get rid of them is to not give to them," Bratton said.
What did he mean by "get rid of them?" Did he mean they'd die? Logically, that sounds a lot like what happens when you instruct people in New York City to not give to people who need it.
Sorry Bratton, but we've got to side with Richard Gere on this one. Richard Gere posed as a homeless person in October, and wrote afterward on his Facebook about the experience.
"If we can help someone in need, we should," Gere said. "That's why after I was done, I walked around and gave food and $100 to every homeless person I saw. They cried and were so grateful."
Doesn't that sound like a better stance on the situation than the advice to close our hearts and our wallets? We think so.
Not according to Bratton.
"New Yorkers who are complaining so much about [homelessness], well, one of the things they can do is stop contributing to it," Bratton said.
What provoked Bratton's heartless comments? He and Mayor de Blasio were shown photos of a seemingly homeless person with an array of pets panhandling at Broadway and West 68th Street.
"You can see that repeated in a number of locations around the city, with the animals, et cetera, which is, for the beggars, that's an additional inducement for people to give," Bratton said.
While it may be true that beggars get more donations on the street when they have pets with them, we still can't endorse the message that we can solve homelessness by ignoring the homeless.
We were stoked when, in September, Mayor de Blasio finally admitted that homelessness was a real problem. At that time, de Blasio said the homeless can't afford the cost of living in NYC.
Which we think is fairly obvious. So, is the solution bringing down the ridiculous cost of living in this city?
Bratton's solution is arresting them.
"That individual is not sitting there by himself. He's taking up significant public sidewalk space," Bratton said about the homeless man with the pets in the picture. "If somebody were to have called and complained about him, our officers could have removed him."
Luckily, de Blasio refused to echo Bratton's advice. He also wouldn't comment directly on the photo. What he did do, however, was to say that seeing homeless people on NYC's streets is "upsetting every time," and "not something any community should have to live through."
Via Gotham Gazette
Thank you, de Blasio. Finally, some compassion.
De Blasio also stated that his administration broke up "21 full-blown encampments where people were living for years, doing drugs, sleeping overnight."
"Any time we see a report of something like this, NYPD and Homeless Services move in and both [work] to restore the quality of life for everyone who lives in the area, but also to get services to the people involved," de Blasio said.
We're glad that de Blasio, at least, is coming at the situation with more than a modicum of empathy. He also stated that he was "proud of the fact that we got 38,000 people out of shelter and into housing."
De Blasio also recognized that the homeless crisis in this city is far from solved.
"We've got a lot more to do," de Blasio said.
So, we're entirely relieved that the mayor's solution for homelessness is to get them into shelters, and to get them help rather than ignoring them or arresting them as Bratton would have us do.
Hey Bratton, we're going to continue to be compassionate when we can. We're going to keep our hearts and wallets open.
Check out 7 Places in NYC to Give Back to Your Community This Thanksgiving.
[via New York Post]
[Feature Image Courtesy New York Daily News]