Site icon The Libertarian Republic

Feed the Homeless, Become a Criminal

This was taken about halfway up the block on the east side of Broadway, between 79th and 80th Street. It's at the north end of the "Filene's Basement" store on the corner, and it's a place where I've often seen homeless people holding up a sign that asks for assistance... With very rare exceptions, I haven't photographed these homeless people; it seems to me that they're in a very defensive situation, and I don't want to take advantage of their situation. But something unusual was happening here: the two women (who were actually cooperating, and acting in tandem, despite the rather negative demeanor of the woman on the left) were giving several parcels of food to the young homeless man on the right. I don't know if the women were bringing food from their own kitchen, or whether they had brought it from a nearby restaurant. But it was obviously a conscious, deliberate activity, and one they had thousght about for some time... What was particularly interesting was that they didn't dwell, didn't try to have a conversation with the young man;they gave him they food they had brought, and promptly walked away. As they left, I noticed the young man peering into his bag (the one you see on the ground beside him in this picture) to get a better sense of the delicious meal these two kind women had brought him... ********************** This is part of an evolving photo-project, which will probably continue throughout the summer of 2008, and perhaps beyond: a random collection of "interesting" people in a broad stretch of the Upper West Side of Manhattan -- between 72nd Street and 104th Street, especially along Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. I don't like to intrude on people's privacy, so I normally use a telephoto lens in order to photograph them while they're still 50-100 feet away from me; but that means I have to continue focusing my attention on the people and activities half a block away, rather than on what's right in front of me. I've also learned that, in many cases, the opportunities for an interesting picture are very fleeting -- literally a matter of a couple of seconds, before the person(s) in question move on, turn away, or stop doing whatever was interesting. So I've learned to keep the camera switched on (which contradicts my traditional urge to conserve battery power), and not worry so much about zooming in for a perfectly-framed picture ... after all, once the digital image is uploaded to my computer, it's pretty trivial to crop out the parts unrelated to the main subject. For the most part, I've deliberately avoided photographing bums, drunks, drunks, and crazy people. There are a few of them around, and they would certainly create some dramatic pictures; but they generally don't want to be photographed, and I don't want to feel like I'm taking advantage of them. I'm still looking for opportunities to take some "sympathetic" pictures of such people, which might inspire others to reach out and help them. We'll see how it goes ... The only other thing I've noticed, thus far, is that while there are lots of interesting people to photograph, there are far, far, *far* more people who are *not* so interesting. They're probably fine people, and they might even be more interesting than the ones I've photographed ... but there was just nothing memorable about them.

LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST:


By Caleb Coggeshall

Feeding the homeless is a noble action, as long as one has permission from the state. Simple kindness for fellow man has become punishable in the last few years, as people have gone to prison and faced fines for feeding the homeless. Unfortunately, these incidents are not isolated, as there have been several cases of people being forcibly removed from public property for handing out food. It might sound like a joke, or an exaggeration, but it has happened more than people realize. Below are a few examples.

Arnold Abbott, a supporter of the homeless, has been cited at least three times for feeding people in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. After having been arrested in 1999 for this action, he filed a lawsuit against the city and won. Abbott asked that the city honor that ruling when he was cited again in 2014. Two Christian pastors also faced the law alongside him: Dwayne Black and Mark Sims. All three men were required to pay a fine of $500 and face sixty days in jail. Apparently, these men broke a city ordinance which prohibits the sharing of food publicly. The ordinance goes on to say that “organizations distributing food outdoors would have to provide portable toilets for use by workers and those being fed.

A similar happening occurred in Kansas City, Missouri. A group of volunteers known as Kookers Kare gathered thousands of pounds of food to distribute to 3,000 homeless individuals. Bureaucrats from the Kansas City Health Department decided that wasn’t going to happen and told Kookers Kare that since the food hadn’t been previously inspected, it was unfit for consumption. As if that weren’t bad enough, the health department said that the comestibles also had to be destroyed. After spending time and energy preparing all that food, the workers had to saturate it all with bleach so it couldn’t be eaten.

Lastly, it looks as if Florida may have a special aversion to the homeless, because only a few weeks ago, members from the group Food Not Bombs were led away in handcuffs. There is a law in Tampa that one needs a special permit to destitute in public parks, and a fact Food Not Bombs was certainly aware of. However, obtaining a permit to feed people in a public park in Tampa is expensive, which gives reason to why the organization decided to forego the legal paperwork. Instead deciding to go ahead with their plans. A plan which, as a consequence, landed seven members with new silver bracelets.


WATCH TLR’S LATEST VIDEO:

Exit mobile version