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I would suggest... If you're homeless in NYC, there used to be a squatter scene in the Lower East Side. That's changed over the past decades, but ABC No Rio a

I would suggest... If you're homeless in NYC, there used to be a squatter scene in the Lower East Side. That's changed over the past decades, but ABC No Rio at 156 Rivington used to be a squat, and they have a calendar of open events on their web site. Bluestockings books on 172 Allen St., one block south of Houston Street is open all the time and is not really squatter-oriented, but has people and flyers associated with this scene. Food Not Bombs moved out of ABC No Rio to the Catholic Worker at 36 E. 1st street, they serve free food in Tompkins Square Park after 3:30PM. Also, 2600 meetings happen on the first Friday of every month in the lobby of 153 E 53rd St, people start coming in at 5PM. They're technical people who might be sympathetic to someone in your situation. If you look on Craigslist, there are a lot of (Microsoft) desktop support jobs. Some need an A+/MCSE, some don't. It sounds like you could handle things more complex, but if you're in dire need it's a paycheck. Also you have some experience doing that. Do that, learn that, try to save some money up. In fact if you're homeless you should probably look for an easier to get job like a messenger's job first. Then I'd look for desktop support job. If I was homeless I would put aside learning ML in R until I was getting a steady paycheck and had a roof over my head.

amagnasco 10y ago
:::::UPDATE::::: we found a way to get there and will absolutely be making use of all these incredible resources, when we get a job and have free time and money we'll go back and help out too Wow, this is amazing. Thank you so much for all the information, I'm literally crying right now. Can I ask how you know all this? After the better part of a year in this situation in Florida, I managed to get a friend to put us up two hours north of NYC, but there was a change of plans and we need to leave by next week. So all those amazing people are slightly out of reach right now but we'll definitively go if we manage to get to NYC, but we can't because there's no-one we can stay with. The main problem we have right now is Catch-22. We need a job to pay rent for a roof over our heads or buy food. We need a roof and food to apply for jobs. We don't have any more savings left to keep us coasting by, any more family left that can help, or any more friends that can put us up. We managed to stay off the streets up until now but it doesn't seem like an option anymore. No-one wants to put us up, even for the promise of back-paid rent, and no-one wants to give us a job. We're at wits' end, really. We have two college degrees each for christ's sake. If we were in NYC proper we could go in person to do all of those things but we're not. I completely agree with your assessment and will definitively start looking on craigslist. Re: R, doing some programming once in a while between applications keeps me sane, which is absolutely a priority right now. I don't know why I just wrote out all of this, sorry.. thanks for all the advice
- pastProlog 10y ago
  I neglected to mention, FNB only serves food in Tompkins Square Park on Sunday. In your situation, forget about a job that involves R machine learning, unless you already have an in. Get a job as a messenger, or supermarket stocker, or McDonalds burger flipper or something. Look for signs in stores that say help wanted, or find Manhattan messengering services you can work at. Don't look for an apartment. Look for a room to rent. There are different recycling days in New York, and some supermarkets have 24/7 recycling machines. You can take cans from people's blue recycle bins, put it in a container (the street collectors use a basket with wheels around here) and 20 of them means a dollar. Also - on Staten Island is a place called Ganas. Some people work in their stores and live there. They own residential buildings, stores etc. Some people live there and work elsewhere. I don't know if they have space available, if you tell them you'd like to live there and work in their stores, and perhaps one of you eventually would get an outside job (or maybe both), it might work out. The inner circle of Ganas is slightly cultish, but lots of people come to New York, live there a few months, then go somewhere else, and had a good time of it. They don't push you too heavily to join their meditation circle or whatever it is. There used to be a Ganas splinter group with a building near Ganas with a building, I don't think they owned businesses though. The living is cheap, communal etc., but it's a roof and a job, and some of them have outside jobs. The city places homeless people, but if you're a walkin you'll probably be sent to a homeless shelter with a lot of mentally ill and criminal people. People get their stuff stolen, sometimes worse. There is a curfew too, although if you have a legit job it might be extended.

amagnasco 10y ago

:::::UPDATE::::: we found a way to get there and will absolutely be making use of all these incredible resources, when we get a job and have free time and money we'll go back and help out too Wow, this is amazing. Thank you so much for all the information, I'm literally crying right now. Can I ask how you know all this? After the better part of a year in this situation in Florida, I managed to get a friend to put us up two hours north of NYC, but there was a change of plans and we need to leave by next week. So all those amazing people are slightly out of reach right now but we'll definitively go if we manage to get to NYC, but we can't because there's no-one we can stay with. The main problem we have right now is Catch-22. We need a job to pay rent for a roof over our heads or buy food. We need a roof and food to apply for jobs. We don't have any more savings left to keep us coasting by, any more family left that can help, or any more friends that can put us up. We managed to stay off the streets up until now but it doesn't seem like an option anymore. No-one wants to put us up, even for the promise of back-paid rent, and no-one wants to give us a job. We're at wits' end, really. We have two college degrees each for christ's sake. If we were in NYC proper we could go in person to do all of those things but we're not. I completely agree with your assessment and will definitively start looking on craigslist. Re: R, doing some programming once in a while between applications keeps me sane, which is absolutely a priority right now. I don't know why I just wrote out all of this, sorry.. thanks for all the advice

pastProlog 10y ago
I neglected to mention, FNB only serves food in Tompkins Square Park on Sunday. In your situation, forget about a job that involves R machine learning, unless you already have an in. Get a job as a messenger, or supermarket stocker, or McDonalds burger flipper or something. Look for signs in stores that say help wanted, or find Manhattan messengering services you can work at. Don't look for an apartment. Look for a room to rent. There are different recycling days in New York, and some supermarkets have 24/7 recycling machines. You can take cans from people's blue recycle bins, put it in a container (the street collectors use a basket with wheels around here) and 20 of them means a dollar. Also - on Staten Island is a place called Ganas. Some people work in their stores and live there. They own residential buildings, stores etc. Some people live there and work elsewhere. I don't know if they have space available, if you tell them you'd like to live there and work in their stores, and perhaps one of you eventually would get an outside job (or maybe both), it might work out. The inner circle of Ganas is slightly cultish, but lots of people come to New York, live there a few months, then go somewhere else, and had a good time of it. They don't push you too heavily to join their meditation circle or whatever it is. There used to be a Ganas splinter group with a building near Ganas with a building, I don't think they owned businesses though. The living is cheap, communal etc., but it's a roof and a job, and some of them have outside jobs. The city places homeless people, but if you're a walkin you'll probably be sent to a homeless shelter with a lot of mentally ill and criminal people. People get their stuff stolen, sometimes worse. There is a curfew too, although if you have a legit job it might be extended.