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They probably want to be able to announce "no homeless people in Times Square".

petercooper 17y ago
If they really wanted to do that, they'd have done it by now - the cops have the power to move them on or bring them in (though not in all jurisdictions). From second hand experience (talking to these guys) there are areas of LA where the homeless are constantly chased away from and not allowed to settle.
- Semiapies 17y ago
  It's clear they're looking for any legal basis to do so - to the point of threatening to have someone follow him around all day, every day, "talking" to people in the area to figure out his needs, and trying to discourage people from giving him food.
  - petercooper 17y ago
    Is it illegal for authorities to "move him on" in NYC? It happens a lot across the rest of the country (though whether it's entirely legal or not is another matter). I suspect NYC has more liberal laws in this regard.
aarongough 17y ago
That's exactly what I was thinking. The other homeless were helped at east in part because it was the right thing to do, but with Heavy it seems like they just want to jump that last hurdle. From the quotes in the article it seems like they've taken him wanting to stay as a direct challenge, it's not really about helping him any more.
- electromagnetic 17y ago
  I find it interesting that in a recession, during a time of heightened homelessness why are they focusing on one man in Time Square. Is it perchance because Time Square is one of the biggest tourist destinations in New York? It's all I could think reading this. It's like a desperate attempt to create a fallacy that will ensure tourists will happily spend their dollars in stores, it doesn't appear to be a genuine humanitarian effort because harassing someone daily certainly isn't humanitarian - heck if I lived or worked around Time Square I'd probably offer to file a claim for injunctive relief on Heavy's behalf to keep the 'humanitarians' off his back.

If they really wanted to do that, they'd have done it by now - the cops have the power to move them on or bring them in (though not in all jurisdictions). From second hand experience (talking to these guys) there are areas of LA where the homeless are constantly chased away from and not allowed to settle.

Semiapies 17y ago
It's clear they're looking for any legal basis to do so - to the point of threatening to have someone follow him around all day, every day, "talking" to people in the area to figure out his needs, and trying to discourage people from giving him food.
- petercooper 17y ago
  Is it illegal for authorities to "move him on" in NYC? It happens a lot across the rest of the country (though whether it's entirely legal or not is another matter). I suspect NYC has more liberal laws in this regard.

aarongough 17y ago

That's exactly what I was thinking. The other homeless were helped at east in part because it was the right thing to do, but with Heavy it seems like they just want to jump that last hurdle. From the quotes in the article it seems like they've taken him wanting to stay as a direct challenge, it's not really about helping him any more.

electromagnetic 17y ago
I find it interesting that in a recession, during a time of heightened homelessness why are they focusing on one man in Time Square. Is it perchance because Time Square is one of the biggest tourist destinations in New York? It's all I could think reading this. It's like a desperate attempt to create a fallacy that will ensure tourists will happily spend their dollars in stores, it doesn't appear to be a genuine humanitarian effort because harassing someone daily certainly isn't humanitarian - heck if I lived or worked around Time Square I'd probably offer to file a claim for injunctive relief on Heavy's behalf to keep the 'humanitarians' off his back.