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Today's Post once again blows the lid on what has long been a not so well-kept secret: that the folks around town who sit alongside the jugs labeled UHO (for United Homeless Organization) actually keep that money for themselves while merely paying a $15 a day fee for the jug and a folding table. The Post labels them "glorified beggars" and talks to one who says that the jug is like "giving a homeless person a suit." They also speak to a college student who was irate and told them, "I want my quarter back. That's ridiculous." The paper also reports that UHO does not have the required license to solicit on the street and accuse them of "murky expenses" coming from the nearly $100,000 in contributions the organization reported last year.
Are You Hoed Out if You Donate to the UHO?
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I learned something today.
I am surprised to learn that anyone ever gives them any money, and more surprised to learn that they have to rent the table and jug. I would think an enterprising beggar could fit himself out with a table and a jug of his own pretty easily.
One of my hippie friends of yore used to go out with a frowsy yet revealing housedress, sandals, and a dog, and made $200 a day begging back in an era when that was real money. She said that people will always give you money unless you need it.
In this cold weather we have been having perhaps pouring a bottle of water into their jug will freeze their assets for a while.
No one here is incensed.
I use the same criteria for UHO folks as I do for anyone else asking for change in NYC: Do they look busted up, like they actually need it? If so, and I can spare it I'll give every time.
This is a disgusting Post hatchet job.
so... it's like "giving a homeless person a suit."
and this is bad why?
agreed with emilydickinson and dooWOP
Ya, I feel warm inside when people manipulate me and are dishonest to me.
Moron.
Don't litter. Don't feed pigeons. Don't give money to bums!
95% of begging on the streets and subways is a hustle, and anyone with half a brain who isnt from the sticks knows it.
I'm glad I've never given money to any homeless person on the street, that's what offical charities are for...even though EVERY morning outside my local coffee shop a bum holds the door and begs for money. He gets thank you's a plenty but not a penny.
The best gig a UHO man has is on Union Square
in front of Beth Israel Hospital clinics on
15th street he actually gets tourists attention and
charges them $1.00 to explain the electronic clock
that has a zillion numbers across the street from
his table.
I have seen the NYPD move them from Park Avenue
South but not in front of the Barnes & Noble at
Union Square,then there was the guy that cursed
you if you did not donate on 22nd street...cool!
I give anyway ,cause I have a nice warm family
upbringing as my Dad in the 1940's let the homeless
on Fifth avenue sleep in our building (near the
Met museum) where he was the Super this was real
charity in those days of the NYC loitering laws.
Where "bums" (as they were referred to back then)
would be arrested if they did not prove residence.
West Side Michael,
It sounds like your father was a good man.
Sounds like a good gig to me.
Newsflash to all of you justifying donations to the UHO:
The majority of the people asking you to drop money into their jug are not even homeless. I was once talking to one of the guys on Union Square West who admitted that he lived in an apartment in the west 50s.
Someone else said it best, most begging is a hustle, these folks are just perpetrating a more organized, polished version of those people on the subway spilling their tales of woe.
Don't fall for it!
Scams like this nationwide with many more to come. Don't waste your money on bums, they can't be saved now.
Old Joke:
Mr. can you spare some change?
I never give money to men on the street.
What do want me to do, open an office?
Big surprise, they keep the money they collect.
Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?
If they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.
Ease off Schaden... the cold months are ahead and many will leave and go south. If not they will die on the streets. Do you have sanitation's number?
Don't give your money to bums. Give it to bankers and stock brokers! Your government will help you.
Nicely played, Schadenfreudian. Snoopy, you might want to brush up on your Dickens.
I love Dickens. I watch the old black and white version of The Christmas Carol religiously every Christmas. It reminds me of the good old days.
I like the subway ads:
"Give money to charity.
Just not here."
Real NYers would no sooner put money in the jug than they would play find the queen or buy a watch from someone on the street.
I busted my ass at school and college to be able to work and have a living, so I NEVER give anything to anybody. And don't give me the "Oh, but they didn't have the chance" bullshit. My family had it's ups and downs also.
Most of them are just lazy "bums", they're all just con artists.
If you give to charity, only a fraction of the money given actually goes to the homeless, but if I give the homeless money directly, they keep 100% of the proceeds, of which they can spend on items to make their lives more tolerable, such as McDonalds & cheap scotch.
On that note, I never give the homeless any money. I'll only give to subway performers who have considerable talent in music or acrobatic skills. If you want my money, your going to have to earn it.
Just because it's a hustle doesn't mean the hustler doesn't need the money. Hustling is a way of life and an integral part of the shady economy of the urban poor. Read some Sudhir Venkatesh.
What about that Jonathan Saleem guy with the voice like a foghorn who canvasses for UHO on the downtown 4/5 at about 8pm? I think I just about have his sales pitch and inflections memorized.
Wow, what a bunch of cynics. Imagine if you had to sleep in the freezing cold sidewalk tonight.
Several years ago, there was a woman in my building who would dress up in rags, go to a busy corner on 86th Street in Bensonhurst with a cup and beg. She would make anywhere from $100 to $200 in a couple of hours. Why? Because she couldn't stand to work for anybody. She got her rent, utilities and food paid for.
I'm appalled. Everyone knows charity money doesn't do any good unless it's first filtered through old white people who go to galas.
If you've ever been duped into putting money into their tubs and now you feel fooled, it's because you are a fool. Did you think your random quarter given out this way would really change lives? Work with recognized organizations. Don't give money out on the street or in the subway to buy yourself a moment of guilt-evasion whilst you buy your holiday presents.
robingee,
I am with you. It's easy to be a selfish and cold-hearted cynic. It virtually effortless for most of these people. Oh, plus it makes you a "real New Yorker."
There used to be a man who walked through the subway cars passing out sandwiches. He said he was from UHO. I had thought that at one time the organization actually did some good.
Yes people, if you give money out of the streets you're bound to get scammed once in a while, you're also bound to help a person down on their luck once in a while.
I think it's important to keep things in perspective: we're talking about spare change!! We're talking about 50 cents or a few dollars. So what if you're scammed once in a while?? Is your ego really that fragile that you get angry over spare change? Seriously, get a life. If you want someone to get angry at, take a look at Dick Cheney and no bid contracts and the theft BILLIONS of our tax payer dollars.
We're talking about dimes and quarters. Get a life and get a heart.
WHY DONT THE NYPD CRACK DOWN ON THIS!!!! isnt it illegal to setup a table? they all dont have licenses (I'm sure they're just photocopied!!!)
Hey if you want the ringleaders... head to unionsquare in front of B&N bookstore at 9-10am every weekend... thats where they handout the tables and give a crowd of pan handlers speeches about how this is for your family!!!!
it should be a CRIME!!!! and it hurts other NFPs that do work for the homeless cause normal people would just say I just gave a dollar/or five/ hell even that quarter would have helped!!!!
That's unfair. We all give to private charity. But don't forget the massive amounts we give to public charity through our income taxes, user fees, other taxes, and the amount we sacrifice through inflation.
Americans transfer their wealth to the poor--and rich--in huge amounts.
I'm bothered by those guys yelling to give money. I'll give money when and to whom I choose. They should spend that time getting work.
I never give out money. I give out food. Really, whenever I have snacks in my backback, I give them something to eat. Isn't that what they really need?
Also, I can tell when they are just a scam artist, because I hand them an apple and they just look dissapointed like "gee...thanks I was actually hoping to drink...".
i never give bums money.
but i was going to a party friday night after midnight when a guy with legs cut off at the knees in a wheelchair came by, pushed by a dude wearing an eyepatch.
how could i not give these two some change.
Care and feeding of bums is not the work of charity, it's the work of governments. If you don't like the way they perform, take it up with them. All your quarters buy are the little extras like cigarettes and booze or drugs. I don't care if they ever smoke or drink again, and they can't have my dope!
I'm a knitter - I make wool hats for my friend who volunteers for homeless outreach at her church to distribute to "the guys." I'd rather give my money to animal shelters!
Very interesting, this is like talking about
bringing back the mandatory military draft as"public service".
Some people that work and can pay off debt seem
to be bitter of their own lot.
Humans come in different packages and different instructions .
Some folks who dance to a different drum
I guess we should kill them or label them as in India
"UNTOUCHABLES".
If in your case work is your own living hell and therefore allows you
to condemn another human being for
being different or a "bum" you fit right in to
the "slave" mentality that wealthy Kings and
governments delighted in.
Live and let live these people are not coming
through your kitchen window for your food or
knocking down your doorman for entry.