Gutter Punks! Part Deux

for ur information that so happens to be my good friend hair sitting there and hes a good guy so why dont u fucking get to know him before u jugde him assholes

my son called himself a travler. He had the words "hard traveler" tatooed down the inside of his arm. He hopped trains, he hitched, he did what he needed to do to get from one place to another: SF, New Orleans, New York (Tompkin's square, lower east side)Chicago, Austin. You name it. He lived like this for ten years. He described a culture that was hard, gritty yet full of laughter, a fierce loyality and a code of honor all it's own. He used to talk about getting arrested just for carrying a sleeping bag. He used drugs, he'd seen a lot of death, dispair and sadness. He also experienced some wonderful acts of kindness from complete (straight) strangers who, with eyes of compassion, saw past the dirty clothes, tatoos and combat boots. He finally came home and got clean in all ways. Then he used "one last time" and died on a sunny fall day on the streets of Chicago. Every day I miss his intelligence, humor, his love and his brilliant self. He may have been dirty and he may have used drugs but I tell you he was fine son despite his many challenges. My advice to you all is look beyond the surface - these young people are worth savings. Certainly my son was. Addicts can only recover if they stay alive. Educate yourself if someone you love is addicted. Remember the most dangerous time for an addict is after he's been clean for a while - Overdose is most likely at that time. One good place to get accurate, realistic information about harm reduction is The Chicago Recovery Alliance - google their website. Information, the anti OD drug Narcan and realistic treatment saves lives. Jesus loved all the children - he made no exceptions for the troubled, dirty ones. Neither should we. Don't lose your child.

Berefit, Ian Raindog Murphy's Mama

we have them in chicago. i've run into them on the bloomingdale trail. some seem nice enough (maybe troubled) some act pretty aggressive though. they come around every summer and then they are gone by fall. i don't know why, but i've wondered how far are they coming from. thought they might just be suburbanites. maybe they are from further afield.

Let's give em free stuff like we do with the Mexicans.

so i realize no one's going to read this anymore (because the 'news' is just about as disposable as toilet paper) but i just wanted to issue a 'fuck you' to your blighted, mis-informed, provincial identity: fuck you, scum.

just makes me wonder, what ever happened to the hipster grifter...

how fucking stupid do you have to be to brag to the newspaper about how much money you take scrounging from people with jobs.

$150-200 a day? enough to buy a wii and an ipod, etc.?

do you really think anyone is going to consider giving you money again after you brag that you make more money a day than the people you are begging for money from.

fuck you right in your stupid stretched out earlobe holes.

and, i cant decide if i feel bad for homeless dogs.

one one hand they are homeless, but on the other, they are on a perpetual walk.

More stuff white people like...

i feel like ive seen the guy on the left.. before. for many years. but in manhatten. with that dog.

anyways. i'm happy to live someplace that people with no place to go, or need to go. go to! i'm sure people aren't skipping trains to get to no where dakota. (or are they?).

Junkie kids go where there's a steady supply of decent dope. NY LA SF Seattle, etc. You wouldn't want to get strung out in Bumfuck Iowa waitin' for The Man...

They'll hang around til the weather gets cold. Few bumsicles & crispy critters when they start their fires and they'll head back to Seattle. Until then, can't we just deport them to Staten Island?

Gutter punks are the new Chrissie Brodigan.

sometimes you see a few pregnant ones hangin around... imagine how that musty vag must smell. phew!

who really cares? i still dont get how this is news

i like em.

it's the painted orange ones in the furry boots i got problems with.

I was out in Coney Island for a 5k on the boardwalk a few weeks ago in the morning. The community Director police officer (Jen, I believe you interviewed him previously)went ape sh*t on them to "Go back to Manhattan and stay out of Coney Island" They were sleeping under a shelter, about 20 of them and about 15 dogs. One guy had a pool cue, he asked me what time and date it was. I will say, I couldn't smell them, but it was outside at Coney Island.

"way to go putting the homeless back on the streets new york daily news and gothamist."

But they enjoy being homeless, that's why they're doing it by choice. I'm sure they're loving all this attention.

why are you idiots who comment on gothamist, gawker, etc so quick to accept the knee-jerk reaction spoon-fed by these worthless articles of generalizing everyone into groups so easy to spit upon? the policing of homeless people is always a tragic consequence of the well-off trying to justify spitting upon the poor-- creating this "gutter punk" specter is exactly that justification, and you stupid fuckers bit blindly like you always do.

assholes just don't fucking get it.

"idiots who comment on gothamist, gawker"

generalizing into a group

"the policing of homeless people is always a tragic consequence of the well-off trying to justify spitting upon the poor"

knee-jerk analysis of a nuanced social issue

someone is taking things a bit too seriously today...

IDIOTS is the qualifier for the larger group of gothamist posters that just jerk their knees in the direction the article points. example: if an article satirizes hipster culture the idiot responds: ARGHHH I HATE HIPSTERS

and the second point of course is a simplification but it is a consequence completely ignored by this article and this entire program of articles that seeks to paint the homeless as worthless poor who should be swept into the trash.

this shit is fucking serious even if gothamist refuses to treat it that way.

i understand your point, but i must suggest that you hop along to another website if you prefer balanced, in-depth reporting sans snark, idiocy, and devilishly good times.

OKAY, why are you so quick to defend people you don't even know? If these people are living up to the "gutter punk" stereotype, why should I assume they aren't gutter punks? They are young and able bodied people, like me, yet they choose to live on the street with their friends and do drugs. I have seen these people all over the world, just as I have seen people are homeless because they have real problems. Get over your "holier than thou" attitude because I don't want to give my money to some kid who is too cool to work.

"Reportedly cops are going to monitor the area and arrest any trespassers"

so cops are going to bust people for squatting as a result of this ENTIRELY bullshit media blitz? way to go putting the homeless back on the streets new york daily news and gothamist.

Good luck invading Greenpoint and causing trouble for those shop keepers...these kids will wind up with missing teeth and polish flags tatooted on their heads.

not that anyone would notice either of those things happening.

and if it's not the shopkeepers, i'm sure their brawny, brainless alcoholic sons will go to violent lengths to remain the only demographic in the 94th precinct that can consume drugs in public with impunity.

Now all the pretentious exclusive hipsters who invaded Williamsburg and other parts of the boroughs pushing out thriving ethnic cultures and working class people out of the neighborhood(s) will know what it feels to have invaders in “their” community. Gutter Punks keep coming! Take their fixed geared bikes while your at it.

i am quite sure the Indians wanted to take back their communities too.

I have to say this nearly everyday it seems

No One Culture Has Ever and Will Ever Own Any Neighborhood in New York City.

New York City has existed for over 400 years now.

Every neighborhood has changed cultures numerous times.

Change happens

Accept it

Because if you do not accept change then you do not accept NYC

NYC is change

Don't be scared

Don't be ignorant

Don't be selfish

TakeBackOurCommunities?

From who I ask?

Your fellow man?

Once again

Please

Don't be Scared

I certainly agree with you that NYC has changed numerous times in the past and will continue to do so. But take Williamsburg for example it is the most rapid and radical form of gentrification and displacment in the history of New York City.

Take back our communities is right and actually help preserve them. Majority of immigrant and minority families who were able to support their families off of the manufacturing sector of the city economy. That is over and I have accepted that, but the rezoning of water fronts and the project buildings going co-op, rent controlled going co-op wave has really destroyed the "strings" that tie New York City together. New York City Brooklyn in particular was never a playground for upperclass white kids to frolic. I am not scared and I am not ignorant I've been living this all my life, studying this for the past 5 years, writing about this and have made my career based on these issues. Your obviously not a native New Yorker because if you were you wouldn't appreciate your family getting kicked out of their rent controlled apartment in the middle of the ghetto so some upperclass white artist can take pictures of how "artistic the poverty is."

Take it up with the landlords, or move somewhere that never, ever changes. I can direct you to a few communities in the flyover states that have remained exactly the same for many years.

It's about preserving parts of our communities, its not about being afraid of change or disliking change. From my research on gentrification I found that natives are not against change as that brings positives to the community. One example would be higher incomes and white skin=more police activity= less crime.

Increased garbage pickup and removal and most importantly safer streets.

Through the course of my ethnography I have spoke to numerous amounts "gentrifiers," who claim there was no community before they arrived. Not true at all. I am not against change, but we need to stop rezoning water fronts, and rezoning areas. Do you have any idea what it's like to be forced out of your apartment where you have lived your whole life? This is a big problem with elderly populations throughout Brooklyn. Why don't you do some research on displacement tactics used by landlords.

He needn't go far: Buffalo is perfectly static and still in NY State...

"Williamsburg for example it is the most rapid and radical form of gentrification and displacment in the history of New York City"

Is so stupidly and laughably short-sighted, I can't even compute it. Really? The "History of New York City?" Really?

First, how long did this displacement take? 20-25 years? (Yes, Virgina, Williamsburg of today did not start in 2007.) What about SoHo? Tribeca? Dumbo? Fort Greene?

Hell, let's go further back in time. Chinatown displacing Little Italy. Germans in Ridgewood being displaced by Eastern Europeans. Not to mention the displacements at the Grand Concourse, West Harlem, the Downtown area (wasn't always the *financial* district), Five Points, the poor being displaced by the upper class on Park Ave when it was paved over.

I mean, seriously... are you kidding me? And you study this? Really? Where? The Queens Library?

"New York City Brooklyn in particular was never a playground for upperclass white kids to frolic "

What? Really? Bed-Stuy used to be a ridiculously wealthy neighborhood (hence the housing stock.) Brooklyn Heights was so rich that they got to tell Robert Moses "fuck off" over their part of the BQE. I mean come on. Fort Greene, Park Slope... Hell, Williamsburg, itself, used to be large Italian community (especially the Northside.)

Again, enough with the hyperbole. And if you really think Williamsburg was the "most rapid" form of gentrification you've ever seen, you really need to peek back more than 5 years of NYC history.

"Hell, let's go further back in time. Chinatown displacing Little Italy. Germans in Ridgewood being displaced by Eastern Europeans."

---

That's funny. I didn't realize that Chinese, Eastern Europeans, Whites, and other ethnic groups in NYC's past "displaced"-- i.e, forced out-- other groups. I thought they just filled in the vacuum left behind by previous groups that left their ethnic enclaves for better pastures once they'd risen up the social ladder.

I mean, who knew that the Chinese forced out the Italians?

Oh, wait-- never mind. I get it. It's called intellectual dishonesty. If we can blur the distinction between "displacement" created by gentrification and the "replacement" that happened as a natural result of ethnic groups moving out of their neighborhoods, we can pretend that gentrification is less malignant than it really is. We can act as if there's no difference between ethnic groups being prematurely forced out economically and ethnic groups simply moving in to replace the ones that had left of their own free well. That it's ALL part of the natural ebb and flow of life.

Whatever.

and williamsburg wasn't a vacuum when young artists started moving in in the 90s? it was a blighted neighborhood with large spaces that rented cheaply. same goes for the lower east side in the 70s and 80s.

i feel u for the most part, but...

"New York City Brooklyn in particular was never a playground for upperclass white kids to frolic."

you sure about that? who do you think built this town? hell, even harlem used to be a rich-white-people-only zone before the mass migration of southern blacks into the city (that's right, even black people were "transplants!").

i'll go with "this shit is cyclical" for 600, alex.

Isn't that exactly what Dash Snow did for a living?

Someone should trap these skunks, remove their pheromone glands, and then release them back into the wilds of Indiana.

The dogs are for protection. Ie.when I am passed out with a rig stuck in my arm I need my poor dog to be biting the sh#t out of people.

Gutter Punks! Part Douche

do they at least play some kick ass three-chord songs? they should do more with their angst than just develop body odor.

That implies that hipster/gutter punks have: (1) the necessary attention span to learn 3 chords; and (2) a sliver of actual talent+rhythm.

Remember these are the people who worship DJs like rock stars. Actual ability is irrelevant - the attitude/outfit is all that matters.

Hopefully Darwinism applies to subcultures as well as living creatures.

DJs? are you like 80 yrs old or something? you know nothing of punk. (and by the way, I have actually talked with some of these so-called punks, and wouldn't you know it, a lot of them spend their days reading stuff like black spring and drunken boat, filling notebooks with ink drawings, and playing music. what do you read all day? oh yeah, that's right–the internet. congrats, genius.)

Well don't i feel like an ass. I just thought these "gutter punks" were regular homeless kids. About a month or 2 ago i felt so bad for this one i saw Downtown, i went and spent $12 bucks on lunch and a big bottle of water for him and his dog. Damnit.

What exactly is a "regular" homeless kid? The chances of running into one who's just plain 'ol "down on his luck" are about the same as winning MegaMillions. The rest are either drug addicts or sociopaths.

sucker!

Gee thanks. What about naive? You forgot naive.

What about "kind," "generous," and "selfless," naivete notwithstanding.

Aww, well thank you!

What's worse: Hipster or Gutterpunk?

Hipsters almost always have a job of some kind. Plus they bathe.

Gutterpunks smell worse.

"Living like this, it's a fulltime job"

-marc renton

They should add stupid and lazy as well.

Gutter punks were everywhere in Minneapolis. I always thought that NYC was just way too expensive for them here, but I've noticed more and more and after not seeing any for years. There's a pack of 'em at Coney, too. I also wondered about the dog thing...it must be for sympathy?

dicks

Aren't there latrines to be dug in Afganistan somewhere?

Poor dog.

Isn't it a little presumptuous to call the store boring before you know what kind of store it is going to be?

For example, if it was a liquor store, that would be AMAZING.

Sorry, wrong article. Oddly I confused gutter punks and Limelight.

Where are the Trinitarios when you need them?

Yeah, it wasn't too long ago we were talking about machete rampages in Williamsburg... seems to be a tailor-made solution...

Coming soon: gutter punks invade Greenpoint?

They already have, as I've seen them heading north along Nassau Ave. The industrial wastes that border the Newtown will make a nice backdrop for their overall crustyness.

Fallout 3 comes to life.

"Dirty, ugly, broke, and hungry" (by choice)

Maybe not the ugly part.

well put. by choice. they're choosing this lifestyle. unlike REAL homeless people.

could be the equivalent of "summer skins"

entitled white boys from the burbs shave their head for the summer and then grow it back in the fall in their comfy ADT system home.

I used to be a bartender on St. Marks and this is a summer thing in that hood every year.

Dirty, Broke, Hungry, Got Fed Up With Having to Borrow Mom's Explorer - Anything Helps.

I just saw a few in wicker park in Chicago the other night. Say what you will but they certainly have a uniform style down pat. And they always have a really cute dog with them for some reason.

I remember the last infestation of gutter punks was in the early 90s.

The dogs are for protection. Ie. when I am passed out on Driggs with a rig stuck in my arm I need my dog to bite the sh#t out of random passers by.

Kinda selfish that you wouldn't share your skag with your dog.

Many of them are really nice dogs. That said I hate it when people who can't take care of themselves decided to take care of pets. It's just hurting the animal.

The homeless hippie youths in SF always have seem to have dogs.

pretty sure the dog attached to homeless youths isn't limited to SF, jen.

i want to know how all these broke homeless punk kids have money for all those tattoos?

it's called stick n' poke. i know this might come as a shock to you, but folks have been getting tattoos before money existed. yeah, no joke.

yeah the old stick and poke is how these cretins make money for drugs...