Only In New York, Kids

This story has more holes in it than Swiss Cheese. The writer is an internet troll who comes into a message boards like thess and spews out whatever imaginary story is in their mind that day. This one just simply DID NOT HAPPEN. No ambulance crew just takes away a dead body with no M.E. Tag (that the police provide) and just wheels them off with no information. And..if the pt was in cardiac arrest, they wouldn't just cover him with a blanket. The writer would have mentioned CPR compressions being done. There's not a single iota of any VERIFIABLE information in this story. I've been in EMS 23 years...and you can trust me on this one; it's TOTAL B.S.!!! There was never even a call at that location at the time he says. If the writer of the story wants to challenge me on this...just write back on this board Troll. I'll discredit every lie you told here. Address your replies to me, An FDNY MEDIC. I'm ready to discuss this with you.

Gimme a break. You cant believe everything in print, folks. If this person was so concerned, why didnt he/she take down badge numbers, take pics of them doing nothing and show some sort of proof. This sounds like something out of law and order or something.

Just remember, you may need the NYPD someday and I sure hope they prove all you haters wrong.

i heard he had a rent controlled on irving place...90 bux

Does Gothamist do any actual reporting, you know stuff that requires some actual research, or do you just copy any old rumor or story that floats by and sounds good to you?

The only reply came from a chris noth lookalike cop who said 'Why don't you go push the man. I ain't touching 'em. He could be napping, you wanna take that risk? Go home.' . . . . He was dead by the time the paramedics arrived. Excellent Police work."

Just asking.

Sharpton needs to get on this, pronto. Hold a press conference or something.

Wasn't this a sketch on Kids in The Hall?

The problem here is that nobody called 911 for 2 hours. A while ago I saw a guy stretched out on a staircase in front of a restaurant on 2nd Avenue Between 47th & 48th Streets. First glance told me it was a drunk or a homeless guy, as I got closer I saw that his shoes were like new and he was reasonably dressed. I immediately called 911 and a an ambulance and a police car were there in minutes. I didn't hang around to see how it worked out, but there is no question the guy needed help. The sad part is that if the guy really looked like a bum, I probably wouldn't have made the call.

Yeah ---- Seriously, why on earth would somebody think that going up to a cop and reporting something would make a difference???? Why, oh why didn't they just call 911?

I don't buy this story. EMS won't waste time / resources with having a BLS or ALS unit take away a body. If you needed an Ambulance and couldn't get one because they were busy taking away a dead homeless guy you'd be pretty pissed.....

Awful. But to be fair, something like this happened to me when I lived in Miami.

A cop came walking through my apt complex and asked if I've seen anyone come and go in the apt next to me. I told him I hadn't for a week. He said he had a call from the tenants worried parents but didn't want to go busting in. He gave me his card.

He asked to make sure if I 'smell anything strange outside tgh door, like rotting meat', to give him a call right away.

Gimme a K

A

R

M

A

!!!!

thats not really how karma works

give me a break. you suck.

On one hand, I sympathize with the cops. Vagrants who appear to bed dead are a dime a dozen, 90% of the time they're just sleeping and 100% of the time they are smelly.

On the other hand, whenever a "concerned" citizen calls 911 to report a person exercising their constitutional right to use a camera near the airport, the cops show up in 2 minutes.

Damn... somehow I must have overlooked the portion of the Constitution that enshrined the Fundamental Right to Photography. I guess it must be in the Bill of Rights next to "Freedom of Critical Infrastructure Blueprints" and the "Right to Unburdened Jet Travel."

This passes as journalism these days? Some anonymous reader sends you some unverified story and you immediately post it as if it must be factually accurate? No request for comment to the DCPI's office, EMS, Medical Examiner's Office, etc? How about performing a basic modicum of investigative work before you post inflammatory anti-police stories? But since you accept such things, can I submit the following for you guys:

"A homeless man died in Times Square today. Not huge news, but his dead body was on a milk crate on the sidewalk right where several Gothamist LLC journalists were congregating. Several people went up to the group of journalists to mention the man was passed-out or dead. Around 9am, a group of (austrian/german) tourists were adamant with the police the man needed some assistance. The only reply came from an Anderson Cooper lookalike journalist who said 'Why don't you go push the man. I ain't touching 'em. He could be napping, you wanna take that risk? Go home.' Around 11:15am paramedics (unknown ambulance unit) arrived and took the man's vitals. About 20 minutes later they put the man on a stretcher with a blanket covering him. He was dead by the time the paramedics arrived. Excellent journalistic work."

It's a news blog, not a newspaper. Gothamist doesn't exactly break stories (as far as I can recall), they aggregate and regurgitate both what comes through the wire and the grape vine. If something seems sufficiently juicy, they'll post it. If you're going to ride into town on such a high horse, go park it in front of The Times or The Observer.

Sorry, I meant omniscient. not omnipotent. lol.

I agree. The first thing I thought was that the person was tellling the story from the 3rd person (omnipotent).

How did he know that that is what the cop told the tourists? How did he know the guy died between the time the cop was called and the time the EMT came? Why did this person do nothing for two hours until the EMT came.? Why did he leave it to "austrian" tourists? NOTHING MAKES ANY SENSE IN THIS STORY.

I PROVE MY POINTS BY TYPING IN ALL CAPS

That's why we give cops raises and pensions: to uphold their belief that they're better than everyone else. They belong in Mexico where the homeless bums beg for change in their old police uniforms.

So, people thought the guy was dead, but no one called 911 for over 2 hours? Did someone at least take a damn picture of the dead man and/or NYPD's laziest?

Yeah, nobody else passing through that park had a cell phone/was capable of calling 911?

Not to say that the cops did the right thing...they should have called EMS right away.

maybe a year and a half ago a similar thing happened to me in union square where some 19 or 20 year old kid was completely tweaking out and foaming at the mouth, it took me talking to four different cops until one of them actually went over to see if the guy was ok.

I wonder how many good-job police stories go to the archives on a daily basis? I bet the good far outweigh the bad.

"I bet the good far outweigh the bad."

If by "good" you mean doing nothing more than the basics of the job they're paid to do, yeah you're probably right.

Of course, on the job the term used isn't usually "good". It's "putting in my time 'til my 20, so I can kick back and collect my annuity, deferred comp, 401K, and IRA. Why risk getting hurt before then?"

But yeah, "good" is a lot simpler.

This actually surprises me, because a few years ago the old homeless guy who lived outside my office died. He was lying across the sidewalk when I got there in the morning. Several building occupants were with him and on their cell phones with 911. Shortly the fire department came, then the cops, then the ambulance. It didn't take them long at all and they were much more responsive than I've seen them in most other situations here. They treated the body respectfully too. So what's the difference here - did nobody call 911? Screw the cops standing there, if this guy hasn't moved for hours, call 911!

The reason was 911. If a call is made to 911 and the operator takes the information, they must send the police. If you go up to a cop on the street to report something other than another cop being beaten or shot, you better have a good story or they'll give you 20 reasons why they can't help.

Only in New York?

I doubt that.

correct, cops are totally idiots all over the nation

I've always wondered. "New York's finest." Finest what , though?

I'm not a huge fan of the NYPD, but I do sometimes appreciate their hands off approach in non-violent situations.

I'm not claiming to know the condition of said homeless man and whether or not he was the poster child of squalor, but I've seen the NYPD deal with enough vagrants that smell like urine to understand their apprehension. Despite the fact that most of them are a lil trigger happy, I can sympathize with the fact that they get a little jaded by repeated claims of stone cold homeless people being a cause for great concern.

That said, F their union and their pensions and their poor communication skills.

Well, the NYPD aren't the paramedics, and I do understand the apprehension about touching vagrants. However they are there to protect the public. It wouldn't have killed one of them to get on the police radio and call for EMS.

should have called 311 and sent a pic.

any comment from the mayor?

I wonder what the impression the tourists got with this occurrence.

so it's illegal to be dead now?

So what, I would not want to deal with a dead junkie either, let the scum rot.

I saw this on Law and Order.

This is what I have found. Cops will not do anything unless they're prodded in one way or another. Otherwise they'll try to convince the complainant that they're at fault.

New York's finest at work yet again. Maybe if they had put a donut in his pocket or turned him over and opened up his pants so they could shove a baton inside they might have acted like the typical pigs they are. And they wonder why they get no respect.

Bake 'em away, toys.

I just realized that reference is over ten years old. Now I feel old.

You mean over 15 years old. NOW you can feel old.