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Only In New York, Kids

2009_10_usq.jpg
Photograph of Union Square by Harris Graber on Flickr
A reader posted this on Gothamist Contribute:
A homeless man died in Union Square today. Not huge news, but his dead body was on a park bench near the cops who congregate at the south-eastern portion of the park. Several people went up to the group of police 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 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.' 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 Police work."

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Comments [rss]

  • TurtleReflex

    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.

  • nyc1234

    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

  • snickerdoodle

    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."

    Is it a fact that the cop said these exact words verbatim or is this just more anti-cop my-mothers-cousins-sisters-boyfriends-roommate hearsay from a concerned citizen with a hidden agenda?

    Just asking.

  • kafkask

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

  • spiritross

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

  • Mr Mel

    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.

  • resa

    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?

  • TBWNY

    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.....

  • tingo

    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.

  • Nyctini11

    Gimme a K

    A

    R

    M

    A

    !!!!

  • douchebag5000

    thats not really how karma works

  • HOTCUP

    give me a break. you suck.

  • longacre

    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.

  • Quidnam

    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."

  • jaja007

    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."

  • HymietownHero

    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.

  • matty

    Sorry, I meant omniscient. not omnipotent. lol.

  • matty

    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.

  • LaLuneEstMorte

    I PROVE MY POINTS BY TYPING IN ALL CAPS

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