I've lived in Manhattan since '82 - these guys have been around since the late '80's - I always knew it was a scam. Why'd it take Arnold so long????

UHO is back in times square after two days being gone.

Today he is dressed in a clown outfit, which is very appropriate.

I always knew it! I never put my change in those jugs... seemed too fishy.

I saw Arnold Diaz once at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. I yelled out "Help Me, Howard!" ---- I confuse those two all the time. He didn't seem too pleased.

How about going after the Wall Street bailout Diaz? 900 billion taken from US taxpayers so far. No, Your too much of a pussy, so you fuck with street people and the poor. What'd they get...a half a mil??? Let them beg for the change. who give s fuck.

If the scammers were white in suits and ties with an office near Wall Street, Arnold wouldn't even bother.

This is why we need a stronger, healthier Mafia.

Not really anything new... Even Guest of a Guest knew it was a scam almost 2 years ago.

http://guestofaguest.com/everything-you-need-to-know/whats-the-deal-with-the-uho/

I hope Cuomo is drafting the paperwork to yank their 501c3 status.

Wait a minute. He based that financial calculation, that there's more money going to the organization than it's reporting, on it having 50 tables. And he got that number by asking one of the table workers?

Why is an answer from one of them to one particular question trusted as fact, but everything else they say is inaccurate or deceptive?

I knew something was up with that organization when I saw two people working a table and a friend of theirs came up looking all excited into the jar.

"Ooooh there's a $20 in there!...and a $10, and a bunch of $5's!"

I knew he wasn't getting all excited about the money going to charity.

the scam was exposed years ago, and years before that,its always new to ohio transplants.

over and over again. same old same old, keep exposing it, theres always gullible people willing to donate to 'charity'

what ever happened to the "Fight Back Women, Sign the Petition, We have a bill in Congress!"

they did the same thing, stand out there with a plastic water bottle every day!

i think arnie is recycling stories; this scam was exposed years ago.

@rbeshenk right, cause i'm not a new yorker

I remember they used to (illegally) solicit on the subway trains poetry-slam style, until the MTA started cracking down. I assumed UHO wasn't entirely kosher based on that.

New Yorkers realized it's a scam. Also, for them to have the designation as a non-profit, which they do, they have to file reports with the government on where the money goes and how much is collected. Information on these are made publicly available. You can get information on those non-profits online. UHO has NEVER provided any of that information. They should have had their non-profit status taken away years ago.

Katie Martin, New York Philanthropic Advisory Service program manager for the Better Business Bureau, says UHO “refuses to send us information”; the last report the BBB filed on the organization was in 2003, and UHO failed to pass its Standards for Charity Accountability. “UHO doesn’t have a lot of information on where their money is going,” says Martin. “Personally and professionally, I would advise people to be cautious if donating to them.” If you want to help New York’s needy but find this whole thing fishy (it doesn’t help that UHO’s website is nonfunctional),

Read more: http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/i-new-york/34671/united-homeless-organization

reported on June 2008. This is old news for some.

before i started reading gothamist, i thought it was a legitimate organization that had homeless people manning those tables, so i don't think the general population realizes it's a scam.

This stupid "Shame, Shame, Shame" series just represents the worst in TV news. It's knee-jerk and sensationalist - confronting someone on the street like they're a criminal without actually doing that much fact checking is lousy IMO.

Agreed. I always thought the be best defense in such a situation would be a good offense - whip out your own camera and start asking the reporter questions. "Do you feel this is legitimate form of reporting, or just a form of entertainment? Aren't there bigger corporate or government crimes you could be investigating, or is that a job for real reporters?" Keep going until they drive away, then post it on YouTube.

I se these folks out around manhattan but never gave them a cent. I thouht it was obvious it was a scam. Most of these ppl brought their siutation upoin themselves. Let them suffer.

Actually some are homeless and have been exploited by Riley. Riley is using the rental fees for himself and not for the homeless. for some of them, manning the table is their only employment.