Stolen from here: https://social.marxist.network/@yogthos/113583918563324620
Let homeless people have benches and public restroom access, it's the absolute bare minimum we can do.
Can we though? Are you thinking of the shareholders at all?!? Someone's going to have a tough time having only 4 holiday homes to choose from... 😬
JUST 4? ARE YOU INSANE?
First of all two of those are under a cold front right now, and one of them is having maintenance done in the West courtyard (noisy from 3pm-3:30pm if you are within 6 bedrooms of it, which I assure you, we won't be) and the fourth one we were just at 2 years ago so it's a little much to vacation there again that soon.
Please think before you speak.
My apologies and condolences for any tribulations my thoughtfulness may have bestowed upon you. In my haste to protect my interests and that of my colleagues, i spoke before fully considering the gravity of my statements 🫠
Im thinking what happens if the people that are not homeless sue the city for a lack of areas to sit down? Regular people. Tired people. People just waiting. Disabled people. Elderly. Pregnant. Etc
Then that lawsuit will be paid with tax money, and the new benches will be of hostile design with extra spikes below them just to make sure the homeless won't come. Also they might "feel pressured" to employ a "security" guard that regularly kicks out the homeless in increasingly cruel fashion. For safety reasons, of course.
Doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, only that the current decision makers won't stop to be ass hats. They need their asses kicked.
The fact that anyone disagreed with you is a sign of how problematic this country is.
Totally fucked up and i hope someone in NY with a mobility issue files an ADA complaint with this easy online form
Nice link, too bad it'll probably start 404ing in 2 months :(
As someone who has had to confront homeless people with questionable mental health and/or sobriety; it's fucking hard. You want a safe space for them but then quickly that space becomes unsafe for everyone around. But also... it isn't hard just fucking talk to them. I have many times Don't stop being smart but stop being afraid. Fear of the other breeds so much hate and misery
Oh if it isn't obvious I support benches in public spaces and heavily condemn anti-houseless architecture/city planning
We have the solution and it's not very hard. Have social workers maintain these areas. It's really not that expensive, employs people, builds important social vibe and allows you to have your benches.
It's a solved problem.
Just for transparency's sake before I go into this, my wife is second from the top at the library.
The library here really did have to remove benches outside in a couple of places (in part) because of homeless people. Not because they were sleeping on them, there are other places outside the library where the homeless can sleep and the library does what it can to help the local homeless community.
Unfortunately, some (far, far from most) of the local homeless around the library were either very publicly using drugs or getting so fucked up on those drugs (or possibly just having a really bad mental illness episode) that they were harassing people and scaring kids. So when it came time to replace all of the benches since they got too old, they decided that they would not replace some of them.
There was definitely a big outcry about how the library was being anti-homeless, but it was nuts because there were people on the other side still complaining about how the library always stinks because they let the homeless people in there. I may be biased because of my wife, but I'm also a regular patron and I'm pretty much on their side on this one. It was becoming a huge issue and they really didn't want to keep getting the cops involved because they rightfully don't trust what the cops might do with the homeless and only end up calling them as a last resort.
Society has absolutely failed those people though. There is no question about that. But at some point, the library had to draw a line at how accommodating they could be.
the local homeless around the library were either very publicly using drugs
Biggest drug dealers in America - the Sackler family - weren't worth our time to punish. So some guy who washed out on Percocets and can only afford Fentanyl shouldn't have a place to sit.
There was definitely a big outcry about how the library was being anti-homeless, but it was nuts because there were people on the other side still complaining about how the library always stinks because they let the homeless people in there.
In America you have two options -
The very idea of housing, treatment, and rehabilitation is too socialist to consider.
Biggest drug dealers in America - the Sackler family - weren’t worth our time to punish. So some guy who washed out on Percocets and can only afford Fentanyl shouldn’t have a place to sit.
I didn't say being publicly intoxicated, I said publicly using drugs. As in they were shooting up while kids were being taken to storytime past them on the way to the library.
The library allows homeless people to be inside it from open to close. They give them free internet. They give them free help filling out necessary government forms. They hang around just to chat. They allow homeless people to sleep outside all around the building. They are literally building a shower and a washer/dryer facility in the new auxiliary library free for anyone to use.
In America, your local public library does more to help homeless people than anything you have probably done yourself, but I guess since they haven't personally solved the problem, they're the worst of the oppressors.
Won't homeless people just sleep on the ground now?
You seem to assume that any logic or reason was used in the decision making that led to this action. But I assure you, as soon as racism, classism, or any other form of bigotry enters the process, any reason left jumps out of the window.
Not if we can get some proper sidewalk spikes.
Hi Jeremy, we're aware your feet are bleeding while trying to catch a train, but homeless people were sleeping on the ground.
Jeremy's at fault for not wearing proper shoes, of course.
Realistically, it would be little rebar studs sticking a few millimeters out of the concrete. Refer to them as traction devices and suddenly you are a hero.
The bare ground is way colder than a bench, since air is a good thermal insulator.
We all suffer but the already disenfranchised suffer the most. Sounds fair. Or does it?
Right, because homeless people won't just sleep on the floor. Bitch they'll sleep anywhere with a roof where they won't be bothered, let alone a place with walls and basic heating/AC. Filthy liars! Why the fuck is America so hostile towards its citizens and why do they just take it?
where they won't be bothered
so you're saying we need to employ people to specifically bother them. thanks for your suggestion, and please feel free to use our suggestion box if you have more ideas.
Homeless people be like, "a'ight I'll sleep on the floor".
Cops be like, "a'ight makes it easier to kick you".
This is so old that even the date had to be blurred out.
Ah yes, this must be from the great "wear a mask" trend of 2010. I remember those times well.
It’s not a train station platform’s job to solve all of society’s problems. During rush hour a train station platform is extremely overcrowded. It’s a serious issue and one of the top reasons people choose to avoid transit, which makes climate change dramatically worse.
Hostile architecture in parks and other open spaces and actual fucking housing is where you should be spending your lobbying effort.
Yeah, and some people want or need to sit.
My local Fred Meyer starting doing some hostile shit recently. For one, they have AI in the self checkout cameras that watches you to make sure you don’t place anything from the cart to the bagging area without scanning. Which includes bags that I brought from home… My wife turned around and bumped her butt on it, and it gave an alarm that it wasn’t scanned.
They recently added railing from the checkouts to the exit, which would be fine if the liquor section didn’t have a fast checkout in the middle of the store. I just slip through the bars with my receipt, and the guy at the door says nothing and just quickly marks your receipt without reading anything.
It’s such an inconvenience for saving a few dollars of stollen food. It’s ridiculous.
Isn't this some sort of violation of the ADA? I imagine some people need to be able to sit down for disability reasons. Someone should file suit against the MTA and the city.
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