Homeless Central

Having to commute back and forth to work and working alongside the Port Authority of NY/NJ I have seen many things that make you go hmmm, but once I began to notice how the homeless had suddenly taken up residence alongside the side entrances I began to feel a bit disturbed. As a New Yorker, born and raised, I have come accustomed to seeing them in the street and subways, and maybe on occasion inside the Port Authority or Penn Station, but due to the police they were never there for long as they would usher them out. As the years went on, I have witnessed one of these homeless individuals curse at passerby’s, spat at them and on occasion even flick his cigarette bud at them.

For some reason, they have never bothered me, but lately the stench of urine emanates the entrance I have to exit and enter to get back and forth to work, and the public restrooms are absolutely atrocious, to say the least. It seems that no one seems to do anything about this and as a daily commuter paying taxes and almost three hundred dollars a month on transportation to do so I feel that it is about time someone did. It is totally unfair that one of the nearby entrances was closed off entirely due to construction and never reopened, but also a travesty that these individuals cannot obtain the help they need to get off the streets entirely.

Port Authority police although nearby doesn’t make one feel comfortable as they now look the other way, and no longer prevent the homeless from sleeping or piling up their belongings alongside them, obstructing passageways and tossing their discarded waste on the floor. In the past this truly wouldn’t bother me because I sympathized and understood they had nowhere else to go, but these days you don’t have to only worry about the stench but also if one of them is suffering from bipolar or schizophrenic tendencies.

Case in point, one afternoon a co-worker of mine was walking along and a homeless man in a wheelchair asked her for a cigarette. When she told him she didn’t have any, he blurted obscenities at her, took off his prosthetic leg and flung it at her, to which she reacted by picking up said leg and throwing it over a gated apartment building. Upon her doing so he shouted at her to go retrieve it and she completely ignored him and walked away. Days later she bumped into him again a few blocks away and near W. 38^th street and he actually remembered her and began shouting. “Hey you, yeah you, you were the one who tossed my leg over the fence,” to which she responded. “Yeah well I hope you learned never to toss it at anyone again,” and proceeded to laugh.

I must admit that upon hearing this story I found it a bit hard to believe until I myself witnessed him yelling at a tourist and waving his leg around. I will admit to finding both scenarios funny, but must also wonder if one day this guy will actually use his leg to bash someone with it, or he picks on the wrong person and suffers the consequences of his past and present actions. Either way one must be on pins and needles while walking along the Port Authority general area and that in itself must also change. Between local commuters and tourists it is no longer safe to put your guard down when walking along the W. 40^th, W. 41^st , or W. 42^nd street side entrance to Port Authority because if you do you may seriously end up regretting it. Best entrance to utilize in order to avoid bumping into any of the homeless individuals and the stench associated with them is the main entrance on 42^nd between 8^th and 9^th Avenue. This is not only the safest areas, but very well populated, and the sections most monitored by the PA police department so always a great choice, especially at night.

Copyright © 2012 ~ Susan B. Anna