Posts tagged ‘Upper West Side’
The Barefoot Homeless Man in New York
Last night around 7:30 I received a call around asking if I was available to take a last-minute assignment in my neighborhood. I was told that one of the NY Times reporters had happened upon the now-famous barefoot homeless man, Jeffrey Hillman, who was given a new pair of boots by a generous NYPD officer last week. The exchange was caught on film by a tourist and the photo went viral after it was shared on the NYPD’s Facebook Page gaining hundreds of thousands of likes, shares, and comments.
Of course I had seen the photo as it was on the cover of many newspapers, magazines, and television shows worldwide. It painted a picture of generosity and sympathy for the homeless population and was great publicity for the NYPD and Officer DePrimo.
In taking the assignment, I was intrigued to meet him and see how his sudden celebrity had effected him. I was shocked, though, to find him just blocks from my apartment near one of my favorite grocery stores, Fairway Market, still standing barefoot and begging for change on the cold, dirty NYC sidewalk.
When I arrived, the NY Times reporter was already speaking with him as I approached. In the well-to-do Upper West Side neighborhood, Jeffery stuck out like a sore thumb in torn and soiled clothes that were hanging off of him. As I listened to him speak with the reporter and myself, I couldn’t help but feel a knot build up in my throat.
He explained that he’d hidden the boots because he feared they’d get stolen by other homeless if he was seen wearing them. He explained that he’d hidden them in a “safe place” somewhere outside and went on to say that there are many places one could hide objects that could never be found.
What gripped me was his genuine fear of being robbed of his possessions and the fact that he was very able to articulate those feelings to us. He was hesitant to give us his name at first or really dive into his past because he didn’t know what to make of this publicity, so it took some time to let him get familiar with me before I really started taking my photos.
He explained he’s been in NYC for about a decade, was from New Jersey, and previously was a cook in the Army where he served as a food specialist in the US and Germany. He even pulled out his tattered veteran’s card, which was hidden in a black plastic bag under his shirt by his heart, to confirm his story.
While Jeffery was being interviewed, I witnessed dozens of people walking by doing double takes as they realized he was barefoot in the cold. I could hear many of those people saying “oh that’s him!”…and maybe 4-5 people stopped to confirm it was. Some expressed concern for him and others said that he was crazy and refused to wear shoes, even offering stories about how they’d tried to help in the past to no avail, he always continued to walk barefoot and beg, and there was nothing that could be done to help him.
I was iffy about blogging about my experience because I don’t want to make it seem as though I’m exploiting a homeless man. Rather, I wanted to share with my readers the fact that folks like Jeffery need help. My hope is that someone who is in a position, perhaps with US Veterans Affairs, can step in and give Jeffery the help he needs, whether it’s food, a place to stay, or psychiatric evaluation. He is a veteran and deserves that much.
This was an experience I won’t soon forget. It made me really appreciate what I have. I hope my pictures and story do the same for you…and if you know someone that can help, please share!
Hurricane Sandy hits NYC
Four or five days ago I heard there was a hurricane named Sandy brewing and could possibly hit NYC. I wasn’t very concerned as I’d been through Hurricane Irene about a year prior with little or no inconvenience to us personally. I live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan close to Central Park which is one the highest parts of the city. Also, I’m in an apartment building which is essentially a fortress of brick and stone as every building down a block touch each-other. It’s not like in the movies…there’s very few alleys in Manhattan. Also, for the most part, Manhattan doesn’t lose electricity from wind or storms because our entire electrical system is underground.
Anyhow, as the storm got closer, there was a little more panic setting in as I saw that the grocery store had massive lines, and the 24 hour fruit vendor on my corner was completely sold out…he never sells out. My wife and I decided to go ahead and get some extra food just in case the worst happened.
I spent the whole day in front of my computer working as the wind began to pick up. I watched the tree outside my window get bent nearly sideways with the continuous gusts of wind. I peeked outside briefly and took a few iPhone videos from the front entrance of my building. I needed to quickly move my scooter to a safer location next to my building in hopes the wind wouldn’t blow it over.
It ended up getting dark and I decided to go take another peek, this time I brought my camera to take a few quick snaps out the front door. The photojournalist in me kicked in when I noticed a downed tree at the end of my block, so I decided to throw on my motorcycle helmet and ran down the road to document the damage. Just after I took a few pictures, I heard a horn honking down the street and a loud noise. I turned around and looked back down the street towards my apartment and could no longer see the lights at the end of the intersection, just tree branches and leaves.
I ran back to my apartment to find that a 5-story tall tree had fallen across the street and onto the front of my apartment building, just where I was standing moments earlier. As the tree fell, it laid across multiple parked cars and just barley missed a taxi coming down the street. The driver braked just in time and rather than getting crushed, he slammed into the tree laying across the road. It was quite shocking as it really made me feel vulnerable and frankly stupid to be out risking my safety to take a few pictures.
Still, the photojournalist in me kicked in and in a matter of maybe two minutes I ran around the scene taking stills and video. I spoke with the taxi driver and my downstairs neighbor who gave their accounts of the incident. I came home and my wife was pretty freaked out because I’d gone down against her wishes and all she heard was neighbors freaking out and running through the halls. I felt bad that I put her through that.
This morning we woke up after a lousy night’s sleep hearing the wind blowing and rain banging on our windows. I jumped out of bed to and quickly ran out with some cameras to go see if there was much damage on my street and surrounding blocks. Only the same two trees were down on my street and the street was a blanket of green leaves and branches. Our block was clearly the worst damaged within a few block circumference due to the old, tall trees that our block is know for.
Last night I watched photos come in from my FB newsfeed and on NYTimes.com from my friends and colleagues who were out in the storm making photos. I give kudos to them, but just feel it’s not worth the risk. Seeing that massive tree laying where I was standing was a pretty eye-opening experience…there may be great pictures to be had, but nothing is worth getting yourself hurt or killed for a storm photo. Just my opinion.
