"Homeless good Samaritan left to die on NYC street"

NEW YORK — The homeless man lay face down, unmoving, on the sidewalk outside an apartment building, blood from knife wounds pooling underneath his body.

One person passed by in the early morning. Then another, and another. Video footage from a surveillance camera shows at least seven people going by, some turning their heads to look, others stopping to gawk. One even lifted the homeless man's body, exposing what appeared to be blood on the sidewalk underneath him, before walking away.

snip

Tale-Yax was walking behind a man and a woman on 144th Street in the Jamaica section of Queens around 6 a.m. April 18 when the couple got into a fight that became physical, according to police, who pieced together what happened from surveillance footage and interviews with area residents.

Tale-Yax was stabbed several times when he intervened to help the woman, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said. She and the other man fled in different directions, and Tale-Yax pursued the man before collapsing. Authorities are searching for the man and woman


********************

My apologies if this has already been posted- I have been a bit sick the last few days. But things like this need to be given more attention The treatment of the homeless in this country is disgusting.

maybe they did, I am too lazy to go reading every article today.

They are non-persons and therefor disposable.

NO ONE CARES.



What is WRONG with this world?? How can anyone walk past someone hurt or at least not call for help. I just don't get it.

Yet, the sickos who can ignore an injured person aren't considered "mentally ill".

Please, explain that to me.

:cry:

The one man actually lifted his body and saw the blood and still walked away?

This guy would have intervened for that man too.
God bless his soul.

I might forgive not wanting to get involved, but how much trouble is it to call 911. People just don't (want to ) see the homeless

i've lived in Manhattan and Brooklyn. All you see are homeless people. You get numb to it the first week you live here.

On my way to work I used to see 10-15 panhandlers, one way. Yea, you tend to block them out after a while. One time the neighborhood homeless alcoholic pissed himself when he was passed out in my building's foyer and it reeked for a week. I've been harassed by panhandlers on numerous occasions. More of my NYC friends have been mugged or assaulted in NYC than not.

The fact is some homeless people are victims, down on their luck for whatever reason. But some are crazy, drunk assholes that don't give a damn about anything anymore. And you don't know which one is which.

It's a sad fact of city life that you ignore a whole segment of society, but what is the alternative? You feel helpless when faced with the magnitude of the problem. Hell, there was even an http://homelessness.change.org/blog/view/bluster_and_indignation_after_alleged_nyc_charity_scam"> embezzlement scheme among the homeless charity workers you would see all over Times Square. It's an erosion of trust and I really don't even know who to donate my time or money to anymore.

You push it out of your mind. So at 5:40am when this guy was bleeding in the streets in Queens, I can understand why people walked on by. You don't know if that's blood from a stab wound or blood from some health issue of god knows what.

I'm not excusing the behavior of the people who walked by. But yea, I understand it. I'd like to think that I would have at least called 911 though. I don't know, you get jaded quick here...

Maybe the numbness will wear off then.

looks like in NYC and the boroughs to the "average citizens".

If we don't understand our world, how will we ever know how to fix it?

those of us who are living this. Not that that would matter to those of you who justify your ignoring us.

I repeat... when it happens to someone in your family, then you will (maybe) have a change of heart.

In the meantime, you are seeing the world in terms of "Us" and "Them". That is not the traditional liberal view.

Getting a part of the population to start hammering our representatives to fix this problem. A very vocal few can cause big changes. Oh, and I am sorry to hear you were inconvenienced :sarcasm:

if you think homelessness can be fixed, then you don't have any idea what you're talking about.

There are over 30,000 homeless individuals in the NYC Dept of Homeless Services. You can enact smart policies and lower that figure, but it will never be zero. It will never be 'fixed'.

My post wasn't about my inconvenience, it was about real life in NYC. You wanted to know how someone could walk by a fellow human being lying in pain on the ground. Well, I tried to tell you why. That is life in Jamaica, Queens. If you deny the reality, you're going to come off like a total asshat, and no one will take you seriously.

Homelessness is a local issue, and I live here, so please keep that in mind.

then I guess we better not try :sarcasm:

I didn't see the video so I don't know if it's as damning as the idea of heartless New Yorkers walking by a bleeding hero because he looked homeless. We really don't know what was going on in the heads of any of the people caught on the tape. We don't know what they did when out of range of the camera. Maybe one or more of them called the police? We don't know.

It's easy to read a newspaper story and judge, though.

i lived in Los Angeles. one harrassed my husband once, when he said that we had $.62 in our checking account and he couldn't afford to give him anything (and we weren't lying). we were two skinny kids barely making it by, and this guy menaced us. i also grew up near new york city, so spare me your jaded bullshit.
when you stop caring about the plight of others, you become monstrous inside. if you can get jaded by a bleeding man on the street, regardless of the cause, because you see lots of homeless, YOU are the one with the problem.

would walk by a homeless person bleeding on the street. people learn to fear and distrust the homeless, especially in already poor neighborhoods like Jamaica, Queens.

this is all I was trying to explain.

most people won't.

:hug:

You said it much stronger than *I* dare to.

YOu have heart.... like a REAL liberal.

That means a lot to me. :hug:

:puke:

there are no crazy and/or drunk homeless people in Manhattan, Brooklyn or Queens. I misspoke. Why don't you go up to each and every of them and give them $5 and a great big hug.

Nope. No alcoholic or drug addicted or mentally ill homeless people either. When you see your first crackhead tweaking out on Ave D in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon, I'd like to see your compassion in action.

But you don't live here do you? So you don't understand the problem, do you?

there are a lot of homeless people on the streets in the bay area. i do not understand people who couldn't be bothered to make a simple phone call after seeing someone bleeding in the street...homeless or not.

(btw, that drawing was done by a high school senior, who obviously shows more heart and more compassion and more understanding than many "adults" who call themselves "progressive")

"It's a sad fact of city life that you ignore a whole segment of society, but what is the alternative...?"

Not ignoring them.

:applause:

:yourock:

I hate articles like this, because all it does is give people who have never been and probably will never be in this situation a chance to point fingers and monday-morning quarterback.

I'm sure seeing someone lying on the street in Jamaica is not all that unusual an occurrence, and for people who live with crime and violence on a daily basis, seeing someone lying in a pool of blood may prompt a "keep moving, don't get involved" survival mentality. I agree that I would've at least called 911, but again, I don't live there, so who knows what my reaction would be if I did.

As someone who has been on the receiving end of drunk, drug-addled, and sometimes violent homeless people, I don't subscribe to the illusion that all of them are gentle souls who've been dealt a bad hand. All of the self-righteousness from people who aren't even familiar with the neighborhood are just showing themselves to be incredibly naive by attacking you.

that is exactly what I was trying to point out.

but many of us know shitty neighborhoods.
God, I know shitty neighborhoods in dangerous foreign countries, and I stop to help people because I have a damn heart. Now, I've never stopped and helped someone bleeding to death, but I did drag an old lady out of the street in Mexico. She tripped, fell and people walked over her like she was a piece of trash. She didn't even speak much Spanish.
That's how the homeless are treated in Mexico. There SHOULDN'T BE THIS PROBLEM IN THE U.S.!!

Condemning people to life in a neighborhood that's violent and crime-ridden, to the point that they either become numb to it or start looking out for no one but themselves in an attempt to survive, and in the process don't think much of someone seemingly sleeping on the street.

but seven sacks of shit didn't. Pretty sad commentary on our culture, if you ask me.

Apparently they gave the wrong address the first 2 times so the cops missed the body.

And this story doesn't have much to do with homelessness. How did the passersby and people who called 911 know he was homeless?


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/26/nyregion/26homeless.html?scp=20&sq=stabbing&st=cse


"The episode began before 6 a.m. when Mr. Tale-Yax intervened in a noisy dispute on 144th Street between an unidentified man and an unidentified woman and was stabbed, said Deputy Commissioner Paul J. Browne, chief spokesman for the New York Police Department.

The man fled in one direction, the woman fled in the other, and Mr. Tale-Yax ran a few steps before collapsing on the pavement.

A surveillance video from an adjacent building captured the reactions of those who passed by. The video was posted on The New York Post’s Web site.

During that time, the police responded to three 911 calls, said Mr. Browne. The first, shortly before 6 a.m., reported a woman screaming; the second, at 7:09, reported a man lying on the street. But both calls gave incorrect addresses.

The third, at 7:21, also reported a man lying in the street. It led to the discovery of the body.

“We would expect someone to call 911 and, if possible, to stay with the victim until help arrives,” Mr. Browne said."

911 or do anything about it because they assume someone else will. No, that's no excuse but I wouldn't be surprised it it's true. I saw that story on the news several times and I find it disgusting.

Right here on DU, time after time, posters have asked for help in one action or another concerning homelessness.

Very few responses.

I know... there will be all kinds of defenses for the lack of action. And how many people died homeless who didn't need to BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF ACTION?????

I see all the effort concerning the odious law in Arizona, I see all the action for gay marriage, and other causes, yet when it comes to homelessness... "progressives" fiddle while people die.

Yes, I am damned angry. If people can work their butts off for other causes (as they should), then they can damned well start putting their butts to work on eradicating homelessness!

It is a CHOICE.

and it is sad- WE should know better.

I was just commenting on what was said about crowds, because I would not be surprised it that factors into whether someone steps up to do something or doesn't bother because they figure someone else is doing it. I thought that was interesting. Even if the person lying there wasn't homeless, it could be a factor.

Believe me, when I saw that story I also thought the person being homeless was the main factor. I figured people probably just thought it was some bum who passed out on the sidewalk and they didn't care about it. Someone actually took a picture of him with their cell phone; I couldn't help but wonder if they thought it was funny and emailed it to someone or posted it online. A couple of people even went over to him, yet still did nothing. I found the whole incident appalling.

number of homeless people keeps growing & growing the number of affordable housing units keeps declinig each year. Some help on homelessness would be greatly appreciated!

deafening.

:cry:

Thank you, Casey. :hug:

:sarcasm:

At this point...

Fuck 'em.

They have let this become a class war, so let the fighting begin.

It was unnecessary, but their egos drove it off the cliff.

:yourock:

I witnessed an SUV get hit and flipped over down on to the median. I immediately told the wife to call 911, even though plenty of others apparently did. People were in trouble and you can't assume (side note- the family was okay, just a bit shaken up. We wrenched the rear door off to get them out)

else already called. I always call too, just to be sure. I've only fortunately seen something happen a very few times in my life, but with cell phones today, to me, there is no excuse for one not calling if they see someone needing help. I think it was around here recently someone posed as a decoy as one needing help. Someone stopped and someone else jumped out of the car and demanded their wallet with a plastic bag over their hand, supposedly a gun. They ran and managed to escape back into their car. ...but at least dialing 911 is pretty darn easy to me.

Glad to hear your wife call 911 and you all helped.

I would rather hear that the police were inundated by calls than hear that the police had no idea. Never assume that the humans around you will act in a humane manner.

i've never been in a situation like that. but i like to believe that at the very least i would pull out my cellphone and call for help. would that be so hard to do??

I could give you a litany of examples.

People, left and right, all branches of the society, have been successfully trained to DISREGARD homeless people.

And it hurts.

I never thought I would help rescue people out of an overturned car, but liked to believe I would. When nut-cutting time came, I responded automatically. If you have the right mindset before an emergency, you will probably do the right thing when one occurs.

it's a situation i have not faced. i just don't get the cold bloodedness of people who can look at a dying man and just walk on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZgFcODg708

I have the Dave van Ronk version, but this one is pretty good.

:cry:

Thank you.... :hug:

please, rec this up.... for some of us, this is important.

and the kick :hi:

k&r

not because it strokes the ego, but because more people need to see things like this :hi:

the homeless and the way they are treated by our society needs to be brought to the forefront, because it is a very critical issue in this country. I was never homeless myself, but have come close quite a few times growing up. Constant hunger can be quite mentally crippling. Poverty in the richest country in the world is pathetic.

:shrug:

it is not a "sexy" topic. Did you hear what Sarah Palin just did? :sarcasm: (not aimed at you, by the way)

at minimal to dial 911. I was amazed by the ass that took a picture and walked on. The growing cruelty of many in this society absolutely amazes me. It is absolutely WTF.

I wish that I could catalog for you all the things that have been said and done to me while going through this nightmare.

Believe me, even if I inherited a mansion tomorrow, I would never be the same person again. I have seen the ugliness of people who consider themselves to be above reproach in every way.

WE are the new Ns.

genuinely ugly even when one does not need help. Over the years it has changed drastically from when I was young.

I have to agree with you there. While I was growing up, people who made it through the Great Depression ran the show. They understood what real hunger meant. Now we are controlled by people who grew up in the "Leave it To Beaver" era- the so-called "Good Old Days"- people who never suffered a day in their lives. We have been conditioned through TV and media to worry about ourselves, and no one else.

'Leave it To Beaver' era- the so-called 'Good Old Days'- people who never suffered a day in their lives." Many have had it too good and now lack compassion and understanding. And for many, it's out of sight out of mind. And many will never feel the pain unless they walk in someone else's shoes.

I was walking on a beach in North Carolina with my father. He had a real good friend while I was growing up. He was a fairly successful salesman, and did pretty good monetarily. His daughters were spoiled rotten- when they graduated they received new BMW's. He brought up these girls, and where they are now- spoiled little repub brats who couldn't get through life without their rich husbands. I brought up the fact that when I was 16 I got a job and bought my first car. I paid the insurance. I paid for the gas. I came home from school, worked six hours, went home and did homework before going to bed. He said he wished he could have done more for us (me and my sisters)- I stopped him cold. I told him that he did what he could- we always had a roof over our head, and there was always at least something to eat. I told him that me and the sisters were stronger people because of the way we came up. We appreciate ANYTHING that any body does for us, and subsequently try to help those around us. Had I been a spoiled little brat, all I would care about is myself. The world is bigger than one person- and we are ALL in this together

and I have a statement in quotes that you did not make. I may have been responding to someone else, but aimed my answer at you. My apologies (too late to edit)

:hi: :hi: :hi:

:hi: right back at ya, and thanks for keeping this bumped.

liberals cannot see this divide, and how they fit into it.

By not doing so, they are not only creating a larger divide, but also shooting themselves in the foot, by ignoring the very people they want to vote for office!!

around class- race is a secondary issue. The have and have-nots. The haves run the show.

He realized toward the end of his life that it was POVERTY....

:cry:

for your stubbornness on this subject. By the way, how do I get that pic in my sig line? (PM me if you prefer)

inhumane "civilization". It is very sad, indeed.

"someone should call the cops.."

"someone should do something.."

"I figured someone else would.."

"I didn't want to wait around.."

Because we've abdicated any social responsibility for others or even ourselves. Look at the threads on banning video games, fatty foods, cigarettes, happy meal toys.. threads on why folks should just rely on the cops to (maybe) protect themselves. threads on why someone should do something about damn near everything.

Just don't ask someone to actually take some personal responsibility. Nosiree-bob. That's downright un-amerkin. Get off our lazy asses and do something? Bah!

eta: pardon me while I go put another roast in the crock pot for SoupMobile.

Thank you for that- knowing that there are others out there that will go out of their way to lend a little help is comforting :hi:

That truck gets HOT in the summer. Whew!!

of our population did what you do we would be in much better shape. Thanks for thinking of your fellow man :hi:

I have very little faith that our federal government will do anything to help, so it just might be up to us as individuals in soupmobiles all over the country.


I keep having this crazy reoccuring dream that DU could start and support our own soupmobile.

Imagine a round of donations, we set Bobbolink up with a van and purchase our first foreclosed home for her to live in and set up to help other people have a roof over their head, a bathroom, a kitchen and a place to come home to, the comforts of life we all take for granted. From there it could grow and who knows?

Every year DUers contribute to 'feedingamerica' where so much of the money goes to overhead where they have walmart tactics forcing other food programs out of business.

What if instead we donated to Bobbolink's soupmobile where she could blog and keep us updated, we could all regularly donate and see actual progress.... ah me and my crazy ideas........

:hi:

This! Or maybe not!

(Because, when you take a moment to consider.....maybe WE are the fucking terrorists!)

In a way, I think you have a point. A good portion of this country goes about its life not caring what impact their actions (or inactions) have on those around us. We are all about "ME", and screw everyone else. Welcome to DU :hi:

to thank all that have participated in this thread. Poverty is something that needs to be at the forefront of our efforts.

seeing this video the first time last week.
It has taken me this long to formulate a response.
I still don't get it. I still don't understand why ...........

Maybe I'm crazy but as an oldtimer on here (since Jam 01), I can't imagine this cause being ignored a few years back to the extent it gets ignored these days.

Is it that we have become so callous or uncaring or so far right??

Is it because we are so afraid that "Hey, I have mine so the rest of the world can go piss up a rope"?

Or are we afraid that if we show some human compassion we will be compelled to take action.

Probably all of the above.....

please recommend. Let's keep this at the forefront.

I am amazed how the homelessness posts get ignored forgotten and recc'd down. I just don't get it!

And it makes me :grr:

Thanks for posting this story. :)

:hi:

There are no big rallies, no big trips to D.C. for a protest where they can dress up in costume, and sing songs and hold hands, and feel all connected and come back home with fun stories.

Homelessness is dirty, its gritty, it shoves in our faces OUR FAILURE TO TAKE CARE OF OTHERS, and we don't want to face that.

So, there will be big protests over the law in Arizona (as there should be), there are big protests when gay marriage is outlawed in some state (which there should be), there will be big protests about off-shore drilling, etc., but homeless people......... we're on our own.

Until some of you find yourselves homeless and ignored, or some loved member of your family.

THEN, maybe, it will become important to YOU.

I think a lot of folks don't realize that the homeless are not simply the panhandlers hanging around public office buildings trying to bum a smoke.

It has been posted, but that should not matter in this case. We, as Americans, should be forced to read about our national SHAME.

Off topic, I wonder if this man was of Mayan descent. He has an odd name. It doesn't matter in the slightest, but it's a personal curiousity of mine.

:grr:

:hug:

At least from what I saw on the video a day or so ago, I don't recall seeing a crowd or group. It looked to me to be separate individuals each doing nothing to help the man at separate times. But maybe there was more to the video than I saw.

Personally, though, I think as a culture we're doing a shitty job of instilling and cultivating in people what's often called a conscience. A conscience, imo, is a potential attribute, it's not a given. It has to be developed, nurtured, encouraged. Our society (to use an enormously broad brush here) emphasizes greed, selfishness, and an "I got mine now fuck you" ethos.

Not everyone is like this, of course, but way too many are.

Everyone thinks the other person is going to call for help, and thus, no one does it.

as to her character, the neighborhood, what they were doing, why they didn't call, etc.

We don't have the benefit of that here.

I really wish we didn't jump to kneejerk conclusions.

:cry:

Sorry no words.

I hope they get the man who did this.

but in our society the poor and homeless don't even exist to much of the population. And I've said this before, the government would like to see this swept under the rug because it is the biggest embarrasment in the country the way the homeless are treated.

I get blasted for holding a mirror up to "progressives", but....

:shrug:

If the fue shits...

Thanks for the thread, awoke.

:hi:

I just now saw my email from today's SoJo, and here was this comment, and it is sooo very true. Surely this can make some people understand what is at stake!

"Any animal that is hurt on the street, the city or anybody walking by goes to rescue it. But in this case, he saved this woman’s life, and where was the conscience of the people around him? They have to realize that it could be a member of their family who is the next victim.
- Rolando Tale-Yax, whose brother Hugo was stabbed while attempting to rescue a woman from an attacker, and as he lay dying on the New York City sidewalk, two dozen people walked by without stopping or calling for help. (Source: USA Today)"

This was given quote of the week by SoJo, and that means a lot to me.

I was sent a link to one of the videos at the bottom of the page, I've never been at this site before. Amazing how anyone could walk by someone hurting, or unconscious and not even stop. I don't know how they can sleep at night.

http://article.wn.com/view/2010/04/30/Not_Even_a_Box_or_Helping_Hand_for_the_Homeless/

We see these types of articles all the time - callous people who don't care about others in distress.

The reason people like me and others here object to the implied takeaway is because the full story is really not that simple.

on the streets and NOBODY GIVES A DAMN.


If they did, there'd be legislation to change things. The pols would be talking about it and DOING something about it.

IF IT WASN'T HAPPENING THERE WOULDN'T BE THESE STORIES.PERIOD.


Can you imagine what it is like to be homeless?? Really think about it. It is damn frightening.

Interestingly, just yesterday - I am not lying - I found out an acquaintance of mine was evicted from his apartment! :( I know he's been unemployed for a very long time, no prospect of change in that situation soon, and I have no idea where he's gone or what he's done with himself. I do have to mention that there is an element of self-destruction in his circumstances, a circumstance that he is actively now taking steps to change.

But my original point still stands.

Your original point may still stand but so does mine.

Interesting you mentioned that your friend has a streak of self-destruction...as if that makes it OK for him to be homeless?

What about all the other millions who have lost their safety net through circumstances and no fault of their own. Does that mean we as a nation, a society, as human beings get a free pass cause we think of them as drunks or bums or having mental problems? (Not saying you personally do this- speaking more generically.) Is it that easy to throw people away..because in our minds we have rationalized that they brought these things on themselves??


I hope you try to find your friend and see how he is doing.....:)

Thank God for family, even if you don't get to choose them. :D :hi:

:hug::grouphug:

:hi:

Thanks, K! :hug:

:hug:

People of plenty are given leeway and forgiveness.

Poor people have little margin of error.

I challenge ANYONE to name someone who hasn't ever made a mistake.

But these types of stories convince O8) Us O8) that O8) We O8) would never do something like that, and the world would be a much better place if only :evilfrown: Those People :evilfrown: were just like O8) Us. O8)

n/t

And why does this type of crap keep happening in NY?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiP3cfoiL_s

n/t