They’re recognizable by their overstuffed backpacks, dogs, and cardboard panhandling signs. They’ve been given many labels: gutter punks, crusties, street kids. In New York, their base is the East Village, that longtime hub for young people on the fringes; when the weather grows cold, many will hitchhike or “hop freight” to warmer cities in the South or out West.
According to some metrics, New York City has more homeless people today than at any time since the Great Depression. The number of people sleeping in shelters has risen eighty-two per cent in the past decade. The cohort of nomadic youth is hard to count, but the ones we spoke to agreed that their numbers are growing. Homelessness, for many of them, represents a deliberate rejection of the values of mainstream society. As one twenty-nine-year-old said, “Honestly, I know the processes and procedures for dealing with life outside on the street way more than I could navigate a corporate office setting…or have any desire to.” -New Yorker
According to some metrics, New York City has more homeless people today than at any time since the Great Depression. The number of people sleeping in shelters has risen eighty-two per cent in the past decade. The cohort of nomadic youth is hard to count, but the ones we spoke to agreed that their numbers are growing. Homelessness, for many of them, represents a deliberate rejection of the values of mainstream society. As one twenty-nine-year-old said, “Honestly, I know the processes and procedures for dealing with life outside on the street way more than I could navigate a corporate office setting…or have any desire to.” -New Yorker
No comments:
Post a Comment