>X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Unverified) >Mime-Version: 1.0 >Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 13:40:25 -0500 >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >From: Tim Rourke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [workfare] Citizens on the Web: `A war against poor people' >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >`A war against poor people' > >The homeless in New York already risk >jail - and the mayor wants to get even >tougher > > By Kathleen Kenna > Toronto Star Washington Bureau > >NEW YORK - It's a crime to be poor in the richest >city on Earth. > >Anyone lingering at the wrong doorway for too >long, asking strangers for money or slumping on >the sidewalk risks arrest. > >Drinking booze in the park, relieving oneself in an >alley, or cursing on a street corner can bring jail >time from a couple of days to a year. > >And no one is to sleep outdoors anymore on >Mayor Rudy Giuliani's turf. > >``Streets do not exist in civilized societies for the >purpose of people sleeping there,'' Giuliani argues. >``Bedrooms are for sleeping.'' > >Since the mayor authorized widespread sweeps of >street people on no less charitable a day than >Thanksgiving, more than 3,200 have been >questioned by police. > >They're stopped on suspicion of a charge that >doesn't appear anywhere in American law - >homelessness. > >The situation could get even worse this holiday >season: City lawyers go to court next week to >fight injunctions stalling a new Giuliani directive to >get tougher with the city's burgeoning shelter >population. > >``There's a war going on,'' says Archdeacon >Michael Kendall, head of the New York diocese of >the Episcopal Church. ``It's a war against poor >people. > >``Having wiped out the (social) safety net, we've >forced people into homelessness and now the >mayor is criminalizing the poor,'' he says. ``It's so >outrageous. It's absolutely intolerable.'' > >Since the crackdown began three weeks ago, 460 >people have been arrested. > >Most of the charges involve minor violations and >misdemeanours, including panhandling, disorderly >conduct, ``public lewdness,'' littering and >obstructing sidewalks, trespassing, and jumping >subway turnstiles without paying. > >No one is arrested because they're poor, says >Police Commissioner Howard Safir. He denies >charges from social workers, legal aid lawyers and >street people that cops are harassing the >homeless. > >``The law is very clear,'' says Safir. ``You can't >sleep blocking the sidewalk. You can't be in parks >after they're closed. You can't take up residence >on someone else's private property.'' > >Refusing an officer's order to move or be taken to >a shelter or Bellevue Hospital psychiatric facilities >can mean as much as a year in jail. > >Soon, entering or staying in a shelter won't be as >easy as an invitation to climb into a police cruiser. > >Under the new policy, anyone deemed employable >who refuses to work for a tax-funded bed can be >denied shelter. That includes single parents, >whose children may be sent to foster homes. > >``It's possible, on the eve of Christmas, if the >city succeeds, women and children could be >thrown out on the street,'' warns Steven Banks, >lawyer for the Coalition for the Homeless and the >Legal Aid Society's Homeless Rights Project. > >Two judges who issued the emergency injunction >against the city warned it could violate state law >if kids are ordered into foster care just because >their parents don't have permanent homes. > >``Implementation of this strikes terror in the >hearts of people who have children,'' Justice >Elliott Wilk of State Supreme Court said last week. > >Critics charge Giuliani, who is expected to be the >state's Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate >next year, is moved more by conservative >ideology than compassion, and the heavy-handed >actions against the homeless is an ugly tactic in >his bid. > >``I have no qualms at all in identifying him as a >racist who targets the oppressed, people of >colour, the weak - he is a bully and a coward and >he is a racist coward,'' Rev. Bob Castle says at >his Harlem church. > >``This man operates this city like a plantation. In >the South, the plantation owners made you work >for your housing. This city makes people work for >housing and a little change and they remain >exploited and depressed. > >``It's wrong, in the richest city in the world. It's >evil,'' Castle charges. > >All of the city's faith groups and 100 agencies >serving the poor have denounced the new >policies. > >Giuliani has yet to respond to their demand for a >meeting to discuss better ways of helping shift >the poor off government dependence, whether it's >boosting job training and substance-abuse >counselling or offering more child care. > >Despite its fabulous wealth, New York has the >largest homeless population in the United States >and it's growing - mostly among single-parent >families - amid tough welfare reform laws and a 3 >per cent vacancy rate. > >New York's 134 shelters average 6,800 single >adults and 4,800 parents with about 15,000 >children every night - up 2,000 over last year. > >Food bank and soup kitchen lineups are longer >than last year too, as the most desperate are >shoved off welfare and become squatters to avoid >shelters they claim hold more violence, crime and >disease than the streets. > > > >-------------------------------------------------------------------- > Workfare-defeat: a list for discussion about the international > resistance to workfare To subscribe, post to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> with > "subscribe workfare-defeat" in the BODY of the message > ** This material may be freely distributed, provided this ** > ** footer is included in full. ** >
