New Yorkers--Do you know this guy??
New Yorkers--Do you know this guy??
#1New Yorkers--Do you know this guy??
Posted: 1/7/13 at 1:35pm
Young-ish--mid 40's at this point, I guess. Slight build, fair hair, deeply-set eyes and a prominent nose. Wearing Khakis and an oxford or dress shirt, sometimes with a yellow 80's-era "power" tie. Casual prep.
He is either on the phone, speaking distractedly about his lost wallet or just walking down the sidewalk, visibly upset--almost panicked-looking.
He has either: Lost his wallet--he "doesn't care about the $200--it's all the ID" or he has locked his keys in his vehicle/lost his keys. He needs money to get uptown to his apartment/girlfriend's apartment/mother's house.
The scam is not new, but the dedication to his craft is extraordinary. I have been seeing this same dude playing this same role since the early 1990's.
I first encountered him on E14th Street & 1st Ave., outside of David Bagels. I gave him $20. I just saw him this morning on my morning dog walk--he was on Perry St just east of Hudson. As I have done for almost TWENTY years, I broke into his shtick and told his prospective victims that he was a "F**king con artist".
I HATE that he is out there, punishing people for their generosity. The desire to help someone in need is such a fine instinct--especially in the big, bad City--and it makes me so angry that he teaching people not to trust.
On the other hand, I am amazed at his diligent work ethic. At this point, I want to either kick him to death or nominate him for a performance art grant from the Doris Duke Foundation.
Anyone know the dude to whom I am referring? Ever give him any money?
You think, what do you want?
You think, make a decision...
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#2New Yorkers--Do you know this guy??
Posted: 1/7/13 at 1:47pm
So he is not aware you can do all this on-line these days?
Updated On: 1/7/13 at 01:47 PM
#2New Yorkers--Do you know this guy??
Posted: 1/7/13 at 2:23pm
Wow No, I've never encountered him.
How does he react when you blow up his spot?
#3New Yorkers--Do you know this guy??
Posted: 1/7/13 at 2:26pmI've never encountered him- but I have heard about a man dressed like an Orthodox Jew telling people about how he was mugged/lost his wallet/etc. Story varies.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
Roscoe
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#4New Yorkers--Do you know this guy??
Posted: 1/7/13 at 2:26pmSounds familiar. When I worked at Drama Book Shop someone came in with a similar story.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
ghostlight2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/04
#5New Yorkers--Do you know this guy??
Posted: 1/7/13 at 2:28pmI know exactly who you're talking about, though I've only met him twice, about 15 years ago. The first time I gave him the $20, the second time I didn't. My meetings were Hell's Kitchen/Times Square.
#6New Yorkers--Do you know this guy??
Posted: 1/7/13 at 2:35pmI got tagged by him on 14th and 6th in the late 90's. Gave him $30.
Those Blocked: SueStorm. N2N Nate. Good riddence to stupid! Rad-Z, shill begone!
#8New Yorkers--Do you know this guy??
Posted: 1/7/13 at 3:04pm
Really & truly. I was surprised at first. The more I thought about it, the more amazed I was.
By now, you'd think the NYT would have done an "appreciation" of him as a NY fixture.
The second time I saw him, I felt like an idiot. Then I stopped feeling stupid and started feeling angry. Eventually, I started interrupting. I felt like such a "New Yorker" when I finally stepped in said something.
He has never once said a word or made eye contact with me when I intervene. He just walks away.
The fact that the other people who encountered him were both back in the '90s makes me think that maybe he took a break? Dunno. I know I saw him in the E30s several years after the E. Village encounters, which were frequent. As a dog owner and a lover of walking around the city, I probably spend greater-than-average amount of time walking slowly around the 'hood, so I probably got more familiar with the local color than people rushing from A to B.
You think, what do you want?
You think, make a decision...
Updated On: 1/7/13 at 03:04 PM
#9New Yorkers--Do you know this guy??
Posted: 1/7/13 at 5:38pm
"he was on Perry St just east of Hudson."
Kind of close to my precinct police dept. He must not be from the village.
<-----I'M TOTES ROLLING MY EYES
#10New Yorkers--Do you know this guy??
Posted: 1/8/13 at 11:27amI don't think I've ever encountered this particular individual, but nearly every time I'm in Port Authority waiting to catch a bus to visit my family in Jersey, I've been approached by the same man (late twenties, usually well-dressed) who comes up to me (and everyone else in the vicinity) who claims to have been mugged and needs money to catch a bus home. The same man. Every time. Who doesn't seem to realize that he's approached me with the same line at least ten times.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#11New Yorkers--Do you know this guy??
Posted: 1/8/13 at 12:33pmMaybe next time you should say "Oh, actually I'm a mugger. Give me your shoes."
broadwayjim42
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/19/03
#12New Yorkers--Do you know this guy??
Posted: 1/8/13 at 12:37pm
Damn, happened to me last week at the Schenectady NY train station. Young woman's car wouldn't start, only way to get home to Oneonta is by taxi. Can you spare a couple bucks...
Gave her $10 before I figured I just should have offered a jump and realized it was b.s.
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