“We’re fighting to have something of our own. Something we can share. That’s why I’m here. There’s a lot of buildings being built, but for who? The city subsidizes housing for people making ten times what I make, and the cops hassle me for having nowhere to lay my head.”
I am a member of Picture the Homeless, and also street homeless. I have been undomiciled for a few years now; I am also a true New Yorker, born in Manhattan raised in Bushwick, and lived in the Bronx. I am of Puerto Rican descent. I’ve been targeted by the NYPD on several occasions and this has hindered me in continuing with my goal of being treated like a human being, a New Yorker, and someone deserving the resources and respect offered to other New Yorkers because of their status. When I was targeted, like so many other people, it was in a lot of cases for being undomiciled. I was arrested when I should have been given a ticket and sent on my way.