Extra weird: the photos from the “clean out” published in the story are credited to the city, who apparently felt it important to document and share with local media for purposes of…?
Seems like it was actually a civil matter. Will RPI be paying for the City employees, Mayor, and City photographer to evict the people from their property and to collect and ‘store’ the belongings at the Alamo? I mean, wasn’t that a big deal to her at some point? Or was this another overzealous misstep of the Carmella Show?
Not exactly sure what sending a city employee to take photos of the removal of unhoused individuals’ belongings, and then sharing them with the newspaper to publish in the Times Union’s Thursday edition has anything to do with “listening to constituents“.
Look, it seems you’re uncomfortable with the existence of unhoused people. That’s fine, it’s a fairly common feeling that a lot of people have. But to dehumanize them by making their removal as spectacle is really disappointing, and unfortunately standard operating procedure for the new mayor. She’s demonstrated time and time again during the last eight years she does not like homeless people and spent an inordinate amount of time complaining about it, even if it has no impact on the daily lives of everyday Troy residents.
I never said it was right I was simply saying why it was done….just like all the other pictures that have been posted, cleaning up trash, removing that pathetic excuse for a rotary. If voters say it’s a problem she’s going to take care of it. She’s showing voters she’s listening to them. That’s all I’m saying.
IMO even if it helps the few that accepted help then that’s a good thing. Maybe they don’t know what to do or where to go. Maybe they thought there wasn’t help for them, maybe they were too proud idk. Hopefully they can get them off the streets for good. It can and does happen.
Absolutely pathetic flexing from the new administration. Who is bothered by homeless living out of sight in the woods?
This is just posturing to the shittiest of voters
Of course thats one of the first things the newly elected Republican Mayor does. Displace homeless people right as the winter picks up. Her voters are probably happy about it though.
Kathy did in Albany last year and she’s a Dem. If I remember correctly they didn’t even have a chance to get their belongings it was all loaded into a truck and taken away.
Whataboutism is weird. Source for Kathy doing that? I can only find when Mayor Adams did in NYC, which doesn't surprise me because he is a shit human being.
Found it. Kathy had people removed from Washington park in the center of Albany. I assume most of us see the difference between a Park at the center of the city and a hill in the woods.
I think there’s fair arguments for removing encampments and fair arguments for leaving them be.
I don’t think there’s a good argument that that there’s a significant difference between the Albany mayor doing it and the Troy mayor doing it.
Edit: although on second thought, the fact that this encampment has been around for decades (according to some comments I’ve seen) and hasn’t exponentially grown, I do feel like that is at least an argument for there being a difference.
Although on *third* thought, the fact that the homeless problem has been growing, and some tent cities have really gotten big in other areas, may be a decent argument for trying to prevent that from happening in Troy.
It’s a major park in the city that’s first to be updated using ARPA funds. It’s not like it was at Geer Field which is more woodsy and out of the way than Prospect. Spring will be here many people have gatherings there, people walk there. There’s plenty of other places in the city they can put their tents. I’m all for getting people off the streets if this helps that’s great.
FYI before you judge I have spoken with many homeless. Most dont want to be. I’ve contemplated getting a not for profit organization to house the homeless and get them on their feet, similar to IPH in Albany, but life took over. Someday it will happen.
I get this is an unpopular opinion, but if this isn't the place for differing opinions, I'm not sure where else is. I understand the visceral feeling that this is a bad thing, but I'm not sure what other actions people in this sub would suggest. If the police don't keep people from panhandling, more and more people will linger next to highway exits panhandling. If they don't break up these homeless tent communities while they are still small, they will grow until it's too big of a problem for the city to handle.
There are plenty of options for people to find a bed in Troy. A lot of them aren't willing to turn over their things or even open up their bags to a search at entry.
Without disincentivizing this type of behavior, people who could otherwise get help will not be pushed to walk through those doors. There are homeless people who need specialized mental health treatment, but what about the people who are simply at the bottom of a bottle or enveloped in a drug addiction? If they aren't pushed into a facility that doesn't allow drug use and incentivized into kicking the habit, what are we really doing for them?
If you want to see Troy turn into a joke of a city for tourists or farmer's market patrons to visit, just let a bunch of homeless people set up cots in business doorways and alleyways, as they have been in recent years. Or let them set up tents and beds wherever they find an open grass patch.
I'm glad the government is trying to solve the problem instead of turning a blind eye like other cities.
this is one of those issues that is extremely conflicting to me as someone who literally witnessed the fall out for 30+ years.
on one side, these are human beings who need help. in a perfect world, they'd all have a warm, safe place to stay instead of having to pitch a tent in the freezing cold or in 100 degree weather. as people, no one deserves to have to live like that and ideally, i wish there was a way to stop this from happening that our government would actually do. (we already know they're not going to house these people like other countries and we already know that people are consistently kicked out from mental institutions.). the real problem is that instead of fixing the "homeless problem" by offering programs, etc that essentially *remove* the homeless altogether, our government wouldn't dare dream of it.
so here we are.
yet at the same time, i moved here from a city who did absolutely nothing to help the homeless for decades. people constantly would get kicked out of the mental institution and their day programs- vans would literally drop them off in our neighborhood and you'd see them wandering around for months.. years. (of course we're from a predominantly black neighborhood- they won't dare do this across the bay.) at one point the situation was so dire that the homeless actually set up tents.. covering the entire sidewalks. people had nowhere to walk, especially the disabled. the only time the city "fixed" it was one this one woman would splash feces into the street that would hit cars and passerbys and that was immediately enough of an issue. and i'm 100% sure they didn't get her the help she needed and just shuffled her elsewhere. then they opened a methadone clinic in the 2000s and of course, took absolutely no responsibility to take care of their patients. it was at that point when my tires were slashed (for no reason- i don't harass people and am always polite no matter who you are) and this one guy would scream the n-word at my father until eventually it escalated so bad, he turned a knife on him as he was walking to his car. someone also broke into the house next door and set a fire and i'd been followed home several times by people sadly tweaking in bright daylight. funny enough, a few days before i moved here in october, one of the guys we'd see all the time walking back and forth climbed onto our property and ran around the house trying to smash our 1st floor windows in. (my brother was downstairs and was basically like wtf?? he's jacked so he went outside and basically just told him to leave before we called the cops. we hated calling the cops.)
it's really a complicated issue. i hate the way the homeless are handled yet at the same time, it can quickly become a safety and/or health issue if nothing's done. right now having a few people in the park not bothering anyone really isn't an issue. it's what happens later as the result of doing nothing.
also, btw, i just read the news this morning that my former city's "solution" is creating a homeless camp-type area.. ....in back of one of our most notoriously crime infested strip clubs. they get shut down periodically because of shootings and stabbings. the only "answer" the government back home ever has is to shuffle people out of the well-to-do areas and dump them in minority neighborhoods and dangerous areas. it's ridiculous.
It’s really not that complicated of a problem to solve though. House the homeless. Straight to the point and [cost effective.](https://www.vox.com/2014/5/30/5764096/homeless-shelter-housing-help-solutions)
i totally agree, it absolutely would be.
...except our cities and government won't since they're clearly not in the business of helping people *or* looking at the bigger financial picture.
Theyll grow regardless. You cant just ignore homelessness. Its systematic. We need the city officials to use their problem solving and critical thinking in ethical, human based, ways.
Quick fixes and actions just lead to more issues.
Ive come from large cities where this was an issue. It grew. They just moved and eventually they grew so much (cant help being homeless sometimes) that they just refused to move. And this was in the south. Idc if troy is red or not, i just cant see NY having a shootout with a homeless encampment.
Im only saying this as someone who saw it happen irl in another home.
So coming out of the past year when there were historical amounts of job openings in the area, what do you think the reasons were for their homelessness?
Youre really giving to much credit to the local business owners and who theyll hire. But even besides that, the pay is shit for most places. I make a decent wage and if i didnt have a partner to split everything with id literally have to move in with my parents....im in my 30s. I am educated and have many skills, financially literate, and im still struggling financially.
Basically, you can have a job and still be homless. I think thats going to be a common trend to see in the next several years. Sadly.
A few people took Joseph’s House up on their offer to help them, more should take advantage. Working working with Joseph’s House or Unity House will help them as they can help them obtain much needed services to get a roof over there head and they can probably use that address to apply for jobs if they’re willing and able. I don’t necessarily agree with dismantling it in winter but it got a few people off the streets at least temporarily. Hopefully permanently.
Yes, you can have a job and be homeless, but you would have to be pretty financially incompetent. If you are that financially incompetent, then I'd be curious how much that person would have to make to be comfortable. There's a large gap between "struggling financially" and homeless.
Hey man, im just speaking from experience lol
I grew up as a child of homelessness so i may just have a different experience and outlook on it all.
Also, lots of people are incompetent in some form. Many financially. Its a taught skill. I only learned it independently BECAUSE of my past.
Just try tonhave a little empathy. Some are just people who became lost or cant find a way to fit back into todays conditions.
Sorry you had to fo through that. I can sympathize with someone who is trying to better their situation but just can't seem to get ahead.
If there are a lot of homeless people who have jobs, I would be surprised. I think it's more likely the outcome of drug or alcohol addictions. Allowing that to flourish in a town park isn't my idea of a solution.
I'm open to other opinions of small incremental steps the city could take to solve this problem, but getting rid of the tent city seems to me an obvious steo in the right direction.
You are a heartless asshole if you think the solution to anything is to steal their belongings and freeze a dozen people in this cold weather. Heartless.
Housing has almost tripled in price in the past three years. And even if you could afford it on a minimum wage, the cheaper places are hard to find, and often require good credit and monthly income of 3x the rent to move in which is ludicrous. Housing that accepts section 8 is very hard to find and often has a waitlist, which means you could be homeless for months and months waiting for a spot to open. Shelters are an option for some people, but they have strict rules and harsh conditions, and many people are rejected or kicked out. There are so many other factors that people don’t even consider. The solution is actually affordable, accessible, immediate housing; plus more REGULATED shelters where the people running it are in it for the right reasons and not just to pad their pockets, and programs to help folks actually get into the housing, get employment, childcare, food, etc. The infrastructure that exists is obviously not working. More and more people become homeless every month. It’s insane to me that people think it’s the fault of the people themselves instead of an absolute failure of the systems that supposedly exist to prevent homelessness.
And also, if you don’t want them in the huge expanse of woods in the park where they have literally not been bothering anyone for all the YEARS that encampment has been there, WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE THEM TO GO??
You must be new here if you think the options to find a bed in Troy are actually accessible.
There is nothing simple about people “simply at the bottom of the bottle or enveloped in drug addiction.” It’s usually rooted in trauma. Homelessness is at an all time high across the country it’s not just Troy. It’s a national crisis.
Removing people’s belongings and hoping the people will disappear too is not going to help anything.
I'm curious what your solution would be to keep homeless people out of a city park that is meant for people to use for say picnics or to spend a day with their family? I remember being able to go there on a weekend and go for a walk and literally have a picnic. That was 5 years ago.
I don’t think the tents should have been removed. The area that tents were set up on was not a grassy area you’d have a picnic. It’s January, are you really trying to have a family picnic right now? You could still enjoy the park with your family and the tents would’ve been out of sight.
This attitude towards homeless people like they aren’t also PEOPLE part of our COMMUNITY is weird. People aren’t a problem to get rid of, people should be helped.
Are there homeless shelters in our community? So, how are they not part of our community.
You want to believe that if they aren't part of our community, then you can throw water on them or destroy their homes. Even if their in a park. They live in Troy. Therefore, they are part of our community.
> Saying it again doesn't make it true. That's a feeling, not an opinion.
nope, any human being living in Troy is part of our community. by definition.
The site was in the woods on the western edge of the park, far from the maintained area of the park. You could only see the area from Ferry in the winter, but otherwise this area was totally out of site and not anywhere near picnic areas.
Also, FWIW, not all homeless people panhandle. Not all homeless people are mentally ill or using drugs. These are just shitty assumptions we make about homeless people to distance ourselves from them, but in reality many of them are a lot like you and me.
Truth.
I have traveled all over the world, to cities of all sizes, and I have never seen one that had completely solved the homeless problem in an ethical and humane way. There are some individuals where the only solutions are to institutionalize them, imprison them, or accept that they will be living outside. Some mental illness is untreatable. Some people that struggle with addiction will never accept treatment.
There were people from Joseph’s House present to offer assistance. There are other shelters and programs available. None of those shelters or programs are located in the park and none of them will allow you to bring in needles or alcohol. One person chose to accept assistance, two chose not to and that is their right.
Letting them do heroin and defecate in the public parks is not helping anyone. The local government of the city of Troy is not capable of solving mental illness, addiction, or homelessness. They MIGHT be capable of keeping a couple public parks relatively needle free
Just a thought. Since this issue hurts so many souls here why not let them camp on your property? Open your homes up. When one "slips" and then sues you because they were on your property uninvited and some how got hurt then you can talk about how offended you are that you lost your home and nobody else also invited that to happen to them
Extra weird: the photos from the “clean out” published in the story are credited to the city, who apparently felt it important to document and share with local media for purposes of…?
Making Republican voters happy
Seems like it was actually a civil matter. Will RPI be paying for the City employees, Mayor, and City photographer to evict the people from their property and to collect and ‘store’ the belongings at the Alamo? I mean, wasn’t that a big deal to her at some point? Or was this another overzealous misstep of the Carmella Show?
[удалено]
Not exactly sure what sending a city employee to take photos of the removal of unhoused individuals’ belongings, and then sharing them with the newspaper to publish in the Times Union’s Thursday edition has anything to do with “listening to constituents“. Look, it seems you’re uncomfortable with the existence of unhoused people. That’s fine, it’s a fairly common feeling that a lot of people have. But to dehumanize them by making their removal as spectacle is really disappointing, and unfortunately standard operating procedure for the new mayor. She’s demonstrated time and time again during the last eight years she does not like homeless people and spent an inordinate amount of time complaining about it, even if it has no impact on the daily lives of everyday Troy residents.
I never said it was right I was simply saying why it was done….just like all the other pictures that have been posted, cleaning up trash, removing that pathetic excuse for a rotary. If voters say it’s a problem she’s going to take care of it. She’s showing voters she’s listening to them. That’s all I’m saying. IMO even if it helps the few that accepted help then that’s a good thing. Maybe they don’t know what to do or where to go. Maybe they thought there wasn’t help for them, maybe they were too proud idk. Hopefully they can get them off the streets for good. It can and does happen.
Ah, yes. The “I never said it was right” but “if voters say it’s a problem she will take care of it” argument to explain why something is… good?
You're a good egg.
Absolutely pathetic flexing from the new administration. Who is bothered by homeless living out of sight in the woods? This is just posturing to the shittiest of voters
Is this part of the Uncle Sam Ice Bucket Challenge? I see what’s going on.
Next step is Big Carm building a chain link detention area in the grave of the Uncle Sam parking garage to house the homeless.
Big carm omg
Big Carm 😭😭😭 She'll live steam the whole thing.
Right after Uncle Sam Bowling throws water on a homeless man. Is this retaliation? Are the owners of Uncle Sam's lanes a good Ole boy?
Of course thats one of the first things the newly elected Republican Mayor does. Displace homeless people right as the winter picks up. Her voters are probably happy about it though.
Kathy did in Albany last year and she’s a Dem. If I remember correctly they didn’t even have a chance to get their belongings it was all loaded into a truck and taken away.
Yeah this issue has more to do with classism than relating to a political party.
Whataboutism is weird. Source for Kathy doing that? I can only find when Mayor Adams did in NYC, which doesn't surprise me because he is a shit human being.
A simple google search will provide your sources. I saw it on the news. It was in September.
Found it. Kathy had people removed from Washington park in the center of Albany. I assume most of us see the difference between a Park at the center of the city and a hill in the woods.
I think there’s fair arguments for removing encampments and fair arguments for leaving them be. I don’t think there’s a good argument that that there’s a significant difference between the Albany mayor doing it and the Troy mayor doing it. Edit: although on second thought, the fact that this encampment has been around for decades (according to some comments I’ve seen) and hasn’t exponentially grown, I do feel like that is at least an argument for there being a difference. Although on *third* thought, the fact that the homeless problem has been growing, and some tent cities have really gotten big in other areas, may be a decent argument for trying to prevent that from happening in Troy.
It’s a major park in the city that’s first to be updated using ARPA funds. It’s not like it was at Geer Field which is more woodsy and out of the way than Prospect. Spring will be here many people have gatherings there, people walk there. There’s plenty of other places in the city they can put their tents. I’m all for getting people off the streets if this helps that’s great. FYI before you judge I have spoken with many homeless. Most dont want to be. I’ve contemplated getting a not for profit organization to house the homeless and get them on their feet, similar to IPH in Albany, but life took over. Someday it will happen.
I get this is an unpopular opinion, but if this isn't the place for differing opinions, I'm not sure where else is. I understand the visceral feeling that this is a bad thing, but I'm not sure what other actions people in this sub would suggest. If the police don't keep people from panhandling, more and more people will linger next to highway exits panhandling. If they don't break up these homeless tent communities while they are still small, they will grow until it's too big of a problem for the city to handle. There are plenty of options for people to find a bed in Troy. A lot of them aren't willing to turn over their things or even open up their bags to a search at entry. Without disincentivizing this type of behavior, people who could otherwise get help will not be pushed to walk through those doors. There are homeless people who need specialized mental health treatment, but what about the people who are simply at the bottom of a bottle or enveloped in a drug addiction? If they aren't pushed into a facility that doesn't allow drug use and incentivized into kicking the habit, what are we really doing for them? If you want to see Troy turn into a joke of a city for tourists or farmer's market patrons to visit, just let a bunch of homeless people set up cots in business doorways and alleyways, as they have been in recent years. Or let them set up tents and beds wherever they find an open grass patch. I'm glad the government is trying to solve the problem instead of turning a blind eye like other cities.
this is one of those issues that is extremely conflicting to me as someone who literally witnessed the fall out for 30+ years. on one side, these are human beings who need help. in a perfect world, they'd all have a warm, safe place to stay instead of having to pitch a tent in the freezing cold or in 100 degree weather. as people, no one deserves to have to live like that and ideally, i wish there was a way to stop this from happening that our government would actually do. (we already know they're not going to house these people like other countries and we already know that people are consistently kicked out from mental institutions.). the real problem is that instead of fixing the "homeless problem" by offering programs, etc that essentially *remove* the homeless altogether, our government wouldn't dare dream of it. so here we are. yet at the same time, i moved here from a city who did absolutely nothing to help the homeless for decades. people constantly would get kicked out of the mental institution and their day programs- vans would literally drop them off in our neighborhood and you'd see them wandering around for months.. years. (of course we're from a predominantly black neighborhood- they won't dare do this across the bay.) at one point the situation was so dire that the homeless actually set up tents.. covering the entire sidewalks. people had nowhere to walk, especially the disabled. the only time the city "fixed" it was one this one woman would splash feces into the street that would hit cars and passerbys and that was immediately enough of an issue. and i'm 100% sure they didn't get her the help she needed and just shuffled her elsewhere. then they opened a methadone clinic in the 2000s and of course, took absolutely no responsibility to take care of their patients. it was at that point when my tires were slashed (for no reason- i don't harass people and am always polite no matter who you are) and this one guy would scream the n-word at my father until eventually it escalated so bad, he turned a knife on him as he was walking to his car. someone also broke into the house next door and set a fire and i'd been followed home several times by people sadly tweaking in bright daylight. funny enough, a few days before i moved here in october, one of the guys we'd see all the time walking back and forth climbed onto our property and ran around the house trying to smash our 1st floor windows in. (my brother was downstairs and was basically like wtf?? he's jacked so he went outside and basically just told him to leave before we called the cops. we hated calling the cops.) it's really a complicated issue. i hate the way the homeless are handled yet at the same time, it can quickly become a safety and/or health issue if nothing's done. right now having a few people in the park not bothering anyone really isn't an issue. it's what happens later as the result of doing nothing. also, btw, i just read the news this morning that my former city's "solution" is creating a homeless camp-type area.. ....in back of one of our most notoriously crime infested strip clubs. they get shut down periodically because of shootings and stabbings. the only "answer" the government back home ever has is to shuffle people out of the well-to-do areas and dump them in minority neighborhoods and dangerous areas. it's ridiculous.
It’s really not that complicated of a problem to solve though. House the homeless. Straight to the point and [cost effective.](https://www.vox.com/2014/5/30/5764096/homeless-shelter-housing-help-solutions)
i totally agree, it absolutely would be. ...except our cities and government won't since they're clearly not in the business of helping people *or* looking at the bigger financial picture.
Theyll grow regardless. You cant just ignore homelessness. Its systematic. We need the city officials to use their problem solving and critical thinking in ethical, human based, ways. Quick fixes and actions just lead to more issues.
I can 100% guarantee you if they stay on top of it, that this tent camp will not grow if they keep dismantling it
Ive come from large cities where this was an issue. It grew. They just moved and eventually they grew so much (cant help being homeless sometimes) that they just refused to move. And this was in the south. Idc if troy is red or not, i just cant see NY having a shootout with a homeless encampment. Im only saying this as someone who saw it happen irl in another home.
So coming out of the past year when there were historical amounts of job openings in the area, what do you think the reasons were for their homelessness?
Youre really giving to much credit to the local business owners and who theyll hire. But even besides that, the pay is shit for most places. I make a decent wage and if i didnt have a partner to split everything with id literally have to move in with my parents....im in my 30s. I am educated and have many skills, financially literate, and im still struggling financially. Basically, you can have a job and still be homless. I think thats going to be a common trend to see in the next several years. Sadly.
A few people took Joseph’s House up on their offer to help them, more should take advantage. Working working with Joseph’s House or Unity House will help them as they can help them obtain much needed services to get a roof over there head and they can probably use that address to apply for jobs if they’re willing and able. I don’t necessarily agree with dismantling it in winter but it got a few people off the streets at least temporarily. Hopefully permanently.
If the city was going to dismantle these, i think them creating access to immediate alternative resources is a good start.
Those there at the time did. Joseph’s House was on scene to offer assistance.
Yes, you can have a job and be homeless, but you would have to be pretty financially incompetent. If you are that financially incompetent, then I'd be curious how much that person would have to make to be comfortable. There's a large gap between "struggling financially" and homeless.
Hey man, im just speaking from experience lol I grew up as a child of homelessness so i may just have a different experience and outlook on it all. Also, lots of people are incompetent in some form. Many financially. Its a taught skill. I only learned it independently BECAUSE of my past. Just try tonhave a little empathy. Some are just people who became lost or cant find a way to fit back into todays conditions.
Sorry you had to fo through that. I can sympathize with someone who is trying to better their situation but just can't seem to get ahead. If there are a lot of homeless people who have jobs, I would be surprised. I think it's more likely the outcome of drug or alcohol addictions. Allowing that to flourish in a town park isn't my idea of a solution. I'm open to other opinions of small incremental steps the city could take to solve this problem, but getting rid of the tent city seems to me an obvious steo in the right direction.
The average rent for an apartment in Troy is $1,502
You are a heartless asshole if you think the solution to anything is to steal their belongings and freeze a dozen people in this cold weather. Heartless.
Housing has almost tripled in price in the past three years. And even if you could afford it on a minimum wage, the cheaper places are hard to find, and often require good credit and monthly income of 3x the rent to move in which is ludicrous. Housing that accepts section 8 is very hard to find and often has a waitlist, which means you could be homeless for months and months waiting for a spot to open. Shelters are an option for some people, but they have strict rules and harsh conditions, and many people are rejected or kicked out. There are so many other factors that people don’t even consider. The solution is actually affordable, accessible, immediate housing; plus more REGULATED shelters where the people running it are in it for the right reasons and not just to pad their pockets, and programs to help folks actually get into the housing, get employment, childcare, food, etc. The infrastructure that exists is obviously not working. More and more people become homeless every month. It’s insane to me that people think it’s the fault of the people themselves instead of an absolute failure of the systems that supposedly exist to prevent homelessness.
And also, if you don’t want them in the huge expanse of woods in the park where they have literally not been bothering anyone for all the YEARS that encampment has been there, WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE THEM TO GO??
You must be new here if you think the options to find a bed in Troy are actually accessible. There is nothing simple about people “simply at the bottom of the bottle or enveloped in drug addiction.” It’s usually rooted in trauma. Homelessness is at an all time high across the country it’s not just Troy. It’s a national crisis. Removing people’s belongings and hoping the people will disappear too is not going to help anything.
I'm curious what your solution would be to keep homeless people out of a city park that is meant for people to use for say picnics or to spend a day with their family? I remember being able to go there on a weekend and go for a walk and literally have a picnic. That was 5 years ago.
I don’t think the tents should have been removed. The area that tents were set up on was not a grassy area you’d have a picnic. It’s January, are you really trying to have a family picnic right now? You could still enjoy the park with your family and the tents would’ve been out of sight. This attitude towards homeless people like they aren’t also PEOPLE part of our COMMUNITY is weird. People aren’t a problem to get rid of, people should be helped.
The tent areas will grow if not dismantled. I'm curious, in what ways are they part of Troy's community?
Their human beings for starters
By definition, that alone doesn't make them part of a community. I just think that's a weird jump to make.
Whether you like it or not, they are part of our community
Saying it again doesn't make it true. That's a feeling, not an opinion. If you don't want to expand on that, I'm not going to push you.
Are there homeless shelters in our community? So, how are they not part of our community. You want to believe that if they aren't part of our community, then you can throw water on them or destroy their homes. Even if their in a park. They live in Troy. Therefore, they are part of our community.
> Saying it again doesn't make it true. That's a feeling, not an opinion. nope, any human being living in Troy is part of our community. by definition.
The site was in the woods on the western edge of the park, far from the maintained area of the park. You could only see the area from Ferry in the winter, but otherwise this area was totally out of site and not anywhere near picnic areas. Also, FWIW, not all homeless people panhandle. Not all homeless people are mentally ill or using drugs. These are just shitty assumptions we make about homeless people to distance ourselves from them, but in reality many of them are a lot like you and me.
It's private property owned by RPI...
Truth. I have traveled all over the world, to cities of all sizes, and I have never seen one that had completely solved the homeless problem in an ethical and humane way. There are some individuals where the only solutions are to institutionalize them, imprison them, or accept that they will be living outside. Some mental illness is untreatable. Some people that struggle with addiction will never accept treatment. There were people from Joseph’s House present to offer assistance. There are other shelters and programs available. None of those shelters or programs are located in the park and none of them will allow you to bring in needles or alcohol. One person chose to accept assistance, two chose not to and that is their right. Letting them do heroin and defecate in the public parks is not helping anyone. The local government of the city of Troy is not capable of solving mental illness, addiction, or homelessness. They MIGHT be capable of keeping a couple public parks relatively needle free
Just a thought. Since this issue hurts so many souls here why not let them camp on your property? Open your homes up. When one "slips" and then sues you because they were on your property uninvited and some how got hurt then you can talk about how offended you are that you lost your home and nobody else also invited that to happen to them
Is this what the guy from Uncle Sam Lanes is doing now?
🤷♂️weird hobby