Posted on 06/14/2007 5:16:45 AM PDT by rhema
Sam Grabarski, president of the Minneapolis Downtown Council, pulled his car into the parking lot behind the Shubert Theater on Hennepin Avenue several weeks ago. A man opened his door, grabbed him and demanded money. Grabarski shoved the man away and then followed him out of the parking lot to ensure that the aggressive panhandler accosted no one else. Brazen conduct such as this is still rare in Minneapolis, says Grabarski. Increasingly, however, "livability" crimes, from panhandling to public urination. are undermining the quality of life in the city.
"People don't expect to be the victim of a felony -- robbery, rape, murder -- when they come downtown," explains Grabarski. "But today, more aggressive panhandling, marauding thugs and gangbangers, prostitution and small-scale drug deals are becoming part of their image of the city." Panhandlers, in particular, now threaten the economic viability of the central business district, he adds.
Grabarski says panhandlers try to extort money from waitresses at outdoor cafes by threatening to harass customers if they aren't paid off. Some follow families down the street and curse them unless they give.
Then they accost them again when they return to their car.
"People will go to the Mall of America to shop if they're harassed here," says Grabarski. "If they don't feel safe when they visit, we in downtown Minneapolis don't get a second chance."
A recent survey by the Downtown Council reveals a high level of concern. Downtown workers' perception of safety during regular business hours is relatively strong, but in the evenings, when panhandling is most aggressive, about 22 percent of respondents said downtown is "extremely unsafe." Ninety percent said panhandling is at least a nuisance, and "unsafe." Eighty-seven percent reported being panhandled at least twice in the past month, and 40 percent reported at least five
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Compassion isn’t free, baby.
No residency required for welfare benefits, great for attracting freeloaders.
So is Washington, DC
I live in downtown Minneapolis. At every major intersection of the city, at any given time of the day, in any kind of weather, there’s always at least one panhanlder with a hand written, cardboard sign asking for money. It gets very tiring, very quickly. We can’t go for a walk without being hit up for money so we stay inside most of the time. We are looking to move.
I have an idea. Why not put ‘em all on a bus and dump them in Mexico. They give us the bottom of their barrel. Lets do likewise.
It’s been a decade since I’ve been there. What happens during the winter months..do they bar them from the Skyway?
It doesn't appear that Minneapolis has the political will (see post 7) to really deal with the problems endemic in liberalism's method of governing.
I think so but I don’t spend much time in the Skyway. My wife works at Target HQ and she hasn’t noticed many panhandlers there. Although, there are “street performers” of dubious talents...
In Merry Olde England, such vermin were publicly whipped, then jailed. Might not be a bad idea....
The pedestrian mall and the roving gangs of panthers are long gone and the area is thriving again.
Yes Washington - so its not my imagination !
I was there in 1995, Farragut Square seemed to be the worst spot, and the bit around Union Sation. “Yo can yo spare a quarter ? ah aint hed nuttn’ ta eat fo 3 days” si the sort of thing I heard every day I was there.
New York in 2004 seemed a lot better, I was only accosted twice, and the second one was quite funny. A broad Scottish accent piped up”Och, can ye no speer us some change pal “ said a middle aged flute player opposite Macy’s. “Its for ma subway fare see, and ah left me wallet in church like”.
The unexpected accent took me a bit by surprise so I found myself giving him a couple of subway tokens !
Yes Washington - so its not my imagination !
I was there in 1995, Farragut Square seemed to be the worst spot, and the bit around Union Sation. “Yo can yo spare a quarter ? ah aint hed nuttn’ ta eat fo 3 days” si the sort of thing I heard every day I was there.
New York in 2004 seemed a lot better, I was only accosted twice, and the second one was quite funny. A broad Scottish accent piped up”Och, can ye no speer us some change pal “ said a middle aged flute player opposite Macy’s. “Its for ma subway fare see, and ah left me wallet in church like”.
The unexpected accent took me a bit by surprise so I found myself giving him a couple of subway tokens !
We live on the edge of an Indian Reservation in MT and when you walk downtown Hardin you will be accosted by beggars about a half dozen times each day. If you are a local Indian coming to work or just to get groceries they’ll swarm you like a pack of dogs until you cough something up.
Its killing the downtown economy and a building that would sell for 150 to 250,000 in Billings MT will sell for 10 to 25,000 in Hardin MT.
If they actually accost you beat the $hit out of them.
Simple problem, simple solution.
..ask the farmer who lost HIS land to illegals a few months back
When God loves a person, he will send him a beggar. If you respond to the ugly, unsympathetic beggar with compassion as well as to the sympathetic beggar, it helps you more than the beggar.
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