Chinatown killings focus spotlight on New York's homeless
"Now I'm here-no coat, just the clothes on my back. I can't believe things got so bad," Nicholas said standing in the rain in Times Square with a makeshift cardboard sign that read: "Homeless and humiliated. I feel like I'm invisible. Just trying to raise $50 for a room, and if I'm blessed enough, a shower."
He said: "The way people treat you is bad. It's like you're not human. I have no family here. My mom is in Puerto Rico. What people don't realize, especially in New York, is that you can be one paycheck away from being homeless. It's that simple."
On 72nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, a homeless man in his 60s, who did not want to give his name, was rummaging through cans in the trash looking for food, when he pulled out a half-eaten sandwich.
He said he would not live in a shelter or anywhere else, even if offered such accommodations. "I've lived on the streets for 20 years. It doesn't bother me, even when it rains. It's nothing. It doesn't matter. What matters is we're all human," he said.
Like Nicolas, some of the homeless lost their jobs and then their apartments. Others became homeless after getting hooked on drugs or alcohol, according to the Department of Homeless Services.
