{"id":1519,"date":"2014-01-08T01:57:39","date_gmt":"2014-01-08T01:57:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/?p=1519"},"modified":"2014-02-17T02:42:33","modified_gmt":"2014-02-17T02:42:33","slug":"as-goes-amtrack-so-goes-santa-cruz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/as-goes-amtrack-so-goes-santa-cruz\/","title":{"rendered":"As goes Amtrack, So goes Santa Cruz?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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NOTES BY NORSE:\u00a0 If anyone has any reports on the behavior of transit authorities towards homeless people seeking shelter or using monthly passes to keep riding back and forth on buses, please let HUFF know.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 “Dangerous John T” from San Jose reports that his complaints about paying homeless people being denied service because of their use of the buses as “Hotel 22” emergency shelter have yielded contradictory reassurances there.\u00a0 Tip of the hat to John for following through. (See http:\/\/www.mercurynews.com\/bay-area-news\/ci_24429126\/homeless-turn-overnight-bus-route-into-hotel-22<\/wbr><\/wbr><\/wbr><\/a> )
\nSanta Cruz transit authorities have not only beefed up their “bum-busting” thug patrols at the Metro Center, but seem to be tolerating or overlooking bizarre anti-homeless behavior by some of their drivers.\u00a0 A homeless man reported to the local ACLU several months ago that both a bus driver stopped and insisted he turn his political sign (something about Bush) down to the ground rather than have it displayed while he sat waiting for a bus at one of the local stops.\u00a0 (He’d come to the local ACLU to report tat the library had told him he couldn’t have his sign visible to the public as he sat in the main branch.\u00a0\u00a0 Pleich’s ACLU did nothing.)
\n“No loitering” signs have reportedly appeared in the local Metro Center.\u00a0 Some years ago I was cited there for “blocking” the 7′ long sign which says “Metro Center” on Pacific Avenue, because I told two homeless people they didn’t have to respond to “move along” comments from a First Alarm security guard (See “Ticketing for Standing and Talking at the Metro Bus Stop Sunday<\/strong>” at http:\/\/www.indybay.org\/newsitems\/2008\/11\/04\/18548934.php<\/wbr><\/wbr><\/a>\u00a0 & “Judge Returns Guilty Verdict In Metro Trespass Trial” <\/strong>at https:\/\/www.indybay.org\/newsitems\/2009\/06\/09\/18601194.php<\/wbr><\/wbr><\/a>).
\nPlease video and post any incidents of Metro abuse against homeless patrons (or anyone else) on you-tube\u00a0 and link it to this website or inform HUFF at 831-423-4833<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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Amtrak police bully homeless taking refuge from cold<\/h1>\n
by Wilson Dizard<\/a> @willdizard<\/a> January 7, 2014 4:04PM ET<\/div>\n
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New York homeless at Penn Station say officers threaten them with expulsion into deadly weather<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"homeless<\/div>\n
Asa Lowe, 37, and Ray Cosby, 69, keep warm in Penn Station in New York City. Wilson Dizard\/Al Jazeera America<\/small><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
As Rachel lay napping in New York City\u2019s Penn Station on Tuesday, an Amtrak police officer approached and banged on the wall next to her with his baton, startling her from sleep.The officer told Rachel to get up from the floor or risk being removed from the station. She stood up and said, \u201cArrest me. I don\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moving along the wall, the officer woke a homeless man by giving him a prodding kick to his feet, then roused several others.<\/p>\n

Rachel, 43, has been homeless for seven years, and today she says she has no choice but to stay inside Penn Station, one of America\u2019s biggest rail hubs. The frigid cold outside is life-threatening<\/a>, with temperatures dropping into single digits and wind chills as low as 20 below zero.<\/p>\n

She and other homeless people who lay low at Penn Station on harsh winter days describe a coordinated campaign of intimidation and physical harassment by Amtrak police. When the homeless head to the station for warmth, Amtrak police will often expel them outside if they lie down anywhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t sit down. We can\u2019t lay down,\u201d without worrying about the crack or shove of an Amtrak police officer\u2019s baton, Rachel said.
\n\u201cSome cops will hit you,\u201d she added, describing a time she saw a friend of hers forced up against a wall by police or another who had a baton pushed against his chest.<\/p>\n

The officers who roused the sleeping homeless referred Al Jazeera to a supervisor, who provided a number for Cliff Cole, an Amtrak spokesman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not Amtrak policy to physically abuse any passenger or patron,\u201d Cole said. Cole said Amtrak would look into the allegations.
\nRachel, who is from Brooklyn, said many homeless people, including herself, would rather endure jail or possible abuse by police than go to a homeless shelter, where fights, theft and even sexual assault can occur.<\/p>\n

Asa Lowe, 41, who said he lived in Coney Island until Superstorm Sandy forced him out in 2012, described treatment by Amtrak officers as unfair and the feel of the cold as \u201cbrutal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe police are really threatening. Look at the brutal temperatures out there. Anybody who sleeps out there is going to catch pneumonia,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s cruel, and it\u2019s going to continue all day.\u201d<\/p>\n

In New York, shelters are one of the limited options homeless people have, and New York\u2019s new Mayor Bill de Blasio, sworn in New Year\u2019s Day, has mandated they stay open 24 hours a day<\/a>, a change from his predecessor’s policy.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

But homeless people often resort to other strategies to keep warm, including staying in Penn Station, and also hiding underground in the subway.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Fred Wurtz, 52, says he rides the subway or walks around Penn Station to keep warm. Wilson Dizard\/Al Jazeera America<\/small><\/div>\n
\u201cThe A train is the best train. Any train that loops around is good to stay on,\u201d said Fred Wurtz, 52, from Manhattan.
\nThe A train spans 31 miles of track from the northern part of Manhattan island to the southeast corner of the borough of Queens.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s cold. It\u2019s about as cold as I\u2019ve ever seen. I stay here, just walk around and stay inside,\u201d said Wurtz.<\/strong>He said he has been homeless for two or three years. In his last job, he worked in a textbook warehouse. He speaks slowly and calmly about his hardships.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope it\u2019s a short winter,\u201d said Wurtz.<\/p>\n

But for Allen Duncan, 37 \u2014 who sat next to an air vent near a Wells Fargo ATM in Penn Station to keep warm \u2014 staying on the subway has risks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you fall asleep, then you don\u2019t know where you\u2019re going to wake up. You could end up in Far Rockaway,\u201d he said, referring to the far end of the A train in Queens.<\/p>\n

Maureen Ollievierre, who gave her age as \u201cgrumpy and over the hill,\u201d pushed a laundry cart full of blankets through the station.
\n\u201cI hate this weather. I love 85-90 degrees. I dress warm, drink hot drinks,\u201d she said. Ollievierre also said police at Penn Station give her a hard time \u201cno matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ray Cosby, 69, who said he has been living on the streets for 20 years, said he often sleeps in an abandoned truck in Manhattan to stay warm.<\/p>\n

There are services available for homeless people in Penn Station through the Bowery Residents\u2019 Committee (BRC), a non-profit, which has an outpost inside the station.<\/a> A BRC press agent referred Al Jazeera to the Metropolitan Transit Authority\u2019s homeless services office, but that office did not reply to Al Jazeera by press time.<\/p>\n

At Port Authority, a bus depot just eight blocks north, homeless people described more understanding police treatment.<\/p>\n

Robert Alston, 34, who\u2019s been homeless since August, said police at the bus terminal don\u2019t threaten homeless with expulsion \u201cunless you\u2019re violent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to keep a low profile,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But keeping a low profile doesn\u2019t seem to work at Penn Station.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Amtrak cops, they don\u2019t care for the homeless,\u201d said Maldonado, 46, who was sitting in Port Authority with his wife, Maria, 44, on Tuesday. \u201cThey treat us like we deserve it. They put us right into the street.\u201d
\n\u201cIf you fall asleep, then they arrest you,\u201d Wilson added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Deep freeze in eastern US places heavy burden on nation\u2019s homeless<\/h4>\n

Shelters struggle to keep beds open as extreme cold brings potential for frostbite and even death<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Maria said Amtrak police arrested a friend of hers for lying down in the station to ease the pain from a swollen leg.
\n\u201cCompared to the cops at Port Authority, they stink,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But the charity of some travelers at Penn Station tempers some of the coldness from authorities.<\/p>\n

One woman, Jaenine Scott, 25, making her way out of the station, left a styrofoam container of leftover TGIFridays dumplings at the feet of a homeless man sleeping near an escalator.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least he\u2019ll have some food,\u201d said Scott.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

MORE COMMENTS AND LINKS AT
\nhttp:\/\/america.aljazeera.com\/articles\/2014\/1\/7\/amtrak-homeless-pennstationnewyorkcity.html<\/wbr><\/wbr><\/wbr><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[57,56,1],"tags":[3],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1519"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1561,"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519\/revisions\/1561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}