Sunday, July 12, 2015

Who's the biggest weasel?

The New York Post splashed a picture of a vagrant urinating in the middle of the street on Friday's front page.

Let me repeat. The vagrant was urinating in the middle of a busy street, out in the open. He's 49, homeless, and answers, according to the Post, to simply, Monk. He hangs out in front of a Victoria's Secret shop, and according to an article in Friday's editions, he scares away business, making things very bad for the lingerie company.

Since Friday, Monk has been arrested twice, taken to Roosevelt Hospital, and released in almost no time at all each time.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE???

NYC City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito wants to decriminalize minor offenses like public urination, ignoring the fact that it's a quality-of-life problem. Has this woman lost her mind?

In sharp contrast to the nonsense in NYC, if a fellow's desperate to heed nature's call and take a leak, he slips into the nearest alley, hoping the police don't see him, does his business, and moves on. More and more businesses in downtown won't admit just anyone to use the restrooms in order to ward off the local vagrants, most of whom waste most of the day on cheap beer and don't have the common sense to better themselves. If Monk was in upstate NY and was busted for public urination, he'd still be locked up either at city jail, or, since it was assumed he's mentally unstable, in the psych ward at Samaritan Hospital or the Capital District Psychiatric Center (CDPC) in Albany.

Some of the blame can be laid at the feet of Mark-Viverito, but mayor Bill DeBlasio has to shoulder the blame, too, as he also has advocated, or so it seems, the leniency toward vagrants.

So, I'll ask the question at the top of this post. Who's the real Weasel? Is it Monk? DeBlasio? Mark-Viverito?

The answer? All three. Under DeBlasio & Mark-Viverito's watch, New York is no longer Fun City in some people's eyes. Monk has threatened people, showing no concern for anyone other than himself, and no concern for his own safety. Roosevelt Hospital was the wrong place for him, unless Bellevue didn't have a bed for him, which is probably why Roosevelt turned him loose twice on Saturday. The man needs help in the worst way. It bugs me even more than the police didn't formally charge him.

While we want to help the homeless better their individual lives, it takes one bad apple like Monk to spoil the whole bunch throughout the state. DeBlasio is close to burning his bridges with Governor Cuomo, which almost certainly will cost him a re-election bid. Mark-Viverito has no clue of what she's doing. Sending Monk upstate won't help. We've got enough guys here who don't get it.

Enjoy your Weasel ears.

Edit: 7/13/15: "Monk" has now been identified as John Tucker, who was back on the streets on Sunday, and the hospital that examined him won't comment on why he was released when he clearly needs help. Tucker is also in denial of the fact it was him on the cover of the Thursday NY Post.

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