What happened to the midget beggar that used to hang out in front of Paradise Deli or the Liquor Store on Coles?

The guy who's always wearing khaki cargo shorts. Sometimes with sandals or crocs, sometimes with socks and running shoes, and sometimes with docksiders or penny loafers. He's usually wearing a white or pastel-colored polo shirt.

His hairstyle varies, but not too much. In the workaday world, he parts his hair to the right. On weekends, it's slightly tossled for that "not-yet-forty" look... even though he's at least forty!

What a kook!

Well, there are the two peddlers that switch places all day between Lee's Fruit & Vegetable and A-1 deli demanding change. Its a tall lankey dark skinned black guy and a petite cubby black woman.

There is also this very tall and thin older white guy that is allways walking is overweight basset hound. He used to have two basset hounds. I guess one of them died.

Just saw the wheelchair(less) guy hugging and kissing a wooden wire post and enjoying himself. God bless his soul. I was on the phone with a friend in LA at the time and he told me about an electric scooter lady. Just as his is telling the story WHAM our local scooter guy comes down Erie in the middle of the street a 4 mph as if he is a car. God bless his soul as well.

I love a lil color. Makes life more exciting

I like the guy who chains his walker to a street sign outside that no-name bar on the corner of 1st and Erie. He must have had it stolen once while he was having a bevvie. It looks like he needs the walker to get TO the bar but not to get from the street sign to his bar stool... maybe he only needs it after he drinks. Cracks me up.

I get a kick out of the guy who you sometimes see in and around City Hall. He's got a ruddy complexion, his hair is always disheveled, he wears short-sleeved shirts with a tie and the top button is never buttoned and the tie is always askew. He's no stranger to some of the local bars and sometimes he'll erupt in song for no reason. He's a piece of work.

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Sounds like the guy.

The guy with the "Gettysburg" that goes down to his chest?

Love that guy, we discussed beard competitions in Alaska once (apparently he was on his way to one? I dunno).

Does anyone still see the man with the over sized mustache in Downtown?

I think the "Mountain Man" and the old crazy guy dressed as a cop are the two most well know JC wierdos.

Thanks for ruining the thread, Gnome.

More weirdos.

Young artist types, old artist types, weirdos with tattoos weirdos with chains on their faces, whatever. Weirdos with briefcases full of money weirdos with briefcases full of whiskey.

More weirdos.

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As RobotJustin pointed out, none of these people are or were bums - they all had jobs (or are/were retired) and were good neighbors and had more of a claim to the title "working class" than the wealthier residents who replaced them.

If you want to argue that Paulus Hook is better off without them, fine - but your reaction (referring to them as "bums" without even the slightest suggestion of such in my previous post) is sad. These folks aren't Teddy nor do they dress like pimps. They aren't like the regular homeless guys who hang around Exchange Place and nonchalantly take a whiz in front of everyone when nature calls - but they are a fock of a lot more interesting to talk to. Unfortunately, most of the newer, wealthier residents of PH can't make such distinctions.

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If you'd actually read Groovlstk's post, you'd understand that he's lamenting the loss of local characters, not of bums.

Groovlstk eulogizes the loss of community and neighborhood, and the corporate homogenization of humanity. I'm surprised a right-winger like yourself finds fault in those sentiments, as they're pretty traditionalist.

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Both artists. Both super nice guys.

I think I've seen a man with a purple beard hanging out with the man with the blue hair. I like their style.

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Tragic, truly. It's really sad to see bums leaving and working class replacing them.

I love the liqour street gang. One guy yesterday was sporting a crazy curly blond wig. The wheelcar(less ) guy can get nasty. I love whne the gang gets tired and they all sleep on each other. Cuddled up like lil kittens.

There's an old guy in a motorized wheelchair/scooter I see cruising along Montgomery once in awhile, an American flag flying atop his rig and a cigar stuck in the corner of his mouth. Sometimes he wants to play with the big boys and eschews the sidewalk for the road, cruising in the right lane at about 2MPH, oblivious to the cars swerving around him. Every time I see him my first reaction is, "thank God he's still alive."

There's also an elderly gentleman named Henry who (I believe) lives in PH and is on friendly terms with everyone he passes. I would hardly call Henry "wierd" but he's certainly a character.

Another old favorite is the tall, dreadlocked African American guy who cruises around Portside with a camera hanging from his neck. He has a big dog that poops indiscriminately around the neighborhood. But other than that, he's a really nice guy.

When I lived in the Heights, there was a guy on New York Ave. towards Ravine who used to spray-paint anti-government slogans all over his property. I remember when GWB took office he was particularly prolific (and prophetic).

My all-time fave was a group of adults who hung out on the front patio of a brownstone on Washington (next door to where Taste of Cin was located, or on the opposite side of the same street as Liberty Wine & Deli) in Paulus Hook during the 90s. They would sit outside in chairs drinking wine and listening to Frank Sinatra and greeting everyone who walked past. They are long gone and that building is now on the market for several million - makes me sad and wistful when I walk by, even if that area is now one of the most beautiful in all of JC.

These people give a neighborhood flavor and it's sad to see less and less as the area absorbs more cookie-cutter hipsters and wealthy white/asian/indian residents who are too self-absorbed or scared to mingle with anyone who doesn't fit in their demographic.

1. i vote for the chubby guy who begs at a-1 deli sometime. he has a round face and big lips and looks like he ate too much cherry pie. he sometimes sings.

2. i also vote for the recent sloth-like people seen in VV park late at night hunched over on park benches. they look very sad, like they just had a fight with roomates or partners. they sit there in the rain or whatever the weather. maybe sleeping. then poof. they are gone. they are like slow-moving fairies of night. or maybe outpatients.

3. parkman

The dude who wears a ton of clothes and hangs around Christopher Columbus usually. Last time I walked by him he was yelling "fucking american yuppies" of which I'm neither LOL.

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this guy urinates and poops in people's stoops and anywhere dark so if you see excrement on your property or near the library - it's not a fish stick.

Who's the guy on Central Ave near the Parking Authority who yells at people not to put coins in the meters right before the street sweep?

I like Wayne, the guy who stands in front of Dunkin Donuts every morning. what makes him weird is the fact that he is unfailingly polite and never fails to greet me with a big gap-toothed smile. okay, not weird. just rare.

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I actually know this guy and he is a VERY nice person.

The Eastern European woman on Essex Street who calls the police on all her younger neighbors.

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Definitely a win.

Love the black lady that looks like Eazy E with the dark sunglasses. She's always drinking booze out of a giant plastic bottle. I think she sells the Daily News at the Grove St. Path station sometimes. She likes to dance.

WEIRDO = older lady that drives around in her beat up ford escort with her headphones on and stops on my block to feed the stray cats...

anyone else see her on your block, or is she just entertaining us on 7th street. where the stray cat population is taking over...

my vote goes to the guy with the blue hair. I have seen him at art shows and openings. I think he is a local artist. he is an older gent with a blue and pepper look to his long hair.
Maybe he is not all that weird, but his choice in hair style is a little iffy. thoughts?

This is a great thread.

How about Tony, aka "The Gordon's Fisherman". He's pretty creepy, but seems harmless I guess.

Who is that tallish black panhandler who begs outside of A-1 deli on an on-and-off basis? He's back now ... but I hadn't seen him in a few months. I'm actually not a huge fan of him. He is always well-dressed, yet begging for money.

The Pimp of Van Vorst Park, of course, is a classic. I often see him cruising around in his white Mercedes, looking for a parking spot.