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Is this a question because I'm being sexually harassed or are you trying to pick up chicks on a forum? Yes, some say I'm cute, which doesn't help in the lip smacking and "hey baby"s I get from the homeless men in JSQ 10 times a day.

The cops take them in at times. They get sent to the shrink, put on meds, stop taking the meds.. cycle repeats. Vagrancy used to be a crime... now you can only pick these guys up if they do something violent. A guy I hire as a helper sometimes, has a brother who is schizophrenic. The guy came from Cuba and immediately qualified for Social Security disability payments. Plus his Mom lives in JC, so he had a place to stay. Between his family and government aid, he should have been fine. One day he decides to go off his meds with the result being the voices in his head told him to go to NYC and wander around in a dream world. My helper searched for days, finally finding him on a park bench in Central Park babbling to himself. Crazy people don't know they are crazy. They sometimes make themselves worse by 'self-medicating' with hard drugs and alcohol (an extended family member of mine did this). Some of these people.. the hardcore 'homeless' need to be institutionalized. However, they way the courts and the law stands, this is impossible now. The DE-institutionization movement was big in the late 60's through early 70's. It was given a lot of ammo by the abuses of the mentally ill in a Staten Island institution. http://youtu.be/qL2jgPiopxc The way the new system was supposed to work was that the mentally ill would go to regional health centers and pretty much take care of themselves. If they could, they wouldn't have ended up in places like Greystone to begin with.

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But you can put them in jail right? They are harassing people and I'm pretty sure the law doesn't allow for that. Plus, they are loitering.

This sympathy for the homeless is exactly why there are so many of them in JC. Able bodied individuals should not be begging on the streets. I feel like punching people who give to pan handlers

Yes, unfortunately. It sucks that this is the impression that people get when they move into JC from somewhere else. Hopefully after today we have some administration changes and this will be less of a problem.

You can't institutionalize the mentally ill as one done in the past. So they just keep ending up back on the streets.

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Yes, it's an ongoing issue.

The JCI had a story last year about a documentary called Homeless, Not Helpless. The doc profiles some of the homeless as well as people trying to help them. Here's the article.

Are you cute?

I'm not from NJ and I've only been in JC for a year. Has this been an ongoing issue?!

I've called the cops a few times when they get really ugly with me, but nothing is done of course. I've been called a "bitch" and been threatened physically. Its crazy! They make them leave for the day but they come right back the next day.

I'm sure Healy will address this in his third term. (don't let the past 9 years of inaction fool you. he's really gonna do something about it this time.)

Since the start of the year I have noticed an increase in homeless people inside of Journal Square. Though I am sympathetic to the needy, I don't allow it to put my safety at risk.

As a young woman living with two other young women, we are harassed regularly by homeless men, and have been threatened by homeless women. Nothing seems to be happening to stop the loitering, and JSQ continues to smell like a public restroom with empty liquor bottles in the bathroom and walkways.

What can be done to help this situation so all of JC will feel safe using the services we pay for?

Thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas?