We received the following alert from an Upper West Side moms group warning about a man who is accused of exposing himself to a child on Tuesday morning:
Dear Parents,
First let me say I spent the afternoon with the Police to get this all properly reported!
It saddens me deeply to be reporting this (as I love my neighborhood!) but feel that ALL in the neighborhood should be warned about the escalating behavior of a known “homeless” man in the neighborhood. He appears to “live” between 70 and 72 street from Amsterdam to Riverside Boulevard. He used to hang out in the cul-de-sac of 71 Street but due to construction, numerous complaints, our buildings security & local police have removed him from the area numerous times, he seems to hang out now more at Jubilee (near the benches) or on 72 Street at Riverside Blvd.
Today he was across from ps 199.
If you live nearby you most definitely would recognize him.
His name may be Carlos.Be WARNED his behavior today went from his usual crude comments to directly & most purposely Indecent exposure by pulling out his penis and whipping it around at my 4 year old daughter while we passed by at very close proximity. She unfortunately saw the entire act & was traumatized & confused to say the least.
Please call the police immediately if he even makes one jester or crude comment-we need him removed from our neighborhood!
Description of the Creep:
Long speckled gray hair -pulled back
Long gray beard, sometimes with a tie in it
Often wears a bandana or sunglasses
40-50 pounds overweight
Around 50 years old
This summer he appears to have a bike
Erratic behavior-talking or screaming, walking back & forthThanks of taking action! Please don’t be silent!
The police say for now he may get a day in jail & be released back into the community. Unless there is physical harm there is not much to be done. And dammit I am hoping to prevent any physical harm to our community!
Thank you,
A very concerned UWS mom
One note about this: police say he could get a day in jail? For exposing himself to a minor? Please say this ain’t so. That would seem to be a much more serious sex crime.
I’ve seen him on Freedom Place at least once, testing the doors there, as if looking for an unlocked one.
Another gift from the NY Civil Liberties Union and deinstitutionalization. Thanks guys!
By all means, let’s build a few more homeless shelters and projects in the neighborhood!
A pity there isn’t a place where he might receive care for his mental illness.
Agreed. Members of our community shouldn’t be victimized by the actions of the mentally ill.
But at the same time, talking about the mentally ill and treating them as if they are criminals is wrong.
They require proper care and supervision for their good and for ours.
Any person exposing themselves to a minor is certainly a criminal. Unless the individual lacks the ability to discern right and wrong at the time of the incident, in the eyes of the law they are sane and subject to appropriate criminal prosecution.
…which leads to the question, was this man able to discern right or wrong at the time of the incident? And if not then what would be the appropriate response?
If he wasn’t/isn’t able to discern right from wrong, then is bullying him into another neighborhood or prosecuting him the right choice or even an effective solution?
A system must be in place to determine the mental state of people like this man and to give him the appropriate treatment for his sake as well as for ours. And if he’s legally sane, then throw the sucker in jail.
But treating the mentally ill punitively (without some process of discovery) is not the answer one should expect to hear, not from educated people in a civilized society.
I see this guy all the time when I’m around Trader Joe’s…he’s extra crazy. Have definitely seen him in his bike, and he screams and screams nonsense at cars and people and the general air around him. I have no doubt this guy is super dangerous. Just watch…police do nothing forever, and then he maims or kills someone. Then it will be “why didn’t we see this coming?”
Carlos Danger I presume? I was wondering what happened to that pecker-pulling congressman.
Now, now!
As sleazy and reprehensible as anything Anthony Weiner may have done, can any of it even compare to something like this?
I think it becomes a sex crime if the victim is touched. But I’m surprised that he’s only being jailed for a day given that the indecent exposure was directed at a child. Let’s hope this is prosecuted more aggressively if it happens again.
If this is who I think it is, he scares me. I always give him a wide berth when I see him screaming on the sidewalk. And previous commenters are exactly right – he’ll be allowed to roam the neighborhood, even though everyone has a sense that he’s dangerous, until one day he does something truly heinous. That poor little girl. Terrible.
It would be helpful if someone could post a picture, if you can get one easily.
This is what annoys me when people give homeless people money in our neighborhood. If you want to truly help, give it to an appropriately managed charity that can really help & address root causes (mental illness, addiction etc.) otherwise you’re just perpetuating the situation.
I agree… Stop giving these people money. You may think they are nice but when you give them money and they use it to buy herein and or crack they can control themselves
Well said. 100% agree.
I experienced a similar incident 20+ years ago where a homeless man actually grabbed a child and attempted to walk away with him. He was out of jail within a few hours because he hadn’t physically harmed the child. Nothing has changed in 20 years.
This, while people get years in prison (and may not even make it out alive) for merely viewing IMAGES.
Even if the viewer/downloader/possessor had absolutely nothing to do with the production of such material. Even if the viewing/downloading/possession did not, in any way, promote or encourage the production or even distribution of such material.
And even if the images do not depict any actual abuse (and, in some cases, even drawn images of completely fictional subjects can be cause for prosecution and prison); for the messy reality is that “child pornography” and related categories are, at least at the margins, extremely broad and imprecise nets, the criteria for what falls within them largely subjective, arbitrary and capricious. (And often enter the specter of thought-crime, as images that may be inherently legal can be criminalized based solely on what the thoughts and feelings of the viewer or possessor are believed to have been. Even in the complete absence of any evidence that said individual poses a threat to anyone.)
But that’s not all. Even in this age of ubiquitous WiFi, when the phenomenon of the unauthorized use of private WiFi networks for illegal activity has been present and known for years, an IP address alone is still deemed sufficient evidence to subject people to Stasi-like pre-dawn raids.
Perhaps some of the zealotry and resources now drained on the crusade-against-CP grandstanding could be re-appropriated toward going after cases like these: people who actually expose themselves and even snatch real children. Just an idea.
He’s probably the homeless guy that lives on Freedom Place and 66th. My mother and I have walked by him and at times he’s been pleasuring himself at night. Police have been called before but he gets released. Residents near Freedom Place need to take action and start writing letters to the appropriate people to have him removed, listed as a sexual offender and put in a criminally insane mental ward.
wondering why no one has described his race/skin tone/height.
He’s white, maybe about 5’9, and he was just panhandling outside the liquor store at 70th street and Amsterdam a few hours ago.
Sadly, not surprised at all. How can you be when our neighborhood politicos and their supporters , who act as if we all think like extremist left wing “progressives” rally for more shelters, more subsidized housing, less police coverage and lack of enforcement of quality of life crimes. Just today I walked along Broadway from Columbus Circle to Fairway and passed or dodged at least one vagrant or more per block, mostly young able bodied tattooed whites who before living on our streets were not living on the UWS (or NYC for that matter). and this is during Fashion Week with an increased police presence. Clearly the word is out that the police and community will not enforce the existing laws. The problem is only growing. I was particularly struck by the young african american man with glasses, book bag and preppy clothing being in front of Trader Joes. Is this now socially acceptable behavior. I travel all over this city and is by far the worst on the UWS.
This well dressed group of ‘homeless’ 20-somethings (approx 8 men and 4 women), are extremely organized and use iPhones to communicate with one another. They have the same props, backpacks, signage, (even dogs) and work in shifts and alternate between various blocks around the neighborhood. I made several attempts to help one young man get back home to his wife and child in Ohio. Yep,I was duped and he deserves an Oscar. It was only after I spoke with other members of the group, and the pastor at a church around the corner, that I discovered everything about them is an elaborate lie. This particular group has chosen to live this way. This IS their job and those of us who live in the neighborhood is providing the paycheck.
I was in the Union Square area a few weeks ago, and if you think UWS is bad. walk down 14th street from Best Buy to Seventh Avenue. Tons of young college age white kids are sitting on the sidewalk begging for money. Thank goodness our neighborhood is free of the two women on the west side of Broadway south of Fairway who used to scream anout defenseless kittens back in the 1990s.
Misleading as always. Bloomberg was the one who went to court to open homeless shelters on the Upper West Side and the local “liberals” all fought those plans. But you already know that.
Not in my backyard, eh? (NIMBY)
I do not think I am misleading.
Agree that the shelters were put in during the Bloomberg reign, I do not recall going to court, they just put them in.
However – Due to the “liberal” judges, New York is the only City that is legally required to house every single person who demands it – this has created a situation that is not fixable, the more you house, the more who come and demand it, or do not seek housing elsewhere where it is cheaper and more available.
The fact also remains that the “liberals” made it virtually impossible for SRO owner to convert the buildings to normal Class A apartments. Hence the SROs all over the UWS which are from another era. The owners found another way by renting the rooms as affordable HOTEL rooms. BUT, Brewer and Linda Rosenthal sponsored and pushed through outlawing the SROs as transient (nightly) hotel rooms. so now the owners have to rent by the month, so they cut deals with city agencies. Rosenthal and Brewer where warned this would happen. They knew this was the result.
But, it really all part of this the bigger picture which allows the UWS and its sidewalks to become so lawless. I see this in no other area, except maybe midtown.
This attitude has created a situation where a man like this can act so criminally and disgustingly without fear of any repercussions from the police, neighbors or politicians.
i wish he did know it. He has his own facts.
Yes Bruce, feel free to attack me as per usual.
But remain silent about a wild man who is allowed to expose himself in front children – for that matter, you never denounce any crime posted here.
Would this be the man who resembles William H. Macy being quite intoxicated on “Shameless.” If so, this man has been incredibly aggressive in Strawberry Fields, intentionally frightening tourists and screaming and swinging at them.
Scarlett – different guy. I find the guy you’re talking about to be crazy 24/7. While this other guy has on and off moments. What’s frustrating to me is that a LOT of people outside Jubilee on Freedom Place talk to him, buy him food, and hang out with him. I’m almost certain that one of the residents GAVE him that bike he now has. What’s his incentive to leave?!
So much for, “Nothing is real. And nothing to get hung about!”…
It’s difficult to think about it at the time, but have your cell phone ready to record at all times. This kind of evidence can do a lot to aid police. Be careful of course.
Make a stink about this. Complain to Helen Rosenthal. Tweet about it to her and Bill de Blasio. Don’t let this go.
Can anyone provide more information? We live in the area in Lincoln Towers and I spoke to security this am. They knew about the incident but aren’t taking it seriously as they believe this to be just a “rumor”. We have a 3 yr old daughter. Any additional info I can provide them would be helpful.
You would think that the NYPD would post something on their website, or at least on the UWS Rag, to keep its neighborhood informed. Enough posts on what and where. I’d rather hear he’s been apprehended or institutionalized.
Until then, lets remain vigilant.
contact 311 De Blaso’s administration is not rounding up homeless people like the Bloomberg administration I was told. So they suggest you call 311…
He seems to be a really nice guy. I’ve bought hin food before, and every time I see him he asks how my day is going.
And THIS is why he’ll stick around and hang out here.
Don’t feed the homeless.
That’s because he’s schizophrenic. One minute he’s nice to you, and the next minute he’s pulling down his pants in public.
Here’s the crime he committed, under New York’s Penal Law:§ 245.00. Public lewdness
A person is guilty of public lewdness when he intentionally exposes the private or intimate parts of his body in a lewd manner or commits any other lewd act (a) in a public place, or (b) in private premises under circumstances in which he may readily be observed from either a public place or from other private premises, and with intent that he be so observed.
Public lewdness is a class B misdemeanor.
—
Sentence for a class B misdemanor is anywhere from unconditional discharge (means what it sounds like) up to $500 fine and three months imprisonment.
New York’s “insanity” defense is (burden of proof on the accused):
§ 40.15. Mental disease or defect
In any prosecution for an offense, it is an affirmative defense that when the defendant engaged in the proscribed conduct, he lacked criminal responsibility by reason of mental disease or defect. Such lack of criminal responsibility means that at the time of such conduct, as a result of mental disease or defect, he lacked substantial capacity to know or appreciate either:
1. The nature and consequences of such conduct; or
2. That such conduct was wrong.