The block where the man was found, via Google Streetview.
A man who may have been homeless was found dead on the steps of Westsider Records on 72nd street between Broadway and West End Avenue Tuesday morning, according to a report in the New York Post.
A local resident said a woman came knocking on her door to tell her there was a man outside who appeared homeless and ailing.
“He wasn’t there very long,” the resident said of the indigent victim. “She saw him seated there at 8:45 a.m., and when she left at 9, he was face down on the steps.”
Emergency responders were called, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene, cops said.
The medical examiner has not yet determined the cause of death, but one witness told the Post that paramedics said he was “ice-cold.”
An officer from the 20th precinct tells us: “We don’t know if he was homeless. He was found by passerby who alerted EMS down the block. He had no identification. No criminality at this time.”
The Daily News talked to a manager at the record store:
Record store manager Bruce Edar, 59, noticed the man was wearing worn out white sneakers with no shoe laces that were held together by several socks.
“It’s horrible, a night like last night,” he said. “Anyone in that condition should had been picked up and put in a shelter.”
A food bank on 72nd draws many homeless people to the block. A homeless man was found dead on a bench in nearby Verdi Square in 2013.
If you see someone in need of shelter, you can call 311 to alert outreach workers.
It was really cold today.
As a society we’re not doing enough for these poor souls.
So much wealth in the fabulous city of New York. Just a shame it can’t be shared out in order to save this from happening!
Amen. RIP to this poor man.
there are plenty of Churches in the neighborhood that could take folks in at night as well as a shelter on W71.Shame on us.
all angels church on W80 btw Bway and WEA has great programs for homeless men and women.
While we don’t know many details about this man, my limited experience has found it to be unpredictable when offering help to people living on the street. 9 out of 10 will accept help, but there’s one guy who lives on the street near us who’s incoherent most of the time and reclusive the other. Yesterday his sleeping bag was blowing off him and I offered to help; he practically bit my head off. Again, I don’t know anything about the poor soul who died, but “society” is you and me and not just agencies. And let’s also not leave it to “the wealthy.” You and I are enormously wealthy compared with homeless people. Keep offering help and reaching out to people on these worst of days, and 9 times out of 10 we can make a difference.
Here’s the thing. There is something called a ‘code blue’ that goes out to police and outreach teams when the temps fall below freezing or during snow storms. They make every effort to search out and bring(against their will to a hospital if the person is considered at risk and refusing shelter) those on the street to shelter. I did homeless outreach on the street for over 13 years. Years of combing the streets to offer services and befriend those living on the streets meant we knew every nook and cranny where individuals stayed at night. We had teams out 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
I worked for a private agency contracted by the city, not DHS. Department of Homeless Services have their own teams. All that to say, teams are out there doing all they can to prevent deaths like this on the street. But they need your help. They need for citizens to care enough to dial 311 when they see a person in this condition on the street. They can’t do it all alone. I am willing to bet this person was known to a team but if they moved out of their usual ‘spot’ and no one bothered to make a call, then this is the outcome. You need to call about that incoherent person who refuses your help. We’re all in this together.
Thank you for the caring service you provided these people. It doesn’t sound like an easy task.
I agree with you, Miriam, and I’m also glad to know that background info.
Everyone in the immediate neighborhood knows the man I’m referring to: he’s the guy who sleeps at night usually in front of Victoria’s Secret and in the morning relieves himself across the street from Laura Brainstein. He has a tight radius of movement. My point is that he’s a fixture. I’ve actually had one positive experience with him four years ago when I was waiting at the bus stop in front of 5 Napkin Burger. He told me I’d just missed a bus and one was coming along. I had a broken foot and was on crutches; thought maybe it was his act of compassion.
He is often abusive, however, usually to no one in particular but to the general public in his vicinity. I will see what I can do to help.
Howard, I know this man well. I hope he wasn’t the one who died. He has been going rapidly downhill lately and I worry about him. He used to be up above 96th st and would have days of lucidity. You could give him an orange juice or muffin then and have a conversation. I just saw him the other day in front of VS and he was in such a bad state. Absolutely refused the sandwich I got him and kept talking about the criminal element following him. So, so awful.
I know the man you’re talking about and yes, many people avoid him because of his erratic, abusive behavior. There’s another guy between 84th/85th on B’way that I spent time talking to about a month ago named John Cooper (he’s in his 20’s). He says that he won’t go into shelters because it’s unsafe. He had all of his identity cards stolen the last time he was in one. I offered to help him with re-establishing his identity and he doesn’t seem to want my help. I’ve moved from the area but return often and will keep reaching out to him in the event he changes his mind. We never know all the reasons these people decide to stay on the street instead of going to the shelters we have available.
Oh – the poor soul, this is so sad. Sometimes it’s really important to know concrete things we can do to take care of each other in our own neighborhood. Thank you to All Angels and commenter Miriam for reminding me. Prayers for this poor man.
Thank you Miriam and Howard, I never know what I can do to help these poor folks. It seems like a lot of our homeless people also have mental problems and I am never sure how to approach them. I now at least know I can call 311. Thank you for your efforts…
Ironic backdrop in the pic of a funeral home.
what is needed is more “supportive housing” with a range of services, including psychiatric.
Rustin House (the former St. Louis Hall) on W. 94th between W End and Riverside is a good example. Sadly, some campaign to keep facilities like this out of the neighborhood.
you can’t flood a neighborhood with these facilities but we can support what we have and we need a lot more supportive housing throughout the city.
There is nothing sad about campaigning to keep such facilities out of this neighborhood. We have the highest concentration of such facilities in New York City in our neighborhood. There is a difference between being charitable and being taken advantage of, and we are being taken advantage of.
For instance you also took issue in the past with my opposition to these facilities after a woman was killed by her boyfriend. I was concerned about the kinds of people brought into this neighborhood by these facilities. It was only a matter of time before the violence committed inside these facilities moved outside. Sure enough, a visitor to one of these facilities stabbed a super working in one of the neighborhood buildings. You thought I was being heartless or something of the sort, but I was right. Once again, there is a difference between being charitable and being taken advantage of, and we are being taken advantage of.
the woman who was killed by her boyfriend was a long time resident of the building. she was not one of the people being provided services, nor was her boyfriend. she was a previous tenant. it was a terrible crime and should not have been used to foster a political agenda.
As I recall, there were a lot of truly insensitive comments at the time and the woman’s daughter even had to come on the site and clear things up.
well said, Beth.
oh and don’t feed the troll.
Not “you can call 311” you MUST “call 311”
He was well-Loved but had some rough times, like anyone. He has two beautiful children… https://www.facebook.com/events/767419356668110/?ref=2&ref_dashboard_filter=hosting