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The guy who was always in front of a certain store each evening hasn't been there in a while. I used to give him a dollar (almost) every night ... any time I came out of the store. Not because I believed that he needed nineteen dollars more to get a hostel for the night (as his sign said), but because it felt seriously cold and windy most evening. Not the "it is going to snow" kind of cold, but the "I don't care what the thermometer says, this is cold" kind of cold.
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It isn't just him, though. The guy at the corner is gone. The guy across from the doughnut shop is gone. Most of the street vendors are gone. Even the street testing centers are gone. The guy leaning against a pole outside the fast food place is gone.
I don't know where they've gone, but they aren't in the places where they were every day / night for three and a half months.
Maybe #NYC is doing some sort of clean up. I hope they're giving these folks some housing and access to resources (food assistance, mental health, substance abuse counseling, et cetera) and not just letting cops show up to threaten people with clubs.