Shoeless NYC man isn't homeless after all

Well, here we go. I did a search here at ATS. Found the original post about the police officer buying the boots, then the follow up about the guy hiding the boots...but where did he hide his residence, all this time?

Jeffrey Hillman has an apartment in the Bronx paid for through a combination of federal Section 8 rent vouchers and Social Security disability and veterans benefits, city officials said. The barefoot homeless man who received new boots from an NYPD police officer and became an online sensation isn’t actually homeless, according to a report by the New York Daily News. The man, Jeffrey Hillman, has an apartment in the Bronx paid for through a combination of federal Section 8 rent vouchers and Social Security disability and veterans benefits, officials told the paper. Hillman has continued to panhandle on the streets, however, and reportedly has a history of refusing help from family and the government.

Shoeless NYC man

Okay. This shows me that people have a way to help themselves in this country. But did this guy actually spout off concerning not having his photo posted without permission? I think he did not want the attention and this is why. He is scamming and did not want to be found out. Probably making a few hundred a day panhandling...

Shame.

Too bad the officers kind gesture did not go to a truly deserving individual.

reply to post by totallackey


According to this, he refuses help from family or gov.:

Hillman has continued to panhandle on the streets, however, and reportedly has a history of refusing help from family and the government.

Officials say “Outreach teams from the Department of Homeless Services continue to try to work with him, but he has a history of turning down services,” Barbara Brancaccio, a spokeswoman for the city's homeless services, told the Daily News.

So technically, he may be homeless.

It's still a kind gesture what the cop did for him

He has been offered help and turns it down.
Not many people would do that.

Wonder what his story is?
What led him to live like this?

reply to post by totallackey

lmao. That's great. It is both hilarious and beautiful.



The best part is that he didn't actually ask the cop for anything. Cop just did it. lol


[color=969696](I haven't actually watched/read much about this, so I could be wrong with↑↑that, but I'm pretty sure it's correct)

And one wonders how the officer feels about homeless people now?
Would this encourage police to be more sypathetic to these people?

Whats the odds, that this fool, sold the brand new boots and socks at the nearest pawn shop.
Im betting he wouldnt have even given them to a real homeless person.

You can drag a horse to water..........

They will probably make a Hollywood movie about him now....called Trading Spaces....
Where he gets to play a homeless person and gets scammed all the time......

There were a ton of these guys in the city I used to live in. All with apartments and cars paid for with a cornucopia of entitlements.

Some were even homeowners in the suburbs or business owners.

One guy I knew had been panhandling in the same spot for twelve years. That spot? Right in front of the deli he owned.

A block away was this couple who played the homeless junkie routine for at least five years that I knew of just a few yards away from the Lexus they drove into the city from the suburbs in.

I dont have a knee-jerk screw the destitute attitude. If you need help Ill give the best I can because someday I may need yours but I also dont have some knee-jerk hand a buck over to everyone who asks attitude like so many seem to have.

Beggars and panhandlers are people too and people lie cheat and steal all day long so investigate a little before you're made out to be a sucker.

Ah yes, an even more sensationalistic and untrue headline / story than the last one.


But I guess it's not quite as easy to cast bitter, easy judgment on someone when you present the full truth.


This also already has its own thread.

And this is why I am a cynical wench who doesn't smile at the newest heart warming story. It's all BS.

Years ago this "friend of a friend" I knew was desperate to get in bed with me and would constantly tell me about all the things he had. I was always puzzled how he paid for them considering he barely worked at all. I was at a friends home and he shows up as usual in his BMW. I was telling my friend I needed a new cell phone since mine had broken. This man then announces he can get me one by panhandling. Apparently he would go to the nicer sections of Nashville in ragged clothes and pretend to be homeless. These people were so damn stupid they would give him 20 to 30 dollars at a time. The man came back into that house with over 400 dollars in less than 6 hours. No, I didn't take his money, but I'll tell you what, I have never given money to a panhandler and after seeing that I never will.

Originally posted by totallackey
Well, here we go. I did a search here at ATS. Found the original post about the police officer buying the boots, then the follow up about the guy hiding the boots...but where did he hide his residence, all this time?

Jeffrey Hillman has an apartment in the Bronx paid for through a combination of federal Section 8 rent vouchers and Social Security disability and veterans benefits, city officials said. The barefoot homeless man who received new boots from an NYPD police officer and became an online sensation isn’t actually homeless, according to a report by the New York Daily News. The man, Jeffrey Hillman, has an apartment in the Bronx paid for through a combination of federal Section 8 rent vouchers and Social Security disability and veterans benefits, officials told the paper. Hillman has continued to panhandle on the streets, however, and reportedly has a history of refusing help from family and the government.

Shoeless NYC man

Okay. This shows me that people have a way to help themselves in this country. But did this guy actually spout off concerning not having his photo posted without permission? I think he did not want the attention and this is why. He is scamming and did not want to be found out. Probably making a few hundred a day panhandling...

Woah! Before you spout off any further... The clues you mention tell me this man is a section 8 i.e disturbed veteran. Yes, he may have an apartment and a pension, but is he really a scammer or is he someone who we haven't figured out how to help?

Your post make bad assumptions.....

Originally posted by TFCJay
Shame.

Too bad the officers kind gesture did not go to a truly deserving individual.

Why did he not deserve the boots?
Because he wasn't homeless?

Did he ever say he was homeless or ask for the boots, or did the officer see him and give them to him?

It's just a pair of boots and he looks like he could use a pair whether he is homeless or not.
He certainly doesn't look like he drove down to New York City from the Hamptons.

- Lee

Originally posted by palg1

The clues you mention tell me this man is a section 8 i.e disturbed veteran. Yes, he may have an apartment and a pension, but is he really a scammer or is he someone who we haven't figured out how to help?

Your post make bad assumptions.....

He is alleged to be a veteran and on government assistance.
He may also have mental issues. He's not wealthy by any means, just a man that appears to have issues.

He stated he lived in New York for around ten years and MOSTLY on the streets.
The media dubbed him "homeless".

I don't see why people have the need to vilify this man because an officer chose to buy him some boots.
Now people are showing his past criminal record as if to say if you ever have committed crimes in the past...you don't deserve any sort of help regardless of whether you served your time.

Are we just afraid that people will begin to sympathize with the homeless so we need a smear campaign against the guy to show we don't need to?

- Lee

Originally posted by lee anoma

Are we just afraid that people will begin to sympathize with the homeless so we need a smear campaign against the guy to show we don't need to?

- Lee

Empathy for the homeless, the ill and all in between is a great thing and sorely lacking in society.

The media sensationalizing a simple act and having a press conference after the fact is a circus that helps no one.

So is the race to dig up "dirt" on the alleged homeless man.

One circus begets another and in the end nobody is better off than they were when it all started.

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
Empathy for the homeless, the ill and all in between is a great thing and sorely lacking in society.

The media sensationalizing a simple act and having a press conference after the fact is a circus that helps no one.

I personally feel that this was a photo-op to get some good press for the NYPD, which usually ends up portrayed in the opposite light in the media.

I don't think this man asked the officer for the boots and the person who took the photo is alleged to have a connection to the police department.

All of that is suspect if true, and not really the fault of the guy who ended up with new shoes.

One circus begets another and in the end nobody is better off than they were when it all started.

I agree.

This is one of many threads on the subject, and judging by the responses, the fact that this man is not homeless (which in all fairness he never said he was) or has a criminal past seems to justify a particular sentiment regarding helping anyone that seems to be in need or on the streets.

"See! This is why I don't help them! They're all liars!"

I live next to a vet that gets assistance too, and I can tell you that he lives on a SLIM budget. He dresses very poorly, smells terrible, and is in a bad state mentally. He does ask me to buy him small items from time to time and I have picked him up from the hospital at the request of his social worker, but he insists on paying me back. If I say it's cool, he gets irate.

He's a very difficult person to deal with but the guy actually fought in WW2 and now looks like he should be in a shanty town somewhere. I personally think whatever assistance he is getting isn't enough. The assumption here is that assistance means you should be rolling in the green and that just isn't the case. He gets the bare minimum.

But he DOES have an apartment....so I guess to some that means he must be good to go and I should be rolling my eyes when he asks me for some monetary help.

Whatever...I'm done with this story.

- Lee

reply to post by palg1

Woah! Before you spout off any further... The clues you mention tell me this man is a section 8 i.e disturbed veteran. Yes, he may have an apartment and a pension, but is he really a scammer or is he someone who we haven't figured out how to help? Your post make bad assumptions.....

The man was complaining about having his photo used. Why would any disturbed individual have the mental acuity to do this?

reply to post by totallackey


My mother used to work on the VA psych ward, and they had patients that had amazing mental acuity most of the time, then for whatever reason would just snap. She said they would seem perfectly normal, then overnight would just lose it, and put something through a window, or try to tear the ward up.

People like this should be vilified.

When greedy idiots try to scam the good natured and compassionate they deserve worse than being dragged into the street and embarased.