Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Bratton Wants Everyone To Stop Giving Money To Panhandlers
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Nov 10, 2015
Modified Nov 11, 2015
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
NYPD
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Nov 10, 2015
Modified Nov 11, 2015
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Ignoring human misery is an art form for many New Yorkers, but according to NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton, it's helpful, too. "My best advice to the citizens of New York City—if this is so upsetting to you, don’t give," Bratton told a reporter who asked about panhandlers yesterday. "One of the quickest ways to get rid of them is not to give to them. And so New Yorkers who are complaining so much about it, well, one of the things they can do is stop contributing to it."
The question posed by the reporter, Marcia Kramer, was less of an indictment of the lack of affordable housing for low-income New Yorkers and the filthy shelters run by greedhead slumlords, and more of a Waiter, there's a fly in my soup.
Question: Mr. Mayor, I’d like to show you and the commissioner a picture that was taken on Saturday night on Broadway and 68th Street. It’s a homeless person with two dogs, a cat, kitty litter, dog food, and I’m wondering why nobody said anything about it - the police or the city.
After reminding Kramer that the homeless encampments across the city had been "dismantled by the NYPD, working with the Department of Homeless Services," he remarked that sometimes Undesirable New Yorkers had rights, too.
"There are other circumstances where, because of constitutional rights, the police cannot always remove someone—for example, someone begging in front of a deli cannot be removed. But when we see something that reaches the level of being a violation of law, NYPD moves in and acts."
Bratton added that he is training his subordinates in the "very fine nuances" of panhandling law.
Lynn Lewis, the executive director for Picture the Homeless, told us that she believes this question of constitutionality is "really not nuanced."
"People have the right to be in public space, whether they're homeless or whether they're Wall Street executives with suits on."
Lewis had an appropriate analogy for Bratton's suggestion that people stop giving to panhandlers.
"It's like people are pigeons: if you don't feed them, they wont be there, and so he is reducing our fellow New Yorkers, really your neighbors, to pests or eyesores."
She added, "until the mayor and his administration want to seriously address the housing crisis, you're going to see more New Yorkers on the streets, and on the subways, and in shelters."
Tagged
heartlessness
homelessness
homelessness epidemic
panhandlers
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
5 men charged with trespassing in 2 Manhattan manhole cases
Two people who were found soaking wet and smelling of sewage say they went underground to look for jewelry, according to police and a criminal complaint.
By
Charles Lane
Published Oct 23, 2026 at 7:49 p.m. ET
6-year-old girl breaks leg after getting hit by falling bricks in Queens
The girl was walking with her mother in Maspeth on Thursday. The Department of Buildings cited the owner of a garage for “failure to maintain” it.
By
Charles Lane
News
6-year-old girl breaks leg after getting hit by falling bricks in Queens
The girl was walking with her mother in Maspeth on Thursday. The Department of Buildings cited the owner of a garage for “failure to maintain” it.
By
Charles Lane
Mamdani extends ban on permits for new street fairs due to NYPD overtime
By
Carol Chen
Inside the Midtown Bus Terminal rebuild: Decks over Lincoln Tunnel approach, a new park
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Black couple seeking Queens apartment sues over racist text from broker
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .