Homeless, Astor Place, New York City.
“John” I had only met John once before, till I saw him sitting there at an outdoor Starbucks reading his newspaper and sunning himself on an unusually warm October day. This had been an interesting stop already. I was passing with my camera on my way to a nearby park to find some of the street people I thought might be out on such a beautiful day. As I passed Starbucks I heard “hey Mashuga” It turned out to be a lady of the street I knew from a few years back when I had photographed her. I hadn’t seen her in a long time. I sat down to catch up and for the next hour. Street people I hadn’t seen in a long time just seems to appear. I will share some of the new photos shortly on this flog in the days to come. Anyway John was just sitting there doing his thing. I recognized him. I reintroduced myself and he recalled out meeting and picture taking of a few years back. I asked him how he was and he told me he had moved locations a few times since our first meeting. The police were the main reason. Here is a link to my first photo of him on 07/10/04. http://www.fotolog.net/mashuga/?photo_id=8313430
Here is what I wrote then. “John is sixty-one years old and was born in Akron, Ohio the tire capital of the world where his father worked for Firestone Tires. John has a degree in Political Science from St. Joseph University. He has been on the street since 1992. John has had many regular jobs in fact he worked long enough he can collect SSI. (Social Security Insurance). While he was working his regular jobs he was a professional thief. He told me he has criminal record 8 to 9 pages long. Very little jail time. He did spend some time in jail though for income tax evasion on money he acquired from his other occupation as a thief. John said he would put on a suit and tie and go out, “boosting,” that is shoplifting from stores. Somewhere along the way John got addicted to Cocaine and said it took him six years to go through all the money he made stealing. First he went into the NYC shelter system and then to the Bowery, and he has stayed on the street since. He is still using drugs though he said, “not as much now.” John is very philosophical about his existence on the streets. He said, “at different times I feel different ways, today I feel good, it’s either positive or negative, never in between.” “We like it out here, in the winter it’s a little tough-I’m used to it. Maybe I was meant to live out here?”

I asked him if he had anything he wanted to say now on this flog. He said, “I believe in my lifestyle. I believe in what I’m doing is right.”