Brennan Cavanaugh Jimmy Roberts, who collects money for the homeless, and the writer Gay Talese, whose idea for a new sign — including the words “Obama’s Stimulus Plan” — encourages passers-by to give.As I strolled past Bernard L. Madoff’s apartment house in the East 60s the other day on my way to cash a check at my neighborhood bank on Madison Avenue and 63rd Street, I was greeted by a middle-aged panhandler who sat on the sidewalk leaning against the bank’s brick wall waving a plastic cup in my direction.
After handing him a few dollars, I asked, “How’s the economy affecting you?’’
“No different,’’ he said. “It’s always lousy.’’
I entered the bank to complete the transaction, and when I came out he was gone. But as I headed downtown past Barney’s I met another panhandler who held up a sign that read: “Homeless. Please Help.’’
I dropped a dollar into his container, but at the same time thought that the sign might benefit from updating — it needed a touch of stimulus, that word that dominates the headlines. “I assume you’ve been reading and hearing about the financial crisis, yes?’’ He nodded. He was younger than the other fellow, and appeared to give me his full attention. “Maybe if you’d change the words on your sign you’d get more attention in the street, and people will donate more money…’’
I stopped talking and reached into my pocket for one of the strips of laundry board on which I make notes when I’m interviewing people. On one strip of laundry board I wrote: “Please Support Pres. Obama’s Stimulus Plan, and begin right here … at the bottom … Thank you.’’ I handed it to him, and he said he’d copy the words on his sign and have it on display the following day.
Later that afternoon I returned home and printed those words in large type on my computer. After printing out two dozen copies, I taped each page onto separate pieces of laundry board (14 by 8 inches) that the dry cleaner sends home with my shirts.
The next day, on Sunday, and during the Monday holiday as well, I handed out these boarded messages at random to people who approached me for money, explaining why I thought their economy would be stimulated by my street signs. I further pointed out that the big bankers and industrial leaders the government was bailing out had lobbyists and public relations companies doing their bidding; but these wandering men who were seeking handouts in the street had to tap into the topicality of their plight, had to link themselves into the headlines and the top priority of President Obama. Stimulus, stimulus!!
I took down the names and phone numbers of many of my street clients. All said they would display the signs I made for them, and on Monday night I telephoned a few to ask if the message had yet had any effect.
Most said it was too early to tell. But all were hopeful. Jimmy Roberts, who had stationed himself on Fifth Avenue near 58th Street, said on Monday, “It’s a powerful pitch.’’
Another man named Byron Breeze, who sat in a wheelchair on Madison and 60th with the sign held in his lap, said that a number of pedestrians read the sign and paused to discuss it with him. And, more important, he added: “I think I made 10 or 20 dollars more yesterday than before. So maybe the sign is already working.’’
Gay Talese, the author of nonfiction books and numerous magazine articles, was a reporter for The New York Times from 1956 to 1965.
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