Concrete Pillows
In New York City
by Herb Bardavid
This is Serge
It was a cold March Day as winter just would not let go. Despite the cold temperatures and the harsh wind, Serge sat on the cold concrete sidewalk just across the street from the New York City Hall. The seat of the city government, his neighbors, unable to help him despite years of efforts and programs, and political statements, he sat there, homeless.
My conversation with Serge was a little disjointed. When I asked him how long he had been living on the streets of New York City, he began with a long story that had nothing to do with being homeless and was difficult to follow. I listened for about 5 minutes and asked him again. He then told me that he left his home in North Carolina about 10 years ago and has been living on the streets ever since.
Born in North Carolina, Serge had a difficult childhood. He said he did not get along with his mother or older sister.
School was very difficult for him, and he dropped out in the 10th grade. He wanted to become rich, and he thought he knew more about how to become rich than the teachers he had in high school, so he left school. At the same time, his mother threw him out of his home because he would not return to school. He lived on the streets of North Carolina for a brief time before hitchhiking to New York, where he was sure he could make it big.
He believed he had made it big, and he was ready to return home. He told me that all he needed was enough money for a train ticket back to North Carolina, and he would be okay because he had millions of dollars right here in his cart. When I asked the obvious question: why couldn't he use some of his millions to buy a ticket home? He said that money was "hot." He didn't want to say how he made it. It was a secret. He said it was safely tucked into the plastic bags in his cart. He feared that he was being tracked by agents, and he could only access it once he was back home in North Carolina.
It is clear that Serge was not making sense, and he is on the streets of New York City because he has some mental health issues. The very problem that causes Serge and many others to end up on the streets of the city.
The same issues that have been debated for decades by those working only a block from Serge remain unsettled.
I do not know if Serge will return to North Carolina or remain on the concrete pillows of New York City. I believe he will be one of the many who need help and will be lost in the shuffle.