My mother was on the streets from 69- summer 1970. She was 17 years old. She passed away at 53 years of age, but she became wealthy between those years remarkably. She lied about her age and got a job at American Express as an accounting assistant. She would hide in the bathrooms and then sleep on the sofa in her bosses office until he figured it out and she came clean. he had to fire her but he helped her get a room for a few months and that super gave her a mattress and a lamp. She married my dad in 71 after meeting him in the engineering program at brooklyn college. he was middle class. She became a CPA then an attorney and ended up making a lot more than my engineer father. (She left the engineering program after Kent state when schools shut down for more than a semester due to protests.)
@@manp1039 I’m going to guess a lot of luck mixed with strength and some kindness from other humans 🤷🏻♀️. I wrote some of my moms story above, and while she was an incredible capable and intelligent person, without the help of sofas to sleep on, some family members out of town, the ability to do high level math and sew her own clothes, and then meeting my grandmother, my father’s mother, she and the 7 year old she was in charge of (my aunt) might not have made it.
@@JenniferDaniels909 thank you for sharing that. I believe is a social financial safety net for the general public. There are some people, kids, in particular, that can lose their financial and social support systems. Some of them those kids may never have really had them. I have been doing anthropological studies of people. At first, I started to examine my own family's history. I saw that there was a negative shift in family trajectory in my legal father's family when his great grandfather lost both his parents within a couple years while he was just 10 or 11 years old. I have seen it in others.. for example, I was curious of the history of Charles Manson (born Charles Maddox). his bio mother had lost her father when she was just 10 years old. Her bio-legal father was just 30 years old. her brother and she began to do criminal acts. I am not sure if it was because of lack of money or lack of social support and financial support of their father. And Charles was born out of wedlock. And the biological father seemingly and apparently a military officer abandoned Charles? It is a tragedy. And I presume that is what ultimately led to further degradation and harm to society? I wonder if abortions were legal back when Charles was born would all the harm caused by him to society could have been prevented. It appears the main figures in Charles's life were a criminal mother and uncle. and sadly Charles Manson junior.. his child ultimately committed suicide. There is a book, which I highly recommend called "Freakonomics" which saw a connection between the passing of Roe v Wade (legalizing abortion) and the reduction of violent crime 20 years later. presumably, they say an interesting correlation that the number of kids born out of wedlock or by parents who didn't want children and/or who could not provide proper support for a child, about 15-20 years later, when those kids that would have been born and become young adults, were not born. and a steady decline in violent crime in society. I believe that our society is getting better for more and more people and technology is helping in that happening. as well as other factors, such as government policies that continue to use advances in social sciences as well as medical sciences to help make that happen (ref: Freakonomics | Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Levitt | Book Summary th-cam.com/video/XcQ5Id7qZqQ/w-d-xo.html )
And in contrast we have multi millionaire 'influencers' and people like the Kardashians who live in a sanitised rich little bubble with private jets and dripping jewels. It's disgusting.......
@@costazurraI noticed that as well. But I think he’d have looked a bit more ashamed if she’d just pointed him out on film. I just hope she and all them made it to sobriety and safety.
On the weekends, My Father used to take me into Boston Massachusetts in the late 1970s to go to his high rise in the financial district. This is my first memory of seeing and speaking to a true homeless person. I was scared. My Dad said these folks didn’t start life like this and some day you’ll understand. Never scoff at them because you could end up in that place. This was a deep awakening for a 7 year old boy.
If only people still taught their kids this humanity to their kids. Now people describe homeless people are parasites, animals to be observed, and drug addicts regardless of how they look like or their true story. It’s fucking disgusting and I call people out on it. 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
You can easily become numb to it when you see it all the time. It's good to sometimes imagine that it was your life. You were living like that, a zombie hunched over in the middle of the street staring at who knows what because your mind is far, far away. It's not a pleasant thought and really helps with the compassion.
If only everyone had that kind of decency. The limitless evil and willful cruelty in people's hearts today both in the public and in the power structure never fails to shock me too my core. Such as today in fact. Revolting case in point: for the first time in a long time, possibly ever, the city of LA literally passed an ordinance 13 to 2 to CRIMINALIZE being homeless and effectively prevent them from putting their tents up anywhere within city limits. THIS JUST HAPPENED TODAY. Homeless rights groups are going through the roof. I don't know what satanic cruelty possessed them to do this or how exactly they plan to enforce this as there are at least 50,000 homeless individuals throughout LA county. I've been sick all day about it. These people have lived through traumas we'll never know, and they have nowhere else to go. As if we all still aren't in the middle of a vicious pandemic which has only increased homelessness including many households who have become homeless for the first time ever. How the city council can do this, knowing full well all these obvious facts, and still do this with a clean conscience, is something I feel shocked and angered beyond words in response to. LA county has access to some of the richest tax base in the country and they offer next to NOTHING for their mentally ill and/or homeless. Rent is a crime and out of control yet someone with severe mental illness or who lost their job and home due to the pandemic is just supposed to find $4000 lying around somewhere and be able to afford a new residence. All while living out of a tent. It's gobsmacking and absolutely beyond comprehension. Because those people WANT to be on the street, right!! Right! Or they're all there because of drugs, RIGHT! and what- so that means they don't deserve help??? Support??? Access to treatment if they want it?? Of course nothing could be further from the truth. Drug use is only one of many causes of homelessness. Welp, let politicians both local or federal NEVER disappoint you with their infinite and rapacious attitude for inherent cruelty and predation on the weakest of the weak. I hope there's a very hot, very hateful place waiting for these monsters in the afterlife.
I was on the streets in 1975 for a few years . Lost both parents a year before , I was ten years old then . I got lucky and now raised three beautiful children and have a beautiful wife of thirty two years .
I was 19 and moved to New York City that Summer, 1970. I had one thing going for me, I was a Musician and I sat in Washington Square Park and played my guitar. That drew people and the first day I met an Artist who rented a Loft in an old Glass Factory, just 2 blocks away. He offered me a room upstairs. I thankfully accepted. I opened for Moms Mabely, and played at the Bitter End, which had already seen it's hayday. Most of the ones who had played there had already moved to California. Seeing this makes me realize just how Blessed I really was. I never spent one night on the street.
I'm sure a few end up on the streets because they couldn't find work but I dare say most are there due to previous trauma, drug/alcohol abuse and/or mental illness. It sounds like you went there with somewhat of a plan and had enough talent to pull it off. A bit of luck that you met the right people, sure, but you obviously had the drive and talent to be noticed. These folks in the video didn't choose to be there and had simply given up.
These kids appear to have been traumatized even before homelessness set in. A real tragedy. Worse are the stories of the kids we never met because they disappeared or died while on the street.
I watched a documentary that talked about how the 70s was the first decade when kids didn't leave because they were looking for something, but to escape.
@@silvermica iv lost my whole family, father in 08 i then became my mothers carer untill she passed in 2013 my dog in 2016 and now its just me and i dont know whats gonna become of me now as my health has took several hits. But its funny, i really dont give a fuck even though i know i kinda probably should. I think the attitude hunter s thompson took is prescient for me. Were he said it was in knowing that he could take his own life at any moment that gave him the will to stay alive. I know what he ment its really kind off comforting in a way
@@rainblaze. - I'm wandering in a very similar territory. The holidays are the worst. Pretty much only the bill collectors and my employer would notice my absence.
Beside films like this, street papers, for the places that have them actually cover these issues People just get forgotten because they become inconvenient
Look at her soul. She’s dissociating from the horror of it. You can see it in her eyes. Just imagine what it looks like in person. An unfocused gaze. A 1 yard stare.
@@jdamp9786 closing the border will not stop people taking drugs you fool, it will just change the route drugs get in, or increase the manufacture of drugs in the USA. there is far too much money in illegal drugs, and if people want to take them they will.
The man who lost his parents, wife and child. How do you even cope with that w/o extensive counseling? And if you shut down, which would be a normal reaction, and lose your job, you can't get that w/o health insurance. These are the people that fall through the cracks, turn to drugs to cope, (can you blame them?), live on the streets and are the bravest of the brave. They don't need to be stigmatized, they need compassion and help. It's even worse today.
What we need is people who have the means to stand up and start programs. It does happen though. Many times there are options for people in these situations. They may not be the best but life will never be fair and perfect
I lived on the streets as a teenager. I pulled myself out of it, started a family and have three amazing kids.. for many years it seemed like it didnt really happen because it was such a drastically different life to what I have now. However I am now 53 and after all these years the wounds are starting to show. You think you have escaped but then find you dont get to. When you spend your developing years having to constantly watch your back it permanently changes your wiring. My body's response to pain has been changed so I live with chronic pain. I also feel alone even though I am surrounded by my family. I feel alone because there is nobody I know today that understands what that life is like. My brother was out there with me but he died. I wish there were support groups for ex-street kids. To meet other people who understand would be so soothing
I was homeless for a brief time period that is not my main trauma but it's part of the bigger story. I relate very much to your feelings. It's very lonely when there is nobody around you who understands how life feels after going through such difficult times. You can't really blame people who have had is easier they can only learn what their experience has taught them. It is just lonely one you feel no one can really relate to your experience. No one to help you cope with your unique pains.
@@thebigcapitalism9826 Very long story actually but the short version is: 1. lots of emotional abuse at home, 2. Mom says "you are mature for your age you can move out (I am 14 years old). Your brother can look after you" ( my brother had just gotten out of his 3rd or 4th stint in juvenile hall) 3. My mom sells the house and moves into a one bedroom appt.
Start one! A support group on a few social media platforms. Also you should write a book. Even if you don't ever try to publish or show to anyone. Writing about your experience will be cathartic. Personally I'd be fascinated to read it. Also, if open to it read the Holy Gospels.
Wouldn’t it have been incredible to see how they did, or better, see how they did with done appropriate help. I don’t know what kind of help, but certainly something could have been done, just like we should do something today. I think the problem is probably worse now
“If you’re just in the city and you don’t know what the city is about, might as well forget it cause in a couple of months you’re either gonna be killing or get killed.” That’s deep.
Sounds ridiculous to me_ I've lived in a Metropolis all my life and at 52 I still haven't killed anyone, and I don't feel that I am necessarily going to be murdered_ there's lots of other ways to die in the city
I have a friend who adopted a homeless boy she met in Central Park in the early 70s. I remember when she told me the story of how she met him and it blew my mind that such a you g child was on his own on the streets. He could have easily been picked up by human traffickers and had a very different life
God bless your friend. Doing exactly what Jesus asked us to do! If only more would follow. I hope to do the same one day, adopt several youth out of foster care or the street.
@@anniesue4456 Street police are 99% evil. They serve the devil by preying on the weakest of the weak where they live. They are all robot psychopaths. Abolish these monsters I say, and DEFUND NOW. These gangs of predators have stolen enough of our blood and treasure!!* *Obviously we will need a few for first response; so when I say to abolish Im not speaking in pure absolutes; a small crew of trained neighborhood responders can get maintained, but it doesn't have to continue as it has been with these soulless predators and amoral mercenaries armed and ready to kill at the slightest notice. And even if they don't kill, the damage is often done. All city Pigs do is hurt the weak- they don't have souls and HELPING is the LAST thing they want to do. They exist to cause pain and extortion and theft, that's it. THAT'S IT!!
I hate the international perception that America is wealthy and without problems. In reality, most of us are one paycheck, tragedy, or trauma away from being on the streets. Thank you for sharing these stories and humanizing these souls💛 I pray they are all at peace🕊
This perception is one America created and continuous to propagate as propaganda, saying they are the best, the wealthiest, the most powerful. And yet America is falling apart, barely holding on by a thread. The empire is crumbling.
amen! im self employed living day to day and living with a rare disease and raising a disabled adult daughter.. I know god has a plan but the stress is so hard to deal with. prayers to everyone especially the forgotten and homeless
@@SPINNINGMYWHEELS777 More interested in a certain lying, privileged couple, whose only interested in filling their own bank accounts, at the cost of trashing everything that makes life worthwhile. Family, Country, Loyalty etc. The daughter in the Simpsons does more for Women than M ever would. The potentiality lost is criminal. As for the so called Charity, 5% to the charity, 95% to expenses via their bank account. Think of the good that could have done.
I was homeless with 3 kids . It was tough but I made it into an adventure like. I got really sick and ended in the hospital and lost both my jobs. I was trying so so hard just to make ends meet, then lost my apartment. So me and my children were on the streets two years but I got back up. It just took me a long long time. If someone reaches out that actually cares and gives a helping hand it really makes a big difference in our lives
I was on the streets in the 80's as a teenager. My heart just breaks when I see kids like this. And like most kids who end up like this they endured some kind of trauma before they even ended up there. I pray they all found their way and lead happier lives now. I know that the PTSD stays with you forever, but all we can do is try to work at becoming better people. What helped me was I later found Jesus and that dramatically changed my life and my heart. I found the love I never got as a child and now am able to give that kind of love in return. The pain will always be there, but it doesn't have to define me or influence my relationships with others.
You are SPOT ON and I got the chills typing this CAUSE YOU ARE SPEAKING THE TRUTH 100%.....and I am out here telling everyone the same words.....TRUE LOVE COMES FROM BELIEVIN AND KNOWING WHO GOD JEHOVAH YAHUAH AND WHAT HIS SON JESUS YESHUA DID FOR US ON THE CROSS.....AMEN.
@@tbird-z1r I'm sorry my comment angered you. Was not ment to make anyone mad. Awareness can lead to action. More videos or content can make someone more apathetic to a person walking up to them and asking for a dollar. A better understanding of someone else's situation can lead someone to help that person, instead of thinking that they are just " better" than that person and walking by them with a roll of the eyes. In my opinion let me say now....(not trying to make you angry) I believe the world needs more people to stop. You are free to believe we should just keep walking. For me personally. I am glad there are people like this man here putting out videos and educating others. I'm sorry if you do not like my view on this topic, thankfully we are all allowed to freethink in this world. Love to you man ❤️ Hopefully that clarified what I meant.
@@tbird-z1r I will see a therapist when you turn off the "news" stations, watch some fiction and calm down with the politics. Deal? I'm sure we are both better than this, can we stop now? Have fun yelling back at the void mate.
@@loganwhite8375Imagine trying to give a man a complement on his content and it turning into all this BS. - sigh - He sounded angry so I explained what I meant and apologized.... It wasn't a "sorry your so mad bro" more of a "let me be careful (not to anger you further if you are) and clear" which apparently I wasn't and probably am still not. I will keep my comments to myself from now on. Thanks for the lesson guys.
@@loganwhite8375 At this point I've hit slightly annoyed this is still going. Thanks for the advice. I will try to read better next time. Hard to tell intention on the internet. As always.
When the girl told about the time she was raped, you can see in her eyes how difficult it had been for her to deal with.. i feel so sorry for her, she doesn't deserve everything she's gone through..
The girl with the blond hair and the cat, right? That was sad. The thing that caught my attention was that these people seemed to blame themselves and not society for the challenges of being homeless. These days most homeless people seem to blame society. Both generations aren't entirely wrong. I think that people fleeing families is a huge challenge. I don't think that society as a whole actually follows through with the planning of the logistics.
@@eugenetswong I think all those problems have a fundamental cause: it is really easy for most couples to have sex and get the woman pregnant. Really, really easy. Most of them don't think for a minute what the real consequences are.
52 years later. I can only hope that these wonderful, beautiful souls escaped from this wrath of poverty, drug use and crime that they were surrounded by and immersed in. This is crushing to watch, yet such an important film to deliver a message that is truly still needed today. I hope each and every one of you found love and acceptance.
I felt really bad for the guy who lost his parents, wife and child in such a short time. I can only imagine how severely depressed I would feel if I were in his place.
These stories are sad but continue on. I've seen many homeless people through the years and was close to being homeless a couple times myself years ago but never gave up. I was 8 years old in 1970. I hope these people were able to get help or get themselves off the street. I cried today watching this, I hope and pray the young girl with the cat was able to get off the street and have a wonderful life. I wish I could know. Thanks David for sharing this.
@@eshore389 Me too. The way she said that she was raped really got to me. She must have had a pretty good reason to leave home. I wonder what happened to her.
Yeah that girl with the cat is haunting! I wasn't even born in 1970 (I arrived at the tail end of '71) and I'd guess she'd have been about 16-ish? I dread to think what happened to her and I hope she survived and isn't another statistic of dead victims of the system. Some of these people might even have died before I was born! That really hits ya! 😔😓😭
The beautiful girl with the kitty... reminds me of graffiti I once saw on a wall in SOHO: "I cried twice today...once, because I was loved; and once, because I wasn't." Sorry, that's all I can say. Gotta go cry a little now.
@@allanfuentes9694 I have no idea. It was spray painted on the side of a building in SoHo, years ago; but it was so profound to me, I have never forgotten it. (It made sense to me)! Thanks for your comment.
@@notsofast5495 I don't know, it is a bit confusing. I guess you cannot expect too much clarity from a graffiti. I, personally, interpreted the "I was loved" as in "(I cried because) I used to be loved" in a remote past, and "(I cried because) I wasn't" as in "I wasn't loved anymore" referring to the moment when they cried earlier in that day. Either way, it is sad.
She was cooked on drugs. She should have been in school. Shame on the education department and whatever government agency was responsible for youth social services at the time.
@@silvervalleystudios2486 Yeah sadly you could tell she was totally spaced out on something. The way she just kept moving around. Just staring into nothing. Hopefully these people for better, but over 40 years who knows?
Same here...i would absolutely love to see her now and know what became....If i saw homeless children in the street, i would be so so tempted to welcome them into my home and give them a warm bed and food etc...but these days you could get into serious trouble i imagine or accused of allsorts...so sad that happened and still does happen...
If they were around 20 years old, they would be approximately 71 in 2021. So based on life expectancy, there’s a good chance most of them are still alive and well.
This documentary is very important. I was 9-10 y.o. in 1970, and lived in 18 States and went to 25 schools by the time I was 18. I've been in situations nearly as bad as some of these kids, ( my parents just up and left when I was 16 and still in high school because I didn't want to relocate any more, it went downhill from there for about 2 years)... and have seen and hung out with many street kids that came and went through my life never to be heard from again, I've slept in a parking lot with an old curtain for a blanket before and picked up cans and bottles for recycling to get enough money for food to eat for a day or so, ( in Oregon, I love Oregon and California for having that system way back then) .... like these kids on their own on the street illustrated here.
@@5694mark I would have to use my own experience and say that she seemed aware enough and worried enough to do something to right her situation as soon as possible, especially after being featured on a documentary about street kids and rethinking my life.
That reminds me of my brother-in-law, who will never be an ex, as my sister never divorced him; even after no contact for forty years. I loved him, and probably still do. He lives in New York and we are not inclined to look one another up. When Lee was fifteen, he lived in Washington, D.C. He never met his dad. When he was fifteen, his mother ran off to Mexico with a boyfriend and left Lee to fend for himself. He was somehow brilliant, made it through and is co-owner of a fashion buying business in New York. I don't know how he did it, yet feel sure that he is deserving.
@@lunchguy659 the worst part is those girls that end up in prostitution and their john's end up killing them. Many of those who died by the Green River Killer Gary Ridgway were young girls between 15 to 22 and were runaways. You have to stay together and find a group as teens living on the street or you are going to end up being found under a bridge if you are found.
tough times for sure. I was born in 57. I remember going down to NYC once on the train with a buddy of mine to buy our guitars in 74. I had never seen so many people in one place, never mind all the homeless. Decades later I lived in Los Angeles and San Diego, now seeing the homeless numbers there but of a different kind.
You've been posting some amazing history on your channel, but this one really cuts deep. By the time I got to be a crusty street urchin in the 90s, there was a well-trod path that others had carved out and a culture of support for kids in this situation. It was meager, but it existed. These kids had nothing, they were blazing that trail.
'rivercitymud" I am not so sure they had absolutely no help. The film does not exactly say that. It seems that maybe the social worker in the video might have provided some assistance.
Different Country, Different City, Different Decade, Different Person Australia, Sydney, 1980s, Me *Same Experience* I feel so much empathy, compassion and love for this once young woman & the others . I can only hope that some of them were as fortunate as I ...... to have somehow managed to crawl out the other side however many years/decades later. In to a life that whilst not rich in any material way, is full beyond measure with abundant Love, Family, Friends, Glorious Purpose and Gratitude unbounded. Thank You so very much for sharing this and if you are reading this #DavidHoffman, it is only because of the kindness of people like YOU who did similar work to this in my country and gave me a chance eventually. THEY / YOU planted a seed that, when the time was right many years latter I was able to come back. Now I am blessed to do likewise. Much Love to You
This was well Said...hard for me to contextualze the Gratitude for the opportunity to Be & Model Better...with *Authentic* Hope knowing it Truly is Possible and at least the Knowledgeable Resources are Easier to Come By these days 💞 Much Respect Peace Love and Kindness wishing Even More Strides in this Adventure ❤
@@support_theory8754 Oh yes Indeed ...... one of my most delicious remindables .... In a way it's like a time capsule of my life. How curious you should ask my Support Fairy Friend 💞
Jack Gilford was one of my favourite actors. He came across as such a genuinely nice man - as this piece confirms. How lovely to see him again! Thank you for this.
In 1970, I was fresh out of the Army. Lived on 7th St. in the East Village, and spent a lot of time hanging out on St. Marks Place, the epicenter of hippie activity. There were dozens of kids like this on every block, struggling to survive. Once in a while, would meet parents who had come from several states away, hoping to find their son or daughter. I don`t know what those kids expected to find, there was nothing glamourous about their lifestyle....
It's happening now to adults, there more homeless people than I have ever seen in 50yrs. The middle class can't afford a house, both have to work and the kids have a hard time. It's RV living now for lots of people.
True but that is a different issue altogether. Most teenagers are not on the streets b/c of a shrinking middle class. In fact when I lived on the streets I was surprised how often the kids came from well off families..
@@frederickmuhlbauer9477 I've lived out of my car before on several occasions due to necessity. I managed but I'm also relatively young an healthy. Now after the illegal evictions that have happened over the last 15 months and there's about to be many more, I'm sure good people of all ages will have no choice but to live in their car until they somehow better their situation. What a sad state of affairs in the world's wealthiest country. Guess that's what happens when 95% of the wealth stays in the top 1-5% of hands. Our lives to the vast majority of politicians in both parties don't matter- they take their bribes and go home happy leaving the rest of us, as always, on our own. That's capitalism and American politics for you, the best corruption and sociopathy money can buy. And it's always been that way, but never as bad as now IMO.
I know how they feel..❤️ 1971-1981 homeless but got out of it and got help to move to another country... today I’m 58 yrs old and have ptsd but, I try to live a good life..
Yes..Do you have Anything regarding What Happened post your Amazing/Reveling..film..that would be So Good to Find out what became of these.'Open'Ie;Willing to Talk..!-After this Hope to find out..thanks. p@Dn New Zealand.
I wasn't expecting to see Jack Gilford. Always been a fan of this fine actor, and had the pleasure of meeting him in his final years. Thanks for bringing attention to this sadly still relevant subject and for making it available here.
I was on the street at the same time. I had a little bag I carried everything I owned and soap . I was running away from a terrible situation. My older sister's boyfriend picked me up hitch hiking and said my Grandparents wanted to see me. I was cautious at first but they took me in and cared for me.
This made me really sad. My oldest Granddaughter is 14. And grew up in a small Iowa farm town. I hate to think about her being in that situation. I know she wouldn't survive even a week.
Things are just as bad if not worse now.........kids need more than hope and prayers. If I wasn't so busy saving myself, I would be out there saving others.
My pet peeve is when people make comments without bothering to research the facts. What evidence do you have that the problem 50 years later is "just as bad" or "worse?" NYC is the only city in the country with right to shelter laws, first enacted in 1987. Also, since the late 1970s, there have been concerted efforts to combat juvenile homelessness. Unlike in those days, the Family and Youth Services Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services funds grant programs to help runaway and homeless youth. It might not be a magic wand, but it's still ignorant to claim things are worse when you provide no evidence.
@@posysdogovych2065 Homelessness is certainly worse now in the United States. Eventually this lack of affordable housing, overcrowding, and destruction of the social fabric will lead to real slums developing. I doubt the commenter above has any real knowledge of New York, so she's speaking in broad terms.
That’s pretty disingenuous to say being homeless today is the same or worse as it was 50 years ago. The quality of life has improved dramatically in this country in that time, we have put much more efforts into helping the homeless like food drives, sheltering, and clothes drives. It’s still a nightmare to be homeless, but it’s definitely nowhere near as bad as it was in the 70s.
@@osamabindiesel3389, human population was a lot lower in the 1970s. The gap between the rich and the struggling is also more defined. Add inflation, family breakdown and pollution, then tell me what scale will show things are better. Your scope could be wider.
I sincerely hope that the lives of everyone in this documentary improved. One thing that really struck me about the people in general is that they sounded so much more intelligent and articulate then many people today
I worked independently to get teenagers off the streets. In the past 20 years I mostly saw two groups of homeless teens. The first and smaller group is teens who left home to get away from physical and sexual abuse at home. The bigger group is teens who leave home with idealistic thoughts of freedom from their parents rules, only to find a real hell living on the streets. Rape, physical and psychological abuse, and forced servitude, are extremely common troubles homeless teens regularly experience.
@@nothingtoseehere4684 I have worked with homeless teens probably longer than you have been alive. There are some truly horrible things that some homeless teens ran away from at home, but there are some who also has uninformed fantasies about life away from home. One experience does not negate the other. I gave a realistic description of different reasons why teens leave home to become homeless. edit: Also, most homeless teens ho through so much hell on the streets they feel too ashamed (although they should NOT feel ashamed about being victimized while on the streets) to return home. Their are also other reasons why homeless teens don't just, "up and go home one day on their own."
@@nothingtoseehere4684 You have a lot of learning to do. Your voice is one of ignorance. I do not write this to be insulting. It is just how you come across, not realizing that there are various reasons for why homeless teenagers exist. Again, sometimes it is due to running away from a bad situation, other times it is simply the result of very bad teen choices.
@@nothingtoseehere4684 You are speaking of your own experience. I am speaking of the experiences of thousands of homeless teens. Yes, you come off as sounding ignorant. From your comments you haven't worked out your own issues. I hope you do. You are running out of time.
The year I was born. I was shedding tears watching this. I hope these kids are still going today and in better circumstances. Losing the ones you love then being on the streets can't be easy. Nearly happened to me.
@@macaronivirus5913 I hope I was also a homeless kid but in Europe, happy now successful, mother own my flat in Germany. I just hope they got their better tomorrow. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I moved to NYC at 21 in the Fall of 1977 for six months my first time. Incredibly different from how it seems now. I lived on St Marks in the basement in a three bedroom flat for $175 total per month in the bldg Led Zepplin used for their album cover, worked at Big Hit Oldies records/head shop on Bleecker&Sullivan and was an artist student at the Westbeth Complex old horse stables bldg on the West Side Dr. That was my commute daily. The head shop stayed open till 4:30am on weekends mostly selling whipits and poppers to anyone because it was legal then. The record shop side ordered all the UK punk 45's as they came out! I would go to CBGB's after work and was friendly with whatever bartender would give me free beer. Usually enough that I don't remember much anymore about the bands I saw ;) Back then there was no downtown 'shopping' like it is now. There were only millinery sweat shops all up and down Broadway. At night Bowery hosted prostitutes from Canal to 14th. There was NO Disney on 42nd. There were few tourists in the lower east side. It was different. I lived for thirty five years. Moved away three years ago. NYC is already..different. NYC always changes.
Wow I used to work at Westbeth Complex about 9 years ago. It’s deff an artist building my commute from L train stop going to Westbeth Bethune st. It’s sad that at the time I would occasionally see a man with a dog I had not realized it Was Philip Seymour Hoffman he was unrecognizable with the beard and hair. I heard he would often come visit Westbeth to the theater classes. One day going to work the street I always commute was blocked the actor lived across the St from my job and I passed by his pace all the time I was shocked he died.
Your videos are from perspectives unlike any I have every seen. I watched the entire video with my jaw dropped. Thank you as always for sharing your art.
The guy at 5 minutes is exactly how i feel. Maybe not to that extent but in one year i lost my father and divorced my severely alcoholic wife and landed myself in a massive 30 000 dollar family court litigation. I was basically a full time father and my exs family is extremely well off so going up against them in court was a crippling financial battle. This was last year and what he said hit me very close to home.
I just wandered through these comments by accident (but maybe not, who knows) and I feel compelled to tell you I'm really sorry about everything you have been through and my thoughts are with you. Please hang in there.
I’ve been through a similar situation. It feels like it will never end or get better but I assure you it does. I now have been married to a deserving wife of 12 yrs and have children of my own. The past is the past now. God is a faithful god and Jesus will not fail you. If you seek Him you will find rest. God bless you brother. 👊🏻☺️
Every day I thank God I’ve got a loving family and a wonderful home even tho I’ve got health issues. We are all just a heartbeat away from being where these poor souls are. God bless you and the work that you do!
This is unacceptable. Charity isn't even an answer. This shouldn't exist and we need to come together to stop the wealth of this world going into fewer and fewer hands. We pay for everything and still get asked to give more to solve issues that should already be paid for.
@@benjaminr8961 In The U.S. there are studies done that prove people with less money give away, to charities, a larger percentage of their money than those who have more money give away. So, yeah, I give away money every month, yet I have a 22 year old car, a 1980 TV, and the same stereo I've had since 1977. I live a life of poverty and give away money every month to those who need that money more than I do. I've been much worse off than I am now. I know what it feels like to be very, very poor. I want to make a good living so I can give away more money, not buy stuff.
You do realize the top 1 percent of taxpayers paid $311 billion in income taxes. That amounted to 20 percent of all income taxes paid,. So, their 40 percent share of income taxes is twice their share of the nation’s income.
So very interesting and sad. I do hope these damaged souls found a way out and had a happy, healthy future. Wouldn’t it be amazing if they saw this and got in touch! Thanks David, for yet another moving insight to life gone by. Sending best wishes from UK to you and your family 🇬🇧💕
Some of us got out and had Lives of one sort or another but So Many fell to drugs, AIDS, crime, incarceration, and more... i had one friend who was found stuffed naked into a garbage can (she was 14) (never solved), several friends ODed, some died from choking on their own vomit, my Bestie died from hepatitis from needles (at 25, left 2 children), and one or two just Disappeared... i hope they made it to somewhere Good! i had 4 kids, 6 gkids, and the Love of my Life to go out with... it's been a Good Life on the whole... Prayers Up! for the "kids" in this film...
@@PamelaTwining How terribly sad for all those lost souls … bless their hearts. It’s so tragic. It’s great to hear you’ve had and are having a good and happy life. I wish you and all your family a wonderful and healthy future 🥰
Wow, the young man that lost his family and wife broke my heart... the homeless blond girl in such a hard city like NYC, I just hope their lives turned out better. If they're alive they're probably in their late 60s or early 70s. BTW I'm a Newyorker and was a kid in the 70s, I remember how rough the streets were back then my mom didn't leave me out of her sight.
@Ed Ducate I know. It is so sad and terrible. Our society should be kinder and therefore have less of these problems and in knowing that we will never have a perfect world; provide support and safety for the young and innocent
I know this isn’t about you, David, but you are a treasure for all of these treasures you have produced; like this one. It makes my heart ache. It makes me want to scoop all those kids up and just love them. I realize those ‘kids’ are (if they survived) probably in their late sixties, at least. I wonder what happened to them. I wonder...
Man oh Man ! This hit me hard ~ But we saw it coming ~ My parents left communist Yugoslavia 58, came to America, the Bronx ! Worked hard, became citizens,,,and then, it was really getting rough ! The gangs, shootouts near the park, my parents finally made the decision and we jetted out to Bayside Queens, a gem of a place ~ Lived there all my life until 6 years ago, the whole of America is totally gone now, I now live in Europe, full circle ! RIP Mom and Dad...
40 years of predatory reaganism has destroyed whatever hope the US ever had at being a decent and respectable nation. I'm a proud, drum-beating Socialist who lives in California so anyone who knows me knows what to expect from me in response to these situations. I could go on and on with my hate for this third world devolving nation and great Satan in the world. I'm going to fight like hell to do what I can to make it better, and then I'm going to leave. Maybe Mexico, maybe Canada, I don't know. I love everywhere I've lived in the US but 30% of the people are nuttier than a fruitcake and the power structure is so corrupted, and peopled by such willfully evil predators, I just don't know if it can be fixed. I dream of Canada invading and taking over bit they haven't exactly been a bastion of human rights either; not in regards to their First Nations people's or their low-skilled migrant population that they are currently exploiting. Still, a damn sight better than the US, I'm sure. My heart breaks for all the people victimized by the psychopaths in power here, from the demonically-evil state Pigs aka State Troopers, local street police, DAs, evil judges, metro area city councils and everyone in between. I don't mean to be too pessimistic but I look out, I carefully gather my evidence both past and present, and all I see is absolute pathological predation and cruelty on steroids and attitudes in the public of shocking levels of apathy or approval to it. I cross my fingers California will secede. Maybe we can do better on our own. Then again, the internal oppressors and corruption-lovers would still be here, within the state's power structure, and independence wouldn't change that. So I guess there is no goddamn easy answers. As a human-centered Socialist I know exactly what the answers are, but I doubt I'll ever have the power to enact them. I pray every day something changes drastically here in the next ten years. I don't know what it's going to take. Maybe we'll finally have a real mass uprising for a change, idk. There's got to be a better way and I pray we get there before more millions suffer or die needlessly and avoidably to crimes of cruelty, neglect, and high-level capitalism; because right now that's exactly where we're headed for far too many and it's happening exactly as we speak. A lot of people are suffering, a lot of people are desperate for help and aren't getting it. I never understood the elites' and the politicians' boundless appetites for cruelty and apathy towards the working and lower classes here. And God forbid if you're a person with a disability, a serious physical health need or a mental health condition. Those are almost concrete guarantees you're going to flirt with poverty all your life and have a very high likelihood of ending up on the street or in a homeless status at least once in your life. I dont know why the powers that be are so corrupt and cruel here. Those that can make it on the private market for jobs and support do so, and those that can't fall thru the cracks and have to scramble for help from friends or family, or they end up on the street or a shelter (if they can even find one that will take them and that has an opening). What a tragic state of affairs. It doesn't have to be like this, but the phenomenally abusive and predatory ruling class and their servants in govt ensure it stays this way. Then they can't even have a modicum of understanding and compassion for the homeless on the street that their system helped create, and instead prefer to demonize them and subject them to dehumanizing treatment. It's ... I don't even know what to think anymore. It's a cavalcade of sadism and a merry-go-round of savagery. Millions are doing great, to be sure; and millions aren't. Every year I keep wondering when the sadism in our system here is going to stop, and every year it just keep doubling down over and over. Forty years of Reaganism has done exactly what it set out to do, create havoc in the bottom 40-50% of the population here. It's done all that , and so much more. What will the next 40 years bring I wonder???? More of the same? Worse?? Private charity is simply not able to meet the needs of everyone who needs help here, and govt at all levels for the most part couldnt care less. So where in the FUCK does that leave us??? I honestly don't know but it causes those of us who care about these issues a lot of pain every day.
@@calebscalzo I now live in a war zone, Donetsk Republic, former part of Ukraine~ would you believe i feel more at peace here than i did back home over 6 years ago ~
The look in that young girls eyes was so heartbreaking! She was lost inside herself. I really hope things got better for all of them. God bless the homeless, lost and abused souls of this world! 💜💙
In 86 and 87 I was homeless. I was 22 and 23 and in a suburb south of Jacksonville, FL. I met a couple who were lawyers and opened their house to run-away and throw-away kids. I had learned how to unlock cars and the suburb being middle class I was able to make money. After finding the couple I went on a campaign and made lots of money for them. It is surprising how many do NOT care about kids on the street. If they talked to them they would learn what they went trough of what put them on the street.
I welled up the entire 7 mins and 25 sec. Things haven't changed much for a lot of young people [and older people too] in today's society. I felt this bitter sweet emotion watching this clip. It's like on one hand this clip is the only thing that gives these young lost lives something meaningful, like a lasting legacy which is to say they will never be forgotten but on the other hand, there's the dreadful reality of knowing that they lived on the fringes of American society. 70s America was not peachy for soo many people but to be in the exclusion group and knowing anything remotely close to living a good life or having a meaning future was fading away with extreme little help coming their way is bitter tasting and cuts deep emotionally-and into the conscience. Thank you David Hoffmann for another great content. You're probably one of the few adults who actually cared enough to talk to these young lives about their experience of the "American Dream".
I was homeless in Australia for most of my life from 11 to 27 years old, I am 32 now and have finally been able to secure a place of my own i can maintain , but living in those conditions with that mindset for so long really screws up your development, I am lucky, I tried to make a change, and found the right support group....
I was homeless for about 3 years. And it's been several years now that that situation is resolved because I took my SS at 62 and retired to Mexico where I'm able to afford a small, comfortable apartment near the beach in a quiet neighborhood. I'm fortunate and grateful. It sucks being homeless. There's so many things that can cause someone to become homeless. And it's not always drugs / alcohol.
@@angelaatwood46 yes. I was very blessed to have the most beautiful mother in the world. She taught me the truth about the true God. It boggles my mind to hear some stories randomly of how evil parents can be to their children. While some are disobedient and leave of their own accord, there are many others whose lives from infant onward are cast into the most unloving and brutal way of living that the Creator never even thought of. These brutal parents will be held accountable in the end Most importantly, the Creator will end this wicked society as we know it, to stop the abuse of any kind. The wicked will be gone forever. Only obedient humans will live on the earth and love will reign Supreme in every aspect of life. Psalms 37;10-11
The quality of the film is incredible you can even clearly hear their voice being sad or frustrated, worried, and fearful for tomorrow and the very good resolution it had while being a fully colored video simultaneously.
I am a young filmmaker myself and I get inspired to go out and just shoot when I see your amazing videos Keep up the great work David , I think these videos are externally important
I used to live in the village after attending NYU in the late 70s and early 80s. I occasionally ran into Jack on my block. What a great actor and just a really nice man.
I was homeless in my late teens and I had a daughter with me. My mother died and my father threw me out. It was the worst part of my life until God and me allowing others to help me. I thought I knew it all.... now I'm on my 3rd home and have a corporate job. Never give up!
5 years from now I'll either be in a state penitentiary or on the streets in worst shape than I am now.... This is one of the most tragic comments I've ever heard. I wonder what happened to her. What was so bad at home that she couldn't return there but would rather be on the streets? It makes my heart cry hearing her talk like this.
I work at a homeless shelter. Sometimes my job is overwhelming and it’s hard to realize where people come from and sometimes the people I work with are not the most polite they are not the most civilized they don’t know how to ask for things and it does get to be overwhelming. However I do enjoy my job and I do enjoy helping people and I appreciate this little documentary because it shows me that. I need to be more compassionate I really do thankfully the shelter I work at works on permanently housing people so we’re not just a temporary solution anyways thank you for the post
Things have gotten much worse. Just over a year ago my wife and l were living in a beautiful home with nice antiques, artwork, books and numerous other fine things l had accumulated over the years. We experienced a perfect storm of bad fortune that involved our home burning to the ground with our Nissan in the garage. Because we were late on the mortgage there was no insurance and we had virtually no savings. Losing my job and a few other misfortunes caused us to be homeless. Its been a year now and l cannot see a way out. It's like when you lose your address, a place to bathe, wash clothes and maintain your most essential possessions, you are stuck 20 ft behind the rest of the world at the starting line. I think God everyday for my wife and our health.
I am sorry, but anyone who harms ladies and children deserves a punishment, a proper punishment, the poor girl at 03.22 holding the cute kitten, stated she got taken of her dignity 🤬 poor girl, seeing her holding the kitten for comfort made me upset, bless her hope she is ok wherever she maybe, and thankyou once again lovely David Hoffman for a wonderful video ✌🏼🤗
You need to fix the systematic problem Too often today I see people point at a scapegoat, hand out "punishment" and "justice", wash their hands, and everything that made it possible, all the poverty and segregation, continues without anyone sparing a look thorought he whole ordeal
@@whade62000 well yes, but in the meantime we have to do something right? how do you achieve the main change if not by making small ones? cause the "everything is wrong" mindset might as well lead to complete pasivity
@@mewho6199 There's nothing "masculiune" about abusing someone, especially a child. It's very 2015 of you to pull the whole "toxic masculinity" shtick.
I see a little girl holding a kitten... trying to stay a little girl,, and then there is growing up... I say she is not ready for it .. It breaks my heart
I was on the streets in 1970. With the help of lots of people and God I own my own home now. Blessings to all.
what do you think it was that help to transition from living on the streets(i presume that is what you were inferring) to owning your own home?
My mother was on the streets from 69- summer 1970. She was 17 years old. She passed away at 53 years of age, but she became wealthy between those years remarkably. She lied about her age and got a job at American Express as an accounting assistant. She would hide in the bathrooms and then sleep on the sofa in her bosses office until he figured it out and she came clean. he had to fire her but he helped her get a room for a few months and that super gave her a mattress and a lamp. She married my dad in 71 after meeting him in the engineering program at brooklyn college. he was middle class. She became a CPA then an attorney and ended up making a lot more than my engineer father. (She left the engineering program after Kent state when schools shut down for more than a semester due to protests.)
@@manp1039 I’m going to guess a lot of luck mixed with strength and some kindness from other humans 🤷🏻♀️. I wrote some of my moms story above, and while she was an incredible capable and intelligent person, without the help of sofas to sleep on, some family members out of town, the ability to do high level math and sew her own clothes, and then meeting my grandmother, my father’s mother, she and the 7 year old she was in charge of (my aunt) might not have made it.
@@JenniferDaniels909 thank you for sharing that. I believe is a social financial safety net for the general public. There are some people, kids, in particular, that can lose their financial and social support systems. Some of them those kids may never have really had them. I have been doing anthropological studies of people. At first, I started to examine my own family's history. I saw that there was a negative shift in family trajectory in my legal father's family when his great grandfather lost both his parents within a couple years while he was just 10 or 11 years old. I have seen it in others.. for example, I was curious of the history of Charles Manson (born Charles Maddox). his bio mother had lost her father when she was just 10 years old. Her bio-legal father was just 30 years old. her brother and she began to do criminal acts. I am not sure if it was because of lack of money or lack of social support and financial support of their father. And Charles was born out of wedlock. And the biological father seemingly and apparently a military officer abandoned Charles? It is a tragedy. And I presume that is what ultimately led to further degradation and harm to society? I wonder if abortions were legal back when Charles was born would all the harm caused by him to society could have been prevented. It appears the main figures in Charles's life were a criminal mother and uncle. and sadly Charles Manson junior.. his child ultimately committed suicide.
There is a book, which I highly recommend called "Freakonomics" which saw a connection between the passing of Roe v Wade (legalizing abortion) and the reduction of violent crime 20 years later. presumably, they say an interesting correlation that the number of kids born out of wedlock or by parents who didn't want children and/or who could not provide proper support for a child, about 15-20 years later, when those kids that would have been born and become young adults, were not born. and a steady decline in violent crime in society. I believe that our society is getting better for more and more people and technology is helping in that happening. as well as other factors, such as government policies that continue to use advances in social sciences as well as medical sciences to help make that happen (ref: Freakonomics | Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Levitt | Book Summary th-cam.com/video/XcQ5Id7qZqQ/w-d-xo.html )
@@manp1039 I read Freakonomics around 2004 :)
Seeing her with that little kitten brought tears to my eyes, poor little creature was as lost and alone as her and her boy friend.
I sob at knowing the experience of the girl 💔
The kitten is what did it?
And in contrast we have multi millionaire 'influencers' and people like the Kardashians who live in a sanitised rich little bubble with private jets and dripping jewels. It's disgusting.......
She said she slashed his face looking at the Slash next to her ?
@@costazurraI noticed that as well. But I think he’d have looked a bit more ashamed if she’d just pointed him out on film. I just hope she and all them made it to sobriety and safety.
On the weekends, My Father used to take me into Boston Massachusetts in the late 1970s to go to his high rise in the financial district. This is my first memory of seeing and speaking to a true homeless person. I was scared. My Dad said these folks didn’t start life like this and some day you’ll understand. Never scoff at them because you could end up in that place. This was a deep awakening for a 7 year old boy.
What a smart dad
If only people still taught their kids this humanity to their kids. Now people describe homeless people are parasites, animals to be observed, and drug addicts regardless of how they look like or their true story. It’s fucking disgusting and I call people out on it. 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
You can easily become numb to it when you see it all the time. It's good to sometimes imagine that it was your life. You were living like that, a zombie hunched over in the middle of the street staring at who knows what because your mind is far, far away. It's not a pleasant thought and really helps with the compassion.
If only everyone had that kind of decency. The limitless evil and willful cruelty in people's hearts today both in the public and in the power structure never fails to shock me too my core. Such as today in fact.
Revolting case in point: for the first time in a long time, possibly ever, the city of LA literally passed an ordinance 13 to 2 to CRIMINALIZE being homeless and effectively prevent them from putting their tents up anywhere within city limits. THIS JUST HAPPENED TODAY. Homeless rights groups are going through the roof. I don't know what satanic cruelty possessed them to do this or how exactly they plan to enforce this as there are at least 50,000 homeless individuals throughout LA county.
I've been sick all day about it.
These people have lived through traumas we'll never know, and they have nowhere else to go. As if we all still aren't in the middle of a vicious pandemic which has only increased homelessness including many households who have become homeless for the first time ever.
How the city council can do this, knowing full well all these obvious facts, and still do this with a clean conscience, is something I feel shocked and angered beyond words in response to.
LA county has access to some of the richest tax base in the country and they offer next to NOTHING for their mentally ill and/or homeless. Rent is a crime and out of control yet someone with severe mental illness or who lost their job and home due to the pandemic is just supposed to find $4000 lying around somewhere and be able to afford a new residence. All while living out of a tent. It's gobsmacking and absolutely beyond comprehension.
Because those people WANT to be on the street, right!! Right! Or they're all there because of drugs, RIGHT! and what- so that means they don't deserve help??? Support??? Access to treatment if they want it?? Of course nothing could be further from the truth. Drug use is only one of many causes of homelessness.
Welp, let politicians both local or federal NEVER disappoint you with their infinite and rapacious attitude for inherent cruelty and predation on the weakest of the weak. I hope there's a very hot, very hateful place waiting for these monsters in the afterlife.
That's good parenting right there
I was on the streets in 1975 for a few years . Lost both parents a year before , I was ten years old then . I got lucky and now raised three beautiful children and have a beautiful wife of thirty two years .
Glad to hear your life had a positive outcome.
10 years old. That’s insane. Great to hear you made it.
I am so glad that you endured, survived and now live a good life with a beautiful family. You are a true inspiration.
🥹🩵
TEN?? how was that even possible? Social services didnt find you a home, you shouldve gone into foster care. Was that not a thing back then?
I was 19 and moved to New York City that Summer, 1970. I had one thing going for me, I was a Musician and I sat in Washington Square Park and played my guitar. That drew people and the first day I met an Artist who rented a Loft in an old Glass Factory, just 2 blocks away. He offered me a room upstairs. I thankfully accepted. I opened for Moms Mabely, and played at the Bitter End, which had already seen it's hayday. Most of the ones who had played there had already moved to California. Seeing this makes me realize just how Blessed I really was. I never spent one night on the street.
I'm sure a few end up on the streets because they couldn't find work but I dare say most are there due to previous trauma, drug/alcohol abuse and/or mental illness. It sounds like you went there with somewhat of a plan and had enough talent to pull it off. A bit of luck that you met the right people, sure, but you obviously had the drive and talent to be noticed.
These folks in the video didn't choose to be there and had simply given up.
These kids appear to have been traumatized even before homelessness set in. A real tragedy. Worse are the stories of the kids we never met because they disappeared or died while on the street.
So true and absolutely heart breaking 💔
I agree. I know a few people who ran away from home, most around the age of 15. All were fleeing some type of horrible abuse.
yep you don't choose that life....
I watched a documentary that talked about how the 70s was the first decade when kids didn't leave because they were looking for something, but to escape.
That’s generally how people become homeless
The man who lost his whole family... I hope he lived to see much better days. It's hard to imagine someone surviving after emotional pain that size
I don't need to imagine it, I've lived through it.
I resonated with the man who lost his whole family - because I lost my whole family. I can't even begin to describe that horrible feeling.
@@silvermica
iv lost my whole family, father in 08 i then became my mothers carer untill she passed in 2013 my dog in 2016 and now its just me and i dont know whats gonna become of me now as my health has took several hits. But its funny, i really dont give a fuck even though i know i kinda probably should. I think the attitude hunter s thompson took is prescient for me. Were he said it was in knowing that he could take his own life at any moment that gave him the will to stay alive. I know what he ment its really kind off comforting in a way
@@rainblaze. - I'm wandering in a very similar territory. The holidays are the worst. Pretty much only the bill collectors and my employer would notice my absence.
@@psychedelicpayroll5412 Wow, your god sound like a human a**hole.
I was fifteen and living in New York. This is still happening and it is intolerable! This is real news. Nobody would do this on cable news. Thanks!
You were 15 and got 15 likes
How can they survive the violence
Your right so called real news won't show what's happening to thousands in every state of the union.
Check out the stories on “Soft, White, Underbelly “ . Blow you away.
Beside films like this, street papers, for the places that have them actually cover these issues
People just get forgotten because they become inconvenient
Look at her soul. She’s dissociating from the horror of it. You can see it in her eyes. Just imagine what it looks like in person. An unfocused gaze. A 1 yard stare.
Do you mean a one hundred yard stare
You're so right 😞
@Yootube Lamasfk yep, close the border... build the wall...save our people from illegal drugs coming over the border
@@sitluxetluxfuit4481 1 thousand yard
@@jdamp9786 closing the border will not stop people taking drugs you fool, it will just change the route drugs get in, or increase the manufacture of drugs in the USA. there is far too much money in illegal drugs, and if people want to take them they will.
The man who lost his parents, wife and child. How do you even cope with that w/o extensive counseling? And if you shut down, which would be a normal reaction, and lose your job, you can't get that w/o health insurance. These are the people that fall through the cracks, turn to drugs to cope, (can you blame them?), live on the streets and are the bravest of the brave. They don't need to be stigmatized, they need compassion and help. It's even worse today.
What we need is people who have the means to stand up and start programs. It does happen though. Many times there are options for people in these situations. They may not be the best but life will never be fair and perfect
@Avalon 2 yes
so true brother.
Strange how no one ever sees drug addiction in the face of such tragedy as a mercy...
@@avamasquerade so true: no one mentions the warmth of addiction when everyone is cold to your pain. ✌️☄️🏴
I lived on the streets as a teenager. I pulled myself out of it, started a family and have three amazing kids.. for many years it seemed like it didnt really happen because it was such a drastically different life to what I have now. However I am now 53 and after all these years the wounds are starting to show. You think you have escaped but then find you dont get to. When you spend your developing years having to constantly watch your back it permanently changes your wiring. My body's response to pain has been changed so I live with chronic pain. I also feel alone even though I am surrounded by my family. I feel alone because there is nobody I know today that understands what that life is like. My brother was out there with me but he died. I wish there were support groups for ex-street kids. To meet other people who understand would be so soothing
How did you end up on the streets?
I was homeless for a brief time period that is not my main trauma but it's part of the bigger story. I relate very much to your feelings. It's very lonely when there is nobody around you who understands how life feels after going through such difficult times. You can't really blame people who have had is easier they can only learn what their experience has taught them. It is just lonely one you feel no one can really relate to your experience. No one to help you cope with your unique pains.
@@aprilthomas1489 exactly
@@thebigcapitalism9826 Very long story actually but the short version is: 1. lots of emotional abuse at home, 2. Mom says "you are mature for your age you can move out (I am 14 years old). Your brother can look after you" ( my brother had just gotten out of his 3rd or 4th stint in juvenile hall) 3. My mom sells the house and moves into a one bedroom appt.
Start one! A support group on a few social media platforms. Also you should write a book. Even if you don't ever try to publish or show to anyone. Writing about your experience will be cathartic. Personally I'd be fascinated to read it. Also, if open to it read the Holy Gospels.
The girl holding the kitten made me very sad. l really hope things worked out ok for those kids.
Wouldn’t it have been incredible to see how they did, or better, see how they did with done appropriate help. I don’t know what kind of help, but certainly something could have been done, just like we should do something today. I think the problem is probably worse now
@Syd Barger They'll just keep avoiding eye contact with homeless people like everyone else.
@Syd Barger lol real specific buddy
@Syd Barger super hard buddy, easy
@Syd Barger yes, or developmental disabilities
“If you’re just in the city and you don’t know what the city is about, might as well forget it cause in a couple of months you’re either gonna be killing or get killed.” That’s deep.
Terrible thought... but it just might be the bottom line and the only option that they were and currently are faced with. It's heartbreaking.
she ain't kidding
I think probably kill until you are at the onther Side of the weapon
Sounds ridiculous to me_ I've lived in a Metropolis all my life and at 52 I still haven't killed anyone, and I don't feel that I am necessarily going to be murdered_ there's lots of other ways to die in the city
@@guymangotree2185 have you been living in the streets? Context is key to understanding her statement.
I have a friend who adopted a homeless boy she met in Central Park in the early 70s. I remember when she told me the story of how she met him and it blew my mind that such a you g child was on his own on the streets. He could have easily been picked up by human traffickers and had a very different life
Trust me that happened they just didn't talk about it and "prostitutes" were arrested period no discussion
That is like a movie. Your friend is amazing.
God bless your friend. Doing exactly what Jesus asked us to do! If only more would follow. I hope to do the same one day, adopt several youth out of foster care or the street.
@@anniesue4456 Street police are 99% evil. They serve the devil by preying on the weakest of the weak where they live. They are all robot psychopaths. Abolish these monsters I say, and DEFUND NOW. These gangs of predators have stolen enough of our blood and treasure!!*
*Obviously we will need a few for first response; so when I say to abolish Im not speaking in pure absolutes; a small crew of trained neighborhood responders can get maintained, but it doesn't have to continue as it has been with these soulless predators and amoral mercenaries armed and ready to kill at the slightest notice. And even if they don't kill, the damage is often done. All city Pigs do is hurt the weak- they don't have souls and HELPING is the LAST thing they want to do. They exist to cause pain and extortion and theft, that's it. THAT'S IT!!
@@YourCapyFrenBigly_3DPipes1999 You remember what you said and NEVER call 911. You're on your own.
I wish there was a way to have an update on the lives of these people .
I hate the international perception that America is wealthy and without problems. In reality, most of us are one paycheck, tragedy, or trauma away from being on the streets. Thank you for sharing these stories and humanizing these souls💛 I pray they are all at peace🕊
Why are you always on one paycheck?
America is one big polished turd. A twisted facade.
This perception is one America created and continuous to propagate as propaganda, saying they are the best, the wealthiest, the most powerful.
And yet America is falling apart, barely holding on by a thread.
The empire is crumbling.
amen! im self employed living day to day and living with a rare disease and raising a disabled adult daughter.. I know god has a plan but the stress is so hard to deal with. prayers to everyone especially the forgotten and homeless
Thank you for your honesty.
I can’t believe Hulu or Netflix hasn’t done a show on you , sir and your amazing and wonderful documentaries.
Thank you.
@@SPINNINGMYWHEELS777 More interested in a certain lying, privileged couple, whose only interested in filling their own bank accounts, at the cost of trashing everything that makes life worthwhile. Family, Country, Loyalty etc. The daughter in the Simpsons does more for Women than M ever would. The potentiality lost is criminal. As for the so called Charity, 5% to the charity, 95% to expenses via their bank account. Think of the good that could have done.
why would they... feel sorry for euros
💕
@@SPINNINGMYWHEELS777 ALL facts 💯❤
I was homeless with 3 kids . It was tough but I made it into an adventure like. I got really sick and ended in the hospital and lost both my jobs. I was trying so so hard just to make ends meet, then lost my apartment. So me and my children were on the streets two years but I got back up. It just took me a long long time. If someone reaches out that actually cares and gives a helping hand it really makes a big difference in our lives
Bloody hell...
This has got to be unequivocally the most real, raw footage I've seen on TH-cam in a while. Those poor people man, damn :(
I was on the streets in the 80's as a teenager. My heart just breaks when I see kids like this. And like most kids who end up like this they endured some kind of trauma before they even ended up there. I pray they all found their way and lead happier lives now. I know that the PTSD stays with you forever, but all we can do is try to work at becoming better people. What helped me was I later found Jesus and that dramatically changed my life and my heart. I found the love I never got as a child and now am able to give that kind of love in return. The pain will always be there, but it doesn't have to define me or influence my relationships with others.
🙏🙏
You are SPOT ON and I got the chills typing this CAUSE YOU ARE SPEAKING THE TRUTH 100%.....and I am out here telling everyone the same words.....TRUE LOVE COMES FROM BELIEVIN AND KNOWING WHO GOD JEHOVAH YAHUAH AND WHAT HIS SON JESUS YESHUA DID FOR US ON THE CROSS.....AMEN.
Awareness is what makes change, and this issue has not disappeared. The effort to educate is important, Thank you for doing so. 💕
@@tbird-z1r I'm sorry my comment angered you. Was not ment to make anyone mad. Awareness can lead to action. More videos or content can make someone more apathetic to a person walking up to them and asking for a dollar. A better understanding of someone else's situation can lead someone to help that person, instead of thinking that they are just " better" than that person and walking by them with a roll of the eyes.
In my opinion let me say now....(not trying to make you angry) I believe the world needs more people to stop. You are free to believe we should just keep walking.
For me personally. I am glad there are people like this man here putting out videos and educating others. I'm sorry if you do not like my view on this topic, thankfully we are all allowed to freethink in this world.
Love to you man ❤️ Hopefully that clarified what I meant.
@@tbird-z1r I will see a therapist when you turn off the "news" stations, watch some fiction and calm down with the politics. Deal?
I'm sure we are both better than this, can we stop now? Have fun yelling back at the void mate.
@@loganwhite8375Imagine trying to give a man a complement on his content and it turning into all this BS. - sigh -
He sounded angry so I explained what I meant and apologized.... It wasn't a "sorry your so mad bro" more of a "let me be careful (not to anger you further if you are) and clear" which apparently I wasn't and probably am still not.
I will keep my comments to myself from now on. Thanks for the lesson guys.
@@loganwhite8375 At this point I've hit slightly annoyed this is still going. Thanks for the advice. I will try to read better next time. Hard to tell intention on the internet. As always.
What a painful video. Thank you for sharing this. Our hearts can grow by hearing the stories of others.
So true, Epic Kate.
Same shit as today
When the girl told about the time she was raped, you can see in her eyes how difficult it had been for her to deal with..
i feel so sorry for her, she doesn't deserve everything she's gone through..
The girl with the blond hair and the cat, right? That was sad. The thing that caught my attention was that these people seemed to blame themselves and not society for the challenges of being homeless. These days most homeless people seem to blame society. Both generations aren't entirely wrong.
I think that people fleeing families is a huge challenge. I don't think that society as a whole actually follows through with the planning of the logistics.
@@eugenetswong I think all those problems have a fundamental cause: it is really easy for most couples to have sex and get the woman pregnant. Really, really easy. Most of them don't think for a minute what the real consequences are.
52 years later. I can only hope that these wonderful, beautiful souls escaped from this wrath of poverty, drug use and crime that they were surrounded by and immersed in. This is crushing to watch, yet such an important film to deliver a message that is truly still needed today. I hope each and every one of you found love and acceptance.
I felt really bad for the guy who lost his parents, wife and child in such a short time. I can only imagine how severely depressed I would feel if I were in his place.
@@trendgil That's exactly what I was thinking. I already lost my mother over a month ago, and that's been painful enough.
@@littlegreengamer I’m sorry for your loss. Please accept my deepest condolences
@@5thdimension625 Thank you. I appreciate that.
He could get a job the little girl is the one that needed to be rescued
@@Paulie80 Lol what a moronically small minded thing to say
These stories are sad but continue on. I've seen many homeless people through the years and was close to being homeless a couple times myself years ago but never gave up. I was 8 years old in 1970. I hope these people were able to get help or get themselves off the street. I cried today watching this, I hope and pray the young girl with the cat was able to get off the street and have a wonderful life. I wish I could know. Thanks David for sharing this.
Shes the one who tugged at me, too.
@@eshore389 Me too. The way she said that she was raped really got to me. She must have had a pretty good reason to leave home. I wonder what happened to her.
Yeah that girl with the cat is haunting! I wasn't even born in 1970 (I arrived at the tail end of '71) and I'd guess she'd have been about 16-ish? I dread to think what happened to her and I hope she survived and isn't another statistic of dead victims of the system. Some of these people might even have died before I was born! That really hits ya! 😔😓😭
Don’t suppose you’d have their names? Would likely be both inspiring and heartbreaking to find out where they are now
Its worse today
The beautiful girl with the kitty... reminds me of graffiti I once saw on a wall in SOHO: "I cried twice today...once, because I was loved; and once, because I wasn't." Sorry, that's all I can say. Gotta go cry a little now.
Doesn’t make sense
@@notsofast5495 Makes sense to me!
@@ryanthompson8256 Talking about guidance, I've made over $45,000 these past 6months, working with the help of an expert also
@@allanfuentes9694 I have no idea. It was spray painted on the side of a building in SoHo, years ago; but it was so profound to me, I have never forgotten it. (It made sense to me)!
Thanks for your comment.
@@notsofast5495 I don't know, it is a bit confusing. I guess you cannot expect too much clarity from a graffiti.
I, personally, interpreted the "I was loved" as in "(I cried because) I used to be loved" in a remote past, and "(I cried because) I wasn't" as in "I wasn't loved anymore" referring to the moment when they cried earlier in that day.
Either way, it is sad.
Wow. This hit home. So many things to say. But I can’t even type one of them.
I pray for the kids today, because i know it hasn’t gotten easier
The girl with the cat is heartbreaking. I hope she somehow got out of it.
She was cooked on drugs. She should have been in school. Shame on the education department and whatever government agency was responsible for youth social services at the time.
@@silvervalleystudios2486 Yeah sadly you could tell she was totally spaced out on something. The way she just kept moving around. Just staring into nothing. Hopefully these people for better, but over 40 years who knows?
@@Someguy6571 50 years
God knows what she has been forced to do to eat and sleep. Think, Give, Love
Same here...i would absolutely love to see her now and know what became....If i saw homeless children in the street, i would be so so tempted to welcome them into my home and give them a warm bed and food etc...but these days you could get into serious trouble i imagine or accused of allsorts...so sad that happened and still does happen...
1970 I had a wonderful family. How I wish every kid had what I had.
have to wonder how and where those folks are today, and if they even still are. I wish them the very best!
If they were around 20 years old, they would be approximately 71 in 2021. So based on life expectancy, there’s a good chance most of them are still alive and well.
@@jiveassturkey8849 Eh, living on the streets dramatically decreases ones life expectancy. Idoubt any of them are still alive.
TheLogicalDanger I choose to believe they are alive and doing well. It’s my fantasy, don’t fuck with it.
They're ALL DEAD, good thing to... so many parasites sucking the EARTH dry
Jaymz Zeppelin And I’m a happy idiot.
This documentary is very important. I was 9-10 y.o. in 1970, and lived in 18 States and went to 25 schools by the time I was 18. I've been in situations nearly as bad as some of these kids, ( my parents just up and left when I was 16 and still in high school because I didn't want to relocate any more, it went downhill from there for about 2 years)... and have seen and hung out with many street kids that came and went through my life never to be heard from again, I've slept in a parking lot with an old curtain for a blanket before and picked up cans and bottles for recycling to get enough money for food to eat for a day or so, ( in Oregon, I love Oregon and California for having that system way back then) .... like these kids on their own on the street illustrated here.
Hope you’re ok now … wow what a story 💕
In your opinion do you think that girl ended up floating in the river?
@@5694mark I would have to use my own experience and say that she seemed aware enough and worried enough to do something to right her situation as soon as possible, especially after being featured on a documentary about street kids and rethinking my life.
That reminds me of my brother-in-law, who will never be an ex, as my sister never divorced him; even after no contact for forty years. I loved him, and probably still do. He lives in New York and we are not inclined to look one another up. When Lee was fifteen, he lived in Washington, D.C. He never met his dad. When he was fifteen, his mother ran off to Mexico with a boyfriend and left Lee to fend for himself. He was somehow brilliant, made it through and is co-owner of a fashion buying business in New York. I don't know how he did it, yet feel sure that he is deserving.
@@lunchguy659 the worst part is those girls that end up in prostitution and their john's end up killing them. Many of those who died by the Green River Killer Gary Ridgway were young girls between 15 to 22 and were runaways. You have to stay together and find a group as teens living on the street or you are going to end up being found under a bridge if you are found.
Thanks David. Many people think the late 60s was all about peace and love. And yet this is where too many ended up. A sober reminder.
Ok, boomer.
tough times for sure. I was born in 57. I remember going down to NYC once on the train with a buddy of mine to buy our guitars in 74. I had never seen so many people in one place, never mind all the homeless. Decades later I lived in Los Angeles and San Diego, now seeing the homeless numbers there but of a different kind.
This was heartbreaking. I hope that young lady found peace and happiness. Makes the problems I had as a kid very small in comparison.
So well said. This is truly heart wrenching. I hope those souls found a way out, but I know in reality that most did not.
You've been posting some amazing history on your channel, but this one really cuts deep. By the time I got to be a crusty street urchin in the 90s, there was a well-trod path that others had carved out and a culture of support for kids in this situation. It was meager, but it existed. These kids had nothing, they were blazing that trail.
'rivercitymud" I am not so sure they had absolutely no help. The film does not exactly say that. It seems that maybe the social worker in the video might have provided some assistance.
Different Country, Different City, Different Decade, Different Person
Australia, Sydney, 1980s, Me
*Same Experience*
I feel so much empathy, compassion and love for this once young woman & the others .
I can only hope that some of them were as fortunate as I ...... to have somehow managed to crawl out the other side however many years/decades later. In to a life that whilst not rich in any material way, is full beyond measure with abundant Love, Family, Friends, Glorious Purpose and Gratitude unbounded.
Thank You so very much for sharing this and if you are reading this #DavidHoffman, it is only because of the kindness of people like YOU who did similar work to this in my country and gave me a chance eventually. THEY / YOU planted a seed that, when the time was right many years latter I was able to come back. Now I am blessed to do likewise. Much Love to You
This was well Said...hard for me to contextualze the Gratitude for the opportunity to Be & Model Better...with *Authentic* Hope knowing it Truly is Possible and at least the Knowledgeable Resources are Easier to Come By these days 💞
Much Respect Peace Love and Kindness wishing Even More Strides in this Adventure ❤
@@fairygurl9269 Oh my goodness, you beautiful soul ...... Thank You so MUCH
Love 'n Light ❤
Have you ever watched Dogs in Space?
@@support_theory8754 Oh yes Indeed ...... one of my most delicious
remindables .... In a way it's like a time capsule of my life. How curious you should ask my Support Fairy Friend 💞
Jack Gilford was one of my favourite actors. He came across as such a genuinely nice man - as this piece confirms. How lovely to see him again! Thank you for this.
He was so likeable.
Simon the Likeable from 'Get Smart'.
The girl with the kitten was heart-breaking. She looked so damn young.
In 1970, I was fresh out of the Army. Lived on 7th St. in the East Village, and spent a lot of time hanging out on St. Marks Place, the epicenter of hippie activity. There were dozens of kids like this on every block, struggling to survive. Once in a while, would meet parents who had come from several states away, hoping to find their son or daughter. I don`t know what those kids expected to find, there was nothing glamourous about their lifestyle....
But what a groovy time! The film Andy Warhol’s Trash (1970) comes to mind.
It's happening now to adults, there more homeless people than I have ever seen in 50yrs. The middle class can't afford a house, both have to work and the kids have a hard time. It's RV living now for lots of people.
True but that is a different issue altogether. Most teenagers are not on the streets b/c of a shrinking middle class. In fact when I lived on the streets I was surprised how often the kids came from well off families..
There is no middle class anymore.
Living in an RV can be great Living in a car or tent is horrible
@@frederickmuhlbauer9477 I've lived out of my car before on several occasions due to necessity. I managed but I'm also relatively young an healthy. Now after the illegal evictions that have happened over the last 15 months and there's about to be many more, I'm sure good people of all ages will have no choice but to live in their car until they somehow better their situation. What a sad state of affairs in the world's wealthiest country. Guess that's what happens when 95% of the wealth stays in the top 1-5% of hands. Our lives to the vast majority of politicians in both parties don't matter- they take their bribes and go home happy leaving the rest of us, as always, on our own. That's capitalism and American politics for you, the best corruption and sociopathy money can buy. And it's always been that way, but never as bad as now IMO.
@@Mockduck2020 The middle class is shrinking because they are becoming wealthier in most cases.
I know how they feel..❤️ 1971-1981 homeless but got out of it and got help to move to another country... today I’m 58 yrs old and have ptsd but, I try to live a good life..
Your work is extremely valuable 💖
Yes..Do you have Anything regarding What Happened post your Amazing/Reveling..film..that would be So Good to Find out what became of these.'Open'Ie;Willing to Talk..!-After this Hope to find out..thanks. p@Dn New Zealand.
I wasn't expecting to see Jack Gilford. Always been a fan of this fine actor, and had the pleasure of meeting him in his final years. Thanks for bringing attention to this sadly still relevant subject and for making it available here.
Simon The Likeable
thanks for the ID! i knew i knew the guy but cldn't remember his name... he was pretty cool!
I was on the street at the same time. I had a little bag I carried everything I owned and soap . I was running away from a terrible situation. My older sister's boyfriend picked me up hitch hiking and said my Grandparents wanted to see me. I was cautious at first but they took me in and cared for me.
This made me really sad. My oldest Granddaughter is 14. And grew up in a small Iowa farm town. I hate to think about her being in that situation. I know she wouldn't survive even a week.
Things are just as bad if not worse now.........kids need more than hope and prayers. If I wasn't so busy saving myself, I would be out there saving others.
My pet peeve is when people make comments without bothering to research the facts. What evidence do you have that the problem 50 years later is "just as bad" or "worse?" NYC is the only city in the country with right to shelter laws, first enacted in 1987. Also, since the late 1970s, there have been concerted efforts to combat juvenile homelessness. Unlike in those days, the Family and Youth Services Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services funds grant programs to help runaway and homeless youth. It might not be a magic wand, but it's still ignorant to claim things are worse when you provide no evidence.
@@posysdogovych2065 Homelessness is certainly worse now in the United States. Eventually this lack of affordable housing, overcrowding, and destruction of the social fabric will lead to real slums developing. I doubt the commenter above has any real knowledge of New York, so she's speaking in broad terms.
@@posysdogovych2065 You just don't get it do you. It is terrible now on these street's you're stats mean nothing.
That’s pretty disingenuous to say being homeless today is the same or worse as it was 50 years ago. The quality of life has improved dramatically in this country in that time, we have put much more efforts into helping the homeless like food drives, sheltering, and clothes drives. It’s still a nightmare to be homeless, but it’s definitely nowhere near as bad as it was in the 70s.
@@osamabindiesel3389, human population was a lot lower in the 1970s. The gap between the rich and the struggling is also more defined. Add inflation, family breakdown and pollution, then tell me what scale will show things are better. Your scope could be wider.
Absolutely heartbroken. This was 50 years ago and it's heartbreaking to know that this child/adult homeless problem is worse. 😭😭
I sincerely hope that the lives of everyone in this documentary improved. One thing that really struck me about the people in general is that they sounded so much more intelligent and articulate then many people today
Thanks for preserving such a collection of videos and photos, Mr Hoffman. As someone who was a young teen in 1970, this was an amazing journey back.
I worked independently to get teenagers off the streets. In the past 20 years I mostly saw two groups of homeless teens. The first and smaller group is teens who left home to get away from physical and sexual abuse at home. The bigger group is teens who leave home with idealistic thoughts of freedom from their parents rules, only to find a real hell living on the streets. Rape, physical and psychological abuse, and forced servitude, are extremely common troubles homeless teens regularly experience.
Funny because I lived on the street and only knew of the so called smaller group.
Why do your second group STAY on the streets, though?
@@nothingtoseehere4684 I have worked with homeless teens probably longer than you have been alive.
There are some truly horrible things that some homeless teens ran away from at home, but there are some who also has uninformed fantasies about life away from home.
One experience does not negate the other. I gave a realistic description of different reasons why teens leave home to become homeless.
edit: Also, most homeless teens ho through so much hell on the streets they feel too ashamed (although they should NOT feel ashamed about being victimized while on the streets) to return home. Their are also other reasons why homeless teens don't just, "up and go home one day on their own."
@@nothingtoseehere4684 You have a lot of learning to do.
Your voice is one of ignorance. I do not write this to be insulting. It is just how you come across, not realizing that there are various reasons for why homeless teenagers exist. Again, sometimes it is due to running away from a bad situation, other times it is simply the result of very bad teen choices.
@@nothingtoseehere4684 You are speaking of your own experience. I am speaking of the experiences of thousands of homeless teens.
Yes, you come off as sounding ignorant. From your comments you haven't worked out your own issues. I hope you do. You are running out of time.
My heart immediately went out to her.
The year I was born. I was shedding tears watching this. I hope these kids are still going today and in better circumstances. Losing the ones you love then being on the streets can't be easy. Nearly happened to me.
I hope they are ok and had a successful happy life....
I'm verry sorry for that, but I think most of them died very long ago
@@macaronivirus5913 I hope I was also a homeless kid but in Europe, happy now successful, mother own my flat in Germany. I just hope they got their better tomorrow. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
@@filibuster8760 glad you’re okay now🙌
@@macaronivirus5913 How do you really know that for sure?
@@tatianarizktaylor1818 statistics... and also my own observations for 30 years
I moved to NYC at 21 in the Fall of 1977 for six months my first time. Incredibly different from how it seems now. I lived on St Marks in the basement in a three bedroom flat for $175 total per month in the bldg Led Zepplin used for their album cover, worked at Big Hit Oldies records/head shop on Bleecker&Sullivan and was an artist student at the Westbeth Complex old horse stables bldg on the West Side Dr. That was my commute daily. The head shop stayed open till 4:30am on weekends mostly selling whipits and poppers to anyone because it was legal then. The record shop side ordered all the UK punk 45's as they came out! I would go to CBGB's after work and was friendly with whatever bartender would give me free beer. Usually enough that I don't remember much anymore about the bands I saw ;) Back then there was no downtown 'shopping' like it is now. There were only millinery sweat shops all up and down Broadway. At night Bowery hosted prostitutes from Canal to 14th. There was NO Disney on 42nd. There were few tourists in the lower east side. It was different. I lived for thirty five years. Moved away three years ago. NYC is already..different. NYC always changes.
Whippets! Hadn’t thought of those in years.
It sounds like you lived the life!
Bill, do you prefer the 70s/80s NYC to the Disney version? And How does the NYC in the 70s compare to now?
"Bill Orcutt" Write a book.
Wow I used to work at Westbeth Complex about 9 years ago. It’s deff an artist building my commute from L train stop going to Westbeth Bethune st.
It’s sad that at the time I would occasionally see a man with a dog I had not realized it Was Philip Seymour Hoffman he was unrecognizable with the beard and hair. I heard he would often come visit Westbeth to the theater classes. One day going to work the street I always commute was blocked the actor lived across the St from my job and I passed by his pace all the time I was shocked he died.
Richest economy in the world. The rich get richer, and the poor get the blame for being poor.
Catchy ! Any solutions ?
@@raygunn1083 yeah, redistribution
@@gusteau4828 Good idea. Steal from the rich, make everyone equally poor.
I think these people probably came from bad families.
@@gusteau4828 Be gone Socialist!
Your videos are from perspectives unlike any I have every seen. I watched the entire video with my jaw dropped. Thank you as always for sharing your art.
And thank you for your appreciation.
David Hoffman filmmaker
This is so sad , we need to help the homeless more .
I hope at least some of these kids got through the bad times ,love from 🇬🇧 xx
The guy at 5 minutes is exactly how i feel. Maybe not to that extent but in one year i lost my father and divorced my severely alcoholic wife and landed myself in a massive 30 000 dollar family court litigation. I was basically a full time father and my exs family is extremely well off so going up against them in court was a crippling financial battle. This was last year and what he said hit me very close to home.
Sorry to hear that man, hoping things start looking up for you and you can get back to having a happier life.
@@ATomRileyA well its not even close to being over but i sincerely appreciate your reply/support.
I just wandered through these comments by accident (but maybe not, who knows) and I feel compelled to tell you I'm really sorry about everything you have been through and my thoughts are with you. Please hang in there.
I’ve been through a similar situation. It feels like it will never end or get better but I assure you it does. I now have been married to a deserving wife of 12 yrs and have children of my own. The past is the past now. God is a faithful god and Jesus will not fail you. If you seek Him you will find rest. God bless you brother. 👊🏻☺️
Is your name in reference to the movie of similar name? Are you depressed like the machinist? Or are you just a regular guy who is a machinist?
Every day I thank God I’ve got a loving family and a wonderful home even tho I’ve got health issues. We are all just a heartbeat away from being where these poor souls are. God bless you and the work that you do!
I wonder where they are now? I hope they all found some peace and happiness in their lives! 💛✌🏽
This is unacceptable. Charity isn't even an answer. This shouldn't exist and we need to come together to stop the wealth of this world going into fewer and fewer hands. We pay for everything and still get asked to give more to solve issues that should already be paid for.
Agreed it’s insane while the rich don’t pay taxes insane
So, you give all your money to charity? Like you hAve no luxury goods?
@@benjaminr8961 In The U.S. there are studies done that prove people with less money give away, to charities, a larger percentage of their money than those who have more money give away. So, yeah, I give away money every month, yet I have a 22 year old car, a 1980 TV, and the same stereo I've had since 1977. I live a life of poverty and give away money every month to those who need that money more than I do. I've been much worse off than I am now. I know what it feels like to be very, very poor. I want to make a good living so I can give away more money, not buy stuff.
You do realize the top 1 percent of taxpayers paid $311 billion in income taxes. That amounted to 20 percent of all income taxes paid,. So, their 40 percent share of income taxes is twice their share of the nation’s income.
@@DeadEnlightenment oh absolutely...I've seen the waste first hand.
So very interesting and sad. I do hope these damaged souls found a way out and had a happy, healthy future. Wouldn’t it be amazing if they saw this and got in touch! Thanks David, for yet another moving insight to life gone by. Sending best wishes from UK to you and your family 🇬🇧💕
Thank you.
David Hoffman
Some of us got out and had Lives of one sort or another but So Many fell to drugs, AIDS, crime, incarceration, and more... i had one friend who was found stuffed naked into a garbage can (she was 14) (never solved), several friends ODed, some died from choking on their own vomit, my Bestie died from hepatitis from needles (at 25, left 2 children), and one or two just Disappeared... i hope they made it to somewhere Good! i had 4 kids, 6 gkids, and the Love of my Life to go out with... it's been a Good Life on the whole... Prayers Up! for the "kids" in this film...
@@PamelaTwining How terribly sad for all those lost souls … bless their hearts. It’s so tragic. It’s great to hear you’ve had and are having a good and happy life. I wish you and all your family a wonderful and healthy future 🥰
Wow, the young man that lost his family and wife broke my heart... the homeless blond girl in such a hard city like NYC, I just hope their lives turned out better. If they're alive they're probably in their late 60s or early 70s. BTW I'm a Newyorker and was a kid in the 70s, I remember how rough the streets were back then my mom didn't leave me out of her sight.
When you have your children and then look at these kids... it’s too much. It’s too heavy. All you can do is cry and ask Why!???
@Ed Ducate I know. It is so sad and terrible. Our society should be kinder and therefore have less of these problems and in knowing that we will never have a perfect world; provide support and safety for the young and innocent
Sad truly
I know this isn’t about you, David, but you are a treasure for all of these treasures you have produced; like this one. It makes my heart ache. It makes me want to scoop all those kids up and just love them. I realize those ‘kids’ are (if they survived) probably in their late sixties, at least. I wonder what happened to them. I wonder...
I also wonder, Jerry. And thank you for the compliment.
David Hoffman filmmaker
I want to hug them and care for them all. I’m so sorry.
So true David. We still need all those new things for our communities. Thank you ❤
I wish there would have been some sort of charity like this when my elderly mom's Uncle Sandford disappeared on the streets of NYC in 1939! 😢
😥
Unfortunately nothing has changed. I was a case worker, then a social worker with the homeless in the 80's and 90's.
We still need the same things.
WOW. this is incredible David. one of the most powerful things i've seen from you. heading to the full film now.
I watched this last year. What a wonderful depiction of what life was like for these young people
Man oh Man ! This hit me hard ~ But we saw it coming ~ My parents left communist Yugoslavia 58, came to America, the Bronx ! Worked hard, became citizens,,,and then, it was really getting rough ! The gangs, shootouts near the park, my parents finally made the decision and we jetted out to Bayside Queens, a gem of a place ~ Lived there all my life until 6 years ago, the whole of America is totally gone now, I now live in Europe, full circle ! RIP Mom and Dad...
anything you'd like to add on America? how has it changed since back then?
40 years of predatory reaganism has destroyed whatever hope the US ever had at being a decent and respectable nation. I'm a proud, drum-beating Socialist who lives in California so anyone who knows me knows what to expect from me in response to these situations.
I could go on and on with my hate for this third world devolving nation and great Satan in the world. I'm going to fight like hell to do what I can to make it better, and then I'm going to leave. Maybe Mexico, maybe Canada, I don't know. I love everywhere I've lived in the US but 30% of the people are nuttier than a fruitcake and the power structure is so corrupted, and peopled by such willfully evil predators, I just don't know if it can be fixed. I dream of Canada invading and taking over bit they haven't exactly been a bastion of human rights either; not in regards to their First Nations people's or their low-skilled migrant population that they are currently exploiting. Still, a damn sight better than the US, I'm sure.
My heart breaks for all the people victimized by the psychopaths in power here, from the demonically-evil state Pigs aka State Troopers, local street police, DAs, evil judges, metro area city councils and everyone in between. I don't mean to be too pessimistic but I look out, I carefully gather my evidence both past and present, and all I see is absolute pathological predation and cruelty on steroids and attitudes in the public of shocking levels of apathy or approval to it.
I cross my fingers California will secede. Maybe we can do better on our own. Then again, the internal oppressors and corruption-lovers would still be here, within the state's power structure, and independence wouldn't change that. So I guess there is no goddamn easy answers.
As a human-centered Socialist I know exactly what the answers are, but I doubt I'll ever have the power to enact them.
I pray every day something changes drastically here in the next ten years. I don't know what it's going to take.
Maybe we'll finally have a real mass uprising for a change, idk. There's got to be a better way and I pray we get there before more millions suffer or die needlessly and avoidably to crimes of cruelty, neglect, and high-level capitalism; because right now that's exactly where we're headed for far too many and it's happening exactly as we speak. A lot of people are suffering, a lot of people are desperate for help and aren't getting it.
I never understood the elites' and the politicians' boundless appetites for cruelty and apathy towards the working and lower classes here. And God forbid if you're a person with a disability, a serious physical health need or a mental health condition. Those are almost concrete guarantees you're going to flirt with poverty all your life and have a very high likelihood of ending up on the street or in a homeless status at least once in your life.
I dont know why the powers that be are so corrupt and cruel here. Those that can make it on the private market for jobs and support do so, and those that can't fall thru the cracks and have to scramble for help from friends or family, or they end up on the street or a shelter (if they can even find one that will take them and that has an opening).
What a tragic state of affairs. It doesn't have to be like this, but the phenomenally abusive and predatory ruling class and their servants in govt ensure it stays this way. Then they can't even have a modicum of understanding and compassion for the homeless on the street that their system helped create, and instead prefer to demonize them and subject them to dehumanizing treatment. It's ... I don't even know what to think anymore. It's a cavalcade of sadism and a merry-go-round of savagery.
Millions are doing great, to be sure; and millions aren't. Every year I keep wondering when the sadism in our system here is going to stop, and every year it just keep doubling down over and over. Forty years of Reaganism has done exactly what it set out to do, create havoc in the bottom 40-50% of the population here. It's done all that , and so much more. What will the next 40 years bring I wonder???? More of the same? Worse?? Private charity is simply not able to meet the needs of everyone who needs help here, and govt at all levels for the most part couldnt care less. So where in the FUCK does that leave us??? I honestly don't know but it causes those of us who care about these issues a lot of pain every day.
These days i think europe is worst for living than states.
@@calebscalzo I now live in a war zone, Donetsk Republic, former part of Ukraine~ would you believe i feel more at peace here than i did back home over 6 years ago ~
@@svilenaninetta9838 both are the same
The look in that young girls eyes was so heartbreaking! She was lost inside herself. I really hope things got better for all of them. God bless the homeless, lost and abused souls of this world! 💜💙
In 86 and 87 I was homeless. I was 22 and 23 and in a suburb south of Jacksonville, FL. I met a couple who were lawyers and opened their house to run-away and throw-away kids.
I had learned how to unlock cars and the suburb being middle class I was able to make money.
After finding the couple I went on a campaign and made lots of money for them.
It is surprising how many do NOT care about kids on the street. If they talked to them they would learn what they went trough of what put them on the street.
I welled up the entire 7 mins and 25 sec.
Things haven't changed much for a lot of young people [and older people too] in today's society.
I felt this bitter sweet emotion watching this clip. It's like on one hand this clip is the only thing that gives these young lost lives something meaningful, like a lasting legacy which is to say they will never be forgotten but on the other hand, there's the dreadful reality of knowing that they lived on the fringes of American society.
70s America was not peachy for soo many people but to be in the exclusion group and knowing anything remotely close to living a good life or having a meaning future was fading away with extreme little help coming their way is bitter tasting and cuts deep emotionally-and into the conscience.
Thank you David Hoffmann for another great content. You're probably one of the few adults who actually cared enough to talk to these young lives about their experience of the "American Dream".
I was homeless in Australia for most of my life from 11 to 27 years old, I am 32 now and have finally been able to secure a place of my own i can maintain , but living in those conditions with that mindset for so long really screws up your development, I am lucky, I tried to make a change, and found the right support group....
I was homeless for about 3 years. And it's been several years now that that situation is resolved because I took my SS at 62 and retired to Mexico where I'm able to afford a small, comfortable apartment near the beach in a quiet neighborhood. I'm fortunate and grateful. It sucks being homeless. There's so many things that can cause someone to become homeless. And it's not always drugs / alcohol.
Abusive parents.
@@angelaatwood46 yes. I was very blessed to have the most beautiful mother in the world. She taught me the truth about the true God.
It boggles my mind to hear some stories randomly of how evil parents can be to their children.
While some are disobedient and leave of their own accord, there are many others whose lives from infant onward are cast into the most unloving and brutal way of living that the Creator never even thought of.
These brutal parents will be held accountable in the end
Most importantly, the Creator will end this wicked society as we know it, to stop the abuse of any kind. The wicked will be gone forever.
Only obedient humans will live on the earth and love will reign Supreme in every aspect of life.
Psalms 37;10-11
They haven’t started making the expats and retirees to moving back? Thailand did. And good!
You're amazing, David!
I can relate to these guys. Alot. 🙏. I hope things changed for the better somehow.
The quality of the film is incredible you can even clearly hear their voice being sad or frustrated, worried, and fearful for tomorrow and the very good resolution it had while being a fully colored video simultaneously.
I am a young filmmaker myself and I get inspired to go out and just shoot when I see your amazing videos
Keep up the great work David , I think these videos are externally important
You are Truly Amazing David Hoffman
Wow, Jack Gilford. Amazing document.
I used to live in the village after attending NYU in the late 70s and early 80s. I occasionally ran into Jack on my block. What a great actor and just a really nice man.
Nothing sadder than the suffering of a child.
That girl with the cat had some pain in her eyes and voice that really hurts.
I hope they all made it.
Thanks!
Those " Kids " are in their 60s/70s now if they're still alive. Hope they had some kind of quality life...
Me too. God bless them all. But you see the beer the young ones are drinking and the cigarettes they're smoking. That definitely was not the answer.
I was homeless in my late teens and I had a daughter with me. My mother died and my father threw me out. It was the worst part of my life until God and me allowing others to help me. I thought I knew it all.... now I'm on my 3rd home and have a corporate job. Never give up!
God Bless You
All those homeless teens, the ones still alive at least, would be in their late 60's by now.
Even when the subject matter is heavy boots, I really appreciate your films. Thank you for keeping these young people’s stories alive.
This hurts 😢 hope they all made it out & are happy & safe♥️
5 years from now I'll either be in a state penitentiary or on the streets in worst shape than I am now.... This is one of the most tragic comments I've ever heard. I wonder what happened to her. What was so bad at home that she couldn't return there but would rather be on the streets? It makes my heart cry hearing her talk like this.
She had no hope, I think just go back home but there’s a reason she left.
These kids would be 65-70 years old now, I wonder how their lives turned out.
Probably cut short.
Most probably never survived very long.
I work at a homeless shelter. Sometimes my job is overwhelming and it’s hard to realize where people come from and sometimes the people I work with are not the most polite they are not the most civilized they don’t know how to ask for things and it does get to be overwhelming. However I do enjoy my job and I do enjoy helping people and I appreciate this little documentary because it shows me that. I need to be more compassionate I really do thankfully the shelter I work at works on permanently housing people so we’re not just a temporary solution anyways thank you for the post
Powerful. This video has aged like fine wine David. Amazing work
Things have gotten much worse. Just over a year ago my wife and l were living in a beautiful home with nice antiques, artwork, books and numerous other fine things l had accumulated over the years. We experienced a perfect storm of bad fortune that involved our home burning to the ground with our Nissan in the garage. Because we were late on the mortgage there was no insurance and we had virtually no savings. Losing my job and a few other misfortunes caused us to be homeless. Its been a year now and l cannot see a way out.
It's like when you lose your address, a place to bathe, wash clothes and maintain your most essential possessions, you are stuck 20 ft behind the rest of the world at the starting line.
I think God everyday for my wife and our health.
Terrible Aaron. I am sorry.
David Hoffman Filmmaker
I am sorry, but anyone who harms ladies and children deserves a punishment, a proper punishment, the poor girl at 03.22 holding the cute kitten, stated she got taken of her dignity 🤬 poor girl, seeing her holding the kitten for comfort made me upset, bless her hope she is ok wherever she maybe, and thankyou once again lovely David Hoffman for a wonderful video ✌🏼🤗
You need to fix the systematic problem
Too often today I see people point at a scapegoat, hand out "punishment" and "justice", wash their hands, and everything that made it possible, all the poverty and segregation, continues without anyone sparing a look thorought he whole ordeal
In today's world men need help too.
@@whade62000 Not to mention the misogyny, sexualization and dehumanization of women and girls, toxic masculinity.
@@whade62000 well yes, but in the meantime we have to do something right? how do you achieve the main change if not by making small ones? cause the "everything is wrong" mindset might as well lead to complete pasivity
@@mewho6199 There's nothing "masculiune" about abusing someone, especially a child. It's very 2015 of you to pull the whole "toxic masculinity" shtick.
Their inflection- the sound of their tone was so different.
I was paying attention to that, too. What has driven that? Music and pop culture, sure, but...how has it changed SO much? I'm a very late Gen Xer too.
More intelligent. Less jaded
@@MayorOfMoetown nothing to do with intelligence. Vocal inflections change over time.
I see a little girl holding a kitten... trying to stay a little girl,, and then there is growing up... I say she is not ready for it .. It breaks my heart
I know. I think undiagnosed mental disorders as well. Possibly autism. Can’t imagine
I hope she ended up doing well so she seems like a sweetheart.
@@BattleOfBowtiesShe did not, sadly. A year later she was found dead in a dumpster with a cocktail of drugs in her system.
@@slacktoryrecords4193is there an article confirming what happened to her ?