new york city related discussion itt

the basketball team stuff is clearly bullshit but I like how they're kinda entrepreneurial

I guess I'm assuming they are not part of a crime ring and just some kid who bought a box of peanut m&ms?

lol one time I talked to one of those kids for a while all like 150 thats a lot for a jersey he had this whole spiel like yeah its embroidered we play in such and such league im a point guard until finally i just bought some of his candy, had to respect the prep work

instead of making individual decisions on every panhandler I just give money to City Harvest and never give to anyone on the street or in the subway ever.

I guess I'm assuming they are not part of a crime ring and just some kid who bought a box of peanut m&ms?

nah they def. get the candy from some central location I think. don't they?

I'd give it like 50% it's a ring, 50% they just share tips and go to costco

There was a guy I used to always see on the PATH who had this elaborate spiel about collecting for a homeless organization that had a shelter. He had a laminated card and whatnot. I guess I was young back then and i just never thought about it until one day this woman next to me says to me "Listen, I work for a homeless outreach organization and there is no way ANY legitimate homeless organization would ever send someone on the train to ask for money." Which seemed sort of obvious once she said it.

i ate at pearl oyster bar tonight and the chowda and crabcake combo is what that shit is about

It certainly isn't about the lobster roll. Luke's 4 lyphe.

how hard is it to get a bulk box of m&ms?

I don't deny that there's a possibility of a central location tho for some reason I always assumed it was just some kids who wanted to make pocket money

I mean I didn't think anything until I noticed that I had heard like 7 different kids use virtually the same speech word-for-word, which made me think someone was training them.

I just figured they sorta figured out 'what worked'

yeah I could see either way, it could be like a paper route

come to think of it tho, outside of peanut m&ms there is definitely a regularity of snacks offered

im thinking theres some adult hanging out in a grungy apt who picks up the boxes wholesale and fronts them to the kids

thats what my paper route was like at least

yeah it doesn't necessarily have to be a huge organized crime syndicates

unplural

I don't deny that there's a possibility of a central location tho for some reason I always assumed it was just some kids who wanted to make pocket money

No, dude.

what about the breakdancing kids

are they also working for the mob

That old secret platform at the edge of Grand Central that was built for FDR? Filled with peanut M&Ms.

Haha

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=5213468&page=1

One of the groups I investigated gave the children 40 cents for each $2.50 candy they sold. The bars wholesaled for 35 cents, so the crew leaders made a tasty profit.

They sell sweets, but bite in deep enough and you will taste the truth.

REAL NEW YORKERS DONT BUY CANDY FROM KIDS MWA AH AHA AH

http://www.elisabethleamy.com/images/custom/B4S_Leamy030610_111003d.jpg

Breakdancing kids IDK -- they seem much more ragtag and there's nothing standardized that I notice.

the mob copyrights certain breakdancing moves, such as the flip the hat from your shoe onto your head

the mob also runs a ring of overly earnest hippieish 20-somethings with belt-clip amps covering dylan

one time (in the bay area) I heard 3 different buskers do 'knocking on heavens door' in one day

I think people like that one cause you don't have to remember very many lyrics, also cause if you want to 'take it to the next level' you can knock on your guitar when you say 'knock knock knocking'

favorite subway denizen is this african preacher with a long spiel about the perils of hell should one not accept jesus christ as one's lord and savior. he has fantastic intonation.

you WILL go to hell

part of the jesus mob, i guess

one time i saw this crazy subway preacher mid sermon get all offend and say 'you all dont listen to me anyway fine then im just not gonna share the lords word w/you anymore' and sit down in a huff as if we were gonna feel bad and ask him keep preaching again, it was v funny

hahaha

calling him favorite seems cruel but i'll never forget the legless amputee beggar pushing himself thru subway car singing "amazing grace" and then abruptly seguing into "do ya think i'm sexy." dude could actually sing too.

thinking about the candy-bar kids makes me wonder: do yo guys ever buy books etc from street vendors

a man singing sam cooke's "a change is going to come" on the train yesterday made me shed actual tears.

ya but it's kinda cynical for him to use 'change' like that

sometimes I'll hear people singing on the subway and think "he/she learned to sing in church" and this always chokes me up

theres a guy on the a/c line sometimes who sells dvds and hes got great patter, "forecast outside: miserable. forecast inside: $3 dvds" or something

haha there are a lot of change-is-gonna-come singers groups on the trains lately. I guess word is out about it making white people choke up.

one of my favorite subway dudes was the metrocard holder dude: "It's the NEW metrocard holder. Slides in, slides out, only a dollar."

my favorite ever candy seller spiel (an older guy, not the not-selling-for-no-basketball-team kids) was somthing like, "God told me not to rob, steal, or sell drugs. God told me sell peanut M&Ms. He said, 'White people love peanut M&Ms. And they got money.' So far he's been right."

lol

funny cause god told me they love weed

ppl haven't openly sold weed on the subway since Dinkins days, man, u kidz shoulda been here then

^^last car on the train amirite

bet it was beat

fyi if you're in asia all the panhandlers have handlers

no reason to think NYC would be different! ^_^

I don't really care though if you choose to sell candy on a train that's fine I'll buy your peanunt M&Ms