Firefighters found the body, while responding to another call, but no thanks to the pedestrians. No one bothered to call 911.
A surveillance camera captured the blatant indifference to the body of Hugo Tale-Yax, 31, and the heroic actions moments before his death.
Tale-Yax was rescuing a woman from an attacker, which resulted in several stabs to the good samaritan's torso. Tale-Yax tried to run after his murderer, but feel face down on the sidewalk.
Tale-Yax's family and friends, and others across the city are astonished by the inaction.
"Any animal that is hurt on the street, the city or anybody walking by goes to rescue it. But in this case, he saved this woman's life, and where was the conscience of the people around him?" Rolando Tale-Yax, the victim's younger brother, told USA Today.
However, some are not surprised and even went so far as to remark on the general heartlessness of the city. On USA Today's online coverage, a commentator remarked, "all those New Yorkers that walked right past the guy and not a one tried to take his wallet?"
One notion that arises as to why people would ignore the Guatemala native is that he was homeless. Edwin Tacam, Tale-Yax's cousin, objected to that argument, stating, "He wasn't that kind of person who looked really homeless. I don't know why people ignored him."
While Tacam might be accurate on his cousin's appearance, it raises the question of the treatment of the homeless. Do actions of good samaritanism not extend to the homeless?
There are 39,000 homeless New Yorkers, an all time high for the city. The number of people in shelters have increased by seven percent. Coalition for the Homeless advocates and organizes against the mass homelessness in the city. They see the homeless as the "most vulnerable citizens" and try to debunk myths that stop others from caring and helping those in need. The coalition reports that they are able to help around 3,500 individuals rebuild their lives.
Nonetheless, they are going to have a harder time this year. Governor Paterson's budget proposal will cut $104 million for homeless services. With the historic amount of homeless New Yorkers the coalition is trying to find a best way to fight against such cuts, which includes having compassionate citizens writing a letter urging Paterson to avoid the cuts. Click here to participate.
Tale-Yax was rescuing a woman from an attacker, which resulted in several stabs to the good samaritan's torso. Tale-Yax tried to run after his murderer, but feel face down on the sidewalk.
Tale-Yax's family and friends, and others across the city are astonished by the inaction.
"Any animal that is hurt on the street, the city or anybody walking by goes to rescue it. But in this case, he saved this woman's life, and where was the conscience of the people around him?" Rolando Tale-Yax, the victim's younger brother, told USA Today.
However, some are not surprised and even went so far as to remark on the general heartlessness of the city. On USA Today's online coverage, a commentator remarked, "all those New Yorkers that walked right past the guy and not a one tried to take his wallet?"
One notion that arises as to why people would ignore the Guatemala native is that he was homeless. Edwin Tacam, Tale-Yax's cousin, objected to that argument, stating, "He wasn't that kind of person who looked really homeless. I don't know why people ignored him."
While Tacam might be accurate on his cousin's appearance, it raises the question of the treatment of the homeless. Do actions of good samaritanism not extend to the homeless?
There are 39,000 homeless New Yorkers, an all time high for the city. The number of people in shelters have increased by seven percent. Coalition for the Homeless advocates and organizes against the mass homelessness in the city. They see the homeless as the "most vulnerable citizens" and try to debunk myths that stop others from caring and helping those in need. The coalition reports that they are able to help around 3,500 individuals rebuild their lives.
Nonetheless, they are going to have a harder time this year. Governor Paterson's budget proposal will cut $104 million for homeless services. With the historic amount of homeless New Yorkers the coalition is trying to find a best way to fight against such cuts, which includes having compassionate citizens writing a letter urging Paterson to avoid the cuts. Click here to participate.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment