Neighborliness

Here are some guidelines to being good neighbors to city residents and officials. It is important to remember that if we antagonize local residents, police, hotel staffs or private security personnel, it will be our homeless friends who pay the price by getting chased away from where they gather and sleep.

Clean up after yourselves as you get ready to leave a stop. Carry garbage bags and pick up loose trash. Our friends on the street will typically help (especially if you have a box or bag for trash). Local residents – even those who are tolerant of the homeless poor – will lose patience if our visits result in large amounts of trash.

Parking instructions in your stop list are important. Pay attention to them. If a specific parking place is not given, it's usually better to stop on an avenue rather than a street (more traffic noise, less likely to disturb neighbors).

Avoid stopping in front of active doorman buildings. In general, stop in front of commercial buildings that are closed for the night rather than residential buildings.

At commuter terminals – Penn Station, Port Authority and the Staten Island Ferry Terminal – don't try to distribute anything inside. Just go in, find our homeless friends, and tell them you're outside.

Noise is inevitable. Have a good time, but remember there are people (housed and homeless) sleeping near virtually every stop we make. Some volunteers (especially teenagers exuberant over the run, the hour and the city) need a reminder.

Be considerate of the neighbors of the Dobbs Ferry office and the South Presbyterian parking lot. Please limit noise on the streets, and remember that there are two apartments above the storefront, and houses adjacent to the van parking area.