Nearly a year into panhandling signage being installed in the city of Troy, there's renewed conversation about their effectiveness.
The red, yellow, and blue signs read: “It is okay to say no to panhandlers." Below the sentence, a URL links to community services in the area. The signs are the center of a conversation regarding how the city addresses homelessness and ensures safety for motorists and panhandlers alike.
Democrat Councilmember Greg Campbell-Cohen took issue with four signs this month. He sent a request to the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) to review them, questioning whether they violate federal guidelines on streets and highways. Campbell-Cohen suggested the signs were overshadowing the more important adjacent traffic signs.
“The traffic signs are there for a reason because they need to direct traffic, which means that people need to be able to see them, and they need to be able to pay attention to them,” said Campbell-Cohen about the signs on Hoosick Street and Route 7. “...Eye-catching visual clutter that has URLs on it...makes it a more unsafe intersection.”
Earlier this week, NYSDOT determined that only one of the signs, the one on Hoosick Street, is under the department's jurisdiction and not the city's. Troy relocated that sign about 30 feet away on 8th Street.
That was a couple of weeks after vandals put stickers over the original message reading, "It is okay to care for your neighbors."
Troy’s Republican Mayor, Carmella Mantello, said the signs were a part of her larger effort to keep the city cleaner and safer. According to her office, panhandling has decreased since the signs have gone up, making intersections safer. A spokesperson from her office said consistent panhandling has been deterred on the corner of Fulton and River, under the Collar City Bridge, and at the Green Island Bridge.
“We have seen very close, near tragic accidents,” said Mantello. “These signs [tell] folks, 'it's okay to say no to giving that 10-dollar bill to a panhandler,' rather donate it to one of these providers online.”
Joseph’s House is one of the community services linked to the signs' URL. Executive director, Amy LaFountain, believes the signs have created more media conversations regarding homelessness and panhandling.
“That's been the biggest impact: people call us to talk about them,” said LaFountain “Then I get to talk about the amazing work that Joseph's House does to serve some of the most vulnerable people in the community.”
She said those conversations are especially important in the context of federal cuts to grants that provide these resources.
“We need support. We need people who are willing to talk about organizations and nonprofits like Joseph's House in rooms where we're not in, right?” explained LaFountain.
Opinions in the city range from concerns about safety to empathy for panhandlers who are already dealing with a rough economy. Mantello told WAMC she talked to providers about the signs before their installation. According to a spokesperson from her office, her office notified community organizations about the signs prior to them going up.
Katie Gallucci is the development coordinator at the YWCA of the Greater Capital Region, another non-profit located in Troy and listed on the sign’s URL. She thinks the signs' messaging isn’t as effective as it can be, especially with increasing gas and grocery prices. To her, it is more important to acknowledge the humanity of those unhoused.
“The signs are essentially, rather than a call to action, it's a call to inaction. In saying it's okay to say no, there's not really like a [message of] ‘let's contribute to the solution.’ I don't think anyone needs a reminder to ignore the most vulnerable in our community,” said Gallucci. “More often than not, we need a reminder that it's okay to stop and check in with that person, and doing so doesn't mean that they're now your responsibility, but giving that moment to them to address their humanity, to give them just a little bit of kindness or empathy, that means so so much”
