(Google Maps)
Police have put out a missing persons notice for 60-year-old Fazil Hamid, a resident of Park 79 at 117 West 79th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues.
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Residents began moving into the affordable senior housing development (which was previously an illegal hotel) in March, and this week, an official opening celebration was held.
Hamid was reportedly last seen on Friday, July 21 at about 5:30 a.m. leaving the building.
He’s described as a male with a medium complexion, approximately 5’10” tall and 145 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black rain jacket, black jeans, and black boots.
Anyone with relevant information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website or by sending a direct message to @NYPDTips on Twitter.
As we mentioned in earlier reports, the converted building offers 77 studio apartments for “seniors earning at or below 50% area median income (AMI), including 24 homes for formerly homeless individuals.” According to a representative for Fairstead, Park 79’s new owner, the building is currently 92% leased and is expected to be at 100% very soon.
I believe the distribution breakdown of residents has since changed. More than half are formerly homeless.
Most all formerly homeless are formerly homed.
That’s maybe a better way to think about our neighbors.
So why such focus on calling them this? Why the label? Who is this actually helping?
The stigma lies with the word “homeless”.
And the homeless were once honed. Just like you.
Current, former, or future housing status shouldn’t be how people are defined or front and center of every conversation or media story. So why does it happen? Why are people introduced as formerly homeless? This article could have just said a resident of this building went missing. Why does nearly every article in local news about a neighbor reference housing status? What about all the beggars who freely announce that they are homeless (whether they are or not). All the non profits who support and service homelessness (not eradicate it but service it). It should be nobody’s business but a lot of people make a lot of money from keeping it front and center.
Describing a person’s homeless status actually gives a real insight into their experience. If I was interested this person’s disappearance, it might tell me where to start looking for them. The term is not offensive…