News & Blogs Anti-homeless studs at London residential block prompts uproar

[landpirate]

I've seen benches designed so you can't sleep on them and sprinkler systems timed to go off to put people off sleeping in places, but I've not seen these before.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jun/07/anti-homeless-studs-london-block-uproar?CMP=fb_gu

Anti-homeless studs at London residential block prompts uproar
Critics say spikes treat homeless 'like pigeons' as residents fear short ground spikes at doorway are to deter rough sleepers

• Staff and agencies
• theguardian.com, Saturday 7 June 2014 16.40 BST

Metal studs have been installed outside a block of flats in central Londonto deter rough sleepers.

The installation of the studs outside the flats on Southwark Bridge Road provoked widespread condemnation on Twitter with users claiming homeless people were being treated like vermin because similar metal spikes are used to deter pigeons.

Residents told the Telegraph that the studs were installed outside the flats in the last month to prevent homeless people from sleeping in the doorway.

A woman who lives in the block told the newspaper: "There was a homeless man asleep there about six weeks ago. Then about two weeks ago all of a sudden studs were put up outside. I presume it is to deter homeless people from sleeping there."

A couple, who also asked to remain anonymous, added: "It's because of the homeless. The spikes have only been there very recently, less than a month."

Andrew Horton, 33, of Woking, Surrey, took the picture of the inch-long studs in as he walked to work on Wednesday. The photograph has since been widely shared on Twitter, provoking outrage.

Other Twitter users also posted a photograph of similar studs outside a Tesco in Regent Street.

David Wells said on Twitter: "These anti-homeless studs are like the spikes they use to keep pigeons off buildings. The destitute now considered vermin [sic].

Homelessness charities said metal studs had been used to deter rough sleepers for more than a decade.

Katharine Sacks-Jones, head of policy and campaigns at Crisis, said: "This is happening in a context where rough sleeping has gone up massively. Over the last three years rough sleeping has risen by 36% nationally and by 75% in London. More than 6,400 people slept rough in London last year."

"The reason for that increase is the continuing economic downturn, thehousing shortage, and cuts to benefits, particularly housing benefit."

 

[Kim Chee]

Nothing 4-5 layers of cardboard won't fix.

Or...smack 'em sideways with a hammer and you have something to dress up your leathers with.

Gotta find some kind of way to repurpose them that is "in your face".

 

[landpirate]

weigh them in at the scrap yard, or alternatively attach them to a baseball bat and go on a rampage.

 

[benjysirois]

Oh sweet, free spikes for a crusty vest.

 

[Kim Chee]

When I first saw the title of this thread, I thought is was about a couple of great guys who were fighting homelessness:

 

[wizehop]

Those are the nice ones, check out these next level ones. I think there trying to bread side show freaks. Looks like it be great for me back actually.

But it appears this guy is working to overcome the elites little road blocks:

 

[kif]

Dangerous, imagine a kid playing and falling head first onto one of those. I think those pigeon spikes are fucked up too, I keep seeing all these birds with injured feet.

 

[landpirate]

I think we should all take one sleepless night for the team and go out and bed down on all the spikes, rocks, railings and awkward benches just to show the world it won't make us go away.

 

[Sip]

I think we should all take one sleepless night for the team and go out and bed down on all the spikes, rocks, railings and awkward benches just to show the world it won't make us go away.

I agree, shit like this does nothing to fix their "Problem". If I ever see these, I'm getting myself some tools and taking them the hell out.

 

[Matt Derrick]

i think someone should take a angle grinder to that shit. fuck anti-homeless technology.

 

[Sip]

It's just... we're people, you know? How can you care so little about people that you won't even let them sleep in your doorway? I mean we all hate the pushy home bum who gets pissed at you because you ONLY gave her two dollars, but come on! It's her city too!

 

[Kim Chee]

It's just... we're people, you know? How can you care so little about people that you won't even let them sleep in your doorway? I mean we all hate the pushy home bum who gets pissed at you because you ONLY gave her two dollars, but come on! It's her city too!

I'm being the anti-homeless advocate here:

'Cuz Business owner would rather run a business without poor people sleeping outside.

'Cuz puke, piss and shit stink.

'Cuz my customers keep gettin' spangd.

Heard enough?

 

[Sip]

I'm being the anti-homeless advocate here:

'Cuz Business owner would rather run a business without poor people sleeping outside.

'Cuz puke, piss and shit stink.

'Cuz my customers keep gettin' spangd.

Heard enough?

And that is fine. If they are shitting on your doorway, and chasing your customers away, that is one thing. I get that. While I despise currency and land ownership, you can't just destroy a man's lively hood (as long as he isn't causing harm). But sleeping in front of your door prior to or post business hours is a victimless crime and such obvious contempt for fellow human beings is disgusting.

 

[Kim Chee]

victimless crime and such obvious contempt for fellow human beings is disgusting.

True, but the reputation is well earned.

I have a dream, every homeless person has clean clothes, isn't staggering, doesn't stink, doesn't make messes everywhere and makes an honest attempt to make themselves useful or at least isn't being disruptive.

If it had been like this all along, we'd be getting way more invites to come over for dinner, a shower, meet the family, etc.

 

[kif]

Hey man you can make that happen! Get more public facilities for the homeless. Give the homeless clean clothes.
And give them something to do. If only it'd been like this all along...

 

[Matt Derrick]

True, but the reputation is well earned.

I have a dream, every homeless person has clean clothes, isn't staggering, doesn't stink, doesn't make messes everywhere and makes an honest attempt to make themselves useful or at least isn't being disruptive.

If it had been like this all along, we'd be getting way more invites to come over for dinner, a shower, meet the family, etc.

this of course, works on the assumption that the person is capable of doing that, and one of the main reasons people are homeless is that they are unable to take care themselves, largely due to things like mental illness, and drug addiction.

 

[Kim Chee]

Related:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/2...-spikes-win/2YXnYK0nz6y2T75pizlC3L/story.html

A UK supermarket chain has announced it will remove so-called “anti-homeless spikes” from outside one of its London locations after an image of activists pouring concrete on the metal protrusions went viral on social media Wednesday night.

The act of civil disobedience followed days of protest by homeless advocates outside of the downtown Tesco location, who decried the one-inch studs as an inhumane approach to combating spiraling homelessness in the city, which is up nearly 75 percent since 2011.

Vice Magazine journalist Simon Childs saidhe received a tip that activists would stage a protest at the controversial site, and hung around until a group of men dressed as construction workers appeared:

They were all carrying buckets, which I soon found out were full of concrete. Tipping the containers all over the spikes, the stuff inside landed with a messy thud on the ledge. The activists then tried to spread the concrete out with some wooden slats, but it looked a little thick and wasn't really budging.

When they dashed down a side street, I caught up and asked one what exactly they were doing. They explained that they were trying to drown the spikes in concrete, rendering the ledge non-spikey. "These [spikes] are in places where people are trying to find a cosy, less wet place to put their head down," one said. "These are places that the underclass rely on. We give [Tesco] our money and this is how they treat us."

A company spokesperson told The Guardian the next morning that Tesco would remove the spikes, but insisted they were not aimed at the homeless and instead intended to curb other “antisocial behaviors,” like loitering and public drinking.

“Customers told us they were intimidated by antisocial behavior outside our Regent Street store and we put studs in place to try to stop it,” a spokesman told the paper.

“These studs have caused concern for some, who have interpreted them as an anti-homeless measure, so we have decided to remove them to address this concern,” the spokesman said. “We will find a different solution and hope this clears up any confusion.”

Tesco didn’t comment on the incident directly, though it seems to go without saying something had to be done about that blunder of a concrete job.

“We massively underestimated the amount of concrete we had,” one of the activists admitted in a follow-up interview with Vice. “The mixing was more difficult than we thought. We probably need some construction equipment to do it properly.”

“But we were quite pleased with it afterwards because we didn’t want to make a nice concrete flat top over the spikes,” an activist said. “We wanted to make a mess so they had to clean it up, or seriously think about putting spikes down again.”

The group, who call themselves the “Black London Revolutionaries,” vowed to carry out similar actions against other sets of spikes on private property throughout the city.

Caesar can be reached at Christopher.Caesar@globe.com or via Twitter @ChrisCaesar.