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Singing Spare Change Guy

adamg — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 06:02:17 +0000

Photographynatalia captured George, the guy who sings his requests for money, on the Common the other day.

Copyright Photographynatalia. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

Louie, Louie

adamg — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 19:31:16 +0000

Neuroboy files an e-mail report from Downtown Crossing:

Just sitting here at work in Downtown Crossing minding my own business. What is that enchanting sound I hear wafting in from the street below? It’s the siren song of everyone's favorite hollering trike rider, Louie Evans, making his way down the sidewalk on Washington St.

Ride on Louie, ride on.

A man and his mannequin

adamg — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 21:22:06 +0000

Boston Reddit is hot on the trail of this goth guy who can often be found walking around the Back Bay with the top half of a female mannequin, even though he's made it clear he just wants to be be left alone.

Occupy Plastic Bags

adamg — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 02:41:00 +0000

The Plastic Bag Lady of Park Street is in touch with the zeitgeist, based on the sign she was wearing on her back today.

In case you don't get enough of his croaky pleas in person

adamg — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 13:20:37 +0000

Somebody's set up a Spare Change Guy account on Twitter.

The Morton Street panhandler is back

adamg — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 18:39:55 +0000

Robbie Felder, the omnipresent Mattapan panhandler whose disappearance a few months back sparked rumors he was dead, is back slowly walking up and down Morton Street, quietly asking for money.

On a Facebook page set up to discuss the man who has been a familiar sight for years as he walks from one side of Blue Hill Avenue to the other, people report he is looking better after his time in rehab. However, one person who saw him tweeted he wasn't looking too hot today.

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind

adamg — Mon, 02 May 2011 13:37:58 +0000

Evilada took in a Rambling Dan performance in the Public Garden yesterday.

Morton Street beggar not dead, in rehab

adamg — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 02:43:40 +0000

The rumor spread like wildfire tonight: Robbie Felder, who has spent much of the past decade shuffling up and down Morton Street asking for handouts, was dead.

Not true, counter people who say they know his family: Nobody's seen the white-bearded guy recently on Morton Street by Blue Hill Avenue because he's in rehab.

The story unfolded on his Facebook fan page (yes, of course, he has a Facebook fan page):

PEOPLE ARE SOO IGG FAMILY HAS STATED THT MR.BOBBY IS ALIVE AND DOING WELL HIS SO CALLED FANS ARE STILL DECLEARING HIM DEAD AND FOR THOSE WHO CALL HIM A BUM AKA BUMB MR. FELDER ATTEND MORNING STAR BAP CHURCH EVERY SUNDAY I CAN SPEAK FOR THAT HOW MANY BUMBS DO YOU NO WHO ATTEND CHURCH SERVICES PEOPLE GET A LIFE

That's probably not Tippi Hedren

adamg — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:46:28 +0000

The Lady with the Cardboard Signs at Park Street looked more like the Lady Who's About to Be Eaten by Pigeons this morning when UncleRico23 snapped her photo.

If you do want to read her signs, without having to actually stand right there, Colleen Bryant took a photo of them from the rear. Something about taxation equaling slavery.

Louie the Tricycle Guy enjoys some art in the Public Garden

adamg — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 13:16:04 +0000

Among the people taking in the Boston Photography Center's annual living photo installation in the Public Garden this year: Louie.

The guy who sails around Copley Square is upgrading from a sail made out of plastic bags

adamg — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 17:36:52 +0000

Scooterdude updates us on the impending arrival of his new multi-colored, professional-grade sail.

The walking man of Highland Park

adamg — Wed, 05 May 2010 16:04:11 +0000

Iseut profiles Marvin Sealey, who can usually be found walking around, no matter the weather:

... Sometimes, fast, sometimes slow: his distinctive gait is a comfort to me when it's late and dark and I'm feeling a little edgy. He's lived with his family, on Kittredge Park for 41 of his 51 years and the other ten, the family lived on Dorr Street. He estimates he walks 2-3 miles a day but I bet it's more. No type of weather is a deterrent, Marvin says, and I've seen him out in the worst of it. ...

Screaming the good news in Harvard Square

adamg — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:11:47 +0000

Alex Howell photographed the guy who yells Bible verses at the top of his lungs every Saturday night in Harvard Square while his acolytes hand out flyers.

Copyright Alex Howell. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

Behaviorial assessment: The guy in the middle of Morton Street

adamg — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:11:24 +0000

Anybody who's ever driven down Morton Street in Mattapan knows the white-bearded guy who shuffles up and down the middle of the street by Blue Hill Avenue. Our own eeka reports that for some continuing-ed class, she did "a functional behavioral assessment" on him:

... The function of waving seems to be attract positive attention from other individuals. The purpose might also be to avoid the negative interactions that are often aimed toward people who are perceived as not having a job; it does seem that everyone in the area knows of this person and many seem to find him charming – while at the same time feeling a bit exasperated that he is behaving unsafely. This latter perception might in fact be a product of his waving, and the fact that people find him friendly might mean that they are more likely to avoid him and wish him well rather than finding him annoying and trying to run him off the road. It seems to be an adaptive response that he responds in a friendly/apologetic manner to cars honking at him, rather than a reactive manner that is more likely to start an altercation. ...

With winds like those, the guy who sails around Copley wasn't going to let the threat of frostbite stop him

adamg — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:24:20 +0000

Scooterdude discusses the challenges of sailing around Copley Square on a scooter when the wind chill is below zero:

... It should be noted here that a secondary invention was extremely useful in keeping my nose and the rest of my exposed face from the bitter cold. I've discovered that the plastic sail provides an excellent temporary solar-warmed, wind-protective 'tent' as I headed back into the wind for my next gust-ride. It causes me to wonder why something of this sort is not devised for people subjected to Arctic conditions, whether on mountain summits or enduring polar climates. This kind of plastic 'Bubble' proved extremely useful and a great relieve from the steady punch of frigid wind. ...