WHAT HEELS: Who Knew Homelessness Was So Lucrative?
In her disposition of a lawsuit filed by NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Judge Barbara Kapnick ordered the sham street charity United Homeless Organization to disband and banned founders Stephen Riley and director Myra Walker from non-profit work, reports the New York Post:
For decades the UHO employed an army of street hustlers that collected loose in change in water jugs with the endless chant of "Help feed the homeless." …
Riley and Walker took big cuts of the money to fund personal shopping sprees at the GameStop, Home Shopping Network, Bed Bath & Beyond and P.C. Richard, as well as their monthly cable bills, the legal papers charged. …
Riley, who founded the UHO in 1985 and got tax-exempt status for it eight years later, charges a flat-rate $15 to $25 to rent a table and empty water jug for a four-hour shift. …
After deducting the "rent," the table worker keeps all the donations - up to $80 a shift during peak season.
And with 50 tables around Manhattan - each operating for two to three shifts seven days a week - Riley and Walker could have collected well over $100,000 in fees a year, officials estimated.
UHO’s street hustlers continue to ply their trade under the rubric of several UHO offshoots, reports The Post, but the AG’s office is keeping an eye on them.
Comments