Alfredo Rosario sat at a bus stop on Avenue A, between 5th and 6th Streets, in the East Village on June 13 surrounded by few of his meager belongings. The world marched by him without so much as a second glance.
The 57-year-old says he is barely able to walk and gets around with the use of a wheelchair after a car driver hit him on Christmas Day 2021. The crash left him missing part of his right foot and riddled with severe hip pain — so when volunteer homeless outreach workers promised him a place to stay at Rendall Presbyterian Church, located at 137th Street in Harlem, on June 8, he said he relished the opportunity.
But the location proved to be difficult when it came to his limited accessibility.
“It had steep stairs” in the church baseman, Rosario said. “There was no elevator, there was no place for me to use a wheelchair, even to use the bathroom I had to take stairs,” Rosario said.
When Rosario explained his difficulty with stairs, those at the church stated they did not have the ability to help him transfer to another site.
“They said you are here now and will have to speak to your caseworker,” Rosario added.
Rendall Church, according to the Presbyterian Mission Agency, has worked in partnership with the city’s Department of Homeless Services since 2016 providing homeless New Yorkers with a place to stay overnight from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. There, the homeless are fed dinner and breakfast, take hot showers, sleep in clean beds and receive small items of clothing and toiletries.
Rosario stayed less than a day at Rendall Church, where he says 12 other people were staying at the time. While Rosario was appreciative of the help outreach workers offered him, he wished he had been taken to a location that could accommodate his disability.
Instead, Rosario left the church — leaving his wheelchair behind in the process — and found his way back to the East Village, where he was raised, and has been living on the street for decades.
Rosario added that he had previously stayed at the Andrews Safe Haven located at 197 Bowery about two months ago but said he returned to streets out of fear for his life.
“I had to leave Andrews because in six weeks four people died. Two people overdosed; I don’t know what happened to the other two. The situation scared the sh*t out of me. I decided to leave because I didn’t want to be number five,” Rosario said.
amNewYork Metro reached out to the Department of Homeless Services for comment about Rosario’s situation, and is awaiting a response.
Speaking candidly, Rosario admitted that he has not lived a life of a saint and has struggled with drug addiction and jail time due to mental health issues, going as far as to call the collision “Karma.”
Showing amNewYork Metro his injuries, which includes several missing toes, he says he has tried to turn his life around in the years since and although he still struggles with addiction, he is also thankful to some outreach workers who he says are trying to help him kick the habit.
However, living life on the street is hard at the best of times and being disabled he says there are those who take advantage of him.
“Sometimes I stay sleeping upright but my hip hurts and I have to lay down, then they steal stuff from me, which I don’t understand—I have nothing. I’m homeless, I have nothing. Why would you steal from me? It’s kind of pathetic. I haven’t even got a pot to piss in and you want to steal the little bit that I have,” Rosario said.
Despite the dangers of the street, Rosario says he has no choice but to face them. Although his wheelchair remains in the basement of the church, he is asking for access to a safe haven that can accommodate his disabilities.
“I am a fall risk, if I turn too fast I fall, if I try to walk too fast I fall. I have dizzy spells. A whole bunch of stuff just messed me up,” Rosario said.
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