By CHRISTOPHER MELEJULY 1, 2016
Men sporting shaved heads and robes who impersonate Buddhist monks and aggressively panhande for donations are once again proliferating in New York City and countries around the world, the authorities aid.
Reports of the fake monks spiked two years ago, then waned. But now they are back in force from Times Square to the High Line, the public park built on an old elevated rail line on Manhattan’s West Side.
The panhandling is not limited to New York City, however. Reports of the men have surfaced in San Francisco, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India and Nepal, officials said.
Their tactics follow a familiar script: Hold out a beaded bracelet or gold-colored medallion featuring a Buddhist saying to a passer-by, get the person to take it, then ask for a donation. Those who offer too little money or nothing at all have the items snatched back and risk being shouted at, The Associated Press reported.
On June 20, the High Line put up three posters and signs in its bathrooms and elevators warning visitors not to give to the impersonators after administrators received complaints. Aggressive panhandling is prohibited in New York.
The signs appear to have been effective, said Robert Hammond, executive director and co-founder of Friends of the High Line. The signs did not scare away the beggars but they did educate visitors, who became less inclined to give, leading to reduced donations to the impersonators, he said.
“What we decided to do is put that information out there and let people decide,” Mr. Hammond said in an interview on Wednesday.
The men targeted out-of-towners, he said, adding that his office staff had a rule of thumb for watching the interactions: Each second a visitor was willing to talk to one of the robed men was equal to 50 miles away from New York City that the person probably lived. New Yorkers would not give the men even a second’s worth of their time, Mr. Hammond added.
Those who have monitored the panhandling said it appeared the men were colluding as part of some larger network. The medallions they offer are the same worldwide, they do not appear to compete with each other for turf and have been seen counting their money together.
While begging and donations are a tradition in Buddhism, aggressive panhandling and abusive behavior are not acceptable to most practitioners, experts agreed.
The Rev. T. Kenjitsu Nakagaki, president of the Buddhist Council of New York, said he became aware of the fake monks three years ago when they appeared in Chinatown. After word circulated to withhold contributions, the impersonators left the neighborhood, he said in an interview Tuesday.
“Stop doing it if you’re not a monk,” he said of soliciting donations. “This is disrespectful what you are doing.”
William Edelglass, a professor at Marlboro College in Marlboro, Vt., who teaches Buddhist studies and who taught Western philosophy to Tibetan monks in India, said in an interview on Tuesday that he has seen the impersonators shake down Western tourists in India and Nepal. From what he has seen in his travels, he said the practice is now more common than it was years ago.
Many Westerners cannot tell the difference between authentic monks and impostors. Gift-giving is one of the religion’s virtues, and donating to the monks is a chance for lay people to build “karmic merit,” he said.
It was not uncommon to see monks lined up in places like Boudhanath, Nepal, chanting a ritual text and politely holding their begging bowls for offerings. In that setting, a fake monk using strong-arm tactics would be called out because such approaches are so outside traditional practices, he said.
On Wednesday, days after news reports warning about the fake monks, two men with shaved heads and wearing mustard-yellow robes walked slowly along Eighth Avenue near 42nd Street.
They approached pedestrians, holding medallions and seeking donations they said were for a Buddhist temple. When pressed for details about where he was from and what temple would benefit from the contributions, one of the men indicated he did not speak English. He smiled, said “peace” and then walked away.
Men sporting shaved heads and robes who impersonate Buddhist monks and aggressively panhande for donations are once again proliferating in New York City and countries around the world, the authorities aid.
Reports of the fake monks spiked two years ago, then waned. But now they are back in force from Times Square to the High Line, the public park built on an old elevated rail line on Manhattan’s West Side.
The panhandling is not limited to New York City, however. Reports of the men have surfaced in San Francisco, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India and Nepal, officials said.
Their tactics follow a familiar script: Hold out a beaded bracelet or gold-colored medallion featuring a Buddhist saying to a passer-by, get the person to take it, then ask for a donation. Those who offer too little money or nothing at all have the items snatched back and risk being shouted at, The Associated Press reported.
On June 20, the High Line put up three posters and signs in its bathrooms and elevators warning visitors not to give to the impersonators after administrators received complaints. Aggressive panhandling is prohibited in New York.
The signs appear to have been effective, said Robert Hammond, executive director and co-founder of Friends of the High Line. The signs did not scare away the beggars but they did educate visitors, who became less inclined to give, leading to reduced donations to the impersonators, he said.
“What we decided to do is put that information out there and let people decide,” Mr. Hammond said in an interview on Wednesday.
The men targeted out-of-towners, he said, adding that his office staff had a rule of thumb for watching the interactions: Each second a visitor was willing to talk to one of the robed men was equal to 50 miles away from New York City that the person probably lived. New Yorkers would not give the men even a second’s worth of their time, Mr. Hammond added.
Those who have monitored the panhandling said it appeared the men were colluding as part of some larger network. The medallions they offer are the same worldwide, they do not appear to compete with each other for turf and have been seen counting their money together.
While begging and donations are a tradition in Buddhism, aggressive panhandling and abusive behavior are not acceptable to most practitioners, experts agreed.
The Rev. T. Kenjitsu Nakagaki, president of the Buddhist Council of New York, said he became aware of the fake monks three years ago when they appeared in Chinatown. After word circulated to withhold contributions, the impersonators left the neighborhood, he said in an interview Tuesday.
“Stop doing it if you’re not a monk,” he said of soliciting donations. “This is disrespectful what you are doing.”
William Edelglass, a professor at Marlboro College in Marlboro, Vt., who teaches Buddhist studies and who taught Western philosophy to Tibetan monks in India, said in an interview on Tuesday that he has seen the impersonators shake down Western tourists in India and Nepal. From what he has seen in his travels, he said the practice is now more common than it was years ago.
Many Westerners cannot tell the difference between authentic monks and impostors. Gift-giving is one of the religion’s virtues, and donating to the monks is a chance for lay people to build “karmic merit,” he said.
It was not uncommon to see monks lined up in places like Boudhanath, Nepal, chanting a ritual text and politely holding their begging bowls for offerings. In that setting, a fake monk using strong-arm tactics would be called out because such approaches are so outside traditional practices, he said.
On Wednesday, days after news reports warning about the fake monks, two men with shaved heads and wearing mustard-yellow robes walked slowly along Eighth Avenue near 42nd Street.
They approached pedestrians, holding medallions and seeking donations they said were for a Buddhist temple. When pressed for details about where he was from and what temple would benefit from the contributions, one of the men indicated he did not speak English. He smiled, said “peace” and then walked away.
