4C
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 1, 2016
PARTING SHOT FROM DANNY MILLER
A weekly snapshot from The Daily Astorian and Chinook Observer photographers
The sun sets on the Columbia River as seen from the Astoria Riverwalk in June.
ODDITY
Fake monks of New York
Buddhist leaders warn
tourists to be wary
By MICHAEL BALSAMO
Associated Press
N
EW YORK — New York City
Buddhist leaders are sounding the
alarm to tourists: Beware the “fake
monks.”
Men in orange robes claiming to be
Buddhist monks are approaching visitors to
some of the city’s most popular attractions,
handing them shiny medallions and offer-
ing greetings of peace. They then hit them
up for donations to help them build a tem-
ple in Thailand, and are persistent if their
demands are refused.
“The problem seems to be increasing,”
said the Rev. TK Nakagaki, president of the
Buddhist Council of New York, a group that
represents nearly two dozen Buddhist tem-
ples. “They are very aggressive and hostile
if you don’t give them money.”
His group has taken to the streets and
social media to warn people that the men
appear to have no afiliation to any Bud-
dhist temple. “Please be aware,” read one
Facebook post, “this is a scam.”
Robed men with medallions
Along the popular High Line elevated
park, one of the robed men handed a couple
a shiny, gold-colored medallion and a plas-
tic beaded bracelet. He then showed them
photos of a planned temple and barked,
“Ten dollars! Twenty dollars!” When they
wouldn’t give up cash, he snatched the trin-
kets back.
Other brightly robed men have been
spotted pulling the same routine, albeit
more successfully, in Times Square, not
far from where costumed characters such
as Elmo, Minnie Mouse and the Naked
Cowboy take pictures with tourists for tips.
Some of the monks were later seen hand-
ing wads of cash to another man waiting
nearby.
The Associated Press tried to ask more
than half-dozen of the men about their
background and the temple they said the
donations were being used to support. Each
claimed to be a Buddhist monk collecting
money for a temple in Thailand, but none
could give its name or say where exactly
it is located. All the men refused to give
their names and ran off when pressed for
answers.
The men irst started appearing at the
High Line, a New York City public park
that’s maintained by a private nonproit
group, about three years ago, said Robert
Hammond, executive director of Friends of
the High Line. But it “became excessive”
in the past year, he said, with up to a dozen
of the men accosting tourists at once and
sometimes grabbing them to demand cash.
Aggressive panhandling
Panhandling on city streets isn’t illegal
in New York, as long as the person isn’t
acting aggressively. But the city’s parks
department has a rule that says it is unlaw-
ful to solicit money without a permit from
the parks commissioner.
When asked about the men, New York
City Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver
initially said, “I have no idea what you’re
talking about.” He later said that if the
men aren’t abiding by the law, “the parks
enforcement patrol will take care of it.”
But parks department spokeswoman
Crystal Howard said parks enforcement
oficers hadn’t issued any summonses and
the men’s actions were “aggressive panhan-
dling,” a violation of state law that would be
enforced by police. New York City police
say that in the rare cases when someone has
called 911 against the men, they were usu-
ally gone by the time oficers arrived.
A few days after the AP inquired about
the men on the High Line, several signs
were posted there with photos of them,
warning visitors not to give money to
panhandlers.
AP Photo/Michael Balsamo
Leaders of New York City’s Buddhist community said that men in orange robes seeking dona-
tions near New York’s popular tourist attractions are fakes, posing as monks to trick people
into giving up their money.
‘Peace petition’
Similarly robed men have been spot-
ted in San Francisco, asking tourists to sign
their “peace petition” before demanding
cash. In China, authorities said the prob-
lem of “fake” monks begging in the streets
prompted them to create an online registry
of all actual Buddhist and Taoist sites.
In Times Square, the warnings came too
late for tourist Rob Cardillo, of Pennsylva-
nia. He gave a robed man $10 to help out
with his temple, without ever asking any-
thing about the temple or what the money
would be used for.
“He might be fake, but it’s the thought
and I feel it,” Cardillo said as he gripped the
gold medallion.
AP Photo/Mark Lennihan
A man wearing an orange robe talks with a woman in New York’s Times Square in June. The
men identify themselves as Buddhist monks and solicit donations for a temple in Thailand.
But the Buddhist Council of New York says the men are “fake monks” who are not affiliated
with any known temple and are just looking to make a quick buck.
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