Special Memoriam for a Homeless Hero

Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax, a homeless man residing in New York City, died on Sunday, April 25th after he came to the aid of a woman being attacked at 5:40am on 144th Street at 88th Road in Jamaica, Queens. Mr. Tale-Yax was stabbed several times in the chest and collapsed as he chased his assailant. He was 31 years old.

Over twenty people saw Mr. Tale-Yax collapsed and bleeding on the sidewalk and either decided to ignore him or did not call for help. Fire and Rescue did not arrive to assist for an hour and twenty minutes.

Street Sights staff member David Eisenberger wrote a poem reflecting on this sad event.

The News is Sad

On the streets of New York City, a tragedy
occurred when a homeless man came to aid
a woman in distress seeking assistance.
This hero was stabbed multiple times.

So the news is sad today.  Let me say why.

Humanity has stooped to all time lows.
Lying in a pool of blood and left for dead,
how many didn’t get involved and passed by.

Did they hear his moans, his agony and pain?
How callous they were and ignoring his pleas?
Life has cheapened and that’s the reason why
we’ve gone to hell in basket each day

The news is sad today- for this happens daily.
Everyone thinks of themselves and nothing else.
When will they wake up and smell the coffee?
They’ll be the first to complain- if it happened to them.

Now as I sit here and contemplate my very life-
I survived the very thing this man lived and died for:
to be a voice, and hopefully making a stand here
so the news maybe might be good, hopefully, someday.

Because we’re seeing things that nobody’s ever seen,
until he comes to rescue us by divine intervention-
commonplace will be the anger and destruction.
A hero’s dead, branded homeless, the news is sad today.

Dedicated to the homeless person stabbed and left to
die on the streets of NYC; what is life? What is it worth?
To make an awareness to those who passed by; what in the
hell were you thinking? It could have been you!
The news is sad today.