NYC Times Square CD Hustlers Pressure Tourists For Tips

[htomc]

Ignoring street hustlers is my super-power. Rule #1- NEVER EVER accept anything that someone tries to hand to you. Rule #2- Do NOT engage them in conversation or answer questions; these are all carefully crafted to either suck you in, or make you appear to be a cad if you refuse. Rule #3- Do not try to be "nice" or worry about what they will think of you if you refuse to play their game.

Every successful con game depends on some level of participation by the victim. Don't give it to them. Ordinary rules of courtesy do not apply to people who are trying to steal your money.

[billpitz]

They need to stop this. It’s just intimidation. It’s criminal.

[graemeking]

You got nothing to be sorry about, Ken.
You stood up, man. You didn't cave under the pressure.

[Savagemister]

"You better pick that shit up, buddy"

So he knows it is shit.

[Sogeking]

The biggest issue is that too many Americans are out of their element in big cities. Anyone who has lived in the city knows to ignore scammers.

[arandombard]

It's literally just mugging people in broad day light. "I've got my guys here, you gotta pay me 10 dollars". The moment he said that, it become a threat of violence. He knew exactly what the connotation of that was.

[ahmadabdelrahim]

I ran into these guys December 2022. They were saying “take a cd if you support black people.” Then when I said no thank you, they became very aggressive. They said” so you hate black people!! If you don’t take one, then you hate black people. Is that it? You hate black people?” Multiple people started trying to encircle me, but I walked through them and got the heck out of there fast. This is criminal. This is threatening and intimidation. I’m just glad I didn’t touch their cd, or it might have been worse for me.

[palmTreeeeee]

this is intimidating, coercive soliciting and should be illegal. Can really ruin the day for visitors

[weho_brian]

imagine if this guy put in this kind of hustle into academics

[CarsonHunter]

This happened to me in NYC in 2009 when I was 16. I was so intimidated and scared and in a hurry that I just gave them $$$ and walked away. Was there again last month and knew this time around not to grab anything being handed to me. They tried to entice me and called me a racist because I wouldn't make eye contact or acknowledge them, even when I said "no thanks". Later in the day I saw a sign from NYPD that said "If someone hands you a CD, you are not required to pay for it. Tipping is optional." or something along those lines. Be wary of these people!

[DRIXER]

Man I hate these people so much. Experienced this in Vegas and I gave the guy $5 (I didn’t know about this scam) and he got so upset because he was insisting he wanted $10 even though he asked for a donation, really regret giving him $5, hopefully everyone can be aware of this

[TreehouseINC]

came across these guys the other day right here, its important for people to document this and hopefully instruct others how to get out of this. it's always funny how they try to frame it as a donation too, god help anyone who sticks any of these weird ass cds into their pc to try and run it. having the social skills to tell them no is a great quality, hopefully this video helps others.

[scottlevy]

i dont sell the albums, but "i need something for the album"

[aholguin]

Rule #1 in NYC never stop and talk to someone soliciting you and especially never grab anything they're handing you

[toasty]

I’m waiting for someone in nyc to call an Aussie “buddy” that shit is a declaration of war over here.

[imjoshwein]

Great job standing up to them. They autograph it without asking and expect a tip, then try to intimidate you. I can't stand people like that.

[YourService]

I just say "I'm sorry but I don't have a dollar to my name, can I get a dollar to get a bottle of water?" Works every time.

[johnnyo]

This is ONE OF the reasons why people in NYC walk around wearing headphones (sometimes pretending) to listen to music and IGNORE EVERYONE around them.

[DJKiDDKlashez]

“U gotta give me a tip” lmao fucking laughable

[SLURM]

Advice: Ignore, don’t engage, don’t even look at them. Just keep walking.