bild

Derelicts line up at the Bowery Mission in New York, Dec. 10, 1956 for the chance to spend the night under a roof, either on a cot or the floor. For 50 cents or a dollar they could get a bed at one of the 30 hotels and flophouses in the area. In addition to several missions supplying free lodging, New York's welfare department runs a 500-bed municipal shelter. But so deep-seated is the confirmed skid rower's aversion to restraint that requirements such as a bath and regular hours for meals are intolerable. Some prefer sleeping in alleys or doorways and occasionally they freeze to death. (AP Photo/HUN) (KEYSTONE/AP/Hans von Nolde)