The Last Page

Like most New Yorkers I know, I regularly give to panhandlers. How much depends on how much change I have in my pocket, but my rule of thumb is a twenty-five-cent minimum.

If West Side Cares, a new food-for-voucher program in my neighborhood has its way, I won’t be doling out quarters any more. Instead, I’ll be passing out twenty-five-cent vouchers that can be redeemed at local stores. The idea comes from a similar program in Berkeley, California, and its aim is to make sur...