ABSTRACT
Tramps are generally driven out of prime public and private places as eyesores, public nuisances, and threats to the social order. Full citizenship rights are not extended to those without property. Their presence may be tolerated in some public spaces, however, such as parks, libraries, and transportation stations. By employing “props” such as newspapers and books casually draped over their faces, they may catch a snooze or read under the tolerant surveillance of the policeman. These props help legitimize the tramp while submerging his stigmata. Prostitutes and gay hustlers may cruise in the park, as “the coppers will let you whistle low, but not loud.” Tramps, hustlers, drug dealers, and other socially marginalized people may perform a kind of jurisdictional etiquette or interaction ritual with the forces of law and social order. This negotiation process helps reproduce middle class moral order in the city.
