Elliot Landsberg: One and Only

With more than 750,000 homeless people in the United States, you would expect that  Coral Springs,  would have several.  After all, a city that boasts as the  the "Premier City to  Live, Work, and Raise a Family, and the Silver Award winner, certainly would have room in it for a few vagrants walking its streets and using its facilities.  We do have religious organizations within our fair city that offer the poor food and shelter.  How many homeless people do we have? One. Elliot Landsberg and he has been here for more than 20 years.

Mr. Landsberg has the esteemed title as the only homeless person and that is because the city's unwritten law prevents him from having any competition.  When a vagrant enters our city and someone notices that person, the police pick him up.  They bring him or her to the Margate / Coral Springs border and drop him off. Dispatch calls Margate Police Department who picks the homeless person up and gives them a ride to Pompano Beach where they can bask, swim or play sports to their hearts content.  Not so with Elliot. He is been here so long that they leave him alone. 

Elliot is 70 + years old. With a thin frame, he sports a moustache, sunglasses and wears a baseball cap. He is a expert on trivia and always offers an opinion, whether asked for or not.  He came from somewhere in the northeast and rumor has it that he holds a masters degree in something or other. Talking to him you will get the idea that this is no average person. This is an intellegent individual.

He is knows current affairs from reading the morning papers anywhere he can see them.  Often you see him at the news paper vending machine staring at the front page.  He sleeps in alleys or electrical meter rooms behind commercial buildings along University drive or Sample road. Some friends that he has made over the years invite him over to their homes once in awhile for a meal and a shower.

Elliot has a post office box and gets a Social Security check once a month, which means that he must have had a job in his previous life. 

He was once arrested 10 years ago for creating a disturbance at City Hall. Nobody knows much about him.  He used to come to city commission meetings but lately he has stayed away.

Every day Mr. Landsberg walks the streets of Coral Springs. His path is University Drive north to Sample West to Coral Springs Drive, then down Royal Palm. Once a week he walks to the Golden Coral in Tamarac.  

The police once offered to drive Elliot to Fort Lauderdale where there is a shelter for homeless people. "Too Dangerous:" he added. "It is much safer here in Coral Springs.

When he came to Coral Springs 20 years ago,  Mr. Landsberg had an invisible friend. He would sit at the Clock restaurant ( now Coral Springs Diner)  and order food for 2, . one for him and one for his invisible friend.  He ended up always eating both.  Now a days he doesn't talk about his invisible friend. Perhaps the Coral Springs Police Department gave him a ride to Margate. Then to Pompano Beach.

No matter how you feel about the Homeless, Coral Springs should be happy to have Elliot Landsberg as it's homeless resident. He is truly the one and only.

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