A New York City man who spent nearly five months walking across the country from the Bronx to California arrived in San Francisco only to have some of his most precious belongings stolen within hours of reaching his destination.
Bronx resident Chantz Rivera set out on May 31, pushing a shopping cart loaded with everything he owned and walking day after day for 149 straight days until he finally reached the West Coast. According to the New York Post, his long-awaited arrival in San Francisco on Oct. 26 quickly turned sour when he stopped at a McDonalds near Fillmore Street and Golden Gate Avenue and discovered that a bag containing his portable charger and USB flash drives had been swiped.
Rivera admitted that, at first, exhaustion and illness dulled his reaction to the theft, and he tried to shrug it off as just another hardship. Im like, Oh, somebody took something? I dont care. It aint worth nothing. Im already here [in California], he told the San Francisco Standard.
Only later did the full weight of the loss hit him when he realized that the stolen memory cards and flash drive held irreplaceable videos and photographs documenting his cross-country journey. Thats when I got tight, because you cant buy those videos, he said. Thats all I really care about.
The string of misfortunes did not stop in San Francisco, underscoring the growing sense of lawlessness and disregard for personal property that has come to define many urban centers under progressive leadership. While in Sacramento, Rivera said someone generously gave him a pair of shoes, which he placed in his shopping cart before briefly stepping away, only to return and find them gone.
I went back to the cart, and it was gone, but that was my fault, because I left them, he told the Standard. It was so quick. It was within an hour.
Rivera, who amassed more than 50,000 followers on Instagram by chronicling his trek, said even promised help sometimes evaporated, reflecting a culture of empty gestures over real responsibility. A fan offered to book him a hotel room after the McDonalds theft, but the supposed act of kindness collapsed at the front desk.
They said they booked me. I went there, and then they didnt even book it. They kind of reserved it, but they didnt pay for it, Rivera said. Thats all I really care about.
Yet amid the thefts and disappointments, Rivera still encountered genuine generosity that cut against the prevailing narrative of decay. The general manager of a San Francisco hotel gave him a complimentary two-night stay, and another Good Samaritan treated him to pizza and a driving tour up to Twin Peaks, small acts of decency that stood out in a state increasingly defined by policies that too often fail to protect people like him.
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