Like most of the paper's current employees, Indio has managed to get himself off the streets, he says, but that common past gives many of the paper's writers a certain curb-level credibility. One writer reports on the African herb yawarnba, which is said to up the T-cell count for people with AIDS, and points readers to the Harlem herb shops where it sells for the best price. Police brutality is a common topic, and a recent issue lists various authorities willing to speak about it. In another article, homeless youth weigh in on which New York City shelters are the safest, and which pose the biggest risks for homosexuals.

Street News has been the model and inspiration for other street papers, including The Big Issue, which first appeared in London in 1991 with help from the Body Shop Foundation. The Big Issue has since launched other street papers in cities around the world, each with the goal of giving homeless people a way to make money and a forum in the media. Back at ground zero, Indio and company take pride in the fact that theirs is very much a for-profit paper that benefits those who have made it what it is--a thing of their own.

At first glance, most street papers seem to share an editorial vision akin to the mission of many a social reformer--to comfort the afflicted by afflicting the comfortable. Closer reading reveals differences in content and quality, but also a deeper shared element: unheard voices from the underexplored universe of the inner city.

Street Paper Sampler

Street News

Subscriptions: $19 (6 issues) from

144-46 76th Ave., Flushing, NY 11367.

http://members.aol.com/phpcoach/index.html

Street Sheet

Subscriptions: $20/yr. (12 issues) from

468 Turk St., San Francisco, CA 94102.

Coh@sfo.com

The Big Issue

Subscriptions: $98/yr. (52 issues) from

236 240 Pentonville Road, Kings Cross, London N1 9JY England.

www.bigissue.com