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Let Them Eat Cake; But Not Here
On the East Side of Manhattan, according to the NY Times:
"A Madison Avenue antiques dealer is suing a group of unidentified homeless people for $1 million, saying that the group has taken up residence outside his posh Upper East Side business, using the sidewalk in front of the shop as a urinal, spittoon and occasional dressing room, according to court papers and a lawyer for the businessman.
Karl Kemp, owner of Karl Kemp & Associates at 833 Madison Avenue near 69th Street, said he had put up with the crew of vagabonds, one homeless man and his “island†of filthy belongings in particular, for more than two years..."
It goes on and on, but you get the idea. Should Mayor could send these people to the Hamptons, or perhaps would a little more actually affordable housing help?
What homeless person has $1 million?
I mean, he could get a judgment against them by default, because they certainly can't afford lawyers, but what good will that do him?
Several cities are experimenting with more comprehensive supportive housing services, including Portland and Denver, as a way to deal with the homeless. They almost always need not just affordable housing but mental health services and addiction treatment. I think in Portland they're even just putting hopeless alcoholics into housing and allowing them to continue to drink, which you can imagine has aroused some opposition. The argument is that it still costs less than they otherwise take out of public coffers in emergency-room visits.
The object of the game is to force NYC to
sweep those dirty bums from the otherwise clean streets that the rich inhabit.
Out of sight, out of mind
The continuing mindset that treats homelessness primarily as an aesthetic problem.