Incentive To Sue The Homeless?
Last month, [the antique dealer at Karl Kemp & Associates Antiques on Madison Ave. sued four unnamed homeless men for $1 million] simply for being theyre homeless selves: drinking alcohol, urinating and begging in front of his store. How he thinks theyll come up with the money when they cant even afford a pot to piss in (literally), we werent sure. Although now [a half-dozen homeless people haven taken a cue from Eddie Wise who accepted a $100,000 settlement in December for being illegally arrested by cops, and are now taking their own complaints to court](http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/495220p-417156c.html). Michael Louis Brown, 48, is one of six homeless who signed on to a federal suit accusing the NYPD of implementing a no begging law that was last enforced in 1992. Over 7,000 homeless have been arrested or ticketed statewide since then, according to the Bronx Defenders, a nonprofit organization suing the city in Manhattan Federal Court. City lawyers said beggars likely won't be hitting pay dirt the way Wise did. Thats OK with Brown, who says hes not in it for the money (but of course he wouldnt turn it down). And despite Wise's six-figure paycheck, he still supplements it with the $30 to $60 a day he makes by begging along Fordham Road and 189th St. in the Bronx.(http://flickr.com/photos/moriza/)