Homeless Know Myth Of Warming

Global warming, my eye. So say the residents of upstate New York who've suffered through 146 inches of snowfall this past week with more on the way. New York City has so far managed to avoid the worst of nature's wintry assault, but it has been bitterly cold, and my heart goes out to those poor souls sleeping in the street. The question to ask is, why are they there? We have warm city shelters that these individuals refuse to go to because they claim they're unsafe. Common sense says the city should make them safe and move the homeless off the streets. The ACLU says otherwise and thus insanity follows.

Is there or is there not something insane about a business suing the homeless parked outside its door for a million dollars? The ACLU claims most vagrancy and loitering laws are unconstitutional, arguing, along with litigators anxious to sue any entity with big bucks, that we are free to park our carcasses anywhere.

Imagine, if you will, you are a shopkeeper and your business is your sole source of income. Customers are reluctant to enter your premises because a homeless individual has set up residence near the entrance. The sorry individual exudes offensive fumes that radiate several feet from his body. Your sales are nonexistent. You call the police, and they tell you all they can do is ask the man to move. In other words, the homeless man has more rights than a taxpaying business owner.

Small business owners can certainly understand the frustration that made Karl Kemp, owner of an antique store on Madison Avenue, sue four homeless individuals for a million dollars. But perhaps the suit should been made against the city for failing to provide a safe environment for doing business.

I can hear the bleeding hearts out there crying about the man's civil rights being violated, but, I'll bet no one's really interested in providing him with shelter in front of their own homes and businesses.

A few years ago, I interviewed a homeless man named Dennis who had taken up residence outside a local bank. He appeared to be in his early 40s and had become a neighborhood fixture of interest because he would sit on a milk crate scribbling mathematical equations in a notebook. His reddish gray hair was matted with the remains of what looked like shoe polish and something far more unpleasant.

At the time, I wanted to address the homeless situation, which had been in the news because homeless men were allowed to take up residence in front of a Fifth Avenue church. I offered Dennis $5 for a short interview. His blue eyes sparkled as he related his animus against the NYPD. In my column, I wrote that he was a native Staten Islander. I don't know whether a relative of Dennis's read the article, but I do know that shortly after my column appeared Dennis disappeared from that spot.

Last summer, as I was walking to Sunday Mass, lo and behold, I spotted Dennis crossing the street. He was virtually unrecognizable. He was neatly dressed in a shirt and jeans, his beard groomed perfectly. He was carrying a shopping bag and reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys which he used to enter an apartment building. Dennis was no longer homeless.

I couldn't help but wonder what miracle had turned Dennis' life around, but I was also so grateful he was spared the fate of another homeless man I had written about in that earlier column. That man was deliberately set on fire and burned to death in a car where he had sought shelter. The homeless are prey not only to the bitter cold but also to marauding youths.

This city and the multitudes of private nonprofit agencies probably spend more money on providing housing and shelter to those in need than any other American municipality. Those that do not take advantage of this assistance need more than shelter. There's nothing charitable about allowing individuals with mental health problems to wallow in their urine-soaked clothes, presenting a health and safety hazard to themselves and the general public.

The global warming alarmists can't explain why East Antarctica is getting colder. They also have no comments on this winter's deathly toll on the homeless throughout the nation. For these poor unfortunates, global warming is a myth.