NYC Shop Owner Sues Homeless For $1M

I read this article on cbs.com and I am not sure how I feel about it.

(CBS/AP) In a clash of classes on a posh shopping strip, an antiques dealer has filed a $1 million lawsuit against four homeless people, seeking to keep them off the sidewalk in front of his shop.

The lawsuit, filed this week, seeks a court order to keep three men and one woman at least 100 feet away from Karl Kemp & Associates. They are named only as John Doe, Bob Doe, John Smith and Jane Doe.

The suit says the four have obscured window displays and turned off customers at the shop on Manhattan's upscale Madison Avenue. It says they "can often be found sleeping on the sidewalk," "consuming alcoholic beverages from open bottles," and "performing various bodily functions such as urinating and spitting."

Homelessness is a huge problem in the United States (not just in big cities, but even small rural towns.) Some of these people make decisions that add to their poor situation. But most homeless people do not choose to be homeless and they do not deserve to be homeless. These are good people that have fallen on hard times.

But on the other hand, I do feel bad for the antiques dealer. He has a right as well to be open for business and not have people loitering around his business. He should be able to prevent these people from blocking the entrance to his store. He might be going overboard by suing for 1 Million dollars...But at least he is getting his point across.

What do you think? I am a bad person for thinking the store owner has rights too?