Ybor sign of trouble

It's no secret that clubs can be hot spots for crime, but some take issue with this move.

By ALEXANDRA ZAYAS
Published June 23, 2007

TAMPA - Two Ybor City business owners were so incensed by crime surrounding two nightclubs on their block that they strung up a sign across the street from clubs Empire and Fuel last week.

PUBLIC NOTICE, it announced in big, red, underlined letters. It cites incidents from a Times story that ran last month:

-In May, a man was fatally shot after being kicked out of Empire for fighting with the alleged gunman.

-In 2002, two Empire bouncers were shot, and one died.

-In 2003, a man was wounded on Club Fuel's dance floor and survived. Two years later, a man was shot outside the club.

-Last fall, a Temple Terrace man was stabbed to death in a parking lot outside Empire.

Be aware of your surroundings, the sign warns. Govern yourselves accordingly.

The men behind the sign are Richard Boom, who owns the Dirty Shame Irish Pub, and Alan Kahana, who owns several Ybor City properties, including that vacant lot on the 1900 block of E Seventh Ave.

Boom said he is sick of closing his bar half an hour early so his patrons can avoid fights that spill into the street when Empire and Fuel close.

He had a legal responsibility to warn Ybor visitors about the trouble spot that flares in the early morning, he said.

Club Empire co-owner Ken Grossman sees the sign as a personal attack.

"We think it's despicable and it's disgusting that they would put that up," Grossman said. "It helps Ybor City in no way."

Some worry about the sign's effect on Ybor's reputation.

Both Tom Keating, president of the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce, and Vince Pardo, president of the Ybor City Development Corp., hope the sign goes away soon. But they understand why it's there.

Pardo's agency inquired about the sign with city code enforcement, which said it was legal and falls under First Amendment rights of free speech.

"I think what it expresses is a real frustration on the part of the community, both residential and business," Pardo said.

Jill Wax, owner of La France and a new antique business opening up directly across from the clubs, agrees. She calls the sign peer pressure from business owners to hold the clubs accountable for their patrons.

"It's what has to be done in these times," Wax said.

Passers-by Stephanie Hyer and Michelle Clark didn't like the sign. They both thought it would encourage clubgoers to be more defensive.

"If you put people on edge," Clark said, "bad things are going to happen."

Tampa police Maj. Robert Guidara has no opinion on the sign, except that it states the obvious problems on that block his officers struggle with every weekend.

"It's not exactly a secret, right?" Guidara said.

Boom knew the sign was going to generate controversy. He emphasized: "The issue isn't the sign. The issue is that the violence on the street that has to stop."

Alexandra Zayas can be reached at (813) 226-3354 or azayas@sptimes.com.

Fast Facts:

If you go

Club Empire owners will address concerns at the Historic Ybor Neighborhood Civic Association meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday on the second-floor meeting room of the Quarter condominiums, 1800 E Palm Ave. For more information, visit www.hynca.com .

[Last modified June 22, 2007, 23:23:39]