Merry Christmas!

Dear Neighbors and Businesses,

We will be holding a crimewatch meeting this upcoming Monday December, 12th @ 6:30pm at the Life Improvement Center located 1619 8th Avenue in front of Gameworks.

We will be discussing:
•    Concerns of business-owners and residents
•    Developing a couple of crimewatch programs
•    Filling crimewatch positions

Jose Garboza

Residents, Businesses and Friends,

HYNCA will hold our annual Holiday Pot Luck Dinner on Tuesday Dec. 11, 2007 at the Ybor Museum State Park and Garden.  We hope you will join us in celebrating the end of the year and sharing the holiday spirit with your friends and neighbors.  We will eat, drink and hear from the City of Tampa Neighborhoods Office about what the city is doing to support neighborhoods.

Please bring your favorite covered dish or dessert to share!

We look forward to seeing old and NEW faces at this event.  If you are not yet a member or have not paid you annual dues, you may do so at the dinner or online.

When: Tuesday, December 11 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Where: Ybor Museum State Park and Garden (1818 E. 9th Ave., Centennial Park area)

Dear Neighbors and Businesses,

We will be holding a crimewatch meeting this upcoming Monday December, 17th @ 6:30pm at the Life Improvement Center located 1619 8th Avenue in front of Gameworks.

We will be discussing:

• Concerns of business-owners and residents
• Developing a couple of crimewatch programs
• Filling crimewatch positions

Jose Garboza

It appears that after a year long effort by HYNCA and local businesses to close Club Fuel, there has finally been some success!  Three weeks ago Club Fuel closed on its doors after an enormous amount of pressure. 

We are told the club will only reopen for special events under a different name and after some renovations.  The Fuel Group lease for this space is up on September 30, 2008 and will NOT be renewed.  Apparently the Club Fuel operators are trying to get out of the club business now.  Damaging media attention has negatively affected their business dealings in other parts of the Bay area; particularly Fuel Group’s planned Westin hotel in downtown St. Petersburg.

We hope that the owner of the building will consider converting or selling the property for retail, restaurant, office, or hotel development when the lease is up.  We encourage the building owner to bring in a business which will improve the east side of 7th Ave.  Ybor City residents will not tolerate a nuisance club which fails to protect residents and visitors from criminal activity. 

We will continure to keep an eye on the Club Fuel space until the day it finally closes for good!!!

There has been a renewed interest by the business community and residents to form a cohesive neighborhood crime watch organization.  By becoming a member of the Crime Watch Group you will receive e-mail updates on suspicious activity from the Tampa Police Department and your neighbors.  The Crime Watch will let you know who or what to look out for and when to be on guard.  

HYNCA is committed to keeping Ybor City a safe place to live, work and visit but we must all work together to keep crime in check.  There is no fee to join!  To become a member of the Crime Watch simply send an email with your contact information to HYNCA Board Member and Crime Watch Coordinator Jose Garboza.

On Thurs. Dec. 18 at 9:00 am the Barrio Latino Commission (315 E. Kennedy Blvd. 3rd Fl. – Tampa City Hall)  will consider the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office request to vacate (close) 20th St. between 9th Ave and Palm Ave. 

HYNCA is strongly opposed to the closure of 9th Ave. which blocks access and prohibits movement of residents and visitors.  Ybor was created with a grid system of streets. The closure of this portion of the street degrades the historical integrity of our street system and chips away at the character and historic design of our district.  

Please plan to attend the BLC Regular Meeting Dec. 18 to speak out against closure of 9th Ave.  For more information contact HYNCA Secretary Tom Knueppel.
 

Many of us living and working in Ybor found the news a little disconcerting. True, Tampa does seem to deserve a place near the bottom of the list of "Walkable Urban Places in the Top 30 U.S. Metropolitan Areas". The survey, which was published by the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution, also describes Tampa as completely lacking of "walkable communities". For us Yborites, the thought is insulting.

Walkability is the staple of Ybor. From its beginning, pre-dating the automobile era, Ybor was designed as a pedestrian-friendly community. In its golden days of cigar production, it was self-contained. People lived, worked, shopped and hardly had the need to leave it. The typical cigar worker would work at the factory down the road from his home, then visit one of the clubs for entertainment. If he was to visit a theater, grand ballroom, medical clinic, cantina, gym, or library then he would go to the club as well. Shops and services lined 7th Ave. Everything was within walking distance.

Even though that was the past, Ybor has retained its walkability. In fact, one of the top reasons for moving to Ybor is that its easy to walk to entertainment and services. You may need to leave the neighborhood for groceries and dry-cleaning, but that hardly makes it inhabitable.

Visiting Ybor for the holidays? Parking is free!

During the holiday season, Ybor visitors can expect free parking on the streets and lots (parking meters will not be enforced). This is in response to many businesses’ pleas for help who have been experiencing a slump over the past few months. Many argue that retail is hurt from a stringent parking meter enforcement that discourages visitors to the district.

It is not the first time that the city has cut back on the strictness of its parking regulation. Earlier in the year, in an attempt to "be nicer" to morning and afternoon Ybor visitors, the city adopted a warning system, giving first-time violators a warning instead of a citation.

But after all these generous concessions, one has to ask: is it really fair to tax a district that has been struggling for months, if not years? Why does the city discourage visitors to the district by charging for parking when it should be doing everything possible to encourage it? The answer is money (of course). The city will lose approximately $21,000 in revenue during this holiday alone.

Get a dose of holiday cheer at the 25th Annual Santa Fest presented by the Tampa Bay Federal Credit Union, on Saturday, December 1, 2007. This free, family festival takes place from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Centennial Park and the Ybor State Museum, located at 1800 18th Street in Ybor City.

Santa Fest is sure to get you in the holiday mood as Centennial Park is transformed into a winter wonderland with ice-skating, two giant snow slides make-n-take crafts and continuous holiday entertainment. The young, and the young at heart, can visit with Santa and enjoy holiday entertainment in the courtyard of Ybor State Museum. The Museum will be offering free admission. Visitors can meet Jack Frost, a walking, talking Christmas Tree, the Geico Gecko and the Grump as well as enjoy free samples of Leighton’s Honey and Popsicles.

The festival culminates at 4:00 p.m. as the Krewe of Venus Holiday Parade steps off. The Krewe of Venus Holiday Parade features over 50 units including colorful floats, local school marching bands, antique cars and dance troops. The best viewing for the parade is on 7th Avenue between 14th and 19th Streets and on 19th Street between 7th and 9th Avenues. The parade will disband along Palm Avenue.

The City of Tampa Parks and Recreation Department produces Santa Fest and the holiday parade. The festival is made possible thanks to may partners including The Tampa Tribune, Magic 94.9 FM, the Friends of Tampa Recreation, Inc., Centro Ybor, Krewe of Venus, Cypress Gardens, The Florida State Fair, metroPCS, and the Florida Poultry Federation.

For more information, please call the City of Tampa Parks and Recreation Department at 813-274-8615.