For the past 5 1/2+ years we have had monthly parking in the same lot. A fair Ybor City business special! The lot is located on the SW corner of 7th Ave & 15th Street. This last year we paid 717 Parking $642.00 for our monthly parking permits. On New Year’s Eve, after we both finished working double shifts were headed to our car, only to find 717 Parking had TOWED OUR CAR!!! New Years Eve, a long term paying customer towed!!! Come On!!!!! They could not give us a good reason why it was even towed.

After calling the police, the 717 supervisor said they would not charge us for the tow but refused to return our car back to Ybor. 717 supervisor personnel also did not know where the car was towed to??? We were told  to call the number on the sign. It had been towed by Ascension Towing in Drew Park, out next to the Tampa Airport. You can just imagine what it is like to get a cab New Year’s Eve in Ybor!!!! Thousands were trying to get a roaming cab if they could. Lucky for us our good friends at G.BAR took us to the airport to get our car. When we arrived at Ascension it was all dark and all locked up. After many calls to their number somebody finally answered and said they would sent a tow truck to unlock the gate. Some where after 4:30 AM we got our car back. I thought, “Wow, we are hard working Ybor City businessmen, Ybor City volunteers, Ybor leaders and a commissioner in Ybor City! If this could happen to us then what are the chances this may have happened to one of the many thousand visitors. The same visitors we pay hundreds of thousand dollars in advertising to come to Ybor City???

Today, we now have 2013 monthly parking with the City of Tampa in the 15th Street Parking Garage in Ybor.  We will never park in a 717 parking lot again.

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Recently we had a good visit with our old friend and activist, Joe Redner. We got to talking about how in 2002 Joe was busy fighting for basic Humanitarian Rights, Tampa Gay Pride Events and Hillsborough County Gay Rights in Hillsborough County. His critics came out and said, ” Joe could not be for Gay rights because he was straight.” In Joe’s style he proclaimed he was Gay to the small minded people! Then challenged his critics to prove he wasn’t!!! Together with club owner Gary Allen,  Steve Donahue (now owner of GBAR+) we hosted Joe’s coming out party at The Garage in Tampa. It turned out to be a packed night out. All the local TV media filmed the historic event!  We presented him with an Official Coming Out Gay Flag, Gay Agenda Official Journal, and an official rainbow sticker for his car. We even gave Joe an official Gay Card!!! LOL LOL

 After a good laugh Joe said he had something to show us. From his big desk, he pulled out the Official Hillsborough County Proclamation, proclaiming June 2002 as Gay Pride Month. It was signed by Chairperson Pat Frank and Vice Chair Jan Platt. Fast forward to 2012 and still only 2 people, Commissioners Kevin Beckner & Les Miller, would sign a GaYBOR Days Proclamation.

Note: Over half of the 280 GaYBOR District Coalition Business members are ‘Straight Business Allies’!!!

10 years later and Homophobia is still in Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners. Some Things Don’t Change.

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When most people think about GaYBOR/ Ybor City then think of crazy, fun, wild parties. Yes we do have all that, but there is also a very close family of good people who live & work in GaYBOR. These people are everywhere and are looking out for each other and you. One good example of this was…….. It was a busy Sunday afternoon and Tea Cup was bartending on the balcony at Hamburger Mary’s. He noticed a very well dressed lady in her mid 80’s waiting for somebody across the street. An hour went by and she was still there. That was out of the norm so Tea Cup and Mgr. Sheriff Mike called the police. The 1st car arrived right away. The female officer was comforting the bewildered lady. Then 4 more police cars arrived and left. About a 1/2 hour later an office arrived with the woman’s husband. All the officers left except the female officer who sat with the couple until the shuttle bus from the Sheraton Riverwalk arrived. Later we learn of the whole story. The husband had told his wife to stay right there. He went down the street to King Corona to get a cigar. When leaving King Corona he turned left instead of right and got lost. An easy mistake to make. Luckily the police found him behind the Cuban Club. The couple were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. What a story they will have to tell about how Grandpa lost Grandma in GaYBOR/Ybor!!!! Three Cheers to the Tampa Police Department & Viva La GaYBOR!!!

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