Dear Editor:
Alex Vaughn’s Q-POINT (April 5, 2012 Agenda: “Parking in the Shoppes of Wilton Manors: A Death Wish?”) brought home for the second time how the quality of life is dropping for the gay community living in or visiting Wilton Manors.
This business of towing cars from The Shoppes of Wilton Manors hit me particularly hard a few weeks ago. My twin brother, his partner, and I drove down to Wilton Drive and parked by the old Poverello. They both got out and headed up the Drive, while I walked over to Boom, had a few drinks, and as planned met them 20 minutes later where the car [was supposed] to be.
The three of us went through the same trauma as Vaughn: an ungodly, crimeridden neighborhood, and a cab driver who couldn’t even find the [impound] lot—and this was at about four in the afternoon! Now comes the interesting part: the EMS Towing guy let me know that the calls authorizing cars to be towed came from the Alibi. He said “I’m not supposed to tell people that, I’m to tell them the property management company is the one calling.”
This is exactly what the bartender told me: he remembered me coming in and mentioned that no bartender is calling to authorize a tow. The manager on duty at Alibi offered me his sympathy but said there was nothing he could do. To add insult to injury, the manager said that ‘jobs are hard to come by’ and he does whatever he needs to in order to keep his own. It is reasonable to assume this includes making phone calls.
Bill De Lange
Wilton Manors
