ACTION: Port Jefferson defamation - Call to action is OVER.
As of the evening of April 6, 2010, the following CALL TO ACTION is over, with the apologies of Port Jefferson and local businesses.
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED:
Start of Action: IMMEDIATELY
End of Action: April 6, 2010
Local: Long Island - Phone calls, emails, and requests to attend and speak at Port Jefferson BID meeting.
National Action: Phone calls and emails.
For suggested follow-up actions after April 6, 2010, please see any of the web sites in the attached. B.O.L.T. will update www.boltusa.org as soon as results of the meeting are known.
Please see the ATTACHED blatant discrimination from the Port Jefferson NY Business Improvement District.
Port Jefferson NY and the Port Jefferson Business Improvement District (BID) have gone from welcoming motorcyclists, many years ago, and enjoying their money to being anti-motorcyclist in recent years. Now, Port Jefferson has gone from having overtly regulated and discriminatory parking to being downright insulting. It is now obvious that this has become more than a parking issue. The latest round of problems can be attributed to businesses which want to cater to an elite clientelle which considers motorcyclists to be UNSIGHTLY!!
In their March 2010 newsletter, the Port Jefferson Business Improvement District has actually published the defamatory suggestions for discussion at a meeting Tuesday April 6, 2010 at 7pm.
NO MOTORCYCLES
NO UNSIGHTLY PRESENCE OF MOTORCYCLISTS
If Port Jefferson wants to go back to having special free parking sections for motorcycles, to take advantage of motorcycles using less parking space than automobiles and trucks, that is fine, PROVIDED that motorcycles are also allowed to be parked anywhere other motor vehicles are allowed to park. All streets and parking facilities which are built or maintained with any public funds whatsoever must allow motorcycles to traverse or park anywhere that other personally owned motor vehicles are allowed. If not, that is discrimination and it will not be tolerated.
This call to action is for all who are able to travel to Port Jefferson tomorrow evening. Due to the disregard for courtesy, there is no need for you to be courteous by doubling up in parking spaces as we normally do.
You can find much more information by viewing any of these sites:
NY Motorcycle and Scooter Task Force. http://nymstf.org/PortJefferson.htm
There is also a message being circulated by the Biker Lowdown Radio show and Long Island ABATE:
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ALL MOTORCYCLISTS,
March, 2010 Pt. Jefferson Business Improvement District Newsletter
Please view the attached file (NYPortJeffersonnewsletter.pdf) and see for yourself the absolute incredible arrogance displayed in the March edition of the Port Jefferson Business Improvement District Newsletter. They are holding a meeting Tuesday night, April 6th at 7:00PM at the Village Center in Port Jefferson for the purpose of ELIMINATING MOTORCYCLES on Main Street as well as the “UNSIGHTLY PRESENCE OF MOTORCYCLISTS”!
Please join me at this meeting to express our dismay at such a BLATANT ACT OF DISCRIMINATION AND PREJUDICE directed toward US in the Motorcycle community!
Get there early to ensure that you get a parking spot! And please don’t park next to my motorcycle on Main St. I am no longer interested in sharing my parking space in order to be considerate of the parking issues in the Village of Port Jefferson!!!!
They request that you call them to schedule an appointment to attend their meeting. The phone number is 631-476-2363. I suggest that everyone call and leave your requests on their answering machine. It will be interesting to see how many of us are called back.
Please keep in mind that just because we are being attacked by this group, it is no excuse for us to lower ourselves to their level.. Please act responsibly while we are there. We don’t need to fuel their position.
Port Jefferson call to action is over
The Port Jefferson call to action is over, with officials apologizing and businesses saying they want motorcyclists to continue to visit.
http://www.clutchandchrome.com/news/news/officials-say-they-want-motorcy... Officials say they want motorcycles on Main Street Tuesday, 06 April 2010 | Written by Digits | | What started as a simple newsletter outlining an ongoing beautification project has left some upset and slightly embarrassed officials in the small, picturesque New York state seaside town of Port Jefferson.
More importantly, the motorcycle riding community can keep the scenic town as a place to visit.
With a newsletter supposedly wanting to keep unsightly motorcyclists away from the town center making headlines, the incident has been resolved with bikers essentially receiving a metaphorical hug from town officials.
Leaping to action, a member of the Port Jefferson Business Improvement District, the group represented on a recent and somewhat controversial newsletter wrote a letter to the Mayor of Port Jefferson expressing his concern over its distribution and was apparently so upset he was considering resigning.
In turn, the town’s website noted the Mayor herself has spoken out against the flyer which was reportedly the action of one person, not reflecting the views of the village or the Business Improvement District.
The offending flyer that caught the eye of the motorcycle riding community outlined an effort to make Port Jefferson’s Main Street more pedestrian friendly by limiting parking, but singled out bikers with phrases of ‘No Motorcycles’ and ‘No unsightly presence of motorcyclists’.
While no other types of vehicles were specifically mentioned or segments of society essentially profiled, bikers seemed to make the suggested list of things they would rather not see on Main Street, Port Jefferson.
However, officials appear to be falling over themselves to assure the public that Port Jefferson has always and will continue to welcome bikers, with the offending flyer distributed without authorization.
Contradicting the mood of the flyer, President of the Business Improvement District board and author of the upset letter states the merchants of Port Jefferson welcomes bikers.
A spokesperson for the town’s mayor explained Port Jefferson has no plans to restrict motorcycle parking. Just the opposite in fact, with the Village Parking Committee currently looking to increase parking and designate specific locations for motorcycles.
With Port Jefferson located only fifty-six miles from New York City, the village appears to be working hard to not only keep it as ‘a visitor’s dream, and one of the most picturesque of waterside villages to be found on Long Island,’ but one that is open to everyone, regardless of how they get there.