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From the Key West Citizen, March 12:
Protesters cruise Lower Duval
Locals turn
out for cruise ship protest
BY TIMOTHY O'HARA
keysnews.com
KEY WEST —
Most locals avoid driving on Duval Street this time of year due to the
thousands of college students, bikers and cruise ship passengers who
compete for space in the tourism epicenter of Old Town Key West.
However, many did just that Thursday.
Somewhere
around a hundred city residents — estimating was challenging, at best —
hopped into their cars and onto their bicycles for a leisurely trip down
the city's busiest street. Some locals just strolled down the sidewalk.
They hoped to
make a statement with their presence: The city needs to better control
the number of cruise ships during the busiest time of the year. They
wanted to show that they shouldn't have to avoid their own streets,
because the city can't control the number of tourists on the island,
said Elliot Baron, who organized the protest.
Members of a
political action group, Livable Old Town, had encouraged downtown
residents to drive down Duval between 11 a.m. and noon to protest the
number of cruise ships in port Thursday. Five ships arrived in Key West
Harbor, though not all where in port at the same time.
Some of the
protesters hung signs in their car windows or wore T-shirts with slogans
such as "No to cruise ships."
"There are way
too many cruise ships coming to town," said resident Sue Pfeffle, who
rode her bike with four friends down Duval Street. "They are not paying
their way. We don't get enough benefit from them."
Several
residents said they don't want to see cruise ships go away altogether,
but they believe the city needs do a better job regulating tourism in
town.
"There's no
control," said Michael West, who walked down Duval Street to see how
many people would turn out.
Police were
out in force maintaining the flow of traffic, which came to a near
standstill from Petronia Street to Front Street. Police ticketed one
resident for honking her horn and pulled over another for stopping his
motor home on Duval Street. Officers cited him for not having valid
insurance.
The debate
over cruise ships is long-standing and contentious.
Critics
complain that cruise ships tax the resources of the small town and add
congestion to an already overcrowded island. They believe only a small
number of businesses benefit, and that the crowds drive away land-based
tourists who stay longer and spend more money.
Supporters
contend that cruise ship passengers spend millions of dollars a year,
and many return for longer stays.
Ed Swift,
owner of Historic Tours of America, said the number of ships coming to
town in the months of October, November and December was down in 2003
compared to 2002.
"I can tell
you unequivocally, the cruise ships are relocating," Swift said.
Baron, who
received a bomb threat Thursday morning at his restaurant in response to
the protest, contends passenger counts were up 40 percent in the month
of January comparing 2004 to 2003. City finance department records show
an increase in the number of cruise ship passengers during the past
several years.
tohara@keysnews.com
From Reuters News Service:
Residents in Key West
Florida Protest Cruise Ships
Fri Mar 12, 2004 04:34
PM ET
By Laura Myers
KEY WEST,
Fla. (Reuters) - A parade of horn-honking cars rolled down the main drag
on the Florida resort island of Key West to protest the arrival of
nearly 7,000 cruise passengers Thursday but got little reaction from
swarms of tourists.
Key West
police reported no problems as the protesting drivers cruised Duval
Street, the tiny island's downtown tourist strip lined with jewelry and
T-shirt shops, bars and restaurants.
"Cruise
ships have changed our island into a tacky debasement from what used to
be a unique island," said Elliot Baron, co-chair of Livable Old Town, a
political action committee formed to preserve the town's historic Old
Town neighborhood.
"Cruise
ships have been allowed to run rampant in Key West," Baron said, noting
that cruise disembarkations have tripled in the last decade, Baron said.
"It's too
much. We're seeking a balance that doesn't mean the elimination of
cruise ships but a large reduction."
More than
1 million cruise passengers and 525 port calls by cruise ships were
projected for the year ending in September, Key West budget analyst
Dennis Grote said.
The city's
annual budget for its 26,000 residents is expected to derive more than
$9.7 million in gross revenues from cruise ship docking fees and
passenger head taxes. Without cruise ships, spending would have to be
cut or property tax rates would have to be increased, a city budget
summary said.
Five
cruise ships stopped in Key West Thursday -- Celebrity Cruises'
1,354-passenger ship Horizon and its 1,374-passenger Zenith, Radisson
Seven Seas Cruises' 490-passenger Seven Seas Navigator, Royal Caribbean
International's 2,350-passenger Majesty, and Norwegian Cruise Lines'
1,056-passenger Norwegian Majesty.
The
Celebrity line is owned by Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian Cruise Line is
owned by Star Cruises. The Radisson line is part of privately held
Carlson Companies.
"We think
it's a little too crowded," said one of four Celebrity passengers
sipping margaritas at a restaurant in the southern Florida town. "We're
just trying to have a drink," a companion said.
Longtime
residents complained about cruise passengers and frequent traffic snarls
caused by an influx of college students on spring break and hundreds of
motorcyclists who roared into Key West after Bike Week festivities in
northeast Florida's Daytona Beach.
In its March issue,
National Geographic Traveler magazine put Key West in its "Getting Ugly"
category, ranking it third from last among 115 international travel
destinations for what it called crowding, poor planning and greed.
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