Landing bill moves forward without preservation funds, but mayor may veto

[buckethead]

I suppose prostitutes could be construed as a form of time share.

I'm always glad to help!

[Doctor_K]

I suppose prostitutes could be construed as a form of time share.

I'm always glad to help!

ROFL.

And it's worth the lunch and the sales pitch!

[DeadGirlsDontDance]

In addition to the $3.5 million payment, the city would also agree to give Sleiman’s company $2.5 million for parking validations when people shop or eat at the Landing over the next 20 years.

Also, what's the negative in validating parking for people who shop and eat at the center?  Are we afraid that such moves may actually make the center vibrant with retail shops and restaurants, thus discrediting the need for meters in general?

Yes. We can't change anything, because if doing something different works, that's an admission that we were wrong before! And we can't have that!

[tufsu1]

actually the problem is in having the City reimburse the Landing for discounted parking....since Sleiman owns 1 lot now and will be purchasing the other soon (with City money) he can do whatever he wants with parking costs....there will be no need for additional public subsidy for those lots.

[DeadGirlsDontDance]

actually the problem is in having the City reimburse the Landing for discounted parking....since Sleiman owns 1 lot now and will be purchasing the other soon (with City money) he can do whatever he wants with parking costs....there will be no need for additional public subsidy for those lots.

Good point, but I still think there's a lot of "We're not going to fix this because don't want to embarrass ourselves by admitting we were doing it wrong before" mentality involved.

[subro]

This is good. Getting jumped in front of the Landing at 7:30 on a Monday. Where is the police presence downtown?

Man beaten in front of The Jacksonville Landing, 1 attacker taunting him because he was 'old'

Source URL: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2010-08-18/story/man-beaten-front-jacksonville-landing-one-attacker-taunting-him-because

Posted: August 18, 2010 - 12:06pm

By Dan Scanlan

The only thing the 44-year-old victim said he heard one of his attackers exclaim after he was beaten Monday night in front of The Jacksonville Landing was, "That will teach you old people waiting for the bus at night," according to the police report.

Now police are looking for two to four young men who left the Jacksonville man with a swollen eye and an injured shoulder after the 7:30 p.m. attack.

Police said the man was just waiting for a bus in front of the Landing at 2 Independent Drive when the men ran up and attacked him. They stole his cell phone, 1988 Marengo High School class ring and $370 in cash before running off and one of them yelling the comment as he fled. The victim was treated at St. Vincent's Medical Center.

[Lucasjj]

That is a lot of cash to be carrying around. I wonder if they saw him with it, and that is what prompted the mugging. Not that it justifies it. I just think when more details come out, it won't seem like it was just random violence, but an idea for easy money.

[duvaldude08]

Well its evident they were not in front of the Landing. The reason being is, despite what one may think, downtown is not the most dangerous area in Jacksonville. Being that there is not many in people even in our downtown after work hours, I am not shocked there wasnt policy presence. However, for situations that do occur every now and then, we need to make downtown safe. Even if they are not patroling, maybe the Landing should have some off duty cops in the area at night for safety

[duvaldude08]

That is a lot of cash to be carrying around. I wonder if they saw him with it, and that is what prompted the mugging. Not that it justifies it. I just think when more details come out, it won't seem like it was just random violence, but an idea for easy money.

Yeah they may have been wacthing him. I mean how lucky can a criminal get that the mugg someone who actually has that much cash on them?

[KuroiKetsunoHana]

maybe the Landing should have some off duty cops in the area at night for safety

haven't we learned yet that off-duty cops are worse than muggers?

[uptowngirl]

Well we spent a lot of the weekend at the Landing, and while we only saw a couple of police officers we did see several security guards. They seemed much more interested in harassing the people at the landing who were actually spending money there! They told several adults they could not be in the fountain in bathing suits, only their street clothes (apparently only children were allowed on the "landing beach" in bathing suits). They also were very active in letting people know where they could and could not sit- there was a limited amount of shade, most being around the band stand and that was apparently another big no, sitting or leaning on/against the bandstand. I was really surprised by the number of people these security guards managed to tick off and drive away from the Landing, bit homeless sitting on the Riverwalk benches and digging through the trash cans, asking for money was just fine.

[ChriswUfGator]

Well we spent a lot of the weekend at the Landing, and while we only saw a couple of police officers we did see several security guards. They seemed much more interested in harassing the people at the landing who were actually spending money there! They told several adults they could not be in the fountain in bathing suits, only their street clothes (apparently only children were allowed on the "landing beach" in bathing suits). They also were very active in letting people know where they could and could not sit- there was a limited amount of shade, most being around the band stand and that was apparently another big no, sitting or leaning on/against the bandstand. I was really surprised by the number of people these security guards managed to tick off and drive away from the Landing, bit homeless sitting on the Riverwalk benches and digging through the trash cans, asking for money was just fine.

There's a reason they made a spoof movie about mall cops. Little mind + Big ego = Comedy.

Unfortunately it's not going to be so funny for Tony & crew to try and get visitors back there if that's the end-user experience that awaits them. There are already enough reasons not to go down there, adding a couple obnoxious security guards with napoleon complexes to the list isn't going to help matters.

[JeffreyS]

I went to the Landing and everything inside was nice.  Outside however there was a (I guessing) urban outdoors man yelling and cursing at a group of two couples because they put money in the meter on a holiday this really bugged him.  They said "oh well we should have known that" and he still proceeded to yell on and on until one of the Men told him to mind his own business.  That set him off wanting to fight.  The people moved on inside. They were never in any danger as the men were young and big but you could see these people were not happy with their venture into downtown before they even made it to lunch.
My five year old was scared by the yelling and we kept our distance.

[simms3]

Last time I was downtown, I went to a party across from the Landing, but we had to park under the Main Street Bridge as the street was torn up.  Lo and behold, my dad and I were walking to the car and this must have been right after a triathlon or some athletic event because there were two chicks with their numbers still attached (we had seen members of this group walking into the Landing on our way over to our spot) going at it.  The fight was pretty serious even though it was two women and one was hurt.  There were guys trying to break it up and other women there and the whole time the guys were also on the verge of fighting.  It was not pleasant to be around AT ALL, and my dad and I hightailed it out, but the security and a cop or two were walking up as we were driving off.

Seems like the Landing may have some security issues: all of our stories that are recent to a couple of weeks, the guy at the bus stop who was beat, etc.

[acme54321]

IMO the landing just plain needs a complete makeover, especially on the inside.  It seems like a building that can't really decide what it wants to be.