Dueling Petitions: Hoyt St. Group Goes Online Against Bar

This was almost a given. There are now dueling petitions over the controversial oyster bar on Hoyt Street that restaurant operator Jim Mamary wants to open. There's a pro-bar petition at Bagels by the Park on Smith Street. Now, the Hoyt Street Alliance, which is trying to block an Oyster Bar, has started an online petition to Community Board Six to supplement their low tech activism. It says in part:

SAY NO TO A LATE HOURS LIQUOR BAR AT 301 HOYT STREET!

The residents of Hoyt Street between Sackett and Union need your support to make sure that the residential qualities of our block and our community remain stable. We do not want to give it over to those who, for quick profit, would turn our block and our neighbors� blocks into a night-time playground.

Smith Street is saturated with bars. Guess what? Bar owners are now targeting Hoyt Street. This times it's our block - a month from now it could be any of our neighbors' blocks.

The owners of Patois, Bagels by the Park, Smith Union Cafe, and other restaurants have contributed much to the re-vitalization of Smith Street and have been responsible business owners. We, their residential neighbors, have contributed to the success of their establishments by eating and drinking there. We call on them to respect us, our homes and families by keeping Smith Street strong, and leaving the neighboring blocks to the residents and to their right to enjoy their homes in peace and quiet. We, the undersigned, urge Jim Mammery, James Geritano, and Alan Harding, to respect our right to live on a residential block and to accept that there is no community support for a liquor bar on Hoyt Street.

We also call on CB6 to ensure that our block remain residential and we urge the State Liquor Authority to reject an application for a liquor license.

We await the blog. In the meantime, anyone interested in the petition can click here. The pro-bar petition is apparently a paper-only affair, but can dueling online petitions be far behind?