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Not in our neighborhood
by Mountain Girl ~ June 19th, 2008. Filed under: Crime, MWCDC, Neighborhood watch.Last Sunday, a ribbon-cutting ceremony took place at the new rain garden in Mt. Washington. Burt Hill employees and Mt. Washington residents donated hours and hours of time and money to make the corner of Shiloh St. and Virginia Ave. more inviting. Instead of focusing on this positive promotion for our business district, we are forced to address the shooting that took place a block away.
According to preliminary reports, two groups of people got into a fight at Sonny’s Place and someone was shot as things escalated. Sonny’s management cannot be blamed for the shooting. That responsibility falls solely on the man that pulled the trigger. However, Sonny’s should take ownership of the kind of clientele that they are tolerating in their establishment. We all know that this isn’t the first incident that’s happened in or around that bar. Everyone has heard the rumors about seedy activities going on there and other unsavory businesses cropping up around this corner.
While I don’t relish in taking part in an initiative to declare a local establishment a nuisance, I don’t see that we as a community have much of a choice at this point. If there is any way Sonny’s could commit to cleaning up its act, maybe they’d get some support from the community. After all, vacant storefronts are not the ultimate goal of any business district.
We know that not all of the people that frequent Sonny’s are bad, but when the few start making our neighborhood unsafe for the many, something’s got to be done. Not only has Sonny’s become dangerous for residents, it’s not helping us combat some of the negative perceptions about Mt. Washington and city living in general.
We’ve been flooded with requests about where to go and what to do about this so here are some ways you can take action right now.
Call the Nuisance Bar Hotline: 412-323-7777 (according to Amanda, we can ask to speak with John McBurney or Sgt. Craig Campbell).
Attend tonight’s MWCDC meeting at 7PM at the Senior Center on Virginia Avenue and voice your concerns.
June 19th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
I understand the owner of Sonnys will be at the meeting tonight. We also are trying to locate the owner of the building.. He should be there too. Could anyone find this out? Spoke to the owner of Dog & Brew he already said this will ruin his business, all this bad publicity about our neighborhood.
June 19th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
We can turn this into a positive if we can successfully put pressure on places like Sonny’s so they close.
I hope he is there so everyone can give him a piece of our minds and show that we all want him out of Mt. Washington. I don’t care how “nice of a kid” he is. He’s being a horrible business owner.
It will take the other business owners on Shiloh to really make the final push to get rid of them.
The MWCDC needs to flex it’s muscles and do something about this.
June 20th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
I find it hard to believe this family that they are ALL capable of cleaning up their act. From what I understand there are those in the family who “own” the bar and those who are actually there when this crap goes on. Cleaning up this business will require a commitment on the entire establishment and not just the lip service of the “owner”
June 20th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Close it down…we have been putting up with that dump for years. I have never heard anything good about that place. I am all for giving a place a chance, but there isnt anything about that place that would make me want to go in there or invite friends to meet me there. It looks trash, has trash outside, and evidently has trash inside as well.
June 20th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
And while we are at it lets gets sloppy joes out of here too
June 20th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
It’s about time
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_573856.html?source=rss&feed=1
June 21st, 2008 at 12:59 am
Some say it takes a village. In Mt. Washington, it takes a murder at a dive bar.
June 21st, 2008 at 1:25 am
Sonny’s isn’t all that bad. I say give them an ultimatum and a chance to clean up their act. My guess is that many of the people trashing the bar have never actually set foot inside of it because of their personal prejudice against the clientele that frequent the bar.
Also, there’s nothing wrong with Sloppy Joes. The effectiveness of the previous comment was severely diminished by subsequently making a completely inane statement about an establishment that is in no way related to the incident at Sonny’s.
The short-sighted reactionary attitude expressed here about the situation is the type of thing that does more harm than good in the long run.
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:53 am
15211 Advocate… how could you even think the owners of Sonny’s were anything less than mortified when this happened? As if they expected this. There has never been an incident like this in their history. They, along with any other business owner, were in disbelief that this happened in their establishment. But after the recent outcry of trying to close them down… how could they not be defensive? The first question at the CDC meeting was ‘How can we close this nuisance bar down?’ They have to defend their business. You are trying to take their livleyhood away because of a non-preventable crime. Its not like the bartneder pulled out a gun. This is one terrible incident… not a pattern of problems. Ask any poilice officer… they are not a nuisance bar… they never have been.
You, along with Stev-O, talk on the site as if Sonny’s caters to ‘bad people’. The owners are local people, with a local business, serving local, residence for 25 years. To think they want to cater to ‘less desirable’ people is uderly ridiculous…
There is nothing wrong with Sloppy Joes? I guess there are no undesirables, no drugs, no weapons there… or at Ricos or Redbeards. It is the same clientel there as in Sonny’s… this same incident could have happen there.
You two sound nieve and misinformed… to think this same incident could not happen anywhere on the mount is ludicrous.
June 23rd, 2008 at 9:21 am
I wish we could go back 20 years and get the police reports regarding Sonny’s. That is why it always has had a bad reputation. Perhaps the owners need to paint the place inside and out, put brighter lights, clean the garbage around their business, and work more with the community as they promised at the MWCDC meeting last week. I realize they did help with the bingo. Did the money all go to the CDC? I think the bingo has been long gone. What else have they done recently. They are only steps from the MWCDC office so it would be real easy to get involved this year. I will be waiting to see what changes they make after this unfortunate incident.
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:09 am
Change the name, close it down for a couple days, redo the menu, hire bouncers, change the specials, rebrand, advertise the changes, keep the corner clean of garbage.. etc.. etc.. etc…i could do this all day, like I said before it’s not rocket science but it does take a commitment and personal awareness.
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:16 am
Advocate- I think that’s a great idea!
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:38 am
We can’t force a private business owner to make these changes. And I don’t think time is the issue. These changes would cost money and unless the business owners anticipate a return on what they’re investing, they have no incentive.
Let’s remain vigilant about reporting suspicious activity in and around Sonny’s (this goes for other bars as well).
MG
June 23rd, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Mountain Girl, We are not forcing the owners of Sonnys to make changes, we are asking. From what I understand that bar has rented space for at least 10 years, surely by now , I would think, they have a good relationship with their landlord. Asking for better lighting, paint etc. should be important to both the building owner and the tenant. If the MWCDC had a good relationship with the property owners in 15211 (I bet they have never met half of them) we could work out some of the problems we have here with tenants etc. Do any of the business owners and property owners in 15211 ever go to any community meetings, events etc? If not, why……
June 25th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
The comment that Sonny’s has the same clientele of the other bars on shiloh is ridiculous. Redbeards and Shiloh Inn have made great strides to make their business more attractive to a more respectable crowd. Sonny’s has no choice but to make significant changes to upgrade their business. if they are unable to do so then they need to make a smaller investment in having police present at the door or have metal detectors to control the scum bags that are frequenting the place. I’m not saying that EVERYONE who goes there are of a seedier element. There may be decent people who have some connection there that makes them feel safe. If I were them, i would be putting pressure on Sonny’s to make some changes as well because their negligence is what has “opened the door” to the wrong people. Sloppy joes at least looks approachable from the outside, but once your in for a drink you think twice about coming back. Both places have the opportunity here to do well and are prime places for entertainment establishments that doesnt need to rely on trash to keep them in business. Good people with money to spend will come and are already coming up here. They dont have to be fancy / trendy places either. Doesnt anyone remember the TV show Cheers? I dont recall drugs and violence part of that series.
July 15th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
A 15-year-old North Side boy has been charged with a fatal shooting last month on Mt. Washington.
http://www.pittsburghpostgazette.com/pg/08197/897117-100.stm
July 17th, 2008 at 1:59 am
So I just have one question for all of you. Is this 15 year old really the shooter???? Well people that were there are saying he is not the shooter so who is he covering for?? And why is he throwing his life away???
July 17th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Well the “people that were there” need to stand up and say something then and not let the system create another lifelong criminal. Question is, are the patrons of Sonny’s the type of people who will stand up and speak out and do the right thing? I’m not holding my breath.
Does the investigation now shift back to Sonny’s to find out why they are letting 15year old punks into their bar? Sounds like a major citation to me.