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Ybor City shows resilience after recent tragedies
The Ybor City community says it is resilient and bouncing back from tragedy. FOX 13's Danielle Zulkosky reports.
YBOR CITY, Fla. - Ybor City held its 15th annual tree lighting in Centro Ybor on Thursday night. This celebration came in the face of two back-to-back tragedies.
Just after midnight on Saturday, Nov. 8 a driver lost control of his vehicle while speeding in Ybor City and crashed into pedestrians on 7th Avenue. That incident killed four people and injured 14 more.
Then on Friday, Nov. 14 Dedrick Sykes lost his life in a road rage shooting. Tampa Police announced charges in that case online while the celebration was happening on 8th Avenue.
What they're saying:
It was a tale of two cities. Today people gathered in Ybor full of joy and happiness as they lit the tree in Centro Ybor for the 15th year.
"I am so excited. This is where it all begins for me in Tampa in Ybor City," said Tyler Butler. "The lighting of the tree, it's one of my favorite things to do of course, during the holiday to start it all off."
The other side:
The last two weekends told a different story with two separate tragic incidents ending in loss of life.
"Right before the tree lighting today, we will have a moment of silence to honor those who lost their lives," said Nicholas Oberholtzer, the Centro Ybor manager.
The community said this turn out shows their strength.
"It happened in Ybor City," said April Mack, an Ybor native. "So that makes us look stronger; we aren't even giving up on our community. We are coming out here strong. You see all these beautiful people. You can't beat that."
"We bounce back from many things and Bradley's did a great job of honoring these poor people, not only that but the injured and the people that knew these people," said Max Herman, the tree lighting ceremony emcee. "It's a tough thing to hold on your heart when something like that happens, but Ybor City is very strong and we are going to bounce back just fine."
"The one thing you see with Ybor is Ybor is resilient," Oberholtzer said. "In our little community, in our little area we're all neighbors, we all love each other we all reach out when someone needs help."
What's next:
People are still advocating for change on 7th Avenue to make it safer for pedestrians.
The council expects to hear from the police chief about ways to improve safety at the beginning of next month.
"Ybor has this connotation of it being unsafe, and it's not," Oberholtzer said. "Ybor is actually one of the safer areas in Tampa when you look at the crime statistics and everything else."
Some on the council advocate for keeping the streets open to help reduce violent crime, all while looking into other safety measures.
As for the tree lighting, there were people packed into 8th Avenue ready to see the tree be lit.
The street was shut down for this special event with police cars and barriers.
The Source: Interviews done by FOX 13's Danielle Zulkosky.