As free meals resume, Fort Lauderdale officials pick new site
By TANYA WEINBERG, Sun-Sentinel
June 22, 2000
FORT LAUDERDALE -- Two words escaped Arnold Abbott's mouth as he carried a tray of chicken teriyaki over to a row of picnic tables on Wednesday evening.
"Seventh heaven."
He wasn't describing the food, which by all accounts was a delight. The activist, 76, was talking about being back on the beach after 15 months, serving the homeless for the first time since a Broward Circuit judge ordered the city to stop enforcing a park rule to keep him away.
His return to a nine-year tradition, welcomed by about 60 diners and a dozen Love Thy Neighbor volunteers, was anything but welcome for the city. Its position is that Abbott is no longer protected by Judge Estella May Moriarty's June 14 injunction, because the City Commission designated another location for the feedings.
Moriarty ruled that Abbott's efforts to feed the homeless were motivated by a religious belief and that he was illegally burdened by the city's permit requirements. She also ruled that the city must stop enforcing park rules against him until it chooses an alternate site for the feedings, or amends its zoning codes.
The City Commission on Tuesday designated a city parking lot in the 5000 block of Northwest 12th Avenue, near Lockhart Stadium.
Ironically, this
site is only a few blocks from my current residence near the intersection of
Commercial and Powerline - John
Abbott and his supporters say the other site is too far from downtown, where most homeless people live.
"I'm sure that's not what the judge had in mind," Abbott said.
The city faxed Abbott's lawyer a letter on Wednesday hours before the feeding, informing him of the alternate site and stating that starting Thursday, the park rule would be enforced.
The city will cite Abbott for trespassing after that, said Assistant City Manager Bud Bentley. After that, "He could be arrested."
"Read your T-shirt," said Abbott, pointing to the shirts he had distributed, announcing meals on the beach "At 5 p.m. every Wednesday."
Return to Home Page