kf5nd
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RESOLVED: Angelika Theatre bike-unfriendly - 2007/12/26 18:48
Mr. James J. Cotter, CEO
Reading International, Inc.
500 Citadel Drive
Suite 300
Commerce, CA 90040
Dear Mr. Cotter:
My name is Peter Wang, I am on the advisory board of BikeHouston, Houston's non-profit bicycle advocacy organization. I was sent a blog posting from a local Houston bicyclist, Mr. Ian Hlavacek, who was not provided safe, secure bicycle parking by the management at the Angelika Theatre Houston, even though such a service has been provided to him in the past (access to a spacious locked storeroom), doing so was trivially easy, and it cost the theatre nothing at all.
I, too, am an Angelika patron, and I am very concerned about this discrimination against bicyclists. You would think that the Angelika, which screens alternative media, would be open and amenable to accomodating a bike riding guest who is doing his personal best to avert the global climate-change crisis... but evidently, your managers in Houston have not heard of global warming, nor the measures we all must take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, one of the strongest measures is not driving and taking a bicycle.
This matter has been blogged on the Citizens' Transportation Coalition website, and the BikeHouston website. These sites get thousands of hits.
I urge you to reach out to your Houston managers today, and tell them to please accomodate bicycles in their locked storeroom, as they have in the past (or an equally safe, secure parking option as judged by the bike-riding customer). I eagerly await your reply by email.
Peter Wang
BikeHouston Advisory Board Member
Citizens' Transportation Coalition
------------------------------------
Hello
I am a longtime Angelika patron and a neighbor of the local theatre, and the vast majority of my visits over the years have been nothing less than fantastic, comfortable experiences. Not so last night, when I discovered the uncharacteristically backwards policy of Angelika that visitors may not bring bicycles into the theatre. See, in light of recent spikes in gasoline prices and increasing concerns over global warming and air pollution (and simply because I like being outdoors), I have recently been leaving my car at home and have been commuting to work by bicycle instead. This arrangement requires me to equip my bicycle with all sorts of expensive gear – lights, locks, pumps, as well as bike bag holding my work clothes and shoes – that I cannot afford to lose, so I do not feel comfortable locking my bike to a regular bike rack where these costly additions could be easily ripped off. Likewise, removing all of these pieces to take with me for safe-keeping and then reattaching later would take far too long. For these reasons, I am somewhat limited in where I can go directly after work – which is unfortunate, because riding my bike home to get my car to drive right back out from where I came would largely defeat many of the points of riding the bicycle in the first place. Surprisingly, this has not been a problem for me until last night. Two very-suburban Best Buys, an Academy, and even the same Angelika theater have in the past all allowed me to bring my bicycle into the building where it could be watched by security and cashiers. I know watching strangers’ bicycles is not exactly these employees’ jobs, but their willingness to accommodate me above and beyond rigid store policies has not just made my stay possible but also enjoyable. For this, I have become a regular customer at these destinations.
The accommodations provided by Best Buy and Academy were very surprising; after all, these are suburban-style, big-box stores surrounding by huge parking lots that cater specifically to the automobile-entrapped. I was less surprised when, in the past, Angelika employees allowed me to store my bicycle in their spacious, locked stockroom. In my mind, the Angelika is the quintessential urban theater. In Houston at least, the theater is embedded in the most urban part of downtown, which can be reached not just by patrons in cars but also by walking, bus, light rail, and yes, even biking. This contrasts spectacularly to 99% of all other theaters in the Houston area and is one of the reasons the Angelika is my destination of choice for movies.
Surely, such an urban-friendly theater would be thrilled to accommodate bicycles, right? Wrong!
Last night, I rode my bicycle from work to the theatre, and my wife took the bus to meet me. We were feeling very good as we purchased our tickets for the relatively early 6pm showtime – until I entered the theatre and was greeted by a remarkably unfriendly stare from the manager. He let me know in no uncertain terms that the Angelika has a specific policy forbidding bicycles in the theatre and that I would have to lock it up outside. I tried to reason with him; after all, we were at the theater early on a Monday night, so the building was essentially empty. I let the manager know that I’ve locked the bike up in the storeroom before; he insisted that was against policy. I then wondered if I could lock it up in the huge café area of the theater that is currently unused; this would be completely out of the way of employees and customers, and I would feel much, much safer with the bike and its components locked up inside the building. Surprisingly, this was also completely unacceptable. “Against policy!”
A policy against bicycles? Not even Best Buy and Academy have policies against bicycles! Why should the most urban, cool theater in town prohibit bicycles inside the building? Especially at times when the building is empty and my wife and I would be some of the very few customers bringing in any money? I wouldn’t ask for this favor of Angelika employees during busy weekend hours and I would not expect them to be able to comply if I did. But on Monday, at 6pm, with not a soul besides the employees in the theater – why not accommodate patrons if doing so is so easy?
If the Angelika truly has a specific policy against allowing bicycles in the theater, I would strongly urge them to reconsider the rule and give theater managers more leeway to accommodate cyclists. On the other hand, if there is no policy, I would suggest someone call Houston Angelika and inform them that turning away regular patrons is pretty bad policy.
Despite the stunning disappointment of being turned away from our favorite theater and having to give up on our planned movie-date, my wife and I still have a very nice night. We walked across downtown in the pleasant fall weather and had a wonderful dinner at China Garden restaurant – where the management insisted I bring my bike inside because I would surely have something stolen if I left it outside. This at a small restaurant with far less space to store a bicycle than the theater across town. Now that’s the way to treat a customer!
Thank you,
Ian Hlavacek
Post edited by: kf5nd, at: 2008/01/04 10:31
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