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The incident was caught live on Facebook this morning, and Courtney Menzies has this story.

OMG Cafe has sat at the foot of Swing Bridge, under City Hall, since December 2019. Their bright pink banners have adorned their business for years. The banner attached to the rails at the front of the establishment in particular is what calls customers in.

But today, city wardens and police officers arrived to forcibly remove the banner. The incident was caught on camera by the business owner, who immediately went live.

Business Owner
"Why do you need to remove it? A scissors? You all will get charged. You don't know how I got money to put this up."

Miguel Sosa
"We also have members of the police with him as well to remove our banner."

Business Owner
"Let it go. Thank you very much. What will you do, stand up all day and watch it? Because as you leave I'm putting it up back."

"You want them to dictate to you, they can't dictate to me. We are paying our rent, everything we're paying. So if it's scenery you want, it's scenery you will get."

Miguel Sosa, Co-owner, OMG Cafe
"They brought the police department to enforce as well. So I want to show you guys something. Why they're doing this is that we have a young man behind here that opened his business and apparently he can put all the signs that he wants, if you look he has it up but they're asking us to remove our banners because his business needs to survive. I understand, these are hard times but they are using all of their resources to basically oppress us so that we can't operate our business."

The business he is referring to is Old River Bar and Grill, which was first opened in 2023. It is adjacent to OMG Cafe and according to Sosa, ever since they became neighbors, their business has been targeted.

Miguel Sosa, Co-owner, OMG Cafe
"Every since they were open, we started getting some requests from the council, one of them primarily was the removal of this banner. We had two banners here on the side, we removed those but the main one that kind of brings the business in was here and it's in very good condition. They said they wanted to put a sign here and do something different but they haven't really brought anything concrete to us but what they're telling me to do is to remove my banner right away and they will figure it out."

"I have written a letter to them asking why, they haven't responded but they've sent people down here almost every week to harass out, even during our busy times they come and harass us, stop us from doing our business."

"Immediately after I removed the sign the first time, people started messaging me and asking if my business is closed down. So why am I suffering financial damages and they are not?"

When we checked this evening, the banner had not been replaced.

The City Council has since issued a press release stating that back in December, the Valuation Manager communicated to all the City Hall vendors that banners placed in front of the building needed to be removed, but that ones on the interior could remain. The vendors were also encouraged to install metal signs. The release says, quote, "This decision aligns with our ongoing efforts to enhance the aesthetics and upkeep of City Hall, including rehabilitation work, sidewalk and parking space painting, and general improvements, while still providing vendors with a structured and organized platform to promote their businesses." End quote.

As it relates to OMG Cafe, the release says that on January 22nd, the Revenue and Valuation Managers held a meeting with the owners asking for their cooperation to adhere to the guidelines, however, compliance was not met. And that's why they sought assistance from the Enforcement and Police Departments to remove the banner.