Brady Street on Milwaukee’s East Side is a popular gathering place for attendees of the now annual
Harley-Davidson Homecoming celebration, held this year from July 25-28, but the city alderman who represents that area is raising concerns about the impact on the neighborhood.
“While we are happy and proud to be the home of Harley and are happy to have visitors flocking to events at the Harley Museum and the Harley-Davidson manufacturing facility (and park) on North 35
th Street, the weekend was not all one big easy ride,” Ald.
Jonathan Brostoff said in a news release today. “The celebration on East Brady Street on Saturday drew a significant number of attendees – a mixture of riders and their bikes – and local residents from all over the area. The security was not adequate for the size of their crowd (unfortunately there were violent confrontations that occurred), and many amenities just couldn’t keep up with that many people.”
“Going forward I will not be supportive of the Brady Street Harley celebrations if the company or Brady Street BID does not step up to help cushion the strain on city resources and if Harley does not better collaborate with us in planning for security and logistics,” Brostoff said. “We are thrilled to have events like this moving forward but they need to be considerate of the neighbors in the Brady Street area and we have to work together.”
None of the official Harley Homecoming events were held on Brady Street.
“We are committed to taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety and success of future events,” said Michael Sander, executive director of the Brady Street Business Improvement District. “We were advised to close our streets for this event by District 1 MPD and Alderman Brostoff. We have taken on the financial burden of doing so without planning additional activities around the closure. Despite our efforts to provide adequate security measures at the BIKER BASH, hiring a private security firm (8 security agents for an eight block radius) along with the huge presence of MPD on the streets, we have learned about a violent event that occurred on Saturday, around 9:30 p.m., on North Arlington Street near Pulaski Park, that was adjacent to our street closure. We have not received any specific feedback on incidents that we are able to directly correlate as being a result of the event. Not to say there aren’t any such incidents, but we appreciate and are looking for such feedback. Any violent event is one too many. Our primary focus remains on providing a safe environment for visitors and especially our neighborhood residents. We are committed to working closely with MPD, our elected officials, and other partners to improve security measures. “
A Harley-Davidson spokesperson did not immediately provide comment on Brostoff's remarks.
The Harley Homecoming festival for 2025 will be held from July 10-13 in Milwaukee.
