This Month in Biscayne Times
86 episodes - English - Latest episode: 6 months ago - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingYou now can enjoy listening to the smart, sophisticated news coverage from Biscayne Times, the #1 source of hyperlocal news for the Biscayne Corridor’s best neighborhoods, from Brickell to Broward, including all the waterfront and island communities.
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Episodes
Biscayne Bay as an Economic Driver
November 06, 2023 01:00 - 9 minutes - 6.23 MBConservationists have been trying to incentivize environmental preservation for more than a century in Florida. If history has made one thing clear, however, it’s that it’s not an easy feat. Indeed, not everyone sees – or cares about – nature’s intrinsic value, focusing rather on how it extrinsically serves our needs. Even then, amid high-rises, office spaces and condominiums, it’s difficult to grasp just how much we rely on our natural ecosystem to survive... Thanks for listening! For more...
Arch Creek Park Pollution Crisis Worsens
November 06, 2023 01:00 - 4 minutes - 1.02 MBArch Creek Park is in trouble – dirty trouble – and local activists are organizing once again to save a historic landmark in North Miami they began fighting for more than 40 years ago. In 1972, environmental lawyer Maureen Harwitz read in a newspaper that Chrysler Automobile Corporation sought to convert historic Arch Creek Park into a used auto lot. She knew she had to get involved to stop those plans and teamed up with local activists like Alice Cohen to do so... Thanks for listening! For...
North Miami Beach Mayor's Race Enters Final Lap
November 06, 2023 00:00 - 6 minutes - 4.24 MBThe city of North Miami Beach’s special mayoral race is in high gear. Now that the qualifying period has officially closed, residents have one month to weigh out potential candidates before the Dec. 5 election. Although pickings are slim in quantity, residents may find that both names on the ballot hold some weight. Evan Scott Piper and Paule Villard, both former commissioners with decades of community involvement behind them, are the only two candidates running. A third candidate, David Za...
Trash Trouble: Miami-Dade’s Looming Landfill Crisis
September 11, 2023 03:00 - 12 minutes - 5.78 MBAs flames spread through Miami-Dade’s massive North Dade Landfill trash incinerator earlier this year in February, destroying the heart of the county’s waste-management system while spreading chemicals through the air, residents could smell, taste and see the results of decades of failed leadership. For years, successive mayors and commissions punted on finding long-term solutions to the county’s garbage woes. New residents and tax dollars poured in, but as development surged so did the amou...
Master Plan for Margaret Pace Park Unveiled
September 07, 2023 08:00 - 5 minutes - 2.35 MBThe city of Miami has big plans for Edgewater’s Margaret Pace Park, and it’s asking the community what it thinks. District 2 Commissioner Sabina Covo and Chris Evans, the city’s parks and recreation director, came together Aug. 10, 2023, to unveil the park’s master plan at the park itself. Located on approximately eight acres of waterfront land along Biscayne Boulevard, it’s slated for a multiphased renovation that the city promises will deliver something for everyone... Thanks for listenin...
New World Symphony Goes Brilliantly Blue
September 07, 2023 08:00 - 6 minutes - 3.01 MB“It will be blue for the Miami sky and for the sea, but also blue for the frames of Emtiti,” said Stéphane Denève enthusiastically, making a gesture around his face. Emtiti. Is that … something Egyptian? “No, no,” he laughed. “M.T.T. You know, Michael Tilson Thomas! He wears those blue glasses!” Denève was discussing some of the themes he plans to explore in his first season leading the New World Symphony as artistic director. His enthusiasm was infectious. Blue is for the city, he said, but...
Special Election Could Shake up Surfside
September 07, 2023 07:00 - 5 minutes - 2.71 MBThe town of Surfside will have a special election Nov. 7, 2023, that could change future elections in the municipality. Residents will vote on five charter amendments, one that would extend the terms of both the mayor and commissioners from two to four years and another that would require a mayoral candidate to receive a majority vote before being elected. If approved, those changes would affect the outcome of the town’s next general election March 19, 2024. As it stands now, all Surfside co...
Women in Hospitality Talk Tourism Trends
September 07, 2023 07:00 - 7 minutes - 3.47 MBWith Miami’s hotel revenue soaring to 24% higher than pre-pandemic levels last year, networking coalition Commercial Real Estate Women Miami (CREW) gathered some of the industry’s top women leaders last month to home in on what’s working for the city’s tourism business – and what’s not. Moderated by Mabelle Perez, director of hotels and hospitality for commercial mortgage lender Berkadia, CREWs “Miami’s Hospitality Market: No Reservations About It” took place at the Mayfair House Hotel & Gar...
Miami Spice Picks for the Best Deals Around Town
August 18, 2023 17:00 - 7 minutes - 3.38 MBThe job of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau may be to attract tourism business to Miami-Dade County, but it’s well aware that fine dining isn’t just for tourists. So when the snowbirds start to fly north that’s our cue to enjoy three-course specialty menus at restaurants all around town, because Miami Spice is back. If you haven’t started sampling all of the great deals this annual August to September initiative has to offer, don’t worry – there’s still plenty of time to indulg...
Biscayne Wildlife in Peril
August 18, 2023 17:00 - 11 minutes - 5.12 MBPoor water quality in Biscayne Bay and its effects on underwater sea animals have been hot topics since the 2020 fish kill, which made headlines statewide and has occurred again every year since. Lesser known, however, are the impacts such conditions have on those found higher up, both in the food chain and in the ecosystem itself. Resting on tree canopies rather than tidal waves, our winged friends, too, rely heavily on the bay for their survival. Thanks for listening! For more local news ...
Messi Mania Means Cash in the Bank
August 18, 2023 17:00 - 4 minutes - 2.23 MBThere will come a time, perhaps in the next two years as planned, when Inter Miami will move into its beautiful new soccer stadium at Miami Freedom Park near Miami International Airport. Until then, Fort Lauderdale civic officials want the world to know their city is the current home of Lionel Messi – not Miami. What good is having a living legend in your community if you can’t use his presence to promote your city? Thanks for listening! For more local news visit BiscayneTimes.com.
The Gibson Room: Out of the Way But Where It's At
April 29, 2023 23:00 - 6 minutes - 4.71 MBThe Gibson Room, as we realized, is never what you expect it to be. It’s better. Let the incurious and their patient Prestons insist on sorting experiences into narrow, limited categories. For the Biscayne Tippler, the gates to paradise open in the unlikeliest places as long as you have eyes to see them... Thanks for listening! For more local news visit BiscayneTimes.com.
Condo Wars! Inside the Palm Bay Feuds
April 29, 2023 22:00 - 14 minutes - 10.2 MBIt’s a tale as old as time, with several chapters unfolding in recent months in the Biscayne Times. February 2023’s “$46 Million Condo Shock” cover story and “Palm Bay’s Triple Trouble” in March have collectively told the story of three Palm Bay condominium buildings that have become battlegrounds over high repair costs or disagreements in management choices. We now bring you “Condo Wars,” with an update on the seemingly never-ending saga that we’ve discovered is not so unusual – and likely ...
Palm Bay’s Triple Trouble
March 07, 2023 18:00 - 9 minutes - 6.79 MBResidents at Palm Bay Towers have been paying off high assessment fees as they wait for litigation against their condo association to conclude. Litigation against the Palm Bay Yacht Club’s $46 million assessment is well underway, with final testimonies, closing arguments and a judge’s ruling expected within the next week or so... Thanks for listening! For more local news visit BiscayneTimes.com.
Trust Dwindles in Town of Surfside
February 21, 2023 00:00 - 11 minutes - 7.96 MBIt would be difficult to imagine that a small eight-block town on the coast of South Florida could produce so much controversy within its borders, but Surfside has found a way. In just two months, a concealed meeting with wealthy developers, sudden resignations, a parody email and an underfunded, high-stake investigation have all plagued the small municipality of 6,000 residents. Just as it seems that an issue is about to be put to rest – settled or not – another one rises out of thin air......
DeFillipo’s Residency Scandal Intensifies Racial Divide
February 21, 2023 00:00 - 11 minutes - 7.78 MBThe racial divide in North Miami Beach city government is coming to a head, with white commissioners “standing by their man,” Mayor Anthony DeFillipo, regardless of growing evidence that he has moved to Davie in violation of the city charter. Meanwhile, the city’s Black commissioners are making themselves scarce until the mayor is forced out, although McKenzie Fleurimond is the only one who admitted as much to The Biscayne Times... Thanks for listening! For more local news visit BiscayneTim...
$46 Million Condo Shock
February 21, 2023 00:00 - 11 minutes - 8 MBThe Palm Bay Yacht Club stands 27 stories high at 780 NE 69th St., and real estate listings for its residences – with price tags between $338,000-$600,000 – boast of Biscayne Bay views, luxury amenities and an idyllic South Florida lifestyle. What’s not included in those effusive property descriptions is that current owners are being told they must agree to cough up more than $175,000 each to bring the building up to snuff to pass its 40-year recertification – repairs the condominium associa...
Heavy Turnover at Aventura City Hall
November 05, 2022 01:00 - 8 minutes - 5.57 MBThe future is clear for Aventura politics as the races to fill all but one of its open commission seats have been over for months now. Mayor-elect Howard Weinberg and future Commissioners Michael Stern and Paul Kruss were automatically elected when they each stood unopposed by the qualifying deadline in August. Weinberg and Stern are back after having served on the commission before, while Kruss, a longtime resident and business owner, has been entrenched in the city’s political fabric in hi...
UHealth and Luxury Developers to Build Monster Medical Center
November 05, 2022 00:00 - 7 minutes - 5.46 MBWhat could be missing from a $4 billion master-planned community whose blueprint already includes luxury housing, retail shops, green spaces and even a 7-acre artificial lagoon? For SoLé Mia developers LeFrak and Turnberry, the answer was rather straightforward: health care. The idea fell into their laps when University of Miami Health System – UHealth for short – went searching for a site to accommodate its new world-class medical center three years ago. After a COVID-induced hiatus, the tr...
Dry Goods, Warm Hearts at Lost Boy
November 05, 2022 00:00 - 6 minutes - 4.5 MBJoe Cole is a bartender. He’s not a mixologist, not an apothecary, and not an artisanal cocktail crafter. He has a warm smile framed by a flowing white wizard’s beard. Somehow, he manages to be everywhere at once, making all the folks who walk into his establishment a little bit happier for having found their way there. He’s not the owner of Lost Boy Dry Goods, but this downtown Miami bar, located at 157 E Flagler St., feels like his place. Thanks for listening! For more local news visit B...
Insurance Crisis Rises Along With Floodwaters
November 05, 2022 00:00 - 9 minutes - 6.85 MBIn the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, images of the widespread devastation of homes in southwest Florida caused by a relentless storm surge has political leaders and insurance industry advocates clamoring for a major overhaul of the state’s property insurance market to deal with the catastrophic impact of flooding. In Miami-Dade County, the situation is more dire as climate change, sea-level rise and runaway development has exacerbated the dangers of coastal and inland flooding, even in the abs...
Redrawn district brings race to Miami-Dade and two challengers against Shevrin Jones
August 11, 2022 05:00 - 8 minutes - 5.83 MBThe reconfigured Senate District 34 seat, formerly District 35, has three opponents on the Aug. 23 primary ballot, fighting for a fair shot at representing its constituents. Incumbent Sen. Shevrin “Shev” Jones, Florida’s first openly gay senator, has served in the seat for two years since the 2020 election and is now seeking another term. Before that, he served in the Florida House of Representatives for eight years. Thanks for listening! For more local news visit BiscayneTimes.com.
Can Audrey Edmonson Make a Comeback?
July 20, 2022 08:00 - 5 minutes - 1.41 MBThere’s no doubt Audrey Edmonson is itching to get back into the political arena. The former Miami-Dade County commissioner appeared ready to shake up the status quo by taking on U.S. Rep Frederica S. Wilson in the upcoming Democratic primary in August. Now that Edmonson’s backed off that seismic political slugfest by not qualifying for the District 24 congressional race, political observers believe she still has the clout to win an elected office that doesn’t feature a strong, entrenched in...
North Miami clawing its way out of the red
July 14, 2022 19:00 - 10 minutes - 2.39 MBAfter six years in the red, North Miami is at last in the black. From one end of the city to another, signs of life are visible everywhere – from Solé Mia in the northeast and downtown to uninviting stretches of NW Seventh Avenue. More than a dozen significant developments will likely alter North Miami’s landscape significantly by 2030, including long-delayed work that’s scheduled to begin in September at Cagni Park. Still, it’s a bit early to break out the punch bowl. The city has turned a ...
Miami Shores Parents Lobby Against Toxic Chemicals
July 14, 2022 17:00 - 7 minutes - 1.65 MBA group of environmentalists has been advocating for more organic pest control in Miami Shores for three years now. But when multiple kids went home May 5 with green spots on their skin and clothing after playing in a local field, parents marshaled around the village’s integrated pest management policy (IPM)... Thanks for listening! For more local news visit BiscayneTimes.com.
Miami Shores Parents Lobby Against Toxic Chemicals
July 14, 2022 17:00 - 7 minutes - 1.65 MBA group of environmentalists has been advocating for more organic pest control in Miami Shores for three years now. But when multiple kids went home May 5 with green spots on their skin and clothing after playing in a local field, parents marshaled around the village’s integrated pest management policy (IPM)...
Micky Steinberg’s Rise to Miami-Dade County Commissioner
July 14, 2022 17:00 - 8 minutes - 2.01 MBResidents living in District 4 of Miami-Dade County will have one less box to check on their ballot come Election Day, and with a new commissioner already decided, constituents of Miami Beach can expect a familiar face. Former Miami Beach Commissioner Micky Steinberg automatically won the race for the fourth seat on the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) when she was left standing unopposed by the filing deadline on June 14. Five seats remain up for grabs this year, with Steinberg set to r...
Off the Grid
June 21, 2022 21:00 - 13 minutes - 9.26 MBWith a goal of lowering greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 in mind and an effort to electrify its public transportation fleet already underway, Miami-Dade County is now taking another stand against climate change, by encouraging property owners to go solar. The county recently launched its 2022 solar co-op in partnership with Solar United Neighbors (SUN), a national nonprofit whose philosophy might well be that there’s strength in numbers. SUN helps communities harness their bulk-p...
Rising Costs Drive Residents to Food Banks in Droves
June 13, 2022 03:00 - 8 minutes - 5.64 MBFor two years, local food banks have been dealing with increased demand for assistance from those greatly affected by the pandemic. Now, these food banks face even more pressure as the cost of everyday goods continues to increase amid supply chain shortages worsened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – leading families to seek help putting food on the table. Curley’s House of Style, Inc. – Hope Relief Food Bank in Liberty City has witnessed a jump in clients in the last few months. From serving...
Condo Owners and Associations Bracing for Impact
June 13, 2022 02:00 - 9 minutes - 6.44 MBAsk condo lawyer Eric Glazer about the biggest problem with the Florida condo mindset, and he gives this answer: “Picture getting together with a group of friends at a restaurant and each one lives in a different condominium. The ‘winner’ at the table has the cheapest condo assessment – $100 cheaper than the runner-up. But the winner is living a lie, and the Florida Legislature has given condo owners and associations enough rope to hang themselves.” That has changed... Thanks for listening!...
Raleigh Hotel to be Restored Alongside Other Art Deco Gems
June 10, 2022 05:00 - 5 minutes - 3.73 MBThe iconic Raleigh Hotel, with its traditional, clean and elegant art deco lines, has sat empty for five years, damage from Hurricane Irma sealing its murky fate. Before then and as far back as 2013, there were projects approved for the property that never came to fruition. It’s also been sold twice since, according to Deborah Tackett, historic preservation and architecture officer for the city of Miami Beach. Thanks for listening! For more local news visit BiscayneTimes.com.
The Battle for White House Inn Scratches the Surface
June 08, 2022 17:00 - 9 minutes - 6.39 MBIf Related Group gets its way, North Miami’s Biscayne Bay frontage is in for a seismic change. Related has submitted plans for Icon Residences, a 15-story, $150-million project on the one-acre plot of land at 2305 NE 123 St., now occupied by the two-story White House Inn, built in 1969, closed in 2014, and now shuttered and fenced. Thanks for listening! For more local news visit BiscayneTimes.com.
One Year Later
June 08, 2022 17:00 - 12 minutes - 8.44 MBFor the survivors and families of the 98 fallen victims of the Surfside condo collapse, the past year has seen a flurry of mourning, litigation and effort to honor or recover all that has been lost. Now, as the one-year anniversary of the tragedy approaches, those affected are beginning to see some results. Settlements have been all but finalized for cases related to property loss and wrongful death suits, plans for a full weekend of events honoring survivors and victims are well underway, a...
Swanky New Building Marks Overtown Evolution
January 18, 2022 15:00 - 11 minutes - 7.68 MBOvertown’s newest luxury residential tower, Soleste Grand Central, stands 18 stories high and sports modern suites, and a resort-style pool, spa, rooftop deck, club room and fitness center. Its Class A rental units are branded as mixed-use, but just over 20% only are reserved for affordably priced workforce housing. With big changes coming to Miami’s historic Black neighborhood, does breathing new life into Overtown mean that longtime residents will be left behind or are local leaders making...
That Sinking Feeling
January 18, 2022 15:00 - 12 minutes - 8.77 MBFor Aaron DeMayo, the first shock came when he saw the water overlapping the sea wall on Tatum Waterway on Miami Beach. “Wow, this is happening,” he told himself. DeMayo’s been following the water ever since. He was once trapped in a cab after crossing the Venetian Bridge to the mainland because floodwaters had closed down North Bayshore Drive. When he finally got to his high-rise building near Margaret Pace Park, water had shut down the elevators. He walked up 15 flights of stairs. Thanks ...
How to Pick a Top Cop
November 07, 2021 11:00 - 13 minutes - 9.12 MBThe stunning fall of former Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo reveals a lot about the best way to select a police chief, and how not to do it. Experts in policing and good government say it’s crucial for the process to be a public one that seeks the opinions of all the city’s communities. The kind of plan that Miami leaders started – and then abandoned – in selecting Acevedo. Thanks for listening! For more local news visit BiscayneTimes.com.
Peeling Away the Layers of Power at City Hall
November 07, 2021 10:00 - 11 minutes - 7.84 MBThis was going to be the year of “What can I do to help?” The year when Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, through his YouTube Cafecito Talks and Twitter interactions with global business leaders, was going to publicize the Magic City as the friendly alternative to high-tax regions like New York and California. Thanks for listening! For more local news visit BiscayneTimes.com.
A Dream Business Opened with Strong Bonds of Friendship
November 07, 2021 10:00 - 6 minutes - 4.31 MBIt was a match made in heaven – a group of friends with a dream, and a neighborhood hungry for their business. Bianca Sanon, Brian Wright, Audrey Wright, Ben Yen and Sef Chesson are the founders and owners of Paradis Books & Bread in North Miami, where they’ve established a wine club, maintain an enviable library of thought-provoking and politically charged books, bake fresh bread and other goods, and offer a carefully curated selection of bites. Thanks for listening! For more local news vi...
Impress Out-of-Town Visitors With Hot Miami Dining Spots
November 07, 2021 08:00 - 4 minutes - 1.57 MBIf you’re hosting visitors from out of town, you want to make sure they have a great time. And one way to do that is to eat – a lot. Whether your guests are here for the first time or the fifth time, there are some restaurants that are always a must in Miami. Thanks for listening! For more local news visit BiscayneTimes.com.
Can Ken Russell Get to Washington?
November 07, 2021 08:00 - 11 minutes - 7.98 MBIt's as if Ken Russell can't wait to leave Miami City Hall. For the second time in six years, Russell is aiming for federal office with time left on his tenure as a Miami city commissioner. On this go-round, he wants to be the Florida Democrat who gets a shot at dethroning U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio in the 2022 midterm election, which is a full year before Russell’s current and final city commission term expires. Thanks for listening! For more local news visit BiscayneTimes.com.
Miami Book Fair Returns Live and Online
November 07, 2021 07:00 - 9 minutes - 6.58 MBLast year, like most everything else that required dense crowds to gather, Book Fair canceled all live events and went completely virtual. "Miami Book Fair online was very successful last year, and we were very happy with what happened and how it rolled out – the mix of authors, the conversations, the feedback. And we knew that having had the experience of how to produce a fully online book fair and be successful at it, we could come back and do the same thing all over again," said Lissette ...
J&W’s Wildcat Center comes on a platter with catches galore
November 07, 2021 07:00 - 6 minutes - 4.8 MBAt this moment of peril teetering on opportunity, the City of North Miami is the town on the flying trapeze. On the peril side, the city is scrambling to get out of big money trouble. Yet opportunity awaits, with an unprecedented wave of development under construction, on the books or in plans this year, as big money recognizes this city’s bull’s-eye location between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, while interest rates and construction costs rise. Thanks for listening! For more local news visit ...
Redistricting Already Redrawing the Lines
November 07, 2021 06:00 - 13 minutes - 9.05 MBMiami-Dade is still the most populous county in Florida, but according to the results of the 2020 Census, its population isn’t growing as fast as most of its neighbors. And the places where the population is increasing the most are miles away from Miami’s urban core or densely developed coastline. Thanks for listening! For more local news visit BiscayneTimes.com.
The Need to Fill Hearts and Wallets
October 09, 2021 23:00 - 17 minutes - 12.3 MBSteven Rosenthal was asleep in his bed when he was woken by a very loud bang. “I thought it was the loudest thunderclap I heard in my life, times 100,” he recalled. Thinking it was just a storm, Rosenthal fell back to sleep. Then the bed started shaking and dust fell from the ceiling. That’s when he thought Florida was being hit by a rare earthquake. Thanks for listening! For more local news visit BiscayneTimes.com.
The Race is on For City of Miami District 5
October 09, 2021 00:00 - 11 minutes - 8.18 MBThere was a stack of household items in the corner of Miami City Commissioner Jeffrey Watson’s office, objects like a cooler, bottled water, bug spray, a portable fan, bleach, paper towels, masks, wipes and other items. They were part of a presentation by Communities United. To continue running the nonprofit organization’s Senior First Disaster Preparedness program in District 5, executive director Hattie Willis needed $30,000... Thanks for listening! For more local news visit BiscayneTimes...
Teens Get A Bad Rap
October 08, 2021 22:00 - 4 minutes - 3.45 MB“Teens get a bad rap,” my son’s doctor said to me recently during a routine appointment. Varisa Perlman of Miami Beach Pediatrics should know. She’s been a pediatrician for decades and has recently sent one of her kids to college and is ushering another through their latter high school years. “My kids are my residency,” she said. She applies those lessons learned to the dozens of teenagers, and their parents, that she sees every week. Thanks for listening! For more local news visit Biscayne...
Different Meltdowns in North Miami and North Miami Beach
October 08, 2021 22:00 - 9 minutes - 6.86 MBThe ground is shifting fast in North Miami and particularly in North Miami Beach, and the September budget month proves it. Taxpayers and residents can expect water, sewer and garbage rates – and property taxes – to inch up as fall turns to winter. Thanks for listening! For more local news visit BiscayneTimes.com.
Miami-Dade’s Police Oversight Panel Inches Forward
October 08, 2021 22:00 - 9 minutes - 6.58 MBThe creation of the Independent Civilian Panel (ICP) was Commissioner Barbara Jordan’s last major legislative victory before leaving office. Tasked with investigating complaints and grievances filed against officers of the Miami-Dade Police Department, and reviewing policies within the MDPD, the ICP’s passage was an uphill battle that was only won in late August 2020 when Jordan agreed to give up the oversight board’s ability to subpoena county employees... Thanks for listening! For more lo...
Evictions Coming Fast and Furious
September 08, 2021 19:00 - 16 minutes - 11.6 MBSid Hoeltzell has witnessed a lot of things from the view of his Wynwood loft. Cars blasting their stereo bass so loud that the windows rattled. Children playing among tractor trailers. Art gallery warehouses replaced with mixed-use apartment high-rises and offices. And gun battles... Thanks for listening! For more local news visit BiscayneTimes.com.
Water Customers Owe for the Past and Future
September 08, 2021 15:00 - 15 minutes - 3.5 MBIt’s easy to turn on the tap and take things for granted. Our drinking water is pumped, aerated, chemically processed, filtered and piped in the Biscayne Aquifer, a shallow layer of permeable limestone roughly 100 feet underground. Approximately 4,000 square miles beneath Biscayne Bay, the Atlantic Ocean and Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, it supplies almost all of southeast Florida’s drinking water. Thanks for listening! For more local news visit BiscayneTimes.com.