“If an institution has not made it after 10 years, it shouldn’t be around anymore,” said auto dealership magnate and art collector Norman Braman in a 2014 interview with The New York Times. Ten years later, the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami (ICA) is still standing. More than that, it’s thriving. After receiving a reported 1 million visitors a…

What was thought to be a victory for the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) and the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in a monthslong digital billboard debate has since turned into something quite different. Rather, the real battle has only just begun. In a recent reversal by the Miami City Commission at its May 23 meeting, the body voted to…

The LGBTQ+ community has become Florida’s political battleground over the past two years. In 2022, Gov. Ron DeSantis waged a heavily publicized war against drag queens performing in Wynwood. Last year, he signed a slew of anti-LGBTQ+ bills from the Florida Legislature. Most recently, the governor expressed a clear intent to challenge federal protec…

The Upper East Side’s most beloved neighborhood restaurant is moving, expanding into a new, larger space. Will this tiny, hidden gem – our go-to spot for comfort food – lose its charm? Before we answer that, let’s take a look back at its origin story... Thanks for listening! For more local news visit BiscayneTimes.com.…

When Luis Cabrera assumed the position of police chief in the Village of Biscayne Park following a former chief’s arrest over corruption charges, he told the community that it was his mission to repair the village’s reputation. Six years later, it’s clear that he has only made it worse. Thanks for listening! For more local news visit BiscayneTimes.…

Belle Meade is at a turning point in its long-winding history, but as is the case with most evolutions, it’s being preceded by a war. There are two camps developing in the Upper East Side neighborhood: those who want to preserve the eclectic character of the community, and those who want to preserve their rights as property owners to remodel and re…

City of Miami commissioners voted 3-2 April 25 to ban future construction of oversized, digital billboards in the municipality. But to be clear, residents will still stumble upon these very structures during their downtown walks or drives. The vote puts the city one step closer to rescinding an ordinance passed in 2023 that allows 100-foot LED bill…

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced a $2.5 billion bond proposal at her State of the County address Jan. 24, 2023. A little more than two months after Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava floated a $2.5 billion general obligation bond (GOB) referendum during her State of the County address to pay for a series of expansive…

The best thing about baseball is the legends that build up around the game. There’s always a story, and it always has a whiff of the unreal, whether it’s Yogi Berra’s leaps in logic, Dock Ellis’ psychedelic-fueled no-hitter, Bo Jackson’s left-handed homer or the Curse of the Billy Goat on the Cubs (the bad vibes only being broken by a goat-eating c…

The Miami City Commission has voted unanimously to approve increased height limits in the MiMo Biscayne Boulevard Historic District under certain conditions. The final language adopted last month through the approved ordinance allows 20 feet of additional height for a project on a one-acre lot or larger, if that project includes a public benefit by…

Arch 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 lo…

Conservationists 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, of…

The 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 Villa…

As 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 punt…

The 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 alo…

“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 …

With 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…

The 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 …

There 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 …

The 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 sta…

Poor 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 …

The 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 …

It’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 manageme…

Residents 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 listeni…

The 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, altho…

It 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 …

The 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…

The 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 hav…

What 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 – UHe…

Joe 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 B…

In 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 …

The 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 th…

There’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 Distric…

After 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 l…

Residents 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 Commissioner…

A 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 …

With 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…

For 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…

Ask 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 li…

The 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 pre…

If 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 liste…

For 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 f…

Overtown’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…

For 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. Whe…

The 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 abandone…

It 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 politicall…

This 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 vi…

If 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.…

It'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 bef…

At 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-e…