Parking and Politics

The irony of the joke was obvious enough: The booter's office got booted. But the humor was lost on Andrade. The slight, 28-year-old New York City native pursed his lips as if he'd just bitten into something bitter as he read the red-lettered, laser-printed sheet of paper taped to the door. "Warning: This office has been 'immobilized,' and any attempt to enter may cause difficulties. For release call 305-471-0404, x 1."

That phone number turned out to be Al Sunshine's Shame on You hotline at WFOR-TV (Channel 4). But Al Sunshine had nothing to do this prank. Nor, Andrade is convinced, was the lockout the work of some citizen outraged at having a big yellow boot slapped on his car.

His best guess is that the people responsible were the ones who have a clear financial interest in ruining his business, the ones who have used political persuasion and juvenile sabotage to pursue that end since he arrived in Miami Beach five months ago. "In my opinion?" he said, folding his arms wearily. "I'd say it was a gofer for the towing companies. Call it an educated guess.