Cops Are Cranky

Richardson and his 18-year-old friend Devon Gee, president of the park's Teen Leadership Club, have grown up at the park along NW First Avenue. They're tired of seeing the community center shuttered — as it has been for three years. The city has lagged in making improvements needed to reopen it.

In December, officials promised to build a better center with $1.8 million already set aside. Then they whetted Wynwood's appetite by pledging to find an extra $2 million.

Over the past two months, during community meetings organized by Miami en Acción, city officials have broken those vows, shaving off 3,000 square feet from the promised 10,000-square-foot center. "They don't want to invest in a low-income community. The new plan is an insult," says Saraí Portillo, an organizer with the community group.

Sarnoff tells Riptide he might have tapped a private contributor to chip in $400,000 to build a library and learning center at the park.

Gee and Richardson think the city doesn't care about people like them or their neighborhood. "This part," Gee says, pointing at the forlorn park around him, "it's like it's missing." — Janine Zeitlin