City Life >>

• BEST LOCAL PHANTASMAGORIA
  Canker creeps, Wagner Creek reeks, traffic snarls, rain storms arrive, Latin Grammys arrive, rapists prowl, kids take bullets, DCF kills, Omar Paisley dies, John Brennan dies, Leonard Pancoast dies, MIA rabbits get to live, Crandon Park cabanas live again, Augustín Roman steps down, David... More >>
• BEST HOTEL
  The Raleigh
  Step into the Raleigh and instantly you're transported to another time -- 1940 to be exact, the year prolific architect L. Murray Dixon's monument to Streamline Moderne design threw open its dazzling doors. Slink through the sophisticated lobby like the movie star you are. Slip into the cozy... More >>
• BEST NEW ARCHITECTURAL TREND
  High-rise lofts
  Builders are banking on Miami's magic in a big way. Somehow in the next two to four years -- poof! -- the downtown area, from Brickell through the newly christened Biscayne Boulevard Corridor, will fill with some 40,000 new residents eager to shell out a quarter-million to a million bucks to... More >>
• BEST PROMOTER OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY
  Michael Spring
  As any starving artist knows, it is possible to create culture without money. But it's a heck of a lot easier to be creative with money. For the 1000-plus cultural groups in Miami-Dade County and thousands more individual artists, Michael Spring has been a crusader, benefactor, and best friend.... More >>
• BEST PEDESTRIAN EXPERIENCE
  Flagler Street from Twelfth Avenue to Biscayne Bay
  Power up for your stroll with a pinolio purchased at the Nicaraguan cantina on the corner of Twelfth and Flagler. A cold cocoa drink made with sweet milk, it's just the jolt you'll want to get you on your way. Heading east on Flagler, you'll pass street peddlers and homeless immigrants working... More >>
• BEST DISAPPEARING ACT
  Grand Prix of the Americas
  The event's original presenters -- Miami architect Willy Bermello, attorney Peter Yanowitch, and racing celebrity Emerson Fittipaldi -- fled the scene like a torqued-up Porsche when they sold their interest in the three-day extravaganza to Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) for $1.2 million.... More >>
• BEST LOCAL GIRL MADE GOOD
  "Jacki-O" Kohn
  Before Jacki-O's first album was even released, her hit single "Pussy (Real Good)" ("Nookie" in the clean version) was catching airplay and attention. The release of the album, Poe Little Rich Girl, by South Beach's Poe Boy Entertainment has been delayed, but the reviews are still hot: VH1... More >>
• BEST LOCAL GIRL GONE BAD
  Denise Calvo
  She was the wife of wealthy Coconut Grove businessman and philanthropist José Calvo, until his September 2003 murder by a gunman during what appeared to be a straightforward robbery. By all rights Denise Calvo should then have worn the mantle of grieving widow. Instead police and the... More >>
• BEST LOCAL GIRL MADE HEAVEN
  Ellen Moraskie
  She didn't grow up planning on a career in the music industry, but fate found Ellen Moraskie anyway. As senior vice president for Latin music at the Warner/Chappell publishing company in Miami Beach, the caring mother of two nurtured such songwriting talents as Elsten Torres (Fulano), Jorge... More >>
• BEST LOCAL POLITICIAN
  Miami Mayor Manny Diaz
  The quiet, reserved Manny Diaz came out of nowhere in his 2001 mayoral bid against opponents who were far more prominent. He had been a well-liked but low-profile lawyer who was thrust into the limelight as part of the legal team trying to keep Elian Gonzalez in Little Havana. Initially his... More >>
• BEST NEWS FOR OVERTOWN
  Criminal investigations
  Once the thriving and prosperous heart of black Miami, Overtown has been in a downward spiral ever since brilliant bureaucrats thought it would be just fine to tear the place apart by running massive interstate highways through it. Today it is the poorest neighborhood in America's poorest city.... More >>
• BEST KIDS' THRILL
  Zoo-Inn at Miami Metrozoo
  Ever wonder what the animals do at night after all the gawkers have left the zoo? Find out for yourself at a Zoo-Inn slumber party. September through June, Miami Metrozoo hosts groups of 15 to 30 nocturnal guests for overnight adventures. While the giraffes and elephants eat their evening grub,... More >>
• BEST POLITICAL CONVICTION IN THE PAST TWELVE MONTHS
  Pat Tornillo
  The former United Teachers of Dade boss was a throwback to the days of smoke-filled rooms that admitted only good ol' boys. In 40 years Tornillo built the UTD into a political machine that propelled to power numerous school-board members, state legislators, even governors. With that kind of... More >>
• BEST HIDDEN NEIGHBORHOOD
  Bayside
  Modern condo high-rises may tower over the five-block area just east of Biscayne Boulevard between 68th and 72nd streets, but history still lives there -- in the 208 houses of oolitic limestone, Dade County pine, and keystone that sit on the tree-lined streets of Bayside, designated an historic... More >>
• BEST ARCHITECTURAL EYESORE
  Performing Arts Center
  Not just a building, it's a work of art. Maybe. Perhaps someday before we all die. In the meantime, the signs along the perimeter of this taxpayer-funded mess might read: "It's not just an ill-conceived albatross rife with multimillion-dollar cost overruns and design blunders, it's also a... More >>
• BEST SPECTACLE
  Wake for Celia Cruz
  "Life is a carnival," Celia Cruz sang famously in her 1998 hit "La Vida es un Carnaval." Turns out that for the Salsa Queen, death was a carnival too. On July 19, 2003, three days after the 78-year-old singer's death, more than 70,000 bereft fans showed up to pay their last respects during her... More >>
• BEST PUBLIC-WORKS PROJECT
  Flood-control basin #1
  Hurricane Irene in 1999 and the no-name storm of 2000 produced severe flooding in West Miami-Dade, trapping thousands of residents in their homes and causing widespread damage. The inundations underscored the need for a major upgrade of the drainage systems in that part of the county, which is... More >>
• BEST GADFLY
  A.C. Weinstein
  The ideal gadfly is an equal-opportunity abuser, which makes A.C. Weinstein, political columnist for the Miami Beach weekly Sun Post, somewhat less than ideal. Example: He is slavishly devoted to Beach Mayor David Dermer and obsessed with undermining Dermer's political enemies. But that aside,... More >>
• BEST FLACK
  Seth Kaplan
  A slightly built fellow with shockingly red hair and an engaging manner, Kaplan is the guy who gets to answer the same question again and again: What's wrong with Miami voters? As spokesman for the Miami-Dade County Elections Department, Kaplan is courteous, helpful, and prompt. And he doesn't... More >>
• BEST CAREER MOVE
  Michael Capponi
  Where do nightlife promoters go when the lights are turned on? Capponi, who leveraged South Beach party promotion into a small fortune without ever actually having to own a nightclub (thus avoiding all those pesky liabilities), has segued from making sure the dance floors are packed to... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO DONATE YOUR CLOTHES
  Good & Funky
  Good & Funky may well live up to its own hype as "Miami's hippest charity." In the thrift store's "premium" department you'll find designer bags, little black dresses, and Fifties modern lamps. But if you're looking to give rather than get, Good & Funky still is a good stop. Proceeds earned from... More >>
• BEST DEFENSE AGAINST TERRORISM
  Haiti and Cuba
  With 95,000 miles of U.S. coastline to protect, it's nice to know the United States Coast Guard has more than 200 years' experience doing its job, especially considering that the Turkey Point nuclear plant and the sprawling, wide-open Port of Miami offer tempting targets to terrorists. Since... More >>
• BEST POLITICAL MISCALCULATION
  The Raul Martinez political machine versus the Hialeah Three
  Early last year political novices Vanessa Bravo, Cindy Miel, and Adriana Narvaez announced that they intended to oust three incumbent Hialeah city councilmen. The incumbents were toadies of Mayor for Life Raul Martinez, and so political pundits warned that the ladies would be obliterated by the... More >>
• BEST CANDIDATE FOR URBAN RENEWAL
  Biscayne Plaza mall
  Could the architectural wasteland at Biscayne Boulevard and 79th Street have seemed like progress when it was built in 1954? These days Biscayne Plaza is about as feo as a strip mall can be. Developer Ed Easton and a partner bought it for three million dollars in 1983 with hopes of attracting... More >>
• BEST BUMPER STICKER
  "If It's Tourist Season,Why Can't We Go Ahead and Shoot 'Em?" More >>
• BEST REASON TO STAY IN MIAMI FOR THE SUMMER
  No tourists
  Yes, the clouds that billow over the Everglades and march east to erupt violently are breathtaking. So is the warmth of the ocean at midnight. But the best reason to stick around here during the swelter season is more basic: Nearly everyone is gone. Well, at least the people you want to be gone... More >>
• BEST PUBLIC MELTDOWN
  Joe Arriola
  Miami's Civilian Investigative Panel was created to look into complaints of police misconduct. The panel is a refuge for those who are frightened by the power structure of local government and law enforcement. (There are parts of Miami, it should be noted, where complaining about the police is... More >>
• BEST ROAD TO AVOID
  Intersection of Coral Reef Drive, SW 117th Avenue, and Florida Turnpike
  There was intense competition for this award, with many perennials in the running. But this year the title goes to a newcomer. Thanks to ever-increasing development along Coral Reef Drive west of Metrozoo, this contender came on strong. Add to the rapidly growing number of vehicles a couple of... More >>
• BEST CEMETERY
  City of Miami Cemetery
  For a city that's relatively young, geographically challenged, and sitting at sea level, Miami should be grateful to have even one dignified place to bury its dead. It does. This is the only cemetery with the age and landscaping and, most important, notable permanent residents to make it worth... More >>
• BEST BAD NEW LAW
  City of Miami Protest Ordinance
  This past November the Miami City Commission passed a vaguely worded, overreaching bit of paranoid legislation that was an embarrassment. Worried about protesters arriving for the Free Trade Area of the Americas summit, the commission, at the police department's urging, passed a law that would... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO MEET SINGLE MEN (1 Comment)
  Austin Burke
  Men come in all shapes, sizes, and temperaments, and this venerable clothier has seen them all. The thing about a really good men's suit salesman, what sets him apart from the off-the-rack hacks, is judgment. He has to be able to take the measure of a customer -- and not just literally. Is he a... More >>
• BEST SANCTUARY FROM THE FAST TRACK
  Miami Beach Botanical Garden
  A daily existence in which a simple walk down the street can be life-threatening, where the boom-boom-boom of bass music seems to emanate continuously from cars to bicycles, where all of humanity appears to be simultaneously marching toward you -- an existence like that can push even the most... More >>
• BEST MIAMI HERALD WRITER
  Curtis Morgan
  A Miami native, Morgan fell into journalism as a reporter/photographer for his Richmond Heights junior-high newspaper. He fell further in when he was paid to write for his college paper. "I needed the money," he recalls. "Journalism also seemed like interesting work you could do without wearing... More >>
• BEST JUDGE
  William Hoeveler
  Too many judges race through their calendars, blindly dispensing whatever the better courtroom lawyer defines as justice. Senior U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler prefers to give a damn. A thoughtful, venerable jurist, Hoeveler has dedicated years to salvaging what's left of the Everglades... More >>
• BEST POWER COUPLE
  Gloria and Emilio Estefan
  They own restaurants, hotels, a media empire, and the hearts and minds of Cuban Miami. Gloria has recorded 23 albums, sold more than 70 million copies worldwide, and garnered three Grammy Awards. Emilio, the former band manager-turned-mogul, heads his own label, a major recording studio, and has... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO MEET SINGLE WOMEN
  Wyndham Miami Beach Resort
  According to professional event planners, the Wyndham is the number-one spot in South Florida for high school reunions. Throughout the year, but especially in the late summer months, the place is heavily booked with old school pals getting together and tying one on after ten years (or fifteen or... More >>
• BEST LAWYER
  Lida Rodriguez-Taseff
  Smart, scrappy, and resolute, Lida Rodriguez-Taseff turned out to be exactly the kind of president the ACLU's Miami chapter needed to see it through a tumultuous three years. (Her tenure ended this past March.) A partner at the Duane Morris law firm, she was front and center on a wide range of... More >>
• BEST PARKING ON SOUTH BEACH
  Flamingo Park
  Truth foretold: One day in the near future there will be no place to park on South Beach that will cost less than cab fare from halfway across Miami-Dade County. But till that day arrives (and it is inevitable) there are still some prime, meter-free parking spots in the lots around Flamingo... More >>
• BEST FIFTEEN MINUTES OF FAME
  Celeste Fraser Delgado
  Miami New Times staff writer Celeste Fraser Delgado was arrested and jailed last November as she was reporting on the protests associated with the Free Trade Area of the Americas summit. While other reporters were "embedded" with police, Delgado was in handcuffs, charged with the misdemeanors... More >>
• BEST QUOTE
  Miami Police Chief John Timoney
  It's always threat-level orange when John Timoney opens his mouth. But this inspired utterance, issued while he was on a bike tour of the anti-free-trade protest zone in downtown Miami this past November, rocketed the churlish chief well into the red zone. Perhaps he was drunk from the $8.5... More >>
• BEST LOCAL BOY MADE GOOD
  Shepard Smith
  In November 2000 this former WSVN-TV (Channel 7) correspondent was arrested for aggravated battery. That's the type of reporter he was before becoming a cable-news superstar. The charge resulted from an altercation in which he and another journalist wrangled over a parking space while covering... More >>
• BEST MILE OF MIAMI
  North Miami Avenue between 20th and 36th streets
  In this sixteen-block stretch of Miami's Wynwood neighborhood you can see the past and the future simultaneously. Not long ago it was a forlorn and forbidding stretch of warehouses punctuated by abandoned storefronts and the occasional bodega or bar. Today it is the spine of what has come to be... More >>
• BEST POWER FAMILY
  The Malniks
  Alvin Malnik and son Shareef haven't been the subjects of a Hollywood film or tell-all book. But they should be. Al, an attorney, garnered notoriety for his long association with legendary Mob financier Meyer Lansky. The New Jersey Casino Control Commission, in denying Al a casino license in... More >>
• BEST BUREAUCRATIC SWAN SONG
  Merrett Stierheim
  Battered, bruised, but far from beaten, Merrett Stierheim in June will relinquish his position as the superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. When he took the $210,000 job in 2001, Stierheim set out to do what he does best: reform a public agency plagued by low morale, bureaucratic... More >>
• BEST BUILDING LOBBY
  Stephen P. Clark Government Center
  Sure, the feng-shui foyer of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel is fabulous, and the Bacardi compound is breathtaking, but county hall, anarchy's atrium, puts the public in public space. Here you can catch Metrorail, the Metromover, link to the bus system, buy El Horoscopo at a news shop, view... More >>
• BEST LOCAL LANDMARK
  Flagler Memorial
  Built by crazy dreamers who turned swampland into gold, Miami truly is a magic city. Henry Flagler was one of the greatest of our early alchemists. Merely on the sweet scent of a fabled orange blossom sent to him by Julia Tuttle, old Henry built a railroad to nowhere and fathered a unique... More >>
• BEST LOCAL BOY GONE BAD
  Ric Sisser
  Here's a lobbyist pushing age 60 who not only works hard and plays hard, but for years was lucky enough to get away with mixing the two. That is, until Miami cops busted Sisser in Coconut Grove this past September and charged him with possession of crack cocaine and a glass pipe. Thanks to our... More >>
• BEST MAGIC CITY ICON
  The construction crane
  Every view of Miami Beach or downtown Miami is studded with this symbol of that most recurrent theme in Miami's history -- the land boom. In the early years it was all about selling swampland to speculators and suckers. The only difference today is that the sprawl is vertical instead of... More >>
• BEST DISPLAY OF WEALTH
  Benno Engel
  This past New Year's Eve, Engel reserved three of the VIP lounge areas at B.E.D., the restaurant/nightclub on Washington Avenue in South Beach. Engel, a German native, wanted to throw a nice little party for himself and a few friends. But as midnight neared, he apparently couldn't contain his... More >>
• BEST TOLL BOOTH
  Venetian Causeway
  Ka-ching. Ka-ching. Ka-ching. Every time you cross this classic causeway you can virtually hear the sound of money dancing back into your pocket. As long as the slow-motion construction continues on a new toll booth (modeled on the original), there will be no charge to use the Venetian Causeway.... More >>
• BEST MARRIAGE PROPOSAL
  George Sanchez Calderon's

  Midnight Midtown Midway during Art Basel

  Miami artist George Sanchez Calderon's contribution to the Art Basel art fair last December was the carnival he installed one night at the Buena Vista rail yard just south of 36th Street in Wynwood. Beneath circus banners and a Ferris wheel, local musicians, poets, and dancers strutted their... More >>
• BEST LOCAL BOY MADE HEAVEN
  Luis Botifoll
  When Luis Botifoll passed away last September at the age of 95, he left behind a 44-year legacy of community activism unmatched by any one man -- and that's just the story on this side of the Florida Straits. Twice exiled to the U.S. and a graduate of Tulane University, Botifoll was a lawyer and... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO PEOPLE-WATCH
  Stephen P. Clark Government Center courtyard
  It's probably just as well that the government center courtyard isn't extravagantly landscaped and decorated, because it would most certainly be overshadowed by the real-life dramas that unfold there on a daily basis. Its location is a natural magnet. The Metrorail's government center stop is... More >>
• BEST POLITICAL COUP
  New regime at Miami's Community Redevelopment Agency
  In recent years the CRA, created to revitalize long-suffering Overtown, routinely handed out taxpayer money for a plethora of intangible goods and services, often "with no evidence of board approval," as Miami's auditor general Victor Igwe put it not long ago. Like the $4250 a CRA employee... More >>
• BEST CHARITY
  Hands On Miami
  Not just a single charity, Hands on Miami is more like 70 charities in one. Since 1993 this extensive community-service network has been making it easy for busy city dwellers to do the right thing. Want to deliver care packages to AIDS patients? Build a house for a cash-strapped family? Read to... More >>
• BEST LOCAL CITY IN WHICH TO LIVE
  Village of Biscayne Park
  Located west of Biscayne Boulevard immediately north of Miami Shores, this is a big city and a small town rolled into one. Incorporated in 1933, the tiny municipality -- less than a square mile in area -- is close enough to Miami's urban core to allow for easy access to downtown or the beaches.... More >>
• BEST LOCAL OVERTOWN LEGEND MADE HEAVEN
  Clyde Killens
  During the Fifties and early Sixties, the nightlife of Overtown made today's South Beach seem tame. Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, and many more superstars played the Knight Beat, the Harlem Square, and other clubs for appreciative locals and visiting celebrities. The... More >>
• BEST TYPO
  Miami Today
  In the October 16, 2003, edition of this weekly chronicle of Miami business and governmental action (essential reading for anyone interested in public affairs), an article appeared with this headline: "County close to acquiring Homestead land, official says." The land in question was the former... More >>
• BEST BAIT AND SWITCH
  People's Transportation Plan
  The People's Transportation Plan (PTP) was grandly designed to solve Miami's upcoming date with permanent gridlock. The shiny lure that voters went for was the promise that a half-penny sales tax would buy them an expanded and improved mass-transit system. Now they're told the tax was in reality... More >>
• BEST PUBLIC RESTROOM
  Houston's
  Houston's understands that business types out for a three-martini lunch are not going to leave the comforts of the executive washroom at the office for just any old port-a-potty. That's why Houston's has taken steps to ensure that a trip to its throne will leave customers feeling like royalty. A... More >>
• BEST NEW BUILDING
  Espirito Santo Plaza
  You can't help but notice Miami's newest mixed-use skyscraper rising from the Brickell Avenue concrete jungle. The Espirito Santo Plaza, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, boasts 36 stories of office and retail space, restaurants, an 11-story atrium, a hotel, and private residences.... More >>
• BEST SIGN OF THE TIMES
  Walgreens at the historic Firestone building
  The City of Miami's hapless Historic and Environmental Preservation Board actually managed to save a building once. It was back in 2001. The structure was the 75-year-old Firestone building at SW First Street and Twelfth Avenue in Little Havana. But as part of the deal, the guardians of the... More >>
• BEST HERO
  Russ Rector
  Hell hath no fury like a reformed dolphin trainer. Anyone who has dealt with Russ Rector knows that all too well. From 1968 to 1975 he worked and performed with the creatures at Fort Lauderdale's Ocean World. Today he is president of the Dolphin Freedom Foundation, which he founded in 1992 as a... More >>
• BEST HOMELESS HANGOUT
  South Beach lifeguard towers
  Original designs by internationally acclaimed artist Antoni Miralda, world-famous architect William Lane, renowned Pop artist Kenny Scharf. Split-level, wrap-around decks. Beachfront water views, good security, quiet at night. Walk to Wet Willy's, Mac's Club Deuce, dumpsters full of fresh... More >>
• BEST BOONDOGGLE
  Miami Circle
  If shelling out 26.7 million taxpayer dollars to buy the tiny spit of land on which the Miami Circle sits doesn't quite qualify as a boondoggle, maybe this does: The ancient site has been reburied. Discovered in 1998 and dubbed Miami's Stonehenge, the mysterious Indian artifact ignited the... More >>
• BEST CITIZEN
  Mario Artecona
  On a recent afternoon, a Miami-Dade County bureaucrat spotted Mario Artecona having lunch and said, "Well, if it isn't the revolutionary." Artecona responded with a chuckle: "That's what people start calling you when you take on the county commission." Not many ordinary citizens would have the... More >>
• BEST CHILDREN'S ADVOCATE
  Jim DeFede
  The caustic Miami Herald columnist (and New Times alumnus) has been relentless in his pursuit of adults responsible for the injustices suffered by South Florida's discarded children. When authorities at all levels were ducking for cover following the pitiful and needless death of juvenile jail... More >>
• BEST CHEAP THRILL
  Thursday-night faith healing

  Bible Way Prayer Mission

  When the preacher begins laying his hands on foreheads, the energy in this storefront church surges. Thursday night is divine drama, eons beyond must-see TV. From below the pulpit a drummer keeps a lively beat and an organist accents the preacher's righteous words from an old Casio. The pews are... More >>
• BEST CRIMINAL CONVICTION IN THE PAST TWELVE MONTHS
  Willie and Sal trial jurors
  Gloria Alba and Maria del Carmen Peñalver were in their midtwenties when they sat on the jury that acquitted Willie Falcon and Sal Magluta in February 1996. Falcon and Magluta had been charged with importing 75 tons of cocaine, worth some two billion dollars. Assistant U.S. Attorney Pat... More >>
• BEST MIAMI HERALD PHOTOGRAPHER
  Carl Juste
  Miami's Only Daily has piranha-ed its writing and editing staff into a skeleton for the sake of profit margin. Still with the likes of Raul Rubiera, Peter Andrew Bosch, and others out shooting photographs, the pictures remain first rate. But with his stylish black-rim eyeglasses, raspy voice,... More >>
• BEST PARTY OF THE YEAR
  Official Latin Grammys afterparty

  September 3, 2003

  Forget the show itself. The party afterward was a lot better. Organized by Ocean Drive magazine, it featured an estimated half-million dollars' worth of fake boobs and legions of filthy-rich old men. And of course every Latin pop star imaginable was there, from Miami's patron saints Emilio and... More >>
• Personal Best
  Seth Kaplan
  Seth Kaplan has a whole lot of elfin magic going on, and we mean that in the sincerest form of Lord of the Rings-loving way. The energetic, garrulous, adorably bus-taking spokesman for the Miami-Dade County Elections Department speaks with the clear ring of truth when it comes to one of... More >>