Miami Beach’s most controversial resident is ready for his close up. Thomas Kramer, the billionaire German developer who reshaped the South Beach skyline with glitzy condos, has made a reality show television pilot. After watching it on Youtube, we want more.In the episode, the 56-year-old playboy is preparing for one…
For decades, former 2 Live Crew frontman and current Miami New Times columnist Luther Campbell has been imparting his life wisdom on scores of young African American boys playing little league football in Liberty City. For the past three years, he’s been a volunteer coach at Miami Central and Miami…
Last week, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement reported the lowest crime rate across the state since the agency began tracking statistics in 1971. With population growth factored in, the overall crime rate dropped 0.8 percent from 2010 to 2011. In Miami-Dade, the crime rate dropped 0.3 percent last year.But…
King of Diamonds: How America’s Favorite Black Strip Club Won Its Crown
This week’s cover story chronicles the rise of King of Diamonds, the Miami strip club that has become a hang out for some of the most famous rappers and pro athletes in America.The story follows Disco Rick, the former Miami booty bass pioneer who has found a second career corralling…
Earlier today, Luther Campbell dropped a bomb on Drew Rosenhaus, alleging the North Miami-based NFL super agent paid Tommy Streeter — one of five Miami Hurricanes football players who left school early to enter the draft — $50,000 to sign with him. The Miami New Times columnist was a guest…
Bruno Barreiro Spent Thousands in Campaign Cash on Apple Computers
Jonathan Vilma, the superstar linebacker from Coral Gables who figured prominently in Nevin Shapiro’s University of Miami scandal, has been suspended for an entire year by the NFL for his role in another major football-related debacle.The New Orleans Saints star allegedly helped his former defensive coordinator, Greg Williams, create and…
Like a lot of Apple fanboys, county Commissioner Bruno Barreiro recently spent big at the silicon superstore — nabbing $6,583 worth of electronics at the Lincoln Road and Dadeland Mall outlets. He also reimbursed himself $4,166 for a computer.He didn’t spend his own money on the gadgets; he dipped into…
Today is the day Miami Marlins President Dave Samson is running 52 miles in honor of the construction workers who built him and his ex-step-daddy Jeffrey Loria the half-billion dollar ball park paid primarily by Miami-Dade taxpayers. We told readers about Samson’s shameless publicity stunt to show off his double…
For Barbara Jordan, blood is thicker than water. How else can the Miami-Dade County commissioner justify the $5,000 her reelection campaign paid to the company owned by her sister Sandy Walker, a once-powerful lobbyist who five years ago pleaded guilty to defrauding the county?In a recent interview with Banana Republican,…
Sheet Suspenders Inventor Says Ex-Boyfriend Stole Her Company
Yesterday, jurors in White Plains, New York, heard from the mistress of Ben Novack, the Miami Beach scion of Fontainebleau Hotel builder Ben Novack Sr. Junior was brutally tortured and murdered in a Rye Brook hotel room in July 2009, and Bliss’s testimony added a new, tawdry layer to an…
Driving on NE 163rd Street in North Miami Beach, you can’t help but notice that several shopping centers contain sex shops that boldly proclaim their wares. And for 22 years, city officials long ignored a local law that prohibited three strip clubs from serving alcohol alongside naked dancers. Anyone visiting…
In 1988, Maria Thornhill invented a nifty gadget called Sheet Suspenders, elastic bands that tuck in bed sheets without having to lift a mattress. By 2008, she’d sold more than $3 million worth of the devices and turned thousands in profits. It was an American success story — at least…
Last Monday, Banana Republican came across a glossy flyer on our windshield that featured a photo of President Barack Obama next to the now iconic image of Trayvon Martin wearing his hoodie. Printed below the slain teen’s chin were the commander-in-chief’s statement on March 23, “If I had a son,…
The makers of Marley’s Mellow Mood, a beverage meant to relax the human soul, might want to consider adding a more potent chilling-out agent to the recipe. Because the drink is made in partnership with some members of reggae icon Bob Marley’s family, we suggest something closer to ganja, because…
The Carlisle Development Group sure knows how to show gratitude to Audrey Edmonson. The Miami-based affordable housing developer ponied up $15,000 in contributions to the Miami-Dade County commissioner’s reelection campaign, according to her recently filed campaign finance report. Edmonson has been instrumental in helping Carlisle land a couple of key…
Campaign finance reports for January, February, and March are in for the local county races. So who’s funneling cash to Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and his main opponent, County Commission Chairman Joe Martinez?If money is any indicator, Martinez has a long haul ahead of him. For the past three months,…
Miami-Dade Police’s TNT Unit Loses the War on Drugs and
Liberty City’s Trust
Poor Ozzie Guillen. Baseball season just got started and already the Miami Marlins skipper has inserted his foot in his mouth.The controversial Venezuelan born manager had the audacity to praise Cuban dictator Fidel Castro in an upcoming issue of Time magazine and all hell has broken loose in Miami’s hardline…
Tip Drill is back on the scene. Almost two months after a horrific fall while working the pole at King of Diamonds, Miami’s most famous stripper was partying Wednesday evening at South Beach’s Dream nightclub. The fete was looooooooseee!!!Dressed in all black hipster ensemble that included tights ripped at the…
