Yesterday, I received a letter from a sociologist who lives in the high-rise 500 Brickell. The tenant reports that this past Saturday, a young man jumped from the luxury building. It’s the 17th case in Miami-Dade since the condo boom of 2007. The email begins, “I happen to live in…
“It was an explosion!” Herb Ault proclaims and then splays his fingers to form a pair of jazz hands. You can tell the 82-year-old has a background in theater. He was long ago the North Miami Senior High School drama department head. His glassy brown eyes widen behind a pair…
Last week, New Times published an article titled “Legends of the Fall,” which told the story of people who have leapt to their deaths from Miami-Dade high-rises. We found some disturbing stuff. Since the condo boom of 2007, at least 16 people have thrown themselves from the gleaming, private condo towers. And…
Suha Monem makes a mean falafel sandwich. As the head chef at Oriental Bakery & Grocery — and the owners’ daughter — she has spent most of her life surrounded by pita, lamb, and tahini. After one Yelper tried her grub at the Coral Way shop a couple of years ago,…
It keeps happening in Miami Beach. Cops pull up, tell demonstrators to put away their bullhorns, and to stop banging those drums. Then an officer whips out a small pad of paper and writes a noise code violation. That’s how it went on three occasions in front of Loews Miami…
Legends of the Fall: Suicide by Jumping from Miami Condo Buildings
For the last two decades, the brilliant lunatics who run the King Mango Strut parade have been a happy little family. Their meetings — which were speckled with old hippie types — felt more like a showcase of standup comedy than a community planning board. Strutters sometimes had to hoop-jump…
About a year ago, folks in Coconut Grove began complaining about wild peacocks. The feathered squawkers ran in wolf-like packs and saw the world as one big toilet. It made a doctor on Micanopy Avenue so angry he called for the crazy creatures to be hauled away. Letters were written. City commissioners…
If you think your job sucks, try flying planes for Amerijet International. According to workers, the Fort Lauderdale-based cargo flight company has no restrooms on airplanes, and makes pilots squat in plastic bags during their intercontinental journeys. Worse, pilots – who fly Bowing 727s at Miami International Airport — say…
Bad Homework: Miami Beach Police Athletic League Consultant Bernie Winer Under Fire
If you’ve had better things to do than watch daytime television and nibble leftover Chinese food, you might have missed the tragic news. The TV show Judge David Young — a courtroom drama staring the sassy former Miami-Dade man in robe — will air for the last time September 4. Which is…
Just a few weeks ago, at a county school board meeting, Bernie Winer — a consultant for the Miami Beach Police Athletic League — received a standing ovation. A month before that, Miami Beach city commissioners handed him an award. But Riptide has uncovered a PAL expense report that helped…
I Take Thee…: The former VP of Peru says his daddy was kidnapped and tricked into a sham marriage
Army veteran Juan Rivera has been asking some painful questions lately: “How long do I have to live? What do I do now? And gow could this happen?”The hardworking 55-year-old long-haul truck driver — who served his country for 13 years — just discovered he has HIV. He contracted it…
Francisco Tudela’s resumé could inspire a kick-ass James Bond flick. The former vice president of Peru, he once shared an office with a spy, was held hostage at the Japanese embassy, and worked under a world leader who was convicted for murder and kidnapping. But for all of the drama…
Miami-Dade Police found a young Hialeah man dead this morning outside of the Days Inn Miami International Airport Hotel. He was identified at 3:30 a.m. as 21-year-old Raudel Sanchez. The noisy, hotel is located on NW 11th Street on the southwest side of the airport. Not much is yet known about Sanchez…
Bitchy celebrity blogger Perez Hilton made a name for himself drawing cocaine boogers on photos of movie stars. That, and spreading hateful — OK, kind of hilarious — morsels of Hollywood gossip. So, what in hell is he doing on the August cover of The Advocate? That’s what readers of the…
You know what’s delightful? Knowing your tax money goes to slimy guys such as convicted Medicare crook Ramon Santos. Riptide certainly sleeps better at night knowing we helped finance his shiny new Ford Expedition. Sigh. Last Friday, the 42-year-old faux-nurse from Hialeah was convicted for health-care fraud and obstruction of…
Something was funny about the landlord. A little too eager, maybe, but — for a pocketful of extra cash — aren’t we all these days? Renter Sandy Sanchez, a straight-talking 54-year-old, didn’t think much of it. She stood inside a spacious two-bedroom duplex on NE 112th Street last week and…
Remember Keith Meinhold? Yeah, Riptide didn’t either — mostly because we were more into reading Goosebumps books back when the gay Navy officer made headlines in all the big newspapers. It was the summer of 1992. And even the paragon of media integrity The Rush Limbaugh Show followed his story. It was…
Last week, New Times, being the sex-crazed maniacs we are, brought you a story about a muscleman porn star named Bruno Diaz. The Hispanic stud is the manager of the PAL gym and was caught bumping and grinding in some pretty hilarious ’90s gay porn. All of this sent Miami…
In most circles, Modesto Maidique has a sparkling reputation. The 23-year president of FIU helped transform a depressing abandoned airfield into a top-notch research university. He also brought the school a ton of federal grant money, which never hurts. So, you’d think his farewell ceremony yesterday would have been all…
