Given the high profile cases of Bernie Madoff, Scott Rothstein and Allen Stanford, the image of a Ponzi schemer is usually that of some rich white guy with a cigar hanging out of his mouth praying on already well-off investors, but not all schemers fit that bill. Marguerite Martial Jean,…
Haven’t heard of Barry Jenkins? You will, soon enough.The indie movie director’s latest film, Chlorophyl, opens this weekend at Miami’s very own seventh annual Borscht Film Festival. His first feature film Medicine for Melancholy was called one of the best flicks of 2009 by the New York Times. And he’s…
Call it the curse of 1439 Washington Avenue. When it comes to South Beach nightclubs, this address is deadly.Like Suite, Apple, Liquid, and a half dozen other clubs to occupy the same space across from Española Way over the years, LUX nightclub is no more. Earlier this month, a Miami-Dade…
Much like his shoe line, the décor of designer Donald J. Pliner’s Star Island mansion is of questionable taste. Listen, we’re not gonna directly say his shoes and home are tacky. We’re just going to say we wouldn’t spend $475 on beaded loafers, nor would we shell out $24 million…
The Royal Palm hotel was the first black-owned hotel in all of Miami Beach, and as our Francisco Alvarado once put it, “was supposed to be a beacon of atonement for Miami-Dade County’s racist past.” After it re-opened on 16th and Collins in 2002, a string of bad business calculations…
Now that Amar’e Stoudemire is playing for the anti-Miami Heat up in New York City he has no use for his lavish Miami Beach penthouse at the W Hotel & Residencies in South Beach. He’s just put his 2,428-square-foot apartment (plus 2,700 square feet of private outdoor space) on the…
From Ohio to Wisconsin, organized labor is under attack. In that mitten-shaped slab of cheese up north, governor Scott Walker used a budget bill to kill collective bargaining. In Ohio, the working man is even worse off, with no Super Bowl to distract from the state’s assault on public employees.Not…
It seemed Lil Wayne’s big legal problems were over when he got out of the clink late last year, but the federal government still has beef with President Carter. The rapper owes about $5.6 million to the Internal Revenue Service, and a lien in that amount was filed against his…
These are dangerous times for the conspicuously wealthy. Overtaxed voters just threw out BMW-driving county mayor Carlos Alvarez. The outrage over George Burgess’s $500,000 severance package is still palatable.But nothing brings out the pitchforks quicker than a public works boondoggle. So is it any surprise that Bouygues Civil Works of…
Here’s a staggering statistic from the continued fallout of Florida’s real estate bust: 18 percent of homes in Florida, or nearly one in five, sit empty. That’s a 62 percent increase in empty homes in the past ten years, and the surplus of inventory on the market ensures that home prices…
Rich Urban was looking for a place on South Beach in February when he responded to a Craigslist ad — “Wanted: Cool roommate to share awesome apartment!” — and met Monica Brown, a small woman with a heavy accent who showed him a room at 713 Collins Ave. Urban gave…
Looking for a new home and got $60 million to spend? Well, first-time developers Shlomy Alexander and Felix Cohen have just the pad to you. The pair bragged to NBC Miami this weekend that if the soon-to-be completed mini-resort they just completed sells for its total asking price it could…
A new quarterback? A few running backs? Sure, the Dolphins may need that, but there’s one position on the team that the ‘Fins are seriously looking to fill with only the most qualified of candidates: their cotton candy maker. No, not just any Tom, Dick or Harry can apply for…
“Crygate” is slowly subsiding. The Internet is tiring of those jokes now, but it’s not quite done with making fun of our Miami Heat. Right now, #LastTimeTheHeatWon is trending high on Twitter and holds down the number one spot here in Miami. Yes, the Heat has lost its last five…
The nation may be slowly moving out of recession, but Miami’s real estate market may not be out of the woods yet. Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Indices track national housing prices, as well as sales in twenty different metro areas. New numbers released today show that Miami’s index,…
For 24 years, Marion Schano and her husband Edward have owned an aviation business called Amtec Aviation Aerospace in Brownsville, a ‘hood west of Liberty City with a population of 14,000 and shrinking. It’s one of Miami’s poorest neighborhoods, and arguably its most blighted. It’s traversed by roving bands of…
In late January, we published a story on the failed gardens project in the heart of mega-development Midtown Miami. The development’s representatives were not pleased. Here’s a letter we received from Deborah Samuel, Midtown’s director of operations:…
News that former basketball star Tim Hardaway is mired in tax trouble, causing the Miami Heat to apparently bail him out by purchasing his mansion, came as a bit of a surprise. After all, he made an estimated $47 million during his playing career, and still works a suit-and-tie job…
Former Miami Heat star Tim Hardaway made close to $50 million during his NBA career, but apparently that wasn’t enough to keep him out of tax troubles. After a lien was placed on his house by the IRS for a $120,000 tax debt, the Miami Heat bought the mansion, according…
Miami’s real estate market is near rock bottom, which means it’s a good time to buy a home. In fact, according to a new analysis from real estate site Trulia.com, if you’re renting, you’re ripping yourself off. More than any other major city market in America right now, Miami is…
Rick Scott’s campaign for governor wasn’t especially social media savvy, but who needs to take little things like Twitter into account when you’ve got tens of millions of your own money to spend? Once in office, though, the Republican governor was faced with the realization that despite being elected by…
The famed molesters under Julia Tuttle Causeway were never the only homeless colony in town. And now that those persecuted pervs have been dispatched to God-knows-where, we can give some overdue media attention to other, less Hannah Montana-lovin’, local bands of merry hobos…
