There once was a time, before the real estate crash, before the credit crunch, and before the global economic meltdown, when Shaquille O’Neal figured he could sell his Star Island mansion for between $32 and $35 million. That was 2005, and this is now. Joan Fleischman reported this morning that Shaq…
We imagine Florida International University higherups had some tough meetings to attend when they cut both the school’s cheerleading squad and marching bands this week. Imagine facing a roomful of cheerleaders to let them know their services are no longer needed. “But, we’re cheerleaders…” “I know, and we just can’t afford you right…
Sorry Leonard Pitts Jr., you can’t have your cake and eat it too. In March, The Miami Herald’s star columnist dashed off a “you damn kids, stay off my lawn”-style column in which he solemnly promised never to used Twitter, and claimed it’s only useful for those who find “value in banality,…
You know the economy has really gotten bad when our beloved sports stars start filing for bankruptcy. Former UM quarterback and NFL star Bernie Kosar filed for chapter 11 today, according to the Herald.According to the filings, Kosar reported his assets are only worth between $1 million and $10 million…
Here’s the bad news: According to a new study of the 100 most populous metro areas in America by the Brookings Institution, the Miami area, including the rest of South Florida, is one of the 20 economically weakest metro areas in the country. Here’s the good news: We’re only 82,…
Before the NBA Finals began, there were quite a few columns written about this Magic-Lakers series being haunted by the Ghost of Shaquille O’Neal — you know, because the former Miami fixture played for both teams and has had such a contentious history with Kobe Bryant. Seemed like a bit of…
Well, your bank account may already know this, but a new Wachovia report says that Florida was hit the hardest by the recession. Here’s your depressing factoids: Florida went into recession nine months ahead of the rest of the country.Excess real estate is more abundant then the rest of the country, duh. The Unemployment rate…
Seems like FEMA is taking a cue from a most unlikely place: Max Rameau, of Take Back the Land. New Times first broke news of the activist’s brilliant solution for what to do with all of these foreclosed homes: move homeless squatters in. FEMA folks seem to like the idea so much they’re looking…
Do you sometimes have to hide your tresses under hats and scarves? Feel like bad hair day is a description of your very existence? Luxe hair-care line Kerastase is offering a solution and it’s titled one of our fave phrases: Our Treat. Whether your hair is color-treated or sun-damaged, dry or weak, there’s…
Earlier this afternoon, resident Patrick Henry-quoter P. Scott Cunningham pointed out that the URL for Miami-Dade’s new water conservation site, weuseless.miamidade.gov, sounds like our government is finally admitting, in appropriately bad grammar, that it sucks. Which gives me an excuse to point out some unintentionally self-deprecating hilarity going on on…
We are not sure that many A-list celebrities actually know that anything in Miami exists behind the sunny shores of South Beach and Star Island. Sure, they fly into the airport, but then they’re chauffeured in limos with tinted windows until they safely arrive in the drive way of their…
Poor Shaq. He has been trying to unload his Star Island mansion for nearly five years with little success. Is there no one out there right now who wants to buy a 200,000 waterfront mega-palace on a 2.5 acre lot? He’s cut his asking price by about 10% to a…
Hotel aficionados already know the name Vikram Chatwal, but for the rest of us, well, you might know him as the guy in the turban who stood behind Hansel during the runway-showdown scene in Zoolander. Yes, he has a side job as an actor, but his main gig involves opening…
With news that Bacardi will soon be moving to blander headquarters in blander Coral Gables, preservationists are making a preemptive move to ensure their iconic buildings in midtown Miami are protected with landmark status, even though neither is old enough to typically qualify. The Historic Preservation Board meets today to…
Recession stories are getting pretty standard, and boring. One formula goes like this: find some nice industry and find out how the recession is hitting it. CNN just filed one, about nannies, focusing mainly on Miami. Amanda Mezyk is a 20 year-old professional nanny who just got laid off. As…
Sometimes it seems like the economy is hitting Miami-Dade from all sides, but there’s a bit of good news: We’re not quite as unemployed as the rest of the state. Florida’s unemployment rate for February was released today, and it is not good: 9.4 percent! That’s up from 8.1 percent…
I imagine being stuck on a boat with a bunch of cruise ship people is bad enough, but recently returning to Miami I was stuck on a plane full of cruise ship people. Pure airline hell: horrendously behaved toddlers, people eating strange smelling food, and quite a few folks who…
Miami and New York City have a weird symbiotic relationship. New Yorkers, jealous of our warm winters, come down in droves during the chilly months and eventually retire in a nice high rise on South Beach. Meanwhile, a strong contingent of Miamians with an inferiority complex or a civic identity…
We’ve found the predicament of Midtown Miami to be quite interesting for a while now: noting its trouble both here on Riptide and in print. Now the Grey lady is weighing in on the development’s slump in a piece that just went online: “The bankruptcies of Circuit City and Linen…
U.S. Economy used to be the number one band in the world. Flying between gigs in private jets, constantly hitting the top of the charts, and attracting screaming fans wherever it went. Then Real Estate (on bass) got really into cocaine, and just got higher and higher and higher eventually…
We know Paris Hilton doesn’t have anything to do with the management of the hotel company that bears her family name, but sometimes you have to wonder. In the midst of the latest, greatest depression and economic free fall you might expect any new hotel plans to include cots, a…
Integrated Asset Services released their latest IAS360 House Price Index, and as you might expect, the news isn’t good. Between January of this year and January 2008 housing prices have dropped a total of 28.4% in South Florida. That’s 29.1% in Broward, 18.8% in Palm Beach, and a whopping 32.3%…
