These are rough days for the City of Miami’s police department. The Elian Gonzalez affair cost them a chief and a major. The chief, William O’Brien, resigned in disgust after Miami Mayor Joe Carollo tried to have him fired for not alerting him in advance to the INS raid on…
The Knight of Blight Miami developer Aristides Martinez once seemed an inner-city savior. Today he goes by another name: Slumlord. By Victor Cruz SLEAZY, LAZY, AND FILTHY RICHTen reasons why I just love public housing: Victor Cruz’s article about public-housing developer Aristides Martinez (“The Knight of Blight,” June 22) brought…
George Nethercutt made history in 1994. A relatively unknown attorney from Spokane, Washington, he defeated a sitting Speaker of the House for his seat in Congress. Nethercutt’s victory over Democrat Tom Foley was stunning. The notion of an electorate choosing a political neophyte over the person second in line to…
At first glance, poolside at South Beach’s tony National Hotel would seem an odd place to interview director Greg Harrison. His debut feature Groove is a loving portrait of his own mid-Nineties head-first dive into the guerrilla-style parties of San Francisco’s rave scene, a grimy spirit far removed from the…
Don’t Look for the Union Label For two years Goya Foods has waged a war to prevent its workers from unionizing. Now things are starting to get really ugly. By Kathy Glasgow GOYA, GOYA, GONELoosen the purse strings or lose me: It was with disappointment that I read Kathy Glasgow’s…
Demetrio’s Rules The world according to public school board member Demetrio Perez includes exile philosophy, Elian propaganda, and old-Havana-school politics. By Ted B. Kissell A Stinking Pot Full of the Usual SuspectsTed B. Kissell’s article about Demetrio Perez, Jr. (“Demetrio’s Rules,” June 15) is the kind of thing we are…
Rick … or Red? Could Rick Sanchez, Miami’s most notorious journalistic windbag, actually be an agent of Fidel Castro? By Robert Andrew Powell Was It Self-loathing or Were We Just Bored?I find it amusing that in his emphatic and quite satirical attempt to discredit Rick Sanchez (“Rick…or Red?” June 1),…
Seems like the Eighties again. Prince is now responding to the title Prince. Maurice Ferre’s name is being bandied about in sentences that also contain the word mayor. Details magazine is ditching the frat-boy demographic and returning to its previous incarnation as the bible for boys who are straight but…
Rick … or Red? Could Rick Sanchez, Miami’s most notorious journalistic windbag, actually be an agent of Fidel Castro? By Robert Andrew Powell Oh Brother! La Familia Strikes Back I was very disappointed at Robert Andrew Powell’s June 1 cover story titled “Rick … or Red.” What you did was…
It may be hard to imagine these days, but there actually was a time when Coconut Grove was synonymous with the phrase “hippie mecca.” Long before CocoWalk reintroduced the sight of imperial China’s peasant-pulled taxi carts, prior to jet-setting celebs such as Madonna and Sylvester Stallone discovering the joys of…
DeFede Meet MIA’s Own Barney Fife By Jim DeFede Rules Are for ChumpsI’m still laughing at Jim DeFede’s story of the escapades of politico-schmoozer Nelson Oramas, the Miami-Dade Aviation Department security chief who lost his county vehicle and his weapon (“Meet MIA’s Own Barney Fife,” May 25). I guess the…
The fashion world is a topic that seems to render otherwise eloquent individuals apoplectic. There’s just something about models — those mutant offspring of rarefied breeding — that leaves even the soberest of intellectuals at a loss for words. Even as adept a social critic as filmmaker Robert Altman, who…
By now everyone knows that Miami International Airport is a mess. Political cronies of Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas have plundered millions of dollars’ worth of contracts from the facility, while the public has been stuck with $8000 toilet seats and an airport so mismanaged it took more than a decade…
The Return of Loco Joe Miami’s mayoral meltdown has a long and nasty history By Tristram Korten and Jose Luis Jiménez Downtown High-Rises Emptied as Thousands Pounce on Free WeeklyPeople in downtown Miami must be reading a lot more these days. Copies of the May 18 edition of New Times,…
My Life as Your Civic Watchdog Was a Financial Disaster I was honored that New Times thought my efforts in the community warranted a commendation (“Best of Miami,” May 11). The text was most appreciated, but your choice of a headline, “Best Gadfly,” in one shot destroyed all I had…
Have you considered a night out at CocoWalk? That was the message last Wednesday from Miami Beach to South Florida’s kinder, as Beach commissioners voted 6-1 to bar those under age 21 from setting foot in their city’s nightclubs. Of course underage drinking itself had little to do with the…
Poor Joe. Poor crazy, fucked-up, mentally unbalanced Joe. Why is the whole darn world against you? Why won’t people just leave you alone? Is it because your upper lip has begun doing this weird disappearing act whenever you launch into one of your tirades? Is it because your gait recently…
It’s pop-quiz time. What do Anchorage, Alaska; Uncasville, Connecticut; and Wausau, Wisconsin; all have in common? Best keep your podunkville remarks to yourself: All three far-flung burgs will be graced with an imminent live concert from Havana’s Cubanismo, the sprawling son ensemble led by ace trumpeter Jesus Alemañy. Those are…
Editor’s note: In next week’s issue, accompanying our annual “Best of Miami” edition, we will publish a special letters section devoted to all aspects of the Elian Gonzalez case and its aftermath. We have received hundreds of messages and will publish as many as possible. To be considered for inclusion,…
“To everyone who is here, if we would have had weapons, this would not have happened.” — Lazaro Gonzalez, addressing a crowd of supporters outside his house following the removal of Elian Now that el exilio has ended its attacks on Miami’s beleaguered tires, newspaper vending machines, and Dumpsters, the…
Standing in front of what once was Elian Gonzalez’s Little Havana home, Jan Weininger, whose father was killed during the Bay of Pigs invasion, railed against Attorney General Janet Reno’s decision to send in federal agents a few hours earlier. “I think every Cuban American or anybody who loves democracy…
The “Forgive Us for Being Cuban” Letter I am writing to apologize for all the terrible things we Cubans have done to you while living in the United States. Please let me begin with my own humble plea for forgiveness. Forgive me for being too Cuban, too Spanish, too European,…
