Wrestling to the Top
That junk is fake: Local wrestler Ernest Valdes' dreams of getting to the top of the WWE are understandable ("Contender," Allie Conti, September 11), but I don't understand how so many people can still tune in to watch pro wrestling. It's a competition between grown-ass men in tights with boots who are following a script and executing predetermined story lines. DRAKEMALLARD.0
Porn Pioneers
Local porn is nothing new: Someone should tell the Little Haiti neighbors complaining about Playboy's new webcam business in the area ("Cam You Dig It?" Allie Conti, September 11) that Miami has always had porn. Just Google "Deep Throat" to read about that iconic film's local history. Miami will always have porn. Gotta love the neighbors who say they don't need that kind of business in the area. WhyNotNow
Get out of our neighborhood: As someone who lives in the area, I agree with local business owner Jan Mapou that this is not the renaissance that Little Haiti needs. We need more of what the Little Haiti Culture Arts Center did, bringing arts and culture to the community. With five full-time employees at the webcam office, this business isn't really about creating jobs for anyone in Little Haiti. PinkDucky
Hot Art
National hypocrisy: The piece about all the "stolen" art and artifacts coming through Miami ("Black-Market Miami," Michael E. Miller, September 11) raises an obvious question: Why is it when a nation steals art during wartime and puts it in a museum, it's legal, but when a person does it, it's illegal and the art goes back to the country that stole it in the first place? Aaron Matthews
Walking to Work
Failure of planning: It's really sad that Miami Beach decided to stop giving parking permits to the thousands of Eden Roc and Fontainebleau employees who depended on the only city lot near the hotels ("Fontainebleau Fiasco," Trevor Bach, September 11). Shame on the government! Why wasn't parking and planning for future parking via economic growth done and executed by our leaders in the first place? Andrena Dimitrijevic-Realtor
Not as great as it looks: Fontainebleau has a longstanding reputation as an icon of glamour and celebrity; however, for many of us who have worked there, we know a very different side. I noticed one commenter mention that the bartenders at LIV make exorbitant amounts of money. Well, there are more than 1,500 employees at that resort, and the majority do not make much money at all. The hotel business is known for low wages, long hours, and stressful environments. In others words, the housekeepers, bellmen, front-desk agents, concierges, kitchen staff, and middle managers in operations struggle to make ends meet, just like everybody else. Not only that, one must consider the challenge of working in the service industry: Dealing with the public on a daily basis is much harder than people think. I've seen some of the toughest people in the business crack under the pressure. In addition, Miami Beach is a challenging place to work and live, as public transportation is very limited. It's really a town built to serve tourism and wealth, with little consideration for those who work there. And if people can't even find a viable way to get to work, who will check you in, carry your luggage, clean your room? queenofthedamned
Public transit isn't an option: Everyone who says these employees should just take public transportation instead does not understand how terrible, inefficient, and unreliable our transportation system is down here in Miami. Jess Harris
Build the Baylink: This isn't a failure of the hotel or even the City of Miami Beach. This is a failure long in the making by neglecting public transit improvements like Baylink that would connect Miami with Miami Beach via metro rail or light rail/streetcar. You can also thank MDX for building highways in the western sprawl at the expense of transit in the more important urban core. Craig Chester
Fighting for parking: The city is using tourists as an excuse for their screw-up of handing out too many building permits all at the same time. Try driving down Collins from 21st Street to the Fontainebleau. Almost every building along the way is under construction. One of those hotels has at least 2,000 construction workers. They are walking from the parking lots by the Eden Roc and also the parking garage on 41st. The 41st Street garage is not offering anymore parking permits either. You have to go on a wait list. For the past year, there have been fistfights over parking. And about 50 percent of the parking spaces in the area are rented for construction. What a mess. Joan Rowland
Correction
A September 11 article by Allie Conti titled "Cam You Dig It?" included several factual errors. The correct information is as follows: Clinton Cox is in business development for Playboy Live. Reality Kings neither owns nor operates naked.com. Converge Media Works was founded in 2007. Stacey Havoc was host of Money Talks before beginning work with Playboy Live. And a video directed by Cox called Baby Mama Drama was improperly described; it is a music video financed by SouthBeat Records.
