Here at Miami New Times we publish one in-depth, 5,000 word feature a week. We're one of the few publications in Miami that does so regularly. It's kind of our thing.
Of course, some tend to resonate more with others. Here are our ten most popular features of the year, as determined by page views. If you haven't read them, you should. Everyone else has.
See also:
- 15 Best Miami New Times Covers of 2012
1. King of Diamonds: How America's Favorite Black Strip Club Won Its Crown
In just a few short years, Miami Garden's King of Diamond has become the most famous strip club on the planet. Its name is regularly dropped in rap songs, and some of its most popular dancers have become psuedo-celebrities in their own right. Francisco Alvarado takes you inside the club, and you don't even have to pay a $100 cover.
2. Murder-Suicide in the Keys Unravels a Doctor's Decades-Long Mystery
When Glen Tucker killed himself and his wife down in the Keys in 2011 it at first seemed like a quiet tragedy. Tim Elfrink dug deeper. Turns out that two decades prior Tucker, a doctor, had faked his own drowning to escape a growing avalanche of malpractice suits.
3. Buju Banton is innocent
The popular dancehall rapper is currently serving 10 years on cocaine trafficking charges, but Chris Sweeney argues that Buju is innocent.
4. Chris Paciello ratted on mob bosses, new documents show
Paciello is one of the most colorful characters in South Beach history. In the '90s, he was a nightlife kingpin and dated Madonna before his mob-connected past caught up with him. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in connection to a murder, and Frank Owen discovers he might have gotten off with a light sentence due to snitching on mob bosses. Whatever the case, Paciello is now a free man and once again back on the South Beach scene.
5. Tony Galeota: From Running Porky's, Miami's Most Notorious Strip Joint, to Rotting in a Panamanian Jail
To report this story on former manager of a notorious Hialeah strip club, Michael E. Miller ended up having to strip down for guards in one of Panama's grossest prisons. There's not much we wouldn't do to get a story.
6. Victoria Jackson's excellent Tea Party adventure
Just about anyone with an Internet connection is aware that former squeaky-voiced SNL cast member has turned into one of the most outrageous celebrity mouth pieces of the conservative movement. Gus Garcia-Roberts decided to figure out how the hell that happened.
7. Miami-Dade Police Lured Robbers to the Redland, Then Shot Them
In the Redland, the shadiest reaches of Miami-Dade County, police ambushed and shot four thieves in a sting operation. Michael E. Miller tells the story.
8. Miami-Dade TNT Unit Loses the War on Drugs and Liberty City's Trust
Francisco Alvarado casts doubt on the effectiveness MDPD's Tactical Narcotics Team and their "Santa's Helper" drug sweep, which resulted in 112 drug arrests around Christmas time. The majority on misdemeanor marijuana charges.
9. DJ Seasunz: A Murder Kills a Nightlife Scene
The bizarre murder of a teenage girl by her boyfriend, a DJ popular in the all-ages nightlife scene, shocked Miami. Jon Tayler explored Seasunz's backstory and the fate of the scene he once ruled.
10. Occupy Miami descends into drugs and chaos in an Overtown apartment building
While the original Occupy Wall Street died a death (one assisted by the NYPD), Michael E. Miller discovered that Occupy Miami activists had taken over a dirty apartment building in Overtown. They called it "Peace City." We called it a living hell.
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