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Historic Aventura The impact and publicity from the success of television’s Miami Vice on South Beach cannot be understated. And now, nearly two decades later, the wake of that success is rippling into Aventura.
A.C. Weinstein With the coming of CSI: Miami to the roster of this fall’s network television scheduling, Greater Miami Beach will once again be the compelling and colorful backdrop for criminal behavior. Back in the 1980’s the hit television series Miami Vice brought to life the architecturally significant but crumbling crack houses lining Ocean Drive. So much so, Miami Vice’s popularity would become the energizing catalyst for the newest resurgence of South Beach, as a national viewing audience would watch those polyester-layered cocaine cowboys navigate the streets and waterways with fast, expensive sport cars and boats. Sometimes to just to deliver a few kilos, but more often than not, it was during a corner squealing or wave jumping shoot ‘em out pursuit by Miami’s vice cops, whose tone of pastel clothing would eventually become the new color scheme of those soon to be rehabilitated deco buildings. Who could have guessed back then that Sonny Crockett’s closet would inspire such a rainbow of vision for the new Ocean Drive? The show’s collection of sport cars were certainly popular, but the real stars of pursuit were those sleek and shiny Cigarette style racing boats that would slice open Biscayne Bay, leaving a spreading white wake the helicopter camera crews loved to shoot. And what that row of deco buildings did for Ocean Drive, it can also be said those racing boats did for 188th Street in northeast Miami-Dade, known as Thunder Row. It was on Thunder Row where the Cigarette style racer was founded by powerboat builder Don Aranow. What Bill Gates had been to the early computer, Aranow was to the power boating industry. And right at its prime in 1987, an almost as popular boat racer and builder named Ben Kramer allegedly filled his competitor Aranow’s body with bullets, just outside his office on Thunder Row. Kramer eventually pleaded no contest to the charge of fatally capping Aranow. On the tenth year anniversary of that nationally publicized event, the residents of northeast Miami-Dade won their right of incorporation, and the new City Of Aventura was born. And those adventurous Aventurites, all twenty-five thousand of them, found themselves the new owners of 188th Street where the storied history of Thunder Row’s Cigarette style racing will be as preserved as Ocean Drive’s deco style architecture. In memory, that is. Thunder Row sits on prime waterfront property. While much of Miami-Dade’s waterview properties have already been developed, this little pocket of Aventura has yet to feel the swinging blows of the wrecking ball. But that’s soon to change as Aventura’s public officials and private interests are now viewing Thunder Row as the next boom location for high-end redevelopment. At the tip of Thunder Row’s peninsula, made famous by the Cigarette style racing boats, Aventura officials already are planning to build a few civic niceties, such as a school and recreation center. And soon the private development interests will be competing to build their highrise residential and commercial properties with water views to, well, kill for. Will an influx of new development along Thunder Row change the character of Aventura? Hardly! Even before incorporation in 1997, northeast Miami-Dade had long been targeted as an attractive, available and successful location for any number of newly zoned residential projects. Since incorporation, Aventura maintained that momentum by encouraging development, and the city itself even built one of the county’s nicest and showiest government center complexes. Unlike some of its neighboring municipalities, Aventura is not in the business of trying to protect and preserve historic districts. But one neighborhood does have a storied past to recall, although chaptered in powerboat pursuits, candy colored suits and celebrity bump offs. So just for old time sake, or perhaps only to ensure that Aventura’s post-incorporation history is never to be forgotten, city officials should insist the first new building to rise on the site of the murder be called Thunder Row or maybe even Aranow Way. But I suppose, as the movers ‘n shakers on Ocean Drive would probably agree, the first new project on Thunder Row should really be called “The House that Miami Vice Built.” Let’s see if CSI: Miami can leave a similar legacy. A.C. Weinstein Were the recent employee shakeups inside Miami Beach City Hall the fallout from the negative publicity over the closing of the MacArthur Causeway during the filming of “Bad Boys?” Nope. Contrary to recently published reports, the departure of two employees in the city’s film and entertainment division had absolutely nothing to do with Florida Department of Transportation’s four-day closure of the causeway. Do you have any thoughts on any of the races in the September 10 election?
To thwart off the repeal of Miami-Dade’s Human Rights Ordinance, the “No” Vote campaign needed to win the support of 7 out of 10 ten voters on the Miami Beach side of the bay. That goal was reached and, with it a turnout sufficient to carry the election by six percentage points. As for those two questions in Bay Harbor Islands, restricting height limits won by 67 percentage points and the $37 million bond issue was yanked wisely from the ballot. No surprises there. The new geographic mapping of the districts also brought Miami Beach a new state representative, Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall, who will now be working in Tallahassee with colleagues Gus Barreiro and Dan Gelber. Miami Beach is fortunate to have such a diverse and talented trio serving its interests in the Florida House of Representatives. At her victory party, Bendross-Mindingall said she is looking forward to meeting her new Miami Beach constituents. Congratulations Dorothy. What was that controversy with the city manager and fire department in Miami Beach all about? There’s a lot of professionalism and pride within the fire department’s rank and file. Whenever that dedicated group of men and women believe any proposal by the administration could lessen their ability to provide the highest level of service, they vigorously unite and let their sentiments be known to the community. On this specific issue involving the administration’s recommendation to civilianize fire prevention inspectors, the firefighters believe those positions should be held by sworn, firefighting professionals from within their own ranks. While the manager is doing a pretty good job in shaving off a few dollars from any number of city departments, the commission was placed in the difficult position of choosing between cuts in the fire department or raising the table tax on restaurants and cafés with outdoor seating on public property. It put the commission in a tough place because of its commitment to maintaining the highest level of public safety, yet no one wants to raise taxes. The mediators who actually softened the growing rift between the commission and the administration in those budget choices turned out to be the firefighters. They offered a three-month, good faith compromise that will save those inspector positions for the long run. Miami Beach’s firefighting and emergency rescue teams have built the department into one of the finest public safety agencies in the state. Few can match its response time to fires and myriad of rescues. There’s a lot of pride in earning and carrying that reputation, and the rank and file is not shy about pulling out their hoses when anything or anyone should threaten those high standards. Did your “Trouble in Taxi Land” column make any difference in the illegal activity that’s taking place at the doors of the hotels? In recent weeks several hotels have been cited with violations. While some officials in the taxi industry believe it’s now the beginning of the end for this ongoing illegal activity, a number of drivers are saying the extortion continues at some choice locations. As more information is compiled, this column will disclose those specific offending locations. This activity is not just a problem in Miami Beach. In an undercover sting last week, seven taxi dispatchers were arrested in New York City for taking cash bribes to allow drivers to jump the lines at the airports. If convicted, they face up to seven years in prison. This is pretty serious stuff. What’s bugging the residents of Miami Beach these days? More than anything else, it’s the behavior of their dog-walking neighbors. A tremendous number of complaints have crossed my desk from residents who are very upset about where their neighbors are depositing and leaving their doggies’ poop. Perhaps all of those disgruntled folks should just tell their neighbors to pick up and pouch their pooches’ poop. On the other side, a number of pet owners have expressed a desire to have the use of a short stretch of beach to exercise and cool off their dogs, particularly during the summer months. Maybe there’s a tradeoff somewhere to be found in this double-doggy dilemma? |
