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Neighborhood Watch
Omni business leaders want to fight crime and
panhandlers
By Ben Torter
Anyone who’s lived in
Miami for five minutes knows that the neighborhood
surrounding the Omni bus terminal is plagued with crack
heads, junkies and assorted panhandlers, and has been
for a long time.
But now a fresh storyline is unfolding in the area. New
construction and redevelopment have put people on the
sidewalks seeking more than their next fix. The
half-billion dollar Adrienne Arsht Center for the
Performing Arts, a new condo canyon along North Bayshore
Drive and the revitalization of the Omni Center on
Biscayne Boulevard between Northeast 15th Street and
17th Terrace (formerly the Omni Mall) have attracted
moneyed types who feel uneasy around aggressive
panhandlers.
Hoping to keep well-heeled patrons coming back with their friends,
neighborhood businesses are joining together to seek
solutions to street security problems. Officials from
Argent Ventures, the owner of the
Omni Center, called neighborhood businesses and
residents together for a meeting Feb. 7 to discuss how
to enhance security so people feel safe.
“We want our tenants to have the best possible experience,” said
Mark Teitelbaum, chief operating officer for Argent
Advisors. Omni tenants include the Miami International
University of Art and the Miami Biscayne Bay Hotel, set
to become a Hilton.
Hotel guests and students have complained about being intimidated
by aggressive panhandlers and homeless people. But
according to David Raymond, executive director of the
Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust, those living on the
streets may not be the worst offenders. The number of
homeless living on the streets of
Miami,
he said, has dropped from 1,100 in 2003 to 500 as of
Jan. 29.
“Some of the aggressive panhandlers aren’t homeless, they’re drug
addicts,” Raymond said.
An ordinance to ban panhandling in parts of downtown, including up
to
Northeast 14th Street
on the north side of the
Adrienne
Arsht Center, is on the Miami City Commission’s Feb. 14
agenda. Even if it passes, it doesn’t include most of
the Omni area.
Raymond offered basic advice to help discourage panhandling.
“If you keep giving them a dollar, they’re going to keep coming
back,” Raymond said. There are indoor feeding areas for
the homeless that try to provide services to get them
off the streets. The nearest site to the Omni is Trinity
Episcopal Cathedral around the corner at
464 N.E. 16th St.
Marsha Gomez, public relations director for the Miami International
University of Art, said the school has noticed an
increase in thefts and other relatively minor crimes in
the last year. To improve security, the school will soon
require everyone entering or leaving its confines to
wear ID badges.
“We are really looking forward to collaborating with the
neighborhood and being a little more proactive and
vigilant,” Gomez said.
How to proceed next is the question. Claudia Moreland, account
executive with the public relations firm of Gordon
Diaz-Balart (hired by Argent Ventures), is working on a
couple of strategies.
Business owners want to approach either the Omni Neighborhood
Community Redevelopment Agency for funds to hire private
security for the streets, or the city of
Miami
for a stronger police presence.
Those interested in joining the yet-to-be-named Omni neighborhood
association can call Claudia Moreland at Gordon
Diaz-Balart at 305-381-8831.
Comments? E-mail
ben@miamisunpost.com |
