Gotta
Respect the Puig: Improving 11th Street, Soundproofed by a
Highway and Boasting a Great Lookin’ Mug Shot to Boot!
After
seeing your article this morning [The 411, “Cell Space,”
published March 29] and reading it several times, I could
not help but do something I rarely do anymore, and that's
write, so I will make it short.
I
live in Plaza Venetia, far from Space, yet the building has
signed a petition against the noise coming from the clubs on
11th Street. The only club I do hear sometimes is Nocturnal
on Saturday mornings. The only reason Nocturnal is never
mentioned in these board meetings is probably because
Nocturnal is not as popular as Space.
Ironically, now that we are not dodging bums and bullets in
our streets here downtown thanks to Mr. Puig and his cohorts
and the publicity and tourists he has brought to this area
in both the gay and straight communities, we are
embarrassingly posting his face on the newspaper, and the
city shamelessly used him to make an example for the rest of
the club owners what power the condos have. However, he is
the single most important person on that block, or in that
area, for that matter, and it was downright GUTLESS of the
officer who decided to make the arrest in the first
place. And I am sure that if a code enforcement officer was
doing his or her job correctly and measuring the sound,
he or she would see or hear that Nocturnal's sound system is
the MAJOR problem there because of the way it is open on top
and facing the buildings and bay. Space’s sound system on
the terrace is [diverted] by the highway and his
[club’s] front entrance, so it’s rarely ever heard.
But
I must say, Mr. Puig has the best mug shot ever and he'll
use this publicity well. I am sure he will prevail from this
as he always does. He's not the smartest club owner and
operator in the industry for nothing.
A
former employee
Miami
The South Pointe Water Reserve
I
would like to join Aristotle Ares, the retired assistant
director of Miami Beach’s public works who wants to
volunteer his services for South Pointe Park [“Ready,
Willing and Able to Volunteer My Time for South Pointe
Park,” published March 29]. Almost every morning I take my
dog along for a walk along the waterway. I do so before the
toll collectors clip the $10 parking fee ($2 for residents,
$10 for nonresidents). Can Miami Beach not remember that
South Pointe used to be federal land owned by all and given
to the city for $1?
But
that is not the point. Let’s go to New York City and
Washington Square Park. This park, which presently could be
used as a setting for a 1920s black and white movie, very
shortly will undergo a $13 million renovation. When the city
planners drew up the contingency plans, they had to consider
“the perfect storm” — the perfect storm being a “drought.”
Most of the work for this park will be underground, as this
park will become a storage facility for rainwater, which at
present simply goes down the drain in an antiquated sewer
system.
South Pointe should be turned into a grove (no more cheap
ornamental palm trees, please) and an underground storage
facility of plentiful (six months) rainwater. Abundant
parking should be metered under the canopy created by the
trees, the shade of which might help fight off global
warming.
The
idea of creating parks to be storage facilities of fresh
water with reflecting pools, waterfalls, fountains and
goldfish should be universally adopted by all South Florida
communities before water becomes $1 per gallon at the meter.
Sincerely,
Robert Fournier
Miami
Free Weekly Needs to Get Mouth Washed Out With Soap: Oh, the
Children! Oh, the Economy!
This
is written in strong protest to the headlines that blazed
forth from your paper of March 22, 2007 [“Welcome to Miami,
Bitch”]. Although I believe they were written as a warning
to visitors, I think they only add to the distaste that many
feel about Miami Beach. To use the word “bitch” in large
headlines in two places referring to Miami Beach is a
turn-off for people who should think of this city as a
pleasant resort. For a paper that carries so much
advertising for Miami Beach real estate it is not only
“wrong,” but also hurts what it should be trying to
help. The headlines are so conspicuous that even children
cannot miss them, and thus they could think that it is all
right to use these words. The beauties of Miami Beach should
be emphasized, and the evils of some should be noted without
adding to them!
Sincerely,
Helen K. Lindsay
Miami Beach
Tourist Tax Dollars Being Used to Benefit the People? By
Jove, I Think He’s Got It!
By
the way, loved your editorial from March 22 [‘Property Tax
Relief Is Needed]! Especially this paragraph:
“Finally, before increasing the sales tax, state leaders
should look at changing the current resort tax system.
Miami-Dade County collects millions and millions of dollars
in resort tax and convention development tax money. Yet none
of this money can be spent on police, education or health
care. Instead, it must be spent on tax-related purposes
— which means bringing in more tourists that our various
local services have to support. This has to change. Why
shouldn’t Florida residents receive a greater benefit from
resort tax dollars charged in their communities for
restaurant meals, drinks and hotel rooms? Wouldn’t that
be better than slashing important programs or increasing the
sales taxes by 70 or 80 percent? Or do we just want the
money to continue being used for rail programs that are
never constructed, overpriced performing arts centers,
convention centers and sports stadiums?”
Thank you for writing something so eminently sensible that
it should be circulated to all legislators!! I have
forwarded it on to my own and to Charlie Crist.
Please keep up the good work!
Mario Capelli
Sunny Isles Beach
Making Flipper Proud: Water Parks Give Good Revenue Streams
[“Key Timing,” published March 8]
Concerning Virginia Key, I wonder if anyone has considered
building a small water park, which could share the
Seaquarium parking lot, across the street from the
Seaquarium? The Seaquarium could then charge for parking to
the water park, and revenue from the park could be used to
preserve and maintain the rest of the island. In addition,
such a park would attract more tourists to the Seaquarium.
Jaime Pujol
Miami
Thanks for the Merciless Commentary on Mercy Hospital
Rebecca,
Your
writing is superb and the tone perfect [Wakefield,
“Desperate Developers,” published March 22]. You never
disappoint me. Keep it up!
Louise Caro
Coconut Grove
Give Felipe a Chance: Ban Cars Before Pedicabs
Re: Murmurs, “Pedicab
Rage,” published March 1.
Now, that’s my kind of
guy. Brings forward a feasible idea, gets shot down by a
suddenly recalcitrant commission, then, boom! — pipes up,
and says what he thinks.
I empathize, though.
Pedicabs may not be your cup of tea, but they’ll surely
accomplish two needful goals: present an alternative to
carbon-spewing, road-hogging SUVs, buses and taxis, and
inhibit some on-street parking.
See, I would
outlaw ALL on-street parking, or make it prohibitively
expensive — say, there’s an idea: Call it Quik Buck Park,
and charge $10 an hour (vs. cheap garage rates) — and,
zoopty doopty, the Beach’ll make a killin’.
Seems Felipe Azenha’s on
to something. Like myself, he envisions streets as traffic
movers, not as horizontal parking lots. We’re trying
to discourage cars, not crowd ’em in even thicker. It’s that
vision thing again, and I’m surprised to see the commission
has lost it, since we elected them to make the Beach a
friendlier place to live, not drive. But I guess the squeaky
steering wheel still gets the oil.
Here’s the vista we’d
like to see: well-terraced medians holding stately palm or
canopy trees, like on Washington, south of Fifth; open
plazas of brickwork mosaics; sidewalks wide enough to
actually walk on, with pedestrian-friendly crossways;
streetcar circulators to eliminate hundreds of smelly bus
trips a day; bicycle lanes crisscrossing our neighborhoods —
and, yes, pedicabs to move tourists and residents quickly
and safely.
While we’re at it, why
not put tolls on the causeways, and add vehicle collection
points for visitors entering the Beach? (They can take the
circulators from there.) And lastly, slap a moratorium on
any more hideous parking garages that only gobble up real
estate and create eyesores.
Hey, I’m on a roll. Let’s
ban cars altogether on Ocean Drive and turn it into a
walkway. Then, we’ll connect it to Lincoln Road, maybe along
about-to-be refurbished 16th Street.
See, these changes won’t
add to the congestion clogging our lifestyle because
they mean shifting away from the current mess of
speeding, parking, noise and confusion, let alone the
dependence on an archaic technology (yes, the internal
combustion engine was invented in 1866, and has only gotten
better at spewing pollution).
Note to
commission/candidates: Sounds like this upcoming election
will have to be about the problems of gridlock, and
solutions to it. Please, have your answers ready.
And about Felipe? Give
the man a chance. Show us you’re willing to seize
opportunities.
Jeffrey Bradley
Miami Beach
[Editor’s Note: Jeffrey Bradley is on the parking and
transportation committee, which recommended legalizing
pedicabs.]
