Letters From the Issue of July 2, 2009

I am writing regarding the article "High-Rise Stakes" (Lisa Rab, June 18). My concern is with the last section, "Crime and Punishment: Villa Medici, Fort Lauderdale."

An eye-catching title, a bit overdone, and in my opinion, it makes Villa Medici sound like a place of constant crime. This is truly not the situation. The robberies you refer to in the article happened almost two years ago.

The other thing that your article neglected to mention is that all the robberies took place in units where the owners or renters left the garage doors up and the door from the garage into the unit unlocked. This is surely an invitation to be robbed. New Times should print a correction to the article, since you neglected to mention how long ago these incidents took place and that it has improved greatly.

This article portrays Villa Medici as a crime-ridden community where nothing is done to improve the situation in these difficult economic times. I always thought your newspaper did a good job of investigating things like this before publishing the article. However, this article seems to have fallen short in this regard. I hope this email helps you and your newspaper to do a more thorough investigation before publishing another article condemning a whole community, as I feel this article has done here.

Name withheld upon request

Fort Lauderdale

My wife and I two weeks ago went to the Tao on a Saturday ("High-Rise Stakes"). It was completely deserted — no tenants, realtors, guards, nothing. We drove all the way to the top. Unbelievable. Great place for skateboarding, though.

Barry Cohen

Weston

I am not even from Broward-Palm Beach. I am from Miami, currently living in New York City, so I'm not really sure why I continue to read through the email blasts from New Times. Regardless, I thought your piece about the guest bartending was dope ("Thirsty Bartender," Mickie Centrone, June 18). It was well-written and pretty funny. I thought I'd give you props. Keep up the good work.

Al Valient

New York City

I just read your May 21 article about the Greyhound racing industry ("Heartbreak at 45 mph," Michael J. Mooney) and found it heartbreaking and charming. I've been adopting greyhounds since 2003, and one of my current dogs is also a Molotov daughter, Nicki. She is black with a white tux front and has three white-tipped paws. She also has a cowlick on the back of her neck. She too suffered at the track, but we've made up for that. Thanks for a great article.

Pat Durrwachter

Glenn Heights, Texas

Thank you for the great article "Let the Games Begin" by Gail Shepherd in the May 14 edition of New Times. I lived in Tokyo for seven months. I spoke no Japanese, so I ate a lot of sushi because I did know the names of various fish.

But I learned much of what you related in your article from similar experiences in Los Angeles. I learned to greet the chef, order from the board, and always ask what the chef suggested. I've also eaten monkfish liver and sweet shrimp. I know you couldn't say this in print, but another important thing is not to eat sushi unless the chef is Japanese. This is hard to do in Florida because most of the sushi restaurants seem to be run by Thais.

I was so happy to read about Masamune in Deerfield and am almost ready to try eating some sushi again. Thanks again for your interesting and entertaining reviews. I look forward to reading them each week.

Joel Colby

Fort Lauderdale

I feel bad for any family experiencing betrayal by any form of justice ("Renegade Road," Gus Garcia-Roberts, May 14). As a parent of new drivers, I have recently heard of several similar situations here in Hollywood, where this has occurred with members of the Seminole Indian tribe, right here on State Road 7. There have been numerous deaths in which the Seminoles maintain total immunity in wrongful-death cases, and I think our federal justice system should protect us from this. Please research and report on your findings. Thank you for your report.

Name withheld upon request

Hollywood

In our Best Of Broward-Palm Beach edition on June 11, we incorrectly identified the chandelier at Sage Oyster Bar in Hollywood as a work by artist Dale Chihuly. The chandelier was not created by Chihuly.