Did anyone else get déjà vu reading the front page of the Miami Herald yesterday? Its feature story, “Condo Caverns,” was strikingly similar to New Times’ cover story last week, “Postcards From the Bust,” written by yours truly. My story looked at life inside some of the ghostly high-rise condos…
The Stonewall Pride Parade in Wilton Manors Saturday night had everything you could want from a festival: civic leaders waving from slow-moving vehicles, a float featuring The Wizard of Oz characters in drag, and plenty of strapping young men in bikinis. The only thing missing was a horde of awkward,…
In this week’s feature story about South Florida’s condo bust, we introduced you to one of the biggest symbols of the real estate boom’s folly: Tao Sawgrass in Sunrise. The twin, 26-story condo towers were built on the edge of the Everglades, next door to the Sawgrass Mills outlet mall…
Palm Beach County government may be rife with corruption and short on cash, but it recently managed to help one citizen with a vital task: getting a refund for an ill-fated cab ride.Last month, we introduced you to the sad tale of a 30-year-old Boca woman who paid $50 for…
Drive down Federal Highway or Sunrise Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale or Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach and the “For Sale” signs seem inescapable. Every lonely strip-mall storefront and empty condominium complex pleads to become someone else’s problem. Consider them the artifacts of a gilded age. During the past decade,…
It’s no secret that daily newspapers are getting hit hard by the New Depression. Their entire economic model relies on print advertising that is rapidly disappearing. Now, the Palm Beach Post seems to be using its news space to shill for advertisers. How else can you explain the front page…
Reading the Miami Herald headlines Thursday morning, you might have had a Marty McFly moment and thought you woke up in 2015. “Downtown Miami condos filling up fast, report says,” one blared.Huh? Isn’t Miami the center of the nation’s worst condo meltdown? Well, yes. But this particular article made an…
Tad Ground can see the Trump International Hotel & Tower from his office window, its wave-shaped curves gleaming in the sunlight. It taunts him, because three years ago he imagined it would be his home. Ground, an attorney in Fort Lauderdale, was going to give up the hassle of a…
Last week we introduced you to the saga of the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Fort Lauderdale. Buyers have filed lawsuits alleging they were misled to believe that Donald Trump was a developer of the building — or, at the very least, that the tower would bear his name…
What kind of criminal preys on parents waiting in line to pick up their kids from preschool? Four times in the past few weeks, unknown suspects have smashed windows and snatched purses from the cars of parents headed to pick up their kids at preschools and day-care centers in the…
Everyone knows the condo bust in South Florida is a financial disaster. But now that Donald Trump is involved, it’s a celebrity disaster. A federal class action lawsuit has been filed against the developers of the Trump International Hotel & Tower, alleging that buyers were misled to believe they were…
Former Palm Beach County Commissioner Mary McCarty showed up for federal court in West Palm this morning dressed as a repentant sinner, in a white jacket and pearls. She choked back tears when she addressed the judge charged with sentencing her for violating public corruption law, telling him and the…
It’s been a rough few weeks for working women. First Sasha Grey came to town and started blabbing about feminism. Then hooker ads got kicked off Craigslist. Now a local stripper is being sued for kicking a customer in the face. Michael Ireland has filed suit in Palm Beach County Circuit…
Beaches without life guards, higher bus fares, laid off county workers, a major tax hike. Such a dismal budget proposal is hardly shocking in a county that’s drowning in a housing bust. But Palm Beach County’s proposal–detailed in the Palm Beach Post this morning–is stomach- turning because it can’t entirely…
How corrupt is Palm Beach County government? A grand jury report released today counts the ways. From overpriced land deals to shady bond underwriting practices, to slush funds that allow public officials to spend millions on their pet projects, it paints a picture of government that would make Rod Blagojevich…
Being a Cleveland sports fan requires a lifetime commitment to Prozac. The underdog city’s teams have a habit of fostering great hopes before losing in some spectacular, nail-biting way. It’s a bruising, emotional roller coaster that would make Rihanna and Chris Brown wince. Yet we keep coming back for more.Now…
The St. Petersburg Times ran an intriguing expose today about the thousands of dollars it costs to provide state security to Gov. Charlie Crist’s wife and her children. It’s worth reading not so much because of what it says, but how much was left unsaid–namely, why anyone would care about…
The Palm Beach County commissioners voted this week to spend $3 million on a new advertising campaign to boost tourism. Meanwhile, in totally unrelated news, The Business Insider, an online publication, named West Palm Beach one of the most depressing places in America. Yes, thanks to the condo bust, this…
There’s still no word on when the Broward County Commission will discuss the fate of the Blazing Paddles dragon boat team in West Lake Park. But for those who have been following the boaters’ saga–they were nearly evicted from the park, after one kayaker complained that the team’s boat storage…
Rita’s Water Ice is a Philadelphia landmark, selling a product that rivals the cheesesteak in its addictive qualities.The ingredients sound simple enough–ice, fresh fruit, sugar–but this is not your average snow cone. I’ve seen Philly natives travel miles to get their fix, craving the slushy, refreshing goodness the way normal…
It sure is sweet to be a government employee during the Great Recession. Wilton Manors just became the latest local city to announce it will save money by taking Fridays off, following the example of Pembroke Pines and the police departments in Coral Gables and North Miami. Granted, I see…
He’s rich. He’s getting on in years. And he seems to have no idea that The Bachelor thing is sooo 2003.Meet Palm Beach millionaire Tom Feltenstein, the man behind the “Have Maid… Have Money, Would Love a HONEY!” billboard that recently began nauseating drivers on I-95 near the West Palm…
