August 2019 www.BiscayneTimes.com Volume 17 Issue 6 © Miami Gets a Grade Public parks. National ranking. Barely average. CALL 305-756-6200 FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THIS ADVERTISING SPACE Our all inclusive 55 or better lifestyle is designed for you to be able to live in care-free comfort. Our residents enjoy a variety of activities, amenities, dining options, and more while living in the best location. Rents start at $2350 and we will pay $1000 towards moving costs. Limited time only on select units, call for details. 2751 NE 183rd Street Aventura, FL 33160 • 305.521.7219 • www.imperial-living.com 2 Biscayne Times • www.BiscayneTimes.com August 2019 Our all inclusive 55 or better lifestyle is designed for you to be able to live in care-free comfort. Our residents enjoy a variety of activities, amenities, dining options, and more while living in the best location. Rents start at $2350 and we will pay $1000 towards moving costs. Limited time only on select units, call for details. 2751 NE 183rd Street Aventura, FL 33160 • 305.521.7219 • www.imperial-living.com August 2019 Biscayne Times • www.BiscayneTimes.com 3 Where Buyers 2019 New 5,300 SF Waterfront Home New Pool Home ! and Sellers ` intersect every day Modern Masterpiece - $1.299M New Custom Home with high ceilings. 4 Bedrooms 2019 New Waterfront Pool Home - $2.49M 3 Bathrooms, over 2700 SF, 24hr Guard Gated New 5,300 SF Contemporary Home with Ocean Access, no Islands of Keystone Point. Huge great room. bridges to Bay. 4BR, 5BA + den/office or 5th BR, 665sf covered patio downstairs. 2 car gar. Dock up to 75' ft boat. 1950 Alamanda Drive 130' FT On The Water For Sale or Lease Brand New 2019 Waterfront Home ! 2045 Keystone Blvd - $2.39M New modern style home rests on 75 ft of waterfront, no bridges to Bay & quick ocean access. Appx 5,000 sf, 5br New Modern Home - $699,000 5ba, pool, 2 car garage. New seawall and new dock. 2130 Alamanda Dr. This new home is move in ready and never lived in. Features an open floor plan, 3 large Davis Harbor Pool Home - $1.150M PRICE REDUCED! bedrooms, 3 full baths, impact windows & doors plus New Seawall, 2 Story home with Bay views. huge yard with room for pool. 2,134 SF, 1 car garage 3 Bedrooms, 3 Bathrooms, huge great room with on 9,375 SF lot. 24hr Guard Gated Keystone Islands! 14 ft ceilings. 2,891 SF, on large 13,197 SF lot with 1 car carport + huge 1car garage. For Lease $4,250.00 mo. Motivated Seller -Reduced! 2035 NE 121 Rd - $1.099M Beautiful 2 story waterfront property with direct Bay access in the 24hr Police Gated Sans Souci Estates Majorca Towers - Wide Bay Views $209,000 that offers 4br, 3ba, hurricane impact windows and Miramar-Santorini Estates In Vizcaya $ 375,000 doors, with refinished real hardwood floors upstairs. North Miami Bayfront Building. 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Montgomery & Koebel, Inc. 305-606-2252 12700 Biscayne Blvd. Suite 303, North Miami, FL [email protected] 4 Biscayne Times • www.BiscayneTimes.com August 2019 August 2019 Biscayne Times • www.BiscayneTimes.com 5 PLEASE ALWAYS WEAR PROTECTIVE APPAREL WHEN OPPERATING ANY OUTDOOR EQUIPMENT. 6 Biscayne Times • www.BiscayneTimes.com August 2019 August 2019 Biscayne Times • www.BiscayneTimes.com 7 CONTENTS COVER STORY 22 ParkScore: Miami Gets a Grade PO Box 370566, Miami, FL 33137 www.biscaynetimes.com© COMMENTARY Serving communities along the Biscayne Corridor: Arch Creek East, Aventura, Bay Point, Bayside, Biscayne 12 Feedback: Letters to the Editor Park, Belle Meade, Buena Vista, Coventry, Design District, Downtown, Eastern Shores, Edgewater, El Portal, 16 My View: Red Scare Redux Enchanted Lake, Hibiscus Island, Highland Lakes, Keystone Point, Miami Shores, Morningside, North 37 Greynolds, North Bay Island, North Miami, North Miami Beach, Oak Forest, Oakland Grove, Palm Grove, OUR SPONSORS 18 BizBuzz: August 2019 Palm Island, Sans Souci, Shorecrest, Sky Lake, Sparling Lake, Star Island, Wynwood, and Venetian Islands COMMUNITY NEWS 36 Virgin Trains: Express or Milk Run? PUBLISHER & EDITOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES 36 Condo Crimes, Part 3 Jim Mullin Nancy Newhart 37 Farewell, Laurenzo’s Italian Market [email protected] [email protected] 954-980-7639 NEIGHBORHOOD CORRESPONDENTS CONTRIBUTORS 46 Bouquets and Brickbats for North Miami Erik Bojnansky, Senior Writer Marc Ruehle 48 Aventura Sues School District? Bad Idea... [email protected] [email protected] 50 Miami Shores vs. One-Use Plastic Bags Anne Tschida, Arts Editor 786-514-7080 ART & CULTURE [email protected] 52 Elisa Turner on the Art of Onajide Shabaka ART DIRECTOR 54 David Bennett’s Galleries + Museums Francisco Alvarado, Geoffrey Anderson, Marcy Mock 56 Events Calendar: See Sea Turtles David Bennett, Jay Beskin, [email protected] POLICE REPORTS Jacqueline Coleman, John Dorschner, 58 Derek McCann’s Biscayne Crime Beat 46 Paul George, Janet Goodman, Margaret Griffis, ADVERTISING DESIGN Helen Hill, John Ise, Derek MichaelMcCann, DP Designs PARK PATROL [email protected] 60 Janet Goodman: North Bay Village Tiny Parks Dinah McNichols, Kim Ogren, Jenni Person, Silvia Ros, Dianne Rubin, Mark Sell, Stuart COLUMNISTS CIRCULATION 57 Picture Story: The Military in Miami 63 Sheldon, Jeff Shimonski, Elisa Turner South Florida Distributors 62 Pet Talk: Tortoises As Pets 63 Family Matters: Introducing the Ocean BUSINESS MANAGER PRINTING 64 Your Garden: Resilience? Not This... Kenneth Cooper Stuart Web, Inc. 65 Going Green: Save Us From Our Leaders [email protected] www.stuartweb.com 66 Vino: West Coast Sauvignon Blanc 67 Dish: Miami Spice Is Back! FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION CALL 305-756-6200 DINING GUIDE All articles, photos, and artwork in the Biscayne Times are copyrighted by Biscayne Media, LLC. Any duplication or reprinting 68 Restaurant Listings: 249 Biscayne Corridor Restaurants without authorized written consent from the publisher is prohibited. florida-allergy.com #BacktoSchool OFFICES NEAR YOU: Aventura Miami Beach 21150 Biscayne Blvd., Suite 408 400 Arthur Godfrey Rd., Suite 504 Aventura, FL 33180 Miami Beach, FL 33140 PH. 305-932-3252 F. 305-932-2798 PH. 305-538-8339 F. 305-538-4907 Hollywood North Miami Beach 2699 Stirling Rd., Suite B-305 16401 NW Second Ave., Suite 204 Hollywood, FL 33312 North Miami Beach, FL 33169 PH. 954-981-9180 F. 954-961-4752 PH. 305-945-4131 F. 305-945-0052 Leading allergy & asthma practice Board certified physicians with extensive 18 conveniently located offices in in South Florida established in 1974 experience treating children & adults Miami Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties 8 Biscayne Times • www.BiscayneTimes.com August 2019 GREAT DOCTORS CONTINUE TO YIELD GREAT RESULTS Mount Sinai Medical Center has been named one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals by IBM Watson Health™ for two consecutive years. The only hospital in South Florida to be named to the 2019 list Outperforming over 2,700 hospitals across the nation, delivering on key metrics, including better survival rates and higher patient satisfaction 100 Top Hospitals® is a registered trademark of IBM Watson Health™. August 2019 Biscayne Times • www.BiscayneTimes.com 9 10 Biscayne Times • www.BiscayneTimes.com August 2019 August 2019 Biscayne Times • www.BiscayneTimes.com 11 Commentary: LETTERS Miami’s Amazing Monastery monastery to America. While the chap- CALL NOW Thanks to Erik Bojnansky for the ter house was transported in its entirety, article on the Ancient Spanish Monas- a two-story addition was left behind, tery (“Miami’s Medieval Wonder,” July and only chunks of the chapel and 2019). Bojnansky never fails to turn cloister were sent to the United States. 305-742-5225 out good stories, and this time I en- As a result, Moss and Edgemon used joyed learning some of the early history limestone rock quarried from local rock EAGLE behind the monastery, so much so that I mines to complete the monastery.” Please follow us on:: spent a few fun hours online Googling I wonder if some of those stones for more. came from across the street — that is, Of particular interest is a 2015 Greynolds Park, which was a quarry PROPERTIES EXCLUSIVELY FOR SALE BY THE JACK CODEN GROUP Atlas Obscura story on the disman- before it became a park. tling of dozens of Europe’s man- DC Copeland sions and monasteries by U.S. robber Miami Shores barons. Also the history of the Cister- cian monks, who wore white robes Editor’s note: We put that question to mon- as opposed to the black cloth of the astery historian Alan Sokol. His response: Benedictines, is fascinating because “This is very unlikely. Greynolds Park was the order included wealthy knights created as a Civilian Conservation Corps who joined the Crusades and reported- project. At the time the monastery was ly had some relation with the Knights being reassembled (1952-1954), Greynolds Templar and even were the basis of was already part of the Dade County park the Arthurian legends surrounding the system. However, it is correct that the area Quest for the Holy Grail. was a quarry prior to becoming a park.” At least the Ancient Spanish Monas- tery is still fulfilling a spiritual purpose. So Like Miami, So Not I went for a visit after the story came out, It’s fitting that William Randolph 1822 Dixianna St. Attention Investors: Dixianna Apartments are 13 remodeled units located on 20,000 sf located close and it was a tranquil setting overseen by Hearst’s medieval plunder, brought here to the Hollywood circle and only 500 feet from US-1.