Showing posts with label Broadwalk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Broadwalk. Show all posts

Friday, December 15, 2023

Why has there been NOTHING of any real value in #Miami/#SoFL news media in MONTHS regarding the #HollywoodBeach Broadwalk shooting victims, who have emotional scars as well as physical scars? What's the status of the prosecution's case vs. Jordan Burton, Ariel Cardahn Paul, and Lionel Jean-Charles Jr., none of whom -surprise!- were choir boys? When is the larger public going to be told... something? 😒

Yes, the truth is that sometimes, the blog posts here at Hallandale Beach/Hollywood Blog just literally write themselves. Really. 

Especially when the issues involved are what's clearly the rapidly-declining caliber of South Florida news journalism, the touchy subject of crime and how it is reported, and the larger issue of what is actually reported and sees the light of day with airtime or column inches, AND, what goes completely unmentioned or unremarked upon by reporters, editors, columnists, anchors and news directors for days, weeks, months or years. 

That is, until some offhand comment at a public meeting or party is overheard, or you or someone you trust shares what they came across at random via the Twitter feed of some reporter or columnist who drops a line about something.

Then, suddenly you are reminded of a news story and crime story that has simply fallen so far below the radar, that you almost forget that when it happened, it was not just the #1 story everywhere here, but the #1 lead story on all the U.S. TV network newscasts, and then amplified by news media all around the world

Millions and millions of people know about that shooting that happened in a place where you live and I live and took place at a spot that you and I have been, hundreds if not thousands of times.

To be honest, I have been thinking about this post of today for, literally, months. And while I've written a few paragraphs down in my comp book, I refrained from posting those words last month or last week, I've actually waited patiently -not always my strong suit- actually hoping for a change that that my own usually insightful and accurate intuition or surmise of the situation would prove to be wrong, and that some local South Florida journo, maybe even someone I know and have spoken to before,  would rise to the occasion and do what I thought was necessary. 

But no.... that has NOT happened. 

I'm sure that nobody who is reading this blog post wants to believe that a responsible news director or reporter at one of one of the four English language TV stations in South Florida, or an honest editor or reporter at the Miami Herald or the South Florida Sun Sentinel would intentionally NOT want to cover and write about a legitimate news story -and NOT do so in a timely, honest and accurate fashion, right? 

Surely things can't be THAT bad in South Florida, right?

Uh... Maybe they are and maybe many of you just don't want to acknowledge that fact publicly.

Especially when to believe that would necessarily tend to confirm the already negative stereotypes or optics in the heads of so many angry and skeptical South Florida residents about the subject of crime, and why it happens, regardless of the viewer/reader's age, gender or race.

Here's why I mention that...

As of today, Friday December 15th., it's been over six (6) months since the Memorial Day mass shooting on the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk that injured nine (9) people. Seven of whom were innocent bystanders just minding their own business along the 1200 block of N. Broadwalk in Hollywood.

Many of the victims were young kids, out with their parents that afternoon, enjoying the sights and people-watching there, just as I have been doing since I was a kid when my parents and two younger sisters and I moved to the area in 1968 from Memphis.


Why has there been NOTHING of any real value in #Miami/#SoFL news media universe in MONTHS regarding the #HollywoodBeach Broadwalk shooting victims,  who have emotional scars as well as physical scars? How, exactly, are their Hanukkah/Christmas holidays going? 

What's the status right now of the prosecution's case vs. Jordan Burton, Ariel Cardahn Paul, and  Lionel Jean-Charles Jr., none of whom -surprise!- were choir boys?

When is the larger public going to be told... something? 😒






Wednesday, June 6, 2018

re Hollywood extending the iconic Broadwalk south to Hallandale Beach city line; new Diplomat Development Agreement at tonight's 6 PM Hallandale Beach City Comm. mtg. will show what lessons have been learned -if any. We'll be watching!

re Hollywood extending the iconic Broadwalk south to Hallandale Beach city line; new Diplomat Development Agreement at tonight's 6 PM Hallandale Beach City Comm. mtg. will show what lessons have been learned -if any. We'll be watching!


My friend and fellow Broward County civic activist Csaba Kulin wrote the comments at the bottom of this email re the Diplomat Development Agreement while up in Cleveland for the summer, far from our oppressive heat and humidity. It's well worth reading because he knows the subject better than nearly anyone, and not just because he lives next door to the Diplomat Golf Course.

I'll be at Hollywood City Commission's 1:00 PM meeting and then head over to Panera Bread for a bit to get properly caffeinated and prepared, before heading over to Hallandale Beach City Hall to watch for any hijinks there.


If you know/hear anything useful about the new Diplomat Development Agreement this during the course of the day, please call me, since though I'll have my phone on mute at the afternoon meetings,I'll head out of the Chambers to call you back.

Interesting news at this morning's Hollywood CRA meeting, or at least, new to me...



I'll have more about this soon, but it's very interesting because as many of you know -and Comm. Hernandez pointed out- The Diplomat does NOT currently mention or promote the Broadwalk, largely because they want to keep all hotel guests on their property as much as possible.

Later, Mayor Levy discussed his speech to a group where he spoke about this Broadwalk expansion idea and it was warmly received. He then mentioned that he'd spoken to Diplomat management and they said they thought it'd be a good idea.
But the question in the minds among many people would be this:
Does The Diplomat really think that or did they just tell the mayor what he wanted to hear?

I don't know the answer to that question.
I will believe The Diplomat when they actually mention the Broadwalk by name in their own promotional materials and mention it online.
That would show a clear change in their attitude.

Many of you will recall that for years I've publicly asked why, if they are serious about it making it successful, The Diplomat didn't properly promote their golf and tennis property in HB.

I even said that very thing at the Broward County Comm. hearing many years ago when their first effort to build multiple incompatible condo towers on the perimeter of the golf course, which would have put many HB residents in near-perpetual shade, esp. on Diplomat Parkway.
The County Commission correctly rejected their plan.

It was rejected because, in part, The Diplomat could not explain why there are ZERO directional signs for their property on any main street in Hallandale Beach, even while there are, in fact, ones for very small churches, a point I mentioned.

The Diplomat's General Manager at the time was very unhappy that I asked questions he could not answer, and was cursing me as he got up from his seat one row behind me at the County Chambers, leaving after a loss he never saw coming.
Their defeat came about in large part due to Csaba's efforts, as well as my own to show South Florida residents and officials what was being proposed against the wishes of the city's residents, many who also spoke out against The Diplomat's plan to swamp a gridlocked area with thousands of more cars on an F-rated road.

Eight years later, there are still ZERO directional signs in HB for the Diplomat's Golf and Tennis property on HB streets. 
Draw your own conclusions about how committed they were to making that a success.

Louis Birdman, partners sell 127-acre Diplomat property in Hallandale for $43M
Dev site was approved for high-rises with 1,200 units

https://therealdeal.com/miami/2018/05/30/louis-birdman-partners-sell-127-acre-diplomat-property-in-hallandale-for-43m/ 

I've deleted the recipients of Csaba's email list and left the officials who are involved in the process.

​​​

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Csaba Kulin 
Date: Tue, Jun 5, 2018 at 11:05 PM
Subject: New Diplomat Development Agreement Wednesday Evening
To:
Cc: Mayor Keith London <klondon@hallandalebeachfl.gov>, Vice Mayor Michele Lazarow <MLazarow@hallandalebeachfl.gov>, Commissioner Michael Butler <mbutler@hallandalebeachfl.gov>, "Comm.Rich Dally" <rdally@cohb.org>, "Comm. Anabelle Taub" <ataub@cohb.org>, Leigh-Ann Dawes <ldawes@hallandalebeachfl.gov>, Laurent Thibault <Fairways400@gmail.com>, Diane Lyon Wead <dianelyonwead@usa.net>


Friends,


Tonight as I was preparing for Wednesday’s (June 6, 2018) City Commission Meeting, I noticed Item 13 E.


“DISCUSSION OF THE AMENDMENT TO THE DIPLOMAT DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT (STAFF: CITY MANAGER AND CITY ATTORNEY)”.


The meeting will start at 6:00 P.M. but it is at the very end of the Agenda, so I cannot tell you what time the Item will come up for discussion. No detail is given in the Agenda.


As you know, the Diplomat Golf Course had been sold recently. We heard rumors about the sale, we asked several Commissioners what is going on but we got no good answers. The City Manager made some comments as to what he is going to do with the “extra” money from the new developer. It is obvious that something was going on, out of the view of the residents.


Disgraced former Mayor Cooper and her similarly disgraced friends on the City Commission sold us out two years ago to the developers. Those commissioners are now gone, possibly going to jail.


We had been told that we cannot un-do the approved Development Agreement but we had been assured by members of the current City Commission that they do NOT support any changes to the current Development Agreement. I hope we can trust their words.


I do not want to sound the alarm bells at this time but I need to give you a “heads- up”. We need to watch Chanel 78 Wednesday evening, contact our city commissioners and do not be shy to speak up.


I do not think everyone at City Hall understands that we, the residents of Hallandale Beach, will fight tooth and nails to keep the Diplomat Golf Course a green space, not a condo jungle.


The main architects of the last deal, Cooper, Sanders and Julian learned the hard way, leave the Diplomat alone. They just did not listen.


Make sure you to let your views known to the City Commission.


Csaba (Chuck) Kulin

President
Fairways North, Inc.