Apparently, New Times is living rent-free in Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago’s head — the head of a man who, at the last city commission meeting, proclaimed that he did not care about the alt-weekly or its articles.
In a follow-up to his show-and-tell presentation about New Times at the January 27 commission meeting, the mayor posted a video on his social media channels continuing his anti-New Times crusade, claiming journalists at the paper retaliated against him for trying to get the publication to clean up its news boxes in the “City Beautiful.”
In a speech punctuated by the sound of apparent cue cards, which we imagine a staffer dutifully placed in order and shuffled for the government official, Mayor Lago aired his latest grievances with New Times.
“Dear residents, I hope you are well. For many years, the city has been asking the Miami New Times to fix or remove their broken, abandoned newspaper racks throughout our downtown,” Lago said while standing in front of the camera with his hands folded in front of him as he gives his State of the Union-esque address. “These racks were torn up, neglected, and they made our streets look worse than they should have. Despite countless requests and conversations with several city departments, nothing has changed.”
After a brief pause (and the crisp, familiar soundtrack of another cue card), Lago continued, “Instead of addressing the issue, the New Times chose to publish articles trying to discredit me and misrepresent what happened at our January 13 commission meeting.”
Lago’s New Times crusade comes in response to a January 26 article about how a Coral Gables commission meeting was seemingly edited, removing two instances of the mayor storming out. While the city said the video was revised only to remove the extended recesses, other Coral Gables commissioners feared the move was intended to remove less-than-favorable footage of the mayor.
New Times, for our part, gave the mayor an opportunity to comment on the initial article via two emailed requests for comment.*
Evidently, the mayor did not like the story. At the next commission meeting, Lago came prepared with an entire presentation about New Times, falsely claiming that the paper is “pay to play.”
The logic was a bit winding. At first, Lago said the story was “fed to” New Times, questioning the commissioners present at the meeting about who could be the possible mole. Then, he claimed the story was written in response to intimidate him after his attempts to clean up the news boxes on the otherwise gleaming streets of Coral Gables. He even brought an issue of New Times (replete with an illustration of a bikini-clad pig sporting a belly ring) and displayed photos of the news boxes on a large screen to illustrate the extent of his unbotheredness.
Mayor Vince Lago spoke at length about New Times at a January 27 commission meeting.
“There isn’t anything of real substance here to really read unless you pay for a hit piece to be written against an elected official, and then they publish it,” he said on the dais. “So at the end of the day, I am not afraid. I’m not. Trust me. I’ve dealt with it all. I’ve dealt with everybody, and I will keep pushing forward to put this city first. And I know that I am going to get more New Times articles published against me, but it’s okay. It’s fine.”
Naturally, following Lago’s presentation, New Times wrote another article: “Butthurt Coral Gables Mayor Butthurtedly Denies Being Butthurt.”
And just like that, we’re back to Lago’s public service announcement, where he mentioned the “even more inflammatory article.”
“What’s interesting is the timing,” he adds. “After ignoring these newsstand problems for years, the New Times suddenly started revamping racks right after the commission meeting, and right after publishing their second and even more inflammatory article. Whether that is a coincidence or a response to finally being held accountable is for them to explain. What I do know is that these improvements were long overdue, and we have received many contacts from residents and business owners who were tired of the unsightly condition of these newspaper stands.
“The city has a responsibility to enforce our codes and maintain the quality of our public spaces. That’s not harassment or retaliation; that’s our job, and we’re always going to correct the record when misinformation is spread. We welcome fair reporting and honest dialogue, but we’re going to hold everyone to the same standards, including the Miami New Times.”
New Times would like to correct the record. Given that the sales and editorial departments operate independently, like the separation of church and state, a spokesperson who is privy to matters beyond editorial explained what has transpired regarding the now-infamous Coral Gables news boxes.
The spokesperson’s statement reads: “During the week of January 12, I received a visit at our offices from Juan Lopez, the code enforcement field supervisor for the City of Coral Gables. This visit was regarding the conditions of our boxes on the streets of Coral Gables. He informed me that they were in poor condition and that they had been in communication with our distribution company. He asked me for some information regarding MNT registered agent so that they can serve us with a violation notice, and I complied. It was a friendly encounter. He asked me to reach out to Andrew Chung, Code Enforcement Manager, for more details about the condition of the boxes. Andrew and I spoke later that day as to the details and our plan of attack to clean up the boxes.
“Following the meeting, I followed up with our distribution company regarding any outstanding issues with our box maintenance in Coral Gables. He was not aware of any. For the past number of years, he has been in communication with Lorena Garrido, Central Division Administrative Manager for Public Works Division of Coral Gables. When there was any maintenance issue, she would notify our distribution company and it would be taken care of and then notify her of the repairs.
“On January 15, 2026, Mr Lopez returned to serve MNT with a violation notice. Said notice gave us until February 15, 2026 to comply. On January 20, 2026, Mr Lopez returned to MNT offices with an updated violation notice, moving up our compliance date to January 27, 2026.
On January 29, Mr Lopez returned again with a Summons to Appear on February 11, 2026, due to still not being in compliance.”
Editor’s Note: Lago did not respond to New Times‘ latest requests for comment, either by phone or email. New Times continues to welcome an open and honest dialogue with Mayor Lago to settle this matter once and for all.