Nine high-rise towers, each one 30 stories tall. Is that all?
It sounds like a new Co-Op City, New York’s answer to apartments for the middle class, except my sense is that over time, they become low-income housing as the middle class moves out.
If the new owners of Fort Lauderdale’s Galleria mall really wanted to scare the neighborhood, they could erase all the blocks between the mall and the Atlantic Ocean and claim to offer “oceanfront” property.
The game here is obvious: Propose something so outrageous that the city will compromise, in this case a number such as three to five stories — not nine, 20 or 30.
Interestingly, one of the Galleria buyers is from Miami Beach. In that city, one offers a park or other green space that seduces City Hall to approve development plans. Miami Beach has little land left for green space, so builders, as greedy as they are, always include some in any project.
In Fort Lauderdale’s case, it’s apartments for working people, many of whom won’t even need cars anymore. Hopefully, city fathers here are old enough to avoid being seduced.
Michael Peskoe, Fort Lauderdale
An obnoxious idea
Developers touting the Galleria site as a 24-hour destination are naive about a recent shooting at a nearby 7-Eleven at 4 a.m.
I was enthusiastic about previous mixed-use plans, but this mini-city seems obnoxious. A version of Bal Harbour Shops, with its low-rise buildings, is a much better idea.
Richie Baptista, Fort Lauderdale
Keeping it concealed
I routinely carry a handgun. I’ve held a Florida concealed carry permit for more than 20 years.
I think the open carry law is unnecessary. It provides no more security that concealed carry, and it’s ill-advised, as it can make others feel intimidated and uncomfortable for no reason other than to project one’s masculinity (and you know what they say about that).
One person’s right to feel secure does not allow infringing on another’s right to feel likewise. One can argue that concealing a gun is difficult in Florida’s climate. This argument is reasonable, but I have no problem carrying under a guayabera or loose tank top.
As a side note, open carry has long been permitted when engaged in licensed hunting or fishing.
Ray Kaufman, Boca Raton
The James Comey file
Ex-FBI Director James Comey has been indicted for telling Congress he did not leak classified information. President Trump’s own DOJ declined to prosecute him in 2019 because it said the information was not classified.
MAGA is prosecuting an innocent man because Trump hates him.
Paul Bacon, Hallandale Beach
The Department of Justice is not there to serve the whims of the president. He doesn’t own it. We the people own it.
This appears to be one of the most corrupt administrations in American history. It’s about power, control and revenge. He has unleashed the ability for our politicians to lie without question. It seems ridiculous that the president, a pathological liar who I refer to as the “king of liars,” is instructing the DOJ to go after James Comey for lying.
No one is safe from Trump’s need to exact revenge on his so-called enemies. The head of Joseph Stalin’s secret police in the old Soviet Union said, “Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime.”
Rosemary Blumberg, Plantation
A simple question
Why does it seem that Donald Trump is the only person entitled to free speech in the U.S.?
Sheila Cusick, Coral Springs
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