![\"Allen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787328968_567_MIA_04CONALLENMORRIS.JPG\" "\\"Allen")
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Allen Morris Brickell Park, nestled between high-rise luxury condominiums and hotels in Miami\u2019s Brickell neighborhood, has remained fenced and chained since the July 4 weekend.<\/p>\n
Carl Juste<\/p>\n
cjuste@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
Bricking over Brickell<\/p>\n
With the \u201cactivation\u201d of Allen Morris Brickell Park<\/a> (the Allen Morris Company\u2019s euphemism for destroying a public park), Brickell may be about to see its second public park become a sales center for a luxury super-tall building. We already lost Southside Park to the Mercedes-Benz project, which shut us out of a park, including a children\u2019s playground (literally becoming a developer\u2019s playground) and demolished a fire station.<\/p>\n Decades ago, L. Allen Morris donated this park \u201cwith the specific goal of preserving the canopy in an area he envisioned would become highly urbanized,\u201d a direct quote from the company. Well, Brickell is now officially \u201chighly urbanized,\u201d and we\u2019ve never needed a park more than we do now. Ironically, the Allen Morris Company wants to cash in on this tiny park and is not operating with its founder\u2019s original vision.<\/p>\n I originated the Change.org petition<\/a> against this, which has nearly 2,000 signatures. Brickell clearly has had enough of being a developers\u2019 playground.<\/p>\n Elena Kasparis,<\/p>\n Miami<\/p>\n Avarice in Aventura<\/p>\n To say that society favors the wealthy is nothing new. If wealth is achieved through honest work, it is well deserved. What distinguishes our time is that there are no limits to the greed of some powerful people or the unlawful means they use to achieve their goals.<\/p>\n Through Trump Media Truth API, Wall Street firms now pay $100,000 a month to buy a millisecond head start on the president\u2019s market-moving public announcements. The Trump family\u2019s net worth has nearly tripled to $6.5 billion since his return to power.<\/p>\n The same concentration of wealth and influence that shapes national policy can be seen in local development battles. Turnberry Isle condo associations filed a federal lawsuit accusing the City of Aventura of rewriting development rules under \u201cunrelenting pressure\u201d from Jeffrey Soffer, whose father was the developer of Turnberry.<\/p>\n Soffer wants to build two additional 24-story towers in an already congested piece of real estate that has only a small bridge for access, without the consent of hundreds of Turnberry\u2019s residents.<\/p>\n We have two and a half more years of Trump\u2019s greed, but I\u2019m rooting for the residents of Turnberry Isle to win this lawsuit.<\/p>\n Betty Heisler,<\/p>\n Aventura<\/p>\n End of cash?<\/p>\n Miami Herald columnist Mary Anna Mancuso continually comes up with new material to write her always interesting columns. In her Aug. 6 column, \u201cMy laundromat accepts Apple Pay. Why won\u2019t they take cash?\u201d<\/a> she asked what must be on the minds of so many who just accept a transforming trend without question, out of sheer convenience or tolerating change or inconvenience.<\/p>\n All Americans, especially the less fortunate who cannot qualify for a credit card due to their low-income status, are entitled to rely on common U.S. currency.<\/p>\n Recently, I ordered a cup of coffee and Danish at UHealth\u2019s Sole Mia lobby caf\u00e9 and jokingly asked, \u201cIs cash still good?\u201d I was not surprised when she said no. Humorously, I said, \u201cYour employer must not trust its employees.\u201d<\/p>\n Not unlike many laws tweaked by our legislators and politicians, either to please their donors for economic or political benefit or just plainly for convenience, the less fortunate (or every Jane or John Q. Citizen) should be entitled to have a choice as to how we spend our cash.<\/p>\n H. Allen Benowitz,<\/p>\n Miami<\/p>\n Trash troubles?<\/p>\n