4 March 2-8, 2023 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | music | cafe | culture | Night+Day | news | letters | coNteNts | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | ▼ MIAMI BEACH LET THEM WALK WEALTHY FISHER ISLAND RESIDENTS RAIL AGAINST BAYLINK PROJECT. BY ALEX DELUCA N early four decades in the mak- ing, Miamians may finally get public transit connecting the mainland and Miami Beach. But not if a vocal contingent of NIMBY detractors gets its way. First proposed in 1988, the long-awaited Baylink corridor has been championed by transit advocates and fed-up Miami commut- ers alike as an answer to the area’s notorious traffic and lack of parking. The plan took on several forms over the years — proposed as a streetcar, light rail, or monorail — before county officials settled on a cheaper plan in November to expand the existing Metro- mover to connect downtown and Mi- ami Beach with a “one-seat” ride. Offi- cials say construction on the $1 billion ex- tension would begin in 2025 and wrap up by 2029. Since the project was announced, residents from one of the country’s most affluent neighborhoods have emerged to voice their opposition. On February 16, an attorney representing residents of Fisher Island, a wealthy enclave accessible only by boat or ferry, sent a letter to the Miami-Dade Department of Transporta- tion and Public Works and U.S. Coast Guard officials calling the current Baylink plans “unlawful and short-sighted.” “Instead of rushing headlong toward approving this significant project... the Coast Guard must conduct a proper evaluation of the changes to the project and evolving environmental conditions to ascertain the environmental impact of the project,” attorney Lawson Fite wrote in the seven- page letter. Not everyone is buying into the residents’ qualms. Matthew Gultanoff, the founder of the ad- vocacy group Better Streets Miami Beach, contends that their concerns aren’t genuine — and that opponents from the wealthy bar- rier island are concocting the argument in hopes of killing the project. “It’s sickening, actually. This is a project that could benefit thousands, even hundreds of thousands of residents, employees, and visitors of Miami Beach, City of Miami, and the whole entire region,” Gultanoff tells New Times. “And you have a small community opposing it, you know, one that is reached only by ferry.” As filmed by Miami Herald reporter Doug Hanks during a February 9 meeting held by county officials at a luxury condo in South Beach, a roomful of residents chanted “Stop the train!” in opposition to the project. Fite has not responded to New Times’ re- quests for comment via email. Gultanoff and fellow advocates for the project believe there’s ample evidence Bay- link will help ease Miami’s worsening afford- able housing and traffic crises. A petition created by Gultanoff’s group, which has garnered more than 1,200 signa- tures, says that Baylink would provide Miami Beach residents with a broader range of jobs and reduce traffic that turns the MacArthur Causeway and nearby roads into parking lots during special events. Gultanoff claims it’s absurd to call the project rushed, given that it’s been in the works for decades. He says that local resi- dents’ opposition is “baffling,” given that their commutes contribute to the congestion on the MacArthur Causeway and elsewhere. “They are part of the problem,” Gultanoff says. “They’re looking out for their self-inter- est, I suppose.” | RIPTIDE | GET MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY AT MIAMINEWTIMES.COM/NEWS Fisher Island residents don’t want to see the Metromover expanded to Miami Beach. Photo by Golden Dusk Photography/Getty ▼ MIAMI HOST OR TRAVEL? FEDS: MIAMI MAN WHO USED GRINDR FOR “HATE-FUELED” CRIMES AWAITS SENTENCING. BY ALEX DELUCA A 21-year-old Miami man accused of rob- bing and assaulting victims he lured through the popular gay dating app Grindr is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to 17 federal counts. Stevenson Charles was arrested in Georgia by the FBI in November after investigators de- termined that he had used the LGBTQ app to target victims whom he would kidnap and mug at gunpoint. He was extradited to Miami-Dade County late last year on federal carjacking and firearm charges. According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Charles admitted to three separate rob- beries between October and early November 2022, including one in which he shot a man and left him clinging to life near a Miami-Dade County railroad track. Charles pleaded guilty on the day of his scheduled trial on February 13. While the initial criminal complaint in Novem- ber described two robberies, an indictment re- turned a month later included charges for the third incident involving the shooting. Charles faces a potential life sentence. He could receive a hate crime enhancement under federal sentencing guidelines. The string of crimes began last October when Charles invited a man he met online to his house in Miami, purportedly for sex, and immediately held him at gunpoint, according to the criminal complaint. He forced the victim to drive to an ATM to withdraw cash and then dumped him on the side of the highway, driving off in the man’s car, prosecutors alleged. The following month, Charles invited another man from Grindr for a would-be date, and when the man arrived, Charles jumped in his car, armed with a pistol, the complaint alleged. Inside the vehicle, he beat the victim and rifled through his phone, according to prosecutors. Upon find- ing pictures of the victim with other men, Charles allegedly de- clared, “I’m going to kill all of you.” Charles forced the second victim to drive him to retail pharmacy stores, where he racked up charges on the man’s credit card, prosecutors alleged. In the third incident, Charles met another man on Grindr in November and arranged to link up with him in Dania Beach, dangling the prospect of a sexual encounter. Once there, Charles pulled a gun on him and told him that he hated gay people and believed they should be punished, the DOJ says. Charles forced the victim to drive to a home in Aventura, where the victim had been living with a couple. Brandishing his gun, he herded them into the victim’s car and directed them to ATMs to withdraw more than $1,500 for him, ac- cording to the DOJ. After dropping the couple back at their home and stealing their phones, Charles then forced the man he met on Grindr into the vehicle to drive to a secluded area by the railway, where he shot him several times, including once in the head. “Despite the injuries, the victim was able to call 911 and survived,” a DOJ news release reads. Charles is slated to be sentenced on April 24 by Senior U.S. District Judge Paul Huck. [email protected] CHARLES INVITED A MAN HE MET ONLINE TO HIS HOUSE, PURPORTEDLY FOR SEX, AND IMMEDIATELY HELD HIM AT GUNPOINT. “THEY ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM. THEY’RE LOOKING OUT FOR THEIR SELF- INTEREST.”
