5 April 23-29, 2026 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | 3201 RICKENBACKER CWY, KEY BISCAYNE, FL 33149 305.361.3818 | WWW.THERUSTYPELICAN.COM BE SOCIAL WITH US! /RUSTYPELICANMIAMI Join us for SUNSET HOUR EVERY MONDAY-FRIDAY 4PM-6:30PM SUNDAY, APR 26TH Find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/ FriendsofLincolnRoadAntique&CollectibleMarket FREE OUTDOOR EVENT 9AM TO 5PM NOW AT THE 1100 BLOCK MIAMI BEACH ANTIQUECOLLECTIBLEMARKET.COM LINCOLN ROAD ANTIQUE MARKET IS BACK IN TOWN BRINGING WITH IT A STASH OF VINTAGE COLLECTIBLE. UPCOMING DATE: MAY 10 ALWAYS LOOKING FOR FRESH TALENT TO JOIN OUR * LINCOLN ROAD * FAMILY ; IF YOU HAVE A TASTE FOR VINTAGE AND SOUTH BEACH STYLE , WE WANT TO TALK TO YOU. CALL 305 673 4991 protection order against Curran after he claimed that he threw objects at him, pulled a knife on him, demanded that he leave the house, and kicked furniture. Despite the or- der, Trantalis allowed Curran back home in hopes that he would seek counseling. “I felt really bad for Danny, which is why I stuck it out with Danny,” Trantalis says. “There was an opportunity here for me to try to help, but I did my best to be patient with him, but, you know, there were episodes where I couldn’t; it was overwhelming.” Two months later, Curran was arrested on charges of violating an injunction for protec- tion against domestic violence and battery on a person 65 years of age after he allegedly pushed the 72-year-old, grabbed his leg, pulled him down, and then dragged him “approxi- mately 15 feet” across a road. Fort Lauderdale Police Department officers had spotted him in the mayor’s driveway prior to his arrest. This appeared to be Curran’s first arrest. During Curran’s first appearance, Tranta- lis said he thought he would be able to “steer him into counseling and mental health treat- ment” if they had reconnected. “And I failed at that, and at the end, this past weekend, he threw me to the ground,” he testified. “He committed everything that’s in the information with regard to the violent act against me. And I realized that there was no hope for this relationship.” Earlier this year, the mayor requested that prosecutors drop the case, believing the ac- tive permanent injunction was sufficient to ensure his safety and that Curran would not engage in criminal activity in the future. Just a day before his death, the no-contact order barring Curran from seeing Trantalis was modified, and the couple discussed rekin- dling their relationship. “When we met in court last week, we had both expressed not just our love for each other but an opportunity to start all over again,” Trantalis says. “The court was going to require him to go through serious therapy, and he was so happy about that because I was going to participate with him, and it was his birthday the next day, and we were going to go to a restaurant together. “I actually bought him a beautiful gift for him, which I never told him about.” After the hearing on April 8, the pair was allowed to meet in public and communicate via phone. So, they went to Stork’s Bakery and Cafe in Wilton Manors and ate egg salad sandwiches, which neither could finish. “We were hugging and just so happy to be back,” Trantalis tells New Times. “It had been five months since we had seen each other, ex- cept for that one chance moment we ran into each other on New Year’s Eve.” They spent the rest of the evening at a bar on Wilton Drive for line-dancing night. “So he says, he said, ‘Come on, I want to teach you, and I was dead tired, but I said, ‘You know what, I need to do this,’” the mayor says. “So it was tragic watching me do that, but we had so much fun.” Trantalis says Curran was so happy that he sent him a photo of himself smiling when he got home. However, an hour later, he says, Cur- ran sent another photo of himself with a con- torted face and said that he couldn’t sleep and was going to take Xanax to try to relax. Curran later said he couldn’t be alone and was going to go to a friend’s house, Trantalis recounts. “He said, ‘Don’t think there’s any romantic connection. I just need to be somebody and I know I can’t be with you,’” Trantalis tells New Times. “So I thought nothing of it.” The mayor woke up the next morning at around 8:30 a.m. and texted Curran, “Happy birthday.” Forty-five minutes later, Trantalis received a call that Curran had died. They had plans to celebrate his birthday together that night at Sea Watch on the Ocean, a res- taurant that Curran had picked. The news stunned Curran’s lawyer Philip Johnston. “We were on a path to a resolution, which would have gotten Danny the treatment he needed and led to the charges being dis- missed,” he told New Times on April 9. Trantalis says Curran never expressed sui- cidal thoughts. Geerders notes that over the course of their relationship, Curran was de- pressed but never violent or angry. “He was constantly depressed,” Geerders tells New Times. “He didn’t like where his life was ever. He didn’t like where he was going.” Following the news of Curran’s death, sev- eral friends and the Fort Lauderdale and Wil- ton Manors communities memorialized him on Facebook. “We are deeply saddened to share the passing of Danny Curran, a member of our league community,” the Rainbow Sports League, a LGBTQ sports league, posted on Facebook. “He was part of our group, and this loss is being felt by many of us.” There will be a memorial service on Satur- day at St. Anthony Catholic Church in Fort Lauderdale, and the mayor says he will at- tend. Both Geerders and Trantalis say they want Curran to be remembered for the per- son he was, and for the side of him that made everyone smile and laugh. “I just hope people remember that part of him too,” Geerders tells New Times. [email protected] Daniel Curran proposed to Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis in July 2025. Danny Curran photo Star-Crossed from p4
