3 July 30 - August 5, 2026 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | ▼ MIAMI FAMILIAR FACES THE TATE BROTHERS TURN TO JEFFREY EPSTEIN’S FORMER MIAMI LAW FIRM. BY NATASHA YEE A s Andrew and Tristan Tate fight extradition from a fed- eral jail in Miami, the influ- encer brothers have added one of South Florida’s most formidable and familiar criminal-defense firms to their legal team. Joseph McBride, a bald-bearded attorney for the brothers clad in a grey suit and blue tie and resembling a villainous Pitbull, an- nounced after their first federal court appear- ance Monday, July 20, that lawyers from Black, Srebnick, Kornspan & Stumpf had joined the case. The boutique Miami firm, commonly known as Black Srebnick, was founded by the late celebrity defense attorney Roy Black and previously represented con- victed sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “We’ve assembled a team here,” he told re- porters outside the courtroom. “These are from Roy Black’s prestigious firm — the honor- able and since passed Roy Black — he’s a leg- end, and they’re here; they have joined our team. We have a competent team, we have a wonderful team. We’re looking forward to get- ting the best possible results under the sun.” The firm’s arrival adds serious federal fire- power to the Tates’ defense as British author- ities seek to return them to the United Kingdom to face dozens of criminal charges, including rape, sexual assault, human traf- ficking and offenses involving indecent im- ages of a child. The brothers deny the allegations and have characterized the cases against them as politically motivated. Andrew, 39, and Tristan, 38, were arrested by U.S. Marshals in Miami on Saturday, July 18. They appeared in shackles before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lauren Louis and indicated that they would contest extradition. They re- main in federal custody ahead of another hearing scheduled for July 27. McBride has been the brothers’ most visi- ble American attorney, speaking outside the courthouse and denouncing the British prose- cution as a “political” attack. It was not imme- diately clear which Black Srebnick attorneys would personally handle the case or whether the firm would represent both brothers throughout the extradition proceedings. In an email to New Times, Howard Sreb- nick, a partner in the firm, wrote, “I appeared for the Tate brothers by phone at yesterday’s hearing, together with my law partner Jackie Perczek and attorney Stephen Binhak, who were present in court. “We are teaming up with Mr. McBride and Mr. Maniotis to oppose the extradition of the Tate brothers and seek bail, given that the Tates are neither flight risks nor dangers to the community. They were granted bail in Romania and have complied with all condi- tions imposed, so the U.S. court should like- wise release the brothers from custody while our legal team contests the false claims against them.” The firm’s involvement is notable not merely because of its roster of celebrity cli- ents, but because of its central role in one of the most notorious sex-crimes cases in South Florida history. Black represented Epstein during the fed- eral investigation that culminated in the fi- nancier’s controversial 2007 non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami. Rather than face federal charges, Ep- stein pleaded guilty the following year in Palm Beach County to state prostitution-re- lated offenses, including procuring a minor for prostitution. Epstein received an 18-month jail sen- tence and ultimately served about 13 months, much of it under an unusually per- | RIPTIDE | GET MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY AT MIAMINEWTIMES.COM/NEWS Attorney Joseph McBride announces that Miami criminal-defense firm Black Srebnick has joined the legal team representing Andrew and Tristan Tate during their U.S. extradition fight. Screenshot via @Gadget440 on X ▼ MIAMI YESTERDAY’S PRICE IS NOT TODAY’S PRICE IT FINALLY HAPPENED: MIAMI IS NOW MORE EXPENSIVE THAN NYC. BY B. SCOTT MCLENDON I t’s a day many Miamians have long seen coming. No, not the second coming of our savior LeBron James (we’ll keep you posted on that, though). Thanks to Miami’s skyrocketing cost of living, the city that’s become known as a playground for the elite has almost completely transformed into a place where only they can afford to live. Few analyses have offered better evidence than recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showing the cost of living in Mi- ami is now higher than that of New York City. The numbers, first reported by Bloomberg, show South Florida’s consumer price index has jumped 36 percent since 2019, making the Miami metro- politan area — for the first time ever — more ex- pensive than NYC. “Miami’s private- school tuition, insur- ance costs, and even restaurant spending are higher than they were a year ago,” Bloomberg reports. South Florida resi- dents have likely seen the writing on the wall for years. Just in the last couple of years, Miami has been named the most expensive city for din- ing out, the most expensive FIFA World Cup host city (excluding the final game in New Jersey, for which ticket costs were out of this orbit), and one of the most expensive cities in the world to buy a home, to name a few. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (found in the same BLS report), only the San Francisco metro area is more expensive than Miami. And while the price of education and housing continues to rise in South Florida, salaries aren’t keeping pace, according to the data. A family in the Miami metro makes about $12,000 less annu- ally than the national average. An average lawyer in the Big Apple earned about $51,000 more in 2025 than one in the 305, according to BLS data. Meanwhile, local signs of wealth disparity are in full bloom. While salaries have failed to keep pace with rising costs and pushed residents to greener pastures, the richest people in the world continue to move here in droves. Billionaires Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Google co-founder Larry Page, and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz have all moved to Miami in recent years. SOUTH FLORIDA RESIDENTS HAVE LIKELY SEEN THE WRITING ON THE WALL FOR YEARS. ▼ PALM BEACH ALTERNATE ROUTES NO, UNITED ISN’T LETTING TRAVELERS AVOID TRUMP’S PALM BEACH AIRPORT. BY B. SCOTT MCLENDON T he newly renamed President Donald Trump International Airport in Palm Beach is going viral after netizens discovered an internal memo, purportedly from United Airlines, stating that customers could switch destinations if they didn’t want to arrive in South Florida and see Trump’s name. There’s just one problem: United Airlines says the memo isn’t true. That didn’t stop a few publications, like Insider Paper and Fox Business, from run- ning stories saying passengers could change their destination from Palm Beach to airports in Fort Lauderdale or Miami. In late March, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill allowing the name change, reigniting na- tionwide controversy over attempts to name roads and buildings after Trump. Many of those renamed properties are here in South Florida, thanks to Trump’s Mar-a- Lago base near the airport. According to a post on X from Insider Paper (an online publication based in New York), “United Airlines is allowing custom- ers who object to flying into an airport named after President Donald Trump to switch their flights to Fort Lauderdale, ac- cording to a memo shared with Live And Let’s Fly.” The tweet garnered nearly 50,000 views before United Airlines representa- tives told New Times the news is almost entirely false. According to the purported memo (which Fox Business posted online), “If a customer does not want to fly to the air- port, use your empowerment to offer ac- ceptable alternatives such as Fort Lauderdale Airport (FLL) or Miami Interna- tional Airport (MIA).” The memo also allegedly contained guidance on how employees should re- spond to customers voicing an issue with their destination, reading, “I understand that you’d rather not fly to this airport any- more. We can look at nearby airports like Fort Lauderdale or Miami instead. Is that an acceptable alternative?” The spokesperson confirmed the memo was real and sent out, but that the “mes- sage was poorly worded and not accurate. United customers are able to make changes to a ticket without a fee for many reasons. However, our policy doesn’t allow for changes because of an airport’s name or three-letter code,” a spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement to New Times. A representative from the White House hasn’t responded to a request for comment. [email protected] >> p4
