3 December 25–30, 2025 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | ▼ MIAMI BEACH All Aboard? Miami Beach launches a water taxi (again). BY ALEX DELUCA E arlier this month, during Miami Art Week and Art Basel, the City of Miami Beach rolled out a free water taxi between Miami and Miami Beach, offering people a rare, traffic-free alternative across Biscayne Bay. Both tourists and locals alike were en- thusiastic about the service, praising its con- venience and speed. Many also asked: Why isn’t this available year-round? Well, it soon will be. On December 17, Miami Beach commis- sioners voted to enter into an agreement with Water Taxi of Fort Lauderdale LLC to oper- ate a free ferry between Miami and Miami Beach. The no-fare service is slated to begin on January 20, 2026. Miami Beach sent New Times a press re- lease announcing the water taxi. “l’ve been actively working to bring a free water taxi system to Miami Beach — a game-changing initiative that can alleviate traffic congestion through cleaner more efficient transit,” Mi- ami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner said in the release. “It’s an exciting time to move forward with mobility projects that truly improve the quality of life for our residents and visitors.” According to the city’s agreement, the ser- vice will operate Monday through Friday, ex- cluding national holidays, and will run between the Venetian Marina & Yacht Club in Miami and Maurice Gibb Memorial Park in Miami Beach. One vessel will operate every 60 minutes from 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., while two vessels will operate every 30 minutes from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The total cost of the service for the 2026 fiscal year is just under $1.2 million, accord- ing to the agreement. Miami Beach has attempted to introduce a water taxi to the city before. In June 2024, Miami Beach officials agreed to fund a 149-passenger water taxi — known as the Poseidon Ferry — at $50,000 per month through a no-bid deal. The ferry took hourly trips between Maurice Gibb Memorial Park in South Beach and Sea Isle Marina in downtown Miami, with one-way fares costing $12 for adults. (Miami Beach residents and city employees rode free for the first month, after which they were charged $5.) But things quickly went downhill. Mechanical issues interrupted operations on July 4 and July 6, followed by additional failures that led to five consecutive days with- out service in mid-July. Several more partial service interruptions followed. The vessel broke down again from August 7 to 9. Service briefly resumed the next day after the operator struck a deal to use a differ- ent boat, but it was suspended indefinitely in late August when that spare vessel became unavailable. In September, just three months after the service launched, city officials voted unanimously to end funding for the program. “This service has proven to be unreliable, and the taxpayers de- serve better,” Miami Beach com- missioner Alex Fernandez told the Miami Herald last year. “Right now, it’s just irresponsible to con- tinue with this.” Aside from mechanical mis- haps, the water taxi also struggled with low ridership. While the service operated, av- erage ridership hovered around 43 passen- gers per day, according to city data. During the first month, an average of three passen- gers boarded each trip. By August, ridership had fallen to fewer than one passenger per trip. [email protected] | RIPTIDE | A yellow water taxi in Fort Lauderdale. Flickr via ksblack99 ▼ MIAMI BEACH Epstein-Adjacent Ex-Miami Beach mayor was ‘very good friends’ with Ghislaine Maxwell. BY ALEX DELUCA B ack in 2015, the now-defunct news and gossip blog Gawker published New York financier and convicted pedophile Jef- frey Epstein’s notorious “little black book.” The heavily redacted address book con- tained hundreds of names and phone numbers for a wide range of celebrities and high-profile figures, from actors Alec Baldwin and Ralph Fiennes to Prince Andrew, Alan Dershowitz, and former President Bill Clinton. It also, quite nota- bly, featured 13 different numbers for former Miami Beach mayor Philip Levine. A longtime pal of Clinton, one of the most powerful figures ensnared in the Epstein scan- dal, Levine was listed in the book alongside a handful of phone numbers with 305 area codes, including those for his office, home, two house- keepers, and at least one driver. At the time, Levine denied ever having a “friendship or business relationship” with Epstein. “Think I met him possibly only two or three times, but briefly maybe over 15 years ago at events. Don’t remember ever giving him my full contact info but possibly did give him my contact card,” Levine told New Times in August 2019, just days after Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail. “[W]hen I read [the book], I was also ▼ PALM BEACH Mar-a-Lago Face, Explained The bold cosmetic look is trending in MAGA circles. BY ALEX DELUCA L ike pornography, you know it when you see it. Frozen foreheads. Overfilled cheeks. Beestung lips. Known as “Mar-a-Lago face,” the bold cosmetic look is suddenly in high demand among conservative political figures and oth- ers in Washington, D.C., and South Florida. The aesthetic has been described in many ways: “ri- diculously blunt,” a “must-have accessory” for President Donald Trump’s inner circle, and, as one Palm Beach plastic surgeon put it to New Times, more about achieving a “polished and camera-ready” look than subtlety. “They want to look like they’ve invested in themselves, and they’re not shy about showing it,” surgeon Norman Rowe, who says patients often float names like Ivanka Trump, Melania Trump, and Kristi Noem, told New Times last month. So, what exactly is Mar-a-Lago face? We’re here to explain. Named after Trump’s 100-year-old Palm Beach resort, the look “refers to a recognisable combination of facial features and plastic sur- gery enhancements, often modelled after Ivanka Trump’s signature look,” California plas- tic surgeon Matthew J. Nykiel told HuffPost. The key features include high, firm, overfilled cheeks, full lips, well-defined eyebrows, a strong jawline, and a narrow-bridged nose. While it might look tacky, the Mar-a-Lago makeover isn’t cheap. One surgeon, Virginia- based Dr. Shervin Naderi, says it can cost $200,000 to $300,000 over the course of a decade, between surgeries such as brow lifts, lip lifts, and hairline work, followed by “strate- gic touch-ups” with filler, Botox, and lasers. High-profile conservatives such as Kristi Noem, Lara Trump, Laura Loomer, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Matt Gaetz have all been ac- cused of sporting and popularizing the aes- thetic. [email protected] GET MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY AT MIAMINEWTIMES.COM/NEWS New Times artist conception/ Photos by Gage Skidmore/Flickr (Lara Trump) and Diana Polekhina/Unplash (gloved hand) Former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine Photo by Stian Roenning >> p4
