Current day Miami vs. 1980s (West Palm Beach, Palm Beach: rated, commuters, metro)

[NJ Brazen_3133]

Originally Posted by CXT2000

You would've loved the 90s-early 2000s era, SoBe especially was a special place.

Really sad seeing how it is now.

What is like now as opposed to then?

[NJ Brazen_3133]

Originally Posted by Bobdreamz

I love Miami but the 80s was a strange time for the city. The decade started out with the Arthur McDuffie Riots and 3 more Race riots due to Police shootings of Black men. Then we had the Mariel boatlift where 125,000 Cuban refugees arrived in the city within a span of six months. The city was so overwhelmed that there were tent cities under I-95 to house them and crime skyrocketed.
There was the Miami River Cops case where the police were seizing boats on the River with illegal drugs, stealing them then reselling them for profit. There was also the Cocaine Cowboys drug gang that led to a shootout between them & the FEDS at Dadeland Mall.
Things were so bad that TIME Magazine did a cover story about Miami with the Headline "Paradise Lost?"

On the positive side Hollywood discovered Miami with TV Shows like Miami Vice & The Golden Girls. The Art Deco district started to flourish after crazy proposals to raze everything on South Beach & replace them with new Spanish style Condos & Canals.
Metrorail & Metro mover opened. We finally got a NBA team with the Miami Heat.
The Miami Music scene made its mark nationwide with Hip Hop & Dance groups like 2 Live Crew, Expose' and others on the charts.
It seems like Miami in the 1980s had to mature from being a laid back resort town into a major city rather quickly.

Did the show and real life coincide then? Its usually, the real life stuff happens, then the show takes inspiration. Or did the show runners take stories from the year or months prior, quickly write up script for the next season?

Also I thought the Cubans that came over were not the criminal type, but the capitalist that lossed everything when the Communists took over. Arent they also the most economically successful of the Latino groups?

That is why I am told, Id never know a Cuban if I saw one. Which is exactly it. I have never met a Cuban in the NYC metro area. They dont seem to be very visible minority.

[wizrap]

Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133

Did the show and real life coincide then? Its usually, the real life stuff happens, then the show takes inspiration. Or did the show runners take stories from the year or months prior, quickly write up script for the next season?

Also I thought the Cubans that came over were not the criminal type, but the capitalist that lossed everything when the Communists took over. Arent they also the most economically successful of the Latino groups?

That is why I am told, Id never know a Cuban if I saw one. Which is exactly it. I have never met a Cuban in the NYC metro area. They dont seem to be very visible minority.

The show was inspired by real life events in Miami. Miami was a magnet for dealers of all sorts of drugs, and drug-related crimes. And with that came money and money laundering. The joke was that some of the new small banks were practically owned by cartels, and if you analyzed cash in the area, you’d typically find cocaine residue.

The Mariel boat lift in 1980 was different than the exodus that occurred in the late 1950’s/early 1960’s. The boat lift refugees were primarily poor. Castro said if you can bring a boat to port Mariel, you are free to go to Florida. He also had boats ready for prisoners and the mentally challenged since he emptied the jails and mental hospitals. I worked in Human Resources at the time and the cops came by to provide illustrations of Cuban prison tattoos and their meaning. Fun times.

The Cubans that came over after Castro was elected, were definitely more highly educated, and although many were well off in Cuba, had to leave everything behind and start anew. Definitely hard-working capitalists. They came over before the Mariel refugees.

[Corrie22]

Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133

Also I thought the Cubans that came over were not the criminal type, but the capitalist that lossed everything when the Communists took over. Arent they also the most economically successful of the Latino groups

basically 4 waves.... in very general terms

1 educated that left... as and when Castro got into power
2 teenagers that Castro let out....Pedro Pan
4 Mariel poor uneducated..mentals and criminals...a lot that were for Castro until reality set in

5 now....indoctrinated...grew up under Castro...used to the government giving them things....like a rice cooker when there's no rice

[drive carephilly]

Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133

That is why I am told, Id never know a Cuban if I saw one. Which is exactly it. I have never met a Cuban in the NYC metro area. They dont seem to be very visible minority.

Never met a Cuban in NYC? You need to get yourself over to Bergenline Ave. in West New York.

[NJ Brazen_3133]

Originally Posted by drive carephilly

Never met a Cuban in NYC? You need to get yourself over to Bergenline Ave. in West New York.

Pretty sure it is mostly other Hispanics there now like Ecuador, or Colombian etc etc. Union City is said to be Cuban, but I am sure that is just an exaggeration. I doubt it was ever all Cuban.

[NJ Brazen_3133]

By the way Elian Gonzalez is now a politician in Cuba


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfHmm-LAX1I

[drive carephilly]

Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133

Pretty sure it is mostly other Hispanics there now like Ecuador, or Colombian etc etc. Union City is said to be Cuban, but I am sure that is just an exaggeration. I doubt it was ever all Cuban.

Bergenline Ave. starts in JC and runs north through Guttenberg, turns into Anderson Ave. and keeps going up to Ft. Lee. The biggest concentration of Cubans is in West New York/Guttenberg. Not in Union City.

Yes, it's very mixed Hispanic, has been for decades, generally in the realm of 75-90% Hispanic on both sides of Bergenline. It was never majority Cuban, still, you have about 40,000 Cubans just in that immediate area and around 100,000 in the 5 boros + Hudson/Bergen.

And yeah, Cubans are pretty well represented all over that area. Every suburban county is 5-10% Cuban . . . which is why it's weird to never have met a Cuban.

[elchevere]

Might have to add a new comparison, pre-Covid (2013 - 2019) v post Covid.

[Bobdreamz]

Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133

Pretty sure it is mostly other Hispanics there now like Ecuador, or Colombian etc etc. Union City is said to be Cuban, but I am sure that is just an exaggeration. I doubt it was ever all Cuban.

I grew up there and went to School in Union City & West New York. It was predominately Cuban.