From the Miami Herald archives: Words of advice for the ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ | Editorial

A note from the Miami Herald Editorial Board:

Maybe it was inevitable. The Wolf of Wall Street has moved to Miami, joining the flow of glitzy new residents from the tech world and beyond. Jordan Belfort, the former stockbroker who was the subject of Leonardo DiCaprio’s movie, has set up residence here with his third wife, Argentine model Cristina Invernizzi, according to his publicist.

The Bronx native, who has moved from L.A., is apparently embracing the Miami scene. He may have spent 22 months behind bars for his convictions on securities fraud and money laundering charges (the basis for the movie) but these days, he’s a motivational speaker and had an NFT at Art Basel that showed him on a yacht off the California coast with helicopters, models — and FBI agents. And he’s starting a tequila brand.

But Miami is more than a playground for the rich or well-connected or just plain flashy. It has real, long-term residents, kids going to school and people making a life in the Magic City. It has a middle class that needs jobs and businesses that need infusions of cash and talent. It has a beating heart, far from the clubs. It has history. Come here, but invest in more than a mansion by the sea.

We think P. Scott Cunningham, founder and director of the nonprofit O, Miami, said it well in an opinion piece we published on May 28. A few things may have changed in the intervening months, but the message is still valid. From the Miami Herald archives, here is Cunningham’s version of the Miami welcome mat:

If you haven’t been on Twitter recently, first of all, congrats. Second, you might not have heard that the entire international tech world is either moving to Miami or is already eating branzino on a balcony overlooking the ocean.

Back in December, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez tweeted, “How can I help?” to anyone with an app and a bitcoin in their pocket and, voilà,, Miami became a tech hub.

I’m not shy about my love for Miami, but I am skeptical as to how tech wealth will benefit most Miamians. Wealth has never been scarce in Miami. It just never seems to leave certain neighborhoods. When I voiced my skepticism on Twitter, a venture capitalist, who happens to be a brand-new arrival, accused me of not being welcoming enough. I took that to heart.

So to him and the other new Miamians, I’d like to say, I am also here to help.

Pull up a Tesla. Here’s my version of a welcome mat.

▪ Miami is not a blank canvas. If you want to weigh in on our future, learn our history. Begin here: “A World More Concrete” by N.D.B. Connolly. If you prefer fiction that tells the truth, try Guillermo Rosales’ “The Halfway House.” Want more recommendations? Ask the staff at Books & Books, or go see Marvin Dunn at Florida International University.

▪ You came here to invest? I have some surefire bets for you: organizations that make this city great every day.

Exchange for Change teaches writing in detention centers. Community Justice Project organizes for human rights. Maven Leadership Collective trains young leaders. Third Horizon supports and presents award-winning films exploring Caribbean identity. My own org, O, Miami, teaches poetry to kids and then paints their poems on rooftops, sews them into clothes and embeds them into Google search terms.

And there are so many more. Discover them through the Miami Foundation’s annual philanthropic event, Give Miami Day.

▪ Miami’s art scene is much bigger than Art Week. World-class artists, of all disciplines, live and create here year-round. Some of my favorites right now include Najja Moon, Arsimmer McCoy, Legna Rodríguez Iglesias, Misael Soto, Chire Regans and Aaron J. Jackson.

▪ Trustworthy local news makes good communities. Luckily, we have outlets like the Miami Herald, WLRN, Sun-Sentinel, Miami Times and Miami New Times. Subscribe to them. We also have a great news startup, The New Tropic, and a hilarious fake news purveyor, The Plantain.

▪ Udonis Haslem. That’s it. That’s the sentence.

▪ Miami is huge. Between Aventura and Homestead are 80 ZIP codes. If you’ve only spent time in one or two neighborhoods, you haven’t experienced Miami.

▪ We have some of the best libraries anywhere: the Miami-Dade Public Library System, the Kislak Center at the University of Miami, and the Black Archives History and Research Foundation at the Lyric Theater, to name three. We even have a mobile library called Bookleggers that gives used books away for free.

▪ Is there great food in Miami? Of course. Can you find it in expensive restaurants with fancy names? Sometimes. Are the very best places tucked away in nondescript strip malls all over the county? Yes. Am I going to tell you where they are? No.

▪ Despite the claims of one newcomer, there is no such thing as a Miami apartment with water views for $600 a month. Housing is a major issue here. Help solve it, and you’ve got a supporter in me.

▪ Howard Herring, president of New World Symphony, likes to say that talent is distributed equally, but opportunity is not. Miami actually scores worse than San Francisco when it comes to wealth inequality, but this county is full of immensely talented people. Tap into a fraction of that underutilized power, and you’ll not only succeed, but also make Miami better.

▪ No one is the guide or connector to Miami, so anyone who claims to be is selling you something. The joy of living here is always being surprised. Don’t let anyone, including me, curate your experience for you.

▪ Most of us are from somewhere else. Do you love this place for what it really is? Or is Miami a means to a personal end? If you prove you love it, you’ll become a local. And there is nothing better in the world than getting to say you’re a part of Miami.

So welcome. Whether you realize it or not, you made the best decision of your life to come here.

Don’t blow it.

P. Scott Cunningham is the founder and director of O, Miami, a nonprofit that builds community through the power of poetry.