Those NYC billboards sent a message, just the wrong one, to Miami Beach residents | Opinion

The billboards in Times Square inviting New Yorkers to come to Miami Beach are a golden public relations opportunity for Steven Meiner, the newly-reelected mayor of the South Florida city. The billboards announced that Miami Beach “is open for business. Everyone welcomed!” and had Meiner’s name in big letters on top of a picture of a lifeguard stand, an iconic symbol of the Beach.

The billboards certainly have made a splash, but probably not the right one among Meiner’s own constituents, given he had not disclosed who paid for them: a local and prominent real estate developer who does business in Miami Beach, the Herald reported. Meiner didn’t respond to the Herald for the story.

There’s no evidence of any wrongdoing or quid pro quo. But the optics are what they are: a developer giving a boost to the mayor of a city where over-development has been the political issue in every recent election. Meiner himself touted during his campaign an anti-development policy he passed that makes it more difficult for developers to get approval for zoning variances.

Developer Russell Galbut is a Miami Beach resident whose company is behind several projects in the city, including the Five Park condo tower. Galbut told the Herald Editorial Board that the billboards weren’t meant to promote Meiner but rather Miami Beach, which he said “needs to be relevant” as it struggles to attract businesses and residents who are moving elsewhere in Miami-Dade County.

Galbut said that, besides Meiner’s name, he also considered having the city commission or the local chamber of commerce named on the billboards, and that he plans to run more of them in New York without any politician’s name.

The billboards haven’t cost taxpayers a dime, it’s important to note. But, as a two-term mayor and former commissioner, Meiner must understand the political dynamics of Miami Beach. If a project backed by Galbut goes before the commission, Meiner may find himself under the cloud of these billboards.

Perhaps there is such a thing as a no-strings-attached political gift. But the problem isn’t necessarily a developer offering a billboard to an elected official; it is that elected official accepting it without making it publicly clear from the get-go who paid for it.

The politician-developer relationship has always been the subject of controversy. Many politicians receive campaign donations from development interests, though they are required to report those donations and their amount.

Meiner is not the first mayor to have his name on a billboard paid for by a politically-connected person. In 2021, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’s billboards in California inviting tech companies to relocate were financed by Shervin Pishevar, an early investor in Uber and Airbnb, the Herald reported at the time.

Galbut told a Herald reporter he raised the idea of the billboards to Meiner as a response to democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory in New York City, and that his team designed the billboards before getting them approved by Meiner’s office.

“It cost a little bit of money, but it’s worth it because it’s ridiculous what’s happening in New York,” Galbut told the Herald. “I just think that this is such a unique opportunity for South Florida.”

Since Mamdani’s election, many South Florida elected officials have tried to capitalize on the expectation that wealthy New Yorkers will move to escape his policies. In theory, if that materializes, it will be a bonus to South Florida in the form of money flowing into the economy and tax revenue. But it could also exacerbate the housing crisis and cost-of-living issues affecting mainly middle and working class residents. Galbut, however, believes the opposite will happen because new residents would spur more construction under Florida’s Live Local Act law, which lets developers bypass some local zoning restrictions to build projects that have at least 40% of units dedicated to workforce housing.

It’s not surprising that Meiner’s announcement of the Times Square billboards was met on Facebook with skepticism and derision. “Yes please go to Miami and not Fort Lauderdale . We don’t need another rent spike,” one comment read. Another user wrote: “Read the room! We are full and have enough problems before adding more people and cars.”

Indeed, reading the room would have served Meiner well before allowing his name to be on a giant display in Times Square, paid for by a developer.