Miami, FL
Underwater sculpture park brings coral reef art to Miami Beach – WTOP News
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — South Florida is seeing a wave of new cars, but they won’t add to traffic…
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — South Florida is seeing a wave of new cars, but they won’t add to traffic or lengthen anyone’s commute. That’s because the cars are made of marine-grade concrete and were installed underwater.
Over several days late last month, crews lowered 22 life-sized cars into the ocean, several hundred feet off South Beach. The project was organized by a group that pioneers underwater sculpture parks as a way to create human-made coral reefs.
“Concrete Coral,” commissioned by the nonprofit REEFLINE, will soon be seeded with 2,200 native corals that have been grown in a nearby Miami lab. The project is partially funded by a $5 million bond from the city of Miami Beach. The group is also trying to raise $40 million to extend the potentially 11-phase project along an underwater corridor just off the city’s 7-mile-long (11-kilometer) coastline.
“I think we are making history here,” Ximena Caminos, the group’s founder, said. “It’s one of a kind, it’s a pioneering, underwater reef that’s teaming up with science, teaming up with art.”
She conceived the overall plan with architect Shohei Shigematsu, and the artist Leandro Erlich designed the car sculptures for the first phase.
Colin Foord, who runs REEFLINE’s Miami coral lab, said they’ll soon start the planting process and create a forest of soft corals over the car sculptures, which will serve as a habitat swarming with marine life.
“I think it really lends to the depth of the artistic message itself of having a traffic jam of cars underwater,” Foord said. “So nature’s gonna take back over, and we’re helping by growing the soft corals.”
Foord said he’s confident the native gorgonian corals will thrive because they were grown from survivors of the 2023 bleaching event, where a marine heatwave killed massive amounts of Florida corals.
Plans for future deployments include Petroc Sesti’s “Heart of Okeanos,” modeled after a giant blue whale heart, and Carlos Betancourt and Alberto Latorre’s “The Miami Reef Star, a group of starfish shapes arranged in a larger star pattern.
“What that’s going to do is accelerate the formation of a coral reef ecosystem,” Foord said. “It’s going to attract a lot more life and add biodiversity and really kind of push the envelope of artificial reef-building here in Florida.”
Besides being a testing ground for new coral transplantation and hybrid reef design and development, Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner expects the project to generate local jobs with ecotourism experiences like snorkeling, diving, kayaking and paddleboard tours.
The reefs will be located about 20 feet (6 meters) below the surface of the water and about 800 feet (240 meters) from the shore.
“Miami Beach is a global model for so many different issues, and now we’re doing it for REEFLINE,” Meiner said during a beachside ceremony last month. “I’m so proud to be working together with the private market to make sure that this continues right here in Miami Beach to be the blueprint for other cities to utilize.”
The nonprofit also offers community education programs, where volunteers can plant corals alongside scientists, and a floating marine learning center, where participants can gain first-hand experience in coral conservation every month.
Caminos, the group’s founder, acknowledges that the installation won’t fix all of the problems — which are as big as climate change and sea level rise — but she said it can serve as a catalyst for dialogue about the value of coastal ecosystems.
“We can show how creatively, collaboratively and interdisciplinarily we can all tackle a man-made problem with man-made solutions,” Caminos said.
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Associated Press videojournalist Cody Jackson contributed to this report.
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Follow David Fischer on the social platform Bluesky: @dwfischer.bsky.social
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Miami, FL
Art Basel Miami 2025: Rihanna, ASAP Rocky, Larsa Pippen and more
Art Basel took over Miami Beach the first weekend of December 2025. The event is the centerpiece of Miami Art Week and features hundreds of global galleries showing art from international artists. Art Basel brings out celebrities, influencers, and collectors in droves for their extravagant parties and more. Rihanna, ASAP Rocky, Larsa Pippen, Alix Earle, and more flew out for the events.
Miami, FL
Sweetwater police arrest man in counterfeit bust at Dolphin Mall
Sweetwater police announced an arrest at Dolphin Mall ahead of the holiday shopping season.
Officers arrested 24-year-old Luis Merchan-Meron on two felony counts related to counterfeit goods. Investigators said they seized more than 150 items worth thousands of dollars from the back of his truck.
According to court documents, an undercover officer spotted a transaction in the mall parking lot from about 10 feet away.
Police moved in after witnessing someone allegedly buying designer bags from Merchan-Meron.
Operation Safe Holidays ramps up security
Sweetwater Assistant Police Chief Frank Fernandez said the department has increased security at the mall with uniformed and undercover officers as part of the city’s “Operation Safe Holidays” program.
“We have eyes, we have drones, we have motorcycles, we have uniforms, we have plain clothes. You can’t get away from us now,” Fernandez said.
Mayor stresses zero tolerance for fakes
Mayor Jose “Pepe” Diaz said the city has zero tolerance for counterfeit sales and has invested heavily in protecting shoppers.
“It’s all here to make sure that we protect those citizens that are coming here to make the purchase,” Diaz said. “Have a good time with your families, but there’s people that try to do illicit things like selling fake merchandise.”
Court records detail alleged profit margins
Court records show Merchan-Meron told police he buys the goods for about $8 each and sells them for up to $60. He said he does not know the supplier, only that the items are shipped from overseas.
Miami, FL
Antonio Brown wants Miami attempted murder charge dropped under ‘Stand Your Ground’
Former NFL star Antonio Brown is seeking to have his attempted murder charge from a Miami shooting dismissed under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, court records show.
Attorneys for Brown on Thursday filed a motion to dismiss his case in Miami-Dade, saying the shooting was legally justified under the 2005 law.
Brown, 37, has pleaded not guilty to the second-degree attempted murder charge, which carries a potential 15-year prison sentence and a fine up to $10,000 if he is convicted.
Miami-Dade Corrections
Miami-Dade Corrections Antonio Brown
According to an arrest warrant, Brown is accused of grabbing a handgun from a security staffer after a celebrity boxing match in Miami on May 16 and firing two shots at a man he had gotten into a fistfight with earlier.
The victim alleged, Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, told investigators that one of the bullets grazed his neck.
Brown’s attorney said that the affidavit is mistaken and that Brown actually used his personal firearm, and that the shots were not aimed at anyone.
The motion filed Thursday said Nantambu is a convicted felon and mentions his arrest in February after police said he disrupted Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show by waving a Sudanese flag bearing the message “Sudan and Free Gaza.”
Nantambu also allegedly attacked Brown backstage at a 2023 Rolling Loud music festival concert, and was allegedly jailed in Dubai in 2022 for stealing Brown’s jewelry, the motion said.
The motion also claimed Nantambu had publicly issued threats at Brown including stating “your days are numbered.”
The motion claims Nantambu knew Brown was at the boxing event because Brown had been livestreaming, and said Nantambu waited outside the event for an opportunity to confront Brown.
As Brown exited, he spotted Nantambu quickly approaching him and saw him “tucking his chain inside his shirt,” the motion said.
He attacked Brown, who suffered injuries to his eye, knee and hands as others joined in the assault and Brown became in fear for his life, the motion said.
“Fearing additional violence and believing he may encounter Nantambu again while attempting to reach his vehicle, Brown retrieved his concealed firearm, for which he lawfully possessed a permit,” the motion said.
Brown ran to his car but again encountered Nantambu, who he fear was armed and “made an aggressive movement towards him,” the motion said.
“In that moment, Brown again reasonably feared death or great bodily harm. In response, he fired two warning shots, intentionally aiming away from Nantambu to ensure he would not be struck,” the motion said. “Brown hoped the warning shots would deter Nantambu’s aggression, allowing Brown to safely reach his vehicle and leave the scene.”
The motion claimed there was a struggle and Nantambu took Brown’s gun then fled the scene with the weapon, while Brown stayed at the scene and complied with law enforcement.
Brown was not immediately arrested that night because initially police did not identify Nantambu as a victim. It wasn’t until May 21 that Nantambu gave a full statement about the incident to police and identified Brown as the shooter, the affidavit says.
“Cellphone video obtained from social media showed Mr. Brown with the firearm in his hand advancing toward Mr. Nantambu on the outside walk. The video captures two shots which occur as Mr. Brown is within several feet of Mr. Nantambu,” the arrest affidavit said. “The video also captures Mr. Nantambu ducking after the first shot is heard.”
In video posted on Only in Dade, Brown was seen an altercation with several individuals. At one point, he was seen running and a gunshot was heard.
Brown has said on social media that he was defending himself from an attack and that others were trying to steal jewelry from him.
The motion said Brown’s use of force was “fully justified” under ‘Stand Your Ground.”
“Brown reasonably believed that the alleged victim intended to cause him serious harm. Moments earlier, he had been physically attacked by an attention-seeking convicted fraudster with a documented history of violence toward Brown, as well as toward others, including law enforcement. Even the sight of Brown’s firearm did not deter the alleged victim’s aggression,” the motion reads. “Nantambu remained intent on harming him. Under these circumstances, Brown had every legal right to defend himself.”
Brown was extradited last month from Dubai, where he has business interests, after an arrest warrant on the attempted murder charge was issued in June.
He was released on a $25,000 bond and must wear an ankle monitor.
A prosecutor said Brown could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
Brown spent 12 years in the NFL and was an All-Pro wide receiver who last played in 2021 for Tampa Bay, including a Super Bowl championship with quarterback Tom Brady. He spent much of his career with Pittsburgh. For his career, Brown had 928 receptions for more than 12,000 yards and accounted for 88 total touchdowns, counting punt returns and one pass.
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