Miami Beach Commissioner Mike Grieco wants to ban Floatopia so he can avoid talking about the real problem on South Beach: crime

"Floatopia will never happen in Miami Beach again. Mark my
words." —Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Grieco.
Click here to enlarge.

Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Grieco was heartbroken.

After last Saturday's Floatopia event on Miami Beach, the commish stood among piles of trash and recorded the carnage with his smartphone, and then posted the video to Facebook: "Faith in humanity has gone down today....this is an absolute travesty," said Grieco.

In the days following, Grieco spoke to anyone with a TV camera and a microphone.

"I don't know how 100,000 people can come out to my beach and just not take what they brought with them," Grieco told a Local 10 reporter.

Really, Commissioner? 100,000? (At least one other station also reported the 100,000 figure without bothering to ask Grieco where he got those numbers.)




Mayor Levine also got in on the act, declaring on Facebook "The disruption to our beaches, residents and visitors caused by Floatopia will NOT be tolerated."

Umm, Mr. Mayor...the people who showed up for Floatopia were "residents and visitors." I'm pretty sure they weren't from Mars. But how would you know? You were in New York shilling for Hillary.

Grieco's outrage was so loud that he even rated a mention in the New York Daily News....where a clueless writer misidentified him as a Miami commissioner. Oh, the humanity!

But somehow missing from Grieco's weekend Facebook rants were any mention of the shooting that took place Saturday on Collins Avenue, just a block from the Miami Beach police station.

Because in Mike Grieco's world, trash left behind by otherwise law-abiding citizens having a little fun at the beach is a "travesty."

But a Miami Gardens thug firing wildly into a crowd of people...well, thems the breaks, according to Grieco. And there was also no mention on Grieco's Facebook page today of the news that the shooter had been arrested by police.

What's readily apparent to anyone who follows Grieco's Facebook posts is that he's trying to score points.

His promise to ban Floatopia next year is not only ridiculous posturing, it's unenforceable.

That voice you hear in your head is Mike Grieco saying: "Come on down to South Beach, folks...and bring all the guns you want, but leave your flotation devices at home."

Here's a suggestion, Commissioner: Instead of trying to ban an event that's good, clean fun....why not start now to put a plan in place next year that will anticipate and head off any problems that might arise? That's what a real leader would do.

Of course I understand if you'd rather pander.

Because, after all, pandering and posting crap on Facebook is so much easier than leading.

By the way, Commissioner, if 10,000 people having fun upset you this much, how are you going to handle Memorial Day Weekend next month?

Now, let's take a look at what Mayor Levine and Commissioner Grieco want to ban: People having fun.