Renaming 71st Street to Henri Levy Boulevard or Parkway~~[ ii<a~ Inr~ ~
October 2, 2007
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Florida House of Representative
Representative Luis R. Garcia, Jr., District 107
1301 The Capitol
402 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
Subject: Renaming 71 S' Street to Henri Levy Boulevard or Parkway
Honorable Representative Garcia:
The Miami Beach Historical Association, at the Board Meeting of
September 20, 2007, voted to pursue the renaming of 71st Street in
Miami Beach to "Henri Lery Boulevard," from Collins Avenue to the
entrance to the Bay Drive bridge. None of this area would be viable
today if it had not been for the far-sighted vision of one very community
minded pioneer, Henri Levy.
Mr. Levy's exploits in the northern portion of Miami Beach and Surfside
are equally, if not more important, as the well known pioneers such as
Carl Fisher, John S. Collins, and others. He put the Northern end of the
Beach on the map, literally. He has been credited with being the father
of Normandy Isle, from the grand plan of reclaiming the bay, to
producing a perfectly planned city, replete with a grand fountain
surrounded by a beautiful plaza park area. This was just one of three
areas in which Mr. Levy was the original developer. Henri Levy began
a project known as "Normandy Beach South" at approximately 69th
Street, presently Collins Avenue. This development included the area
from the Ocean to the bay and extended to 72nd Street. At the same
time, he was developing the southern part of today's Surfside from 87th
Terrace to approximately 90th Street from Collins Avenue to the bay.
He added an exclusive residential area known as The isle of Biscaya at
the foot of 87th Terrace.
By far his greatest contribution to the City of Miami Beach was his
unflagging devotion to the establishment of a major causeway, a
conduit to join the northern Beach area with the then northern Miami
areas such as Hialeah, Little River, and other locations, recognizing that
the only other major links between Miami Beach and Miami remained
at the south end of the beach at 5th Street and Dade Boulevard. Henri
levy spent a huge amount of time and personally financed a major
effort with local, state and Federal governmental bodies to finally
succeed in the opening of the 79th Street Causeway in 1929. It is
fitting to have one of the major arteries developed by him be named
"Henri Lery Boulevard."
Miami Beach Historical Association
2007 Board of Directors
President: Abraham D. Lavender, Ph.D.
VP Publicity: Laura Jamieson
VP Programs: Dona Zemo
Treasurer: Judi Berson-Levinson, Ed. D.
Secretary: Liliam Hatfield
Members At Large:
Aristotle Ares
Seth Bramson
State Representative Luis R. Garcia, Jr.
Carolyn Klepser
June Newbauer
Joseph F. Patrouch, Ph.D.
Stuart Reed, Esq.
Life Members
Aristotle Ares
David Dermer
Luis R. Garcia, Jr.
Laura Jamieson
Abraham D. lavender, Ph.D.
Judith Berson-Levinson, Ed.D.
June Newbauer
James M. Snedigar
http://miamibeachhistory.org Telephone: 786-261-6892 Email: abelavender@aol.com
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Although he passed away in 1938 at the youthful age of 57, his
amazing capacity to bring fresh ideas to a city in its infancy and see
them through to completion is the mark of a real Pioneer. When he
predicted in the early 1900's that Florida would be developed from
Key West to our Northern State line, he had doubters. The 1926
Hurricane, the Florida land bust, the depression; none of these
disasters deterred him from his dream of making Miami Beach a
tourist destination, much like his childhood memories of French resort
cities such as Deauville, Trouville etc, which he memorialized by
naming the streets of Normandy Isle.
This Board of Directors believe it is most appropriate that the City's
heritage be kept alive by recognizing the founding fathers, the
Pioneers, whose dreams and passions shaped the success in the
development of the State of Florida. To name a State street after the
man that dreamed, planned and made it come true is a fitting way to
perpetuate this history.
Sincerely,
Abraham Lavender, Ph.D., President
Note: Biographical facts provided by Ms. June Newbauer, Henri Levy's
daughter.
The Miami Beach Historical Association, Inc. is anon-profit organization incorporated in the State of Florida for the purpose
of promoting and stimulating public interest and appreciation for the area"s history, preservation of historical records,
encouragement of scholarly research, and publishing about Miami Beach