#1880 Harold Rosen 1970s at the Garden Center1II BEFll
MAGAZINE
THREE DOLLARS
MAY 1987
52' MIAMI BEACH /'MAY1987
E . R S
HAROLD ROSEN
IN LIKE A LION, OUT LIKE A LAMB
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1
P
E
C T
uestion: Which local mayor made national news
by getting hit in the face with a pie during the 1972
Republican National Convention on Miami Beach:
a. Harold Rosen, b. Steve Clark, c. Xavier Suarez; d. None of the above.
Answer d. None of the above.
Bet you thought it was a. Harold Rosen, didn't you? Well, as legend has
it, Harold Rosen was, indeed, involved in that incident in 1972, but, contrary
to popular belief, he did not get hit in the face with the pie and he was not
mayor at the lime. He got hit in the shoulder Sure, that weakens the tale slightly,
but the jist is the same.
Rosen, former Miami Beach Mayor and Commissioner, and attorney for
the past 35 years, is -a rather controversial and outspoken figure. If things are
not right with the world in his eyes, rest assured that he will let you know
about it.
Like the way he let his pie - throwing assailant know that he was slightly
less than thrilled at the latter's actions.
It all stemmed from a feeling of unrest during the 1972 Republican National
Convention, something that Harold Rosen recalls with as much passion as he
had 15 years ago.
"These hippies came into town and they were smoking pot in our streets,
they were swimming nude in the pools and doing anything they wanted to
do," Rosen says. "If they want to smoke pot, fine, but don't smoke in our
streets or our parks. You want to go swimming nude? Do it at night, do it
in a private pool. Then they wanted to sleep in our parks, on our lawns, they
didn't want to go in the hotels because they had no money Well, I resented
it and I was very vocal about it.
"They marched in the street with the black flag of anarchy above the American
flag turned upside - down," he continues. "They took the American flag, ripped
it up and, believe it or not, masturbated on the flag in the parks here. I was
very, very angry about it."
Rosen's tolerance level was being pushed to the limit, about to burst at any time.
"A lot of these people came up before the Commission, and one of the
Vietnam vets said to me; `What do you fat commissioners know about living?
You're dying, — Rosen shouts. "I said, `Let me tell you something. All of us
don't wear our service records on our sleeves. I was in World War II for three
and a half years. I was in Korea for two years. There were a million
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"Dunng the course of the meeting," says
Rosen, "I saw a guy come up behind me. He
had a bunch of newspapers under his arm. All
of a sudden, I see him lift something up. I didn't
know what it was. He attempted to hit me with
the pie; the pie hit me on the shoulder; it hit
Lenny Haber on the shoulder. It didn't hit me
in the face like they said it did And I belted the
guy and knocked him out Rocky Pomerance,
who was the police chief at the time, grabbed
Harold Rosen alongside Nefertiti, a favorite symbol of his
me because he knew I would have killed the guy
because I was letting out everything that was pent
up in there."
A year later, Pat Small, the assailant, wrote
Rosen a letter of apology explaining how he had
been caught up in the emotionalism of the times.
So much for the pie -in-the -face incident.
While he was Mayor of Miami Beach dung
the mid -1970s and since that time, Rosen was
and has been a very active figure in the future
of our City
"I think I've represented the City in good
stead," he says. ``I built a lot of things. the Youth
Center, part of TOPA, City Hall, libranes, an
expanded Convention Hall facility, parking
garages."
Through the years, Rosen has also stuck to
his guns on more touchy subjects
"I'm an advocate of casino gambling, and
I advocated gambling when I was in office and
was criticized for it," he recalls. "They used to
have pictures of me going on these junkets to Las
Vegas I used to laugh at it because I did it before
was in politics, I did it while I was in politics,
and after. There were certain things I liked that
I was not going to give up just because I was
in public office."
Rosen's travels extend far beyond Las Vegas
He is a world traveler, seeking in his travels what
makes people of various cultures tick. And he
is very knowledgeable about the places he visits,
C T I V E
ready to relate his tales at a moment's notice
On Japanese gardens:
"The bndges that go over little streams don't
go straight over, they zig -zag so that people can't
rush over the bndge. They have to walk slower
and look at the landscaping."
On castle doors in England -
"Builders of these doors didn't make them
small because the people were small. It was for
defensive purposes, so that large hordes couldn't
run through at one time."
On a Moroccan
holy man.
"There was a pool
in an old site In the
bottom of the pool were
large, fat eels. There was
a holy man selling
hardboiled eggs by the
pool. Women would
come up to him, buy the
eggs from him, he would
say a prayer for them
and they would throw
the eggs down to the
eels. It was a fertility rite
for women who
couldn't get pregnant."
On staying in European youth hostiles.
"I used to come in and buy the kids beer
and they used to play the mandolin And in the
morning you were supposed to make up your
room and bed. I used to give a kid a buck to
make my bed and I'd take off!"
Rosen's favorite place among his many
travels has been the Greek island of Mykonos
where he separated from the ship he was sailing
on, fished with the natives for two weeks and
rejoined the ship on its return trip to the United
States.
Although he does not physically embark on
such great journeys anymore, Rosen does a bit
of "mental" traveling each day for all of 15
minutes.
"Ten to fifteen years ago, I got interested in
Chinese poetry," he says "I was always
interested in poetry, but Chinese poetry is
altogether different. In three or four lines, they
can describe a flower petal or dew on a petal.
It is old poetry about the comings and goings of
male warriors going away from their wives,
women lamenting and looking at flowers on the
lake, men returning from war "
Along with books of Chinese poetry, Rosen
keeps several books of Haiku in his office on
Lincoln Road. In this way, he can "travel" just
so far to keep his mind fresh and alert in
preparation for business matters that are a little
closer to home •