1663-29 Art Deco/Preservation FRI OCT 02 1992 ED: FINAL
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: 2B LENGTH: 23. 78" MEDIUM
ILLUST: photo: Rick SANCHEZ, Jimmie L. BROWN
SOURCE: JOAN FLEISCHMAN Herald Columnist
DATELINE:
MEMO: TALK OF OUR TOWN
MILLIONAIRE GIVES $70, 000 TO REPAINT REBECCA TOWERS
Millionaire investor Thomas Kramer didn't much care for the boring-beige
color of Rebecca Towers, a South Beach public housing project for the elderly.
So he donated $70, 000 to repaint the two federally subsidized bayfront high-
rises . "He said he looks out at the buildings every day and it looks like
either a hospital or a prison, " said Murray Gilman, executive director of
Miami Beach' s housing authority. "He wants sort of like a peach, with a dash
of aqua to break up the monotony. He wants it to look more like a private
building. " The German-born Kramer, 35, recently bought lawyer Dan Paul ' s Star
Island home for $4 . 25 million. (Paul, 68, paid $63, 000 for the place back in
1968) . Paul is renting on Fisher Island. "I haven't made up my mind whether
I 'm going to buy another house or whether I 'm going to buy something on Fisher
Island -- or whether I 'm going to move to Hawaii, " Paul said. "That' s where I
always wanted to go in retirement -- but I 'm not retired, unfortunately. "
Rick Sanchez, WSVN-Channel 7 ' s blustery TV tough guy, said it made
him sad that he got booed when he was introduced on stage at Saturday night ' s
sold-out hurricane relief concert. "I 'm a regular guy, " Sanchez said. "It hurt
my feelings . I think it was kind of mean. " Sanchez offers his thoughts on why
it happened: "I think they would have booed just about any well- known person
in this town. I 'm a very polarizing image in this community. Everyone has an
opinion about me one way or another, whether it ' s positive or negative. You
can't please all the people all the time. "
Did Metro-Dade Police Division Chief Jimmie L. Brown interfere in the
arrest of two of his sons on hurricane looting charges? Police and the Dade
state attorney' s office are investigating. Brown, 48, a 24-year veteran and
church pastor whose Richmond Heights home was damaged in the storm, said the
situation is causing him "personal anguish. " Two juveniles, one of them
Brown' s son, were arrested, and there' s a warrant out for Brown' s other son.
The incident allegedly occurred outside a South Dade convenience store, where
officers said they spotted the trio with stolen goods. Chief Brown, who'd been
following his sons in another car but got separated, arrived a short while
later, and the three were released. It was after a follow-up investigation
that charges were filed. Chief Brown surrendered the younger son, who was
finger-printed and photographed. "I don't know that Jimmie did anything
wrong, " Metro-Dade Police Director Fred Taylor said. "We don' t know his side
of the story. There ' s just a lot of conflicting facts we need to get
straight. " The department must wait until the state attorney' s office
completes its investigation before talking with Brown, he said.
Dade Circuit Judge Norman Gerstein and girlfriend Jacqueline Gonzalez
tied the knot Friday in a small ceremony at the Grand Bay Hotel. "It was
time, " Gerstein said. Gerstein, 43, and Gonzalez, 29, a lawyer, met in 1989 at
a Valentine ' s Day party that Mel Frumkes and his wife, Marsha Elser, both
attorneys, host annually. ( Ironically, of the 35 guests who attended the
judge ' s reception, Gerstein officiated at the weddings of 12 -- including Ed
Huey, a longtime friend who pronounced Norm and Jackie man and wife. )
Robbers attacked Dade Circuit Judge Robert Kaye and his wife outside
an airport-area hotel, where the couple is temporarily living because of storm
damage to their home. It happened at 7 : 30 p.m. Tuesday, when one man grabbed
Aurelija Kaye ' s purse. When she refused to let go, he yanked it even harder,
knocking her down, according to the police report. Judge Kaye, an ex-
prosecutor, fought back, but two men punched and kicked him, knocking him
down. Kaye, now assigned to the state court ' s civil division, has a black eye
and some bruises.
Indian Creek Village Sgt. Alfred Cerda, 30, and fellow officer Rudy
Vidal, 31, got into a scuffle at the afternoon shift change Tuesday after one
accused the other of leaving the Marine Patrol boat dirty. Said Village
Manager Donald LeBrun: "Boys will be boys. " The fight got so nasty that one of
the department ' s 13 cops radioed for emergency assistance. Cerda and Vidal
were relieved of duty.
If you have a tip for the column, call Joan at 376-3440 .
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