He again alluded to drone travel and underground tunnels to solve traffic problems.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez (Photos by Alive Coverage)
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez challenged New York Mayor Eric Adams to a showdown The real dealNew York Real Estate Forum.
Adams did not appear, but Suarez took the stage to promote Miami’s growth, publicly proclaim his support for Israel and offer potential solutions to traffic and infrastructure problems.
Suarez speak with TRD Founder and publisher Amir Korangy, who jokingly asked the mayor if he had been robbed on the way to the event, held at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea. Suarez was not.
More than 1,000 people were in the standing room area to hear the mayor speak.
Suarez, whose relationship with a disgraced developer Rishi Kapoor has been the subject of multiple investigations, touting Miami’s low taxes, declining homicides, and growth in property values and office rents.
“I take every opportunity to rejoice,” he said.
Asked about Miami’s handling of protests against Israel’s war on Gaza, Suarez said he had been “very clear morally.”
“From the moment the attacks took place on October 7, we lowered the Israeli flag at half-mast at City Hall,” he said, drawing applause from the crowd.
He said that during a protest of about 70 people, seven were arrested for blocking traffic. “We have a zero tolerance policy,” he said, again drawing praise from participants.
Korangy asked Suarez about the effects of climate change and property insurance issues facing the region. Suarez said the history of deadly storms, including Hurricane Andrew in 1992, prepared Miami.
“We have reduced our flood risk profile based on investments” in infrastructure to mitigate flood risks, he said. “We have had less hurricane damage than New York City since (Hurricane) Sandy.”
Asked about traffic, Suarez said he plans to work with urban air mobility companies, or passenger drones, as well as what Elon Musk’s Boring Company made in Las Vegas, suggesting the city might embrace the idea of underground tunnels.
Regarding the potential for oversupply of residential units, he said, “I never worry about oversupply. I’m much more worried about undersupply.
Korangy asked why Avenues The World School out of his plans to build a campus in Miami. He said he had “no idea” why the school did this, given the demand. “I know there were corporate issues” with Avenues, he added.
Suarez did not address his relationship with Kapoor, whose former company was paying Suarez as a consultant before Kapoor’s alleged real estate investment scheme imploded. Suarez recently testified before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, revealing details of his role as a private consultant for the developer. The SEC is suing Kapoor, alleging the former Location Ventures CEO defrauded investors who contributed $93 million to his real estate projects. Suarez’s relationship with Kapoor is the focus of investigations by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office and the Miami-Dade Ethics Commission; and the FBI is conducting a public corruption investigation into both of them.
To the crowd TRDAt the event, Suarez offered an invitation as his closing remarks.
“Move to Miami,” he said. “We want you and we love you.”
