42. There goes the neighborhood (to Miami)
Palantir, Zuckerberg, and the U.S. Hockey Team Walk Into Carbone Miami.
Today’s letter includes: Why Miami stopped having its own personality, a free hotel that feels like Egypt in London, the latest on TSA Pre shutdown, Bode in Tokyo, Meta's plan to keep you posting after you die, what's happening with Manon, and the most coveted reservation in NYC (it's not what you think).
Hi friends. I just got back last night from a leadership offsite in Miami — my second Miami trip in two weeks, which is either a sign that something is going very right or very wrong in my life.
I miraculously made it out to Miami before the storm hit NYC, but my CEO was not so lucky. Flying in from San Francisco, he got hit with a Sunday delay that stretched to Monday and then a full cancellation from American Airlines, ultimately booking a last-minute Delta flight and landing in Miami at midnight.
I was very concerned I wouldn’t be able to fly back to NYC, and I didn’t want to be stuck there because I have a low Florida limit — ie. the number of days per year you can spend in Florida before something in you starts to short-circuit. Too much humidity, too many conversations about crypto, too many people in boat shoes, fedoras, and ALO.
But on Miami trip #1 there was a boat day. And on that boat day, I befriended the stewardess, as I always do. When she saw I was back in Miami a week later, she invited me to a party at Jolene Sound Room. I did a double take. Jolene Sound Room. The same Jolene Sound Room that exists in Brooklyn?
Which brought me to a thought I couldn’t shake for the rest of the trip: Miami has always been a city that other cities export themselves into — New Yorkers especially have treated it as a seasonal second home for decades. But something shifted during the pandemic, and it hasn’t shifted back.
What started as a finance bro migration in 2020 has quietly snowballed into something much larger. It’s not just transplants packing up their walk-ups anymore. It’s capital. Citadel moved its headquarters there in 2022. Last week, Palantir announced it’s relocating its HQ from Denver to Miami, joining a city where Google co-founder Larry Page just bought a $173 million compound in Coconut Grove; where Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly moving into the so-called “Billionaire Bunker” on Indian Creek Island, newly neighbors with Jeff Bezos, Ivanka Trump, and Tom Brady.
The restaurants followed the people, and the people followed the money, and now you can get Lucali, Carbone, Pastis, COTE, and Maman in Miami. Voodoo Doughnut — a Portland icon — just opened in Wynwood. Rao’s is on Collins Avenue. Rosemary’s from the East Village landed down the block. The city isn’t importing culture anymore so much as it’s becoming a franchise of everywhere else.
Which is what makes places like Tin Tin, a new restaurant from the creators of Tinta y Café, feel so precious right now. A spot that actually feels like it came from Miami rather than arrived at it.
Instead of Melon e Prosciutto, they’re serving Papaya y Jamón; their Cacio e Pepe gnocchi is made with malanga, a tropical root vegetable; their cocktails (which are excellent) are named after fictional characters you might encounter on Calle Ocho — the heart of Miami’s Little Havana. Places like this are getting harder to find and maybe that’s the most Miami story of all.
Miami sightings:
While dining at Mandolin, our waiter told us the Men’s U.S. Hockey team was across the street at COTE and naturally were heading to E11even after. (Not that I had any desire to run into them smh).
In the courtyard at Komodo, we were surprised by an impromptu dragon dance for Lunar New Year around 9PM - very fun!
I needed to know if Lucali in Miami was as good as in Brooklyn (it is) and was shocked to see owner and founder, Mark Iacono in the flesh. I’ve never seen him in the Brooklyn location — granted, it’s so hard to get in I’ve only been a few times. I guess Mark decided he wasn’t in the mood for a snow storm either. He waved to me! (Because I was very visibly staring).
Rumor has it that Substack is suppressing free content. If you’d like to resist the algorithm pushing paid content only, then liking, sharing, quoting and restacking this newsletter will help! <3
Manon from Katseye is “on hiatus” — and nobody’s buying it. The Swiss-raised member of the HYBE-Geffen girl group announced she’s stepping back for “health and wellbeing,” which, fine, happens. But then Manon started liking posts on Instagram alluding to racism and label mistreatment of Black members in girl groups and Deuxmoi’s sources claimed she’s being “phased out.” The group is still performing at Coachella in April. Manon is not.
TSA PreCheck almost got shut down — and it might still happen. Kristi Noem announced Saturday night that PreCheck and Global Entry would be suspended. Within hours, the White House stepped in and overruled her. Global Entry, however, is still suspended. Then on Wednesday, Noem told CNN the full suspension is back on the table if funding doesn’t come through.
The shutdown itself stems from lawmakers rightfully demanding ICE reforms — body cameras, mandatory identification, an enforceable code of conduct — after federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens, Renée Good and Alex Pretti, during immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis. TSA workers are still unpaid, Global Entry members are in the regular line, and nobody’s closer to a deal.
Your next friend request could come from a dead person. Meta just patented an AI that would keep posting on your behalf after you die — trained on your old content, mimicking your voice, comments, maybe even video. They say they have no plans to build it, which is exactly what you say when you’re about to build it.
Bode opened in Tokyo. The store kind of looks like a sauna and has a giant JFK head. Are we into it?
The most coveted reservation in NYC is a 55-seat pub inside JPMorgan where 10,000 employees compete for $23 fish and chips. If you’re going to make a mandatory RTO, then it makes sense you’d spring for a new $3 billion building, however the upgrades are hard to spot: corner offices got smaller, floors went open concept, and the exterior reportedly rattles loudly in the wind. The math isn’t mathing, and everyone is uncomfortable. Younger bankers are booking the employee only bar weeks out in an effort to try to have something to look forward to.
JetBlue finally got a lounge. BlueHouse opened at JFK’s Terminal 5 in December: a 9,000 sq ft Art Deco NYC apartment vibe with Joe Coffee, a full bar, and a Grand Central-inspired mural on the ceiling. Day passes just launched this month at $59–$79 depending on your status tier. A Boston location is coming this summer. The cynic in me wants to point out that JetBlue is still not profitable, but the traveler in me is not complaining.
A Texas couple is running against each other for opposite parties. A married couple in Llano County, Texas is running for the same local commissioner seat on opposing party tickets — which sounds like a reality show pitch, but is actually a coordinated strategy to unseat a book-banning incumbent they both hate. Incredible.
Currently in my group chat: The giant Dachshund gracing Gentle Monster’s floor in Seoul.
Voter suppression etc.
The SAVE America Act passed the House on February 11 (218-213), requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo ID at the polls.
The stated goal: keep noncitizens from voting.
The catch: roughly 80% of married women don’t have documentation matching their current legal name, and 21 million eligible citizens lack easy access to a passport or birth certificate.Additionally, getting one just got harder. The State Department quietly stripped nonprofit public libraries of their ability to process passport applications in February. So access points are shrinking at the same time demand is already at record highs — the State Department issued 27.3 million passports in FY2025.
There’s actually no voter fraud. Utah reviewed 2 million registered voters and found one noncitizen registration and zero noncitizen votes. So it’s really a bill to keep women from voting, not noncitizens. The bill needs 60 Senate votes to pass.
Meanwhile, anonymous tips from USPS workers saying they are not permitted to do overtime even with mail piling up is making it harder for students and others to receive mail-in ballots.
A clothing brand just opened a hotel above its store. Yes, free. Beit Kotn, which translates to “Kotn’s House” in Arabic, sits above the Egyptian-Canadian clothing label’s Shoreditch store and operates as a private creative residence for artists, designers, and cultural thinkers from the Middle East and North Africa. The two-bedroom space has a warm, lived-in feel — vintage furniture, oxblood red and mustard tones, a kitchenette and private balcony — designed to feel like Cairo, not a hotel.
You apply through an online portal by describing what you’re working on, and access is granted based on availability. While every other fashion brand is monetizing access and calling it community, Kotn removed the transaction entirely. A larger Cairo location is already planned for 2027. Shout out to Chris Danton for the tip!
The daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke got married on Valentine’s Day. Maya Hawke wed musician Christian Lee Hutson at St. George’s Episcopal in NYC in a surprise ceremony that doubled as a Stranger Things reunion — Sadie Sink, Finn Wolfhard, Joe Keery and most of the cast were there. Millie Bobby Brown and Noah Schnapp were not, and the internet immediately had thoughts.
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for the mention!