Shortly before cocktails flowed at a reception for guests beneath a tent housing the plane in a Miami Beach park, Archer informed the news media that it had sued Vertical in a Texas federal court for alleged patent infringements.

“Archer brings this suit to protect the novel and award-winning design of its Midnight eVTOL, which was developed by Archer inventors through careful, brilliant design work, and to stop Vertical infringing its patented designs,” the suit declared.

Vertical executives scrambled to issue a statement denying the allegations.

“There is no bigger form of flattery when people try and do this to us,”  Vertical CEO Stuart Simpson told the South Florida Sun Sentinel in an interview delayed by the litigation interlude. “It’s a pure distraction tactic.”

Whatever is decided in court, it is now clear that the nascent electric air taxi industry is emerging from an early development stage to an era of a high-stakes competition. Billions in investor dollars are at stake, and at the local, state and federal government levels, advocates say expedited action is needed to assess aircraft developed by companies worldwide for certification and to make way for a new mode of urban transportation at public airports and privately run “vertiports” in South Florida and elsewhere.

Last December, Archer took its turn at a public introduction with a debut of its six-engine “Midnight” at an old Pan American World Airways hangar in Miami’s Coconut Grove. It also announced a detailed South Florida route system that would include landing locations at several public airports, as well as at vertiports built and/or controlled by developers including billionaire real estate developer Stephen Ross.

Precisely when those proposals will become reality is difficult to calculate. A spokesperson for Archer, which is based in California, reaffirmed last week that the company plans “to begin operating Midnight this year as part of the White House’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP).” The company said it has “submitted applications across California, Florida, Texas, Georgia, and New York.”

The eVTOL program, which is among several pilot programs launched by the FAA and U.S. Department of Transportation, was triggered by an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last summer. The idea is to “accelerate the deployment of advanced air mobility (AAM) vehicles,” the FAA has said, asserting that the new technologies “have the potential to transform aviation, including expanding connectivity to rural American communities, reducing road congestion in urban areas, and enhancing emergency services or medical transport.”

The program would establish “public-private partnerships with state and local government entities and private sector companies to develop new frameworks and regulations for enabling safe operations,” the agency added.

And then will paying passengers begin to fly?

“People try to guess when it will happen,” said Kevin Adkins, professor of aviation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. “I try to stay away from that. There are a lot of moving pieces here.”

Support preparations by players ranging from federal regulators to local airport operators are starkly uneven, Some would like to see decisions made much sooner than later.

“This industry is ripe with investment, it’s ripe with innovation, and it’s ripe with competition where businesses are looking to bring their aircraft to various markets,” said Kevin Cox, CEO of Vertiports by Atlantic, which has national ambitions of being part of the business, including in South Florida. “These aircraft can be transformational and we believe they will be, but they’re not transformational unless you have the infrastructure to support them.”

In Congress last month, lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill to speed up the FAA certifications of aircraft that manufacturers say have been tested and are ready to fly. Last year, Trump signed a batch of executive orders to activate the industry and get the taxis airborne faster.

In Florida, the state has shown strong support, with the Department of Transportation offering test sites for aircraft in the central part of the state.

The Valo aircraft

Generally speaking, the flying machines manufactured by Archer, Vertical, Joby Aviation, and Beta Technologies, among others, look and operate similarly. Powered by batteries, they can carry between four to six passengers, depending on the model, and are operated by a single pilot. Multiple engines attached to the wings swivel into vertical and horizontal positions to accommodate a lift like a helicopter and provide forward movement.

During his Miami Beach visit, Simpson said the Vertical Aerospace version can be configured to carry six passengers. He also noted there is a barrier between passengers and pilots in the cabin for security purposes. It’s a feature, he said, that is not lost on the airlines, including American Airlines, which became a partner in 2021 and is considered by Simpson to be a launch customer.

“There is a need for a product like this given the infrastructure challenges,” Simpson said. “There are so many people who have moved to South Florida. We met some politicians around here and they really, really want to engage and make this happen. They can see how it would transform the lives of people in South Florida.”

The company, unlike Archer, does not intend to be an operator of the aircraft it makes.

South Florida operator goes ‘conventional’

Ed Wegel is a veteran South Florida aviation executive with an idea similar to Archer’s: to lay out a network of cities that would serve tourists, travelers and businesspeople who need to get from one city to another quickly.

But his company, UrbanLink Air Mobility, is not ordering planes from either Vertical or Archer. He’s leasing 10 “conventional” electric aircraft (eCTOLs) from Beta Technologies of Vermont that can land and take off along airport runways like a traditional plane. The first deliveries will come in late 2027.

UrbanLink envisions a network that includes all three South Florida international airports, as well as Tampa, Jupiter, Key West, Marathon and even Bimini in the Bahamas. The company is also looking toward the Orlando area and Sebring, where it believes it could base a number of its aircraft.

The projected price for a West Palm Beach to Miami flight: $125, which beats a widely quoted $250 price for a 75-mile luxury car trip with Uber Black.

The first electric air taxi services, Wegel believes, will be landing and taking off at airports with their conventional runways, not at vertiports.

“We think that with vertiport developments you’d have to go through FAA approvals, community hearings, and community comments,” Wegel said. “You just can’t put a vertiport in the middle of a community somewhere.”

High demand potential

Adkins, who brought 22 students and four Embry-Riddle faculty members to Miami Beach on Feb. 24 to view the Vertical Aerospace aircraft, said there is a case to be made for heavy demand in both South and Central Florida.

There are plenty of airports in both regions for the operators to use, he said. “Florida in general has a lot of attractive attributes. Up here closer to the Orlando area has a natural hub and spoke system.”

“There would be a lot of demand,” he added, particularly “from people who want to get off the clogged expressways.”

Airports, vertiports

“Those FBO sites obviously today serve traditional aviation,” said Cox of Vertiports by Atlantic.

“We want to make sure we are doing it at sites and locations likely to be first-to-market and allow this form of transportation to [be brought to] scale,” he said.

Although UrbanLink and Archer have announced definitive South Florida route networks that include the region’s big international airports, there is scant evidence of any tangible ground-level developments that would lead travelers to believe that flights by electric taxis are imminent.

In Broward County, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International is evaluating the integration of a vertiport into a broader intermodal project at the eastern end of the airport. But there is no immediate time frame.

“Electric vertical take-off and landing/advanced air mobility/vertiport capabilities will be reviewed and evaluated as part of the design process for the proposed new eight-level Intermodal Center for the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport,” spokeswoman Arlene Satchell said in an email.

In Boca Raton, the city’s airport authority last December reportedly heard from a consultant about Archer’s plans in the region.

But the authority is in the study stage and has no immediate plans to start any taxi operations, Executive Director Clara Bennett said in an email.

She said a feasibility and planning study of the Advanced Air Mobility industry is under way “to better understand how emerging electric vertical takeoff and landing [eVTOL] technologies could potentially integrate into the airport environment in the future.”

She said the authority wants to know about demand for services in the South Florida market, as well as “possible use cases for electric air taxi operations, and the types of infrastructure that could be required to support those operations over time. The effort also includes a preliminary review of potential facility siting concepts, compatibility with existing airport operations, and alignment with evolving FAA guidance and vertiport design standards.”

“Because the AAM sector is still in the certification and early deployment phase, the Authority’s focus at this time is on thoughtful, long-range planning rather than near-term implementation,” Bennett added.

The Palm Beach International Airport and the City of Fort Lauderdale, which owns Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, did not provide information by publication deadline.

The ‘end game:’ No pilots

The long-term, meanwhile, holds a possibility that that may or may not attract widespread public support.

“The end game here is more autonomous operations,” said Adkins of Embry Riddle, citing a shortage of pilots and air traffic controllers, as well as the rising cost of labor to employ them.

Last year, the Miami-Dade Aviation Department, overseer of Miami International Airport and two smaller airports in the county, entered into agreements with the University of Miami and Wisk Aero, developer of self-flying air taxis, to explore steps toward autonomous flying.

The idea is to identify vertiport sites for the international airport, Miami Executive Airport and Miami-Opa locka Executive Airport to enable Wisk to start operations.

“We’re short pilots right now,” Adkins said. “They’re expensive. They’re going to drive up the price point.”

“For this system to be realized anywhere near its full potential, automation is important,” he added. “Community acceptance is going to be a huge piece.”

This article was updated after publication to remove a photo from Beta Technologies related to an UrbanLink air taxi service.

Fort Lauderdale officials say they are well aware of the fiscal fallout that might be coming and are already making plans for what could be a worst-case scenario: A staggering $72.8 million shaved from the city’s day-to-day budget.

DeSantis has called for the elimination of property taxes, referring to them as a burden that forces homeowners to pay perpetual “rent” to the government.

Property tax reform would require a constitutional amendment passed by 60% of the voters.

If voters approve tax reform in November, cities across the state would likely have no choice but to slash budgets, with one caveat. They’d be prohibited from cutting spending on fire-rescue and police departments below current levels.

Vice Mayor John Herbst has told his colleagues he has no doubt the tax reform proposal is going to pass.

“We need to be leaning into the fact that we’ve got to start scaling down operations,” he said last month. “Winter is coming. Let’s just not put our heads in the sand.”

Commissioner Ben Sorensen echoed that refrain during a recent City Hall meeting, urging staff to be prepared now for what might be coming down the pike.

“We need to be doing everything now to prepare for a worst-case scenario,” Sorensen said. “It’s not the sky is falling, but we’ve got to be reasonable that there is a strong likelihood that we’re going to face a significant deficit in our budget.”

Sorensen asked how the city would handle an extreme drop in property tax revenues.

Fort Lauderdale’s budget team has been evaluating various scenarios, City Manager Rickelle Williams told the commission.

“Our mindset is geared toward (the fact that) anything could happen,” she said. “We can’t predict what the Legislature will do. What I’ve shared with our budget management team is that our focus is going to be on fiscal prudence, resourcefulness and innovation. We just don’t know what the true impact might be.”

Last year, the city’s financial consultant shared a grim financial forecast that did not even contemplate the potential of property tax reform.

At the time, Mayor Dean Trantalis dismissed the gloomy prediction as a worst-case scenario.

“We don’t need to take on these doomsday attitudes,” Trantalis said at the time. “We may have to cut corners in some of our programs. We’ll see how the numbers shake out and go from there.”

According to the forecast from city consultant Stantec, the shortfalls would grow each year as budget expenses rise and property values level off: $38.4 million in 2027; $47.2 million in 2028; $61.3 million in 2029; $54.2 million in 2030; $59.1 million in 2031; $75.6 million in 2032; $86.5 million in 2033; and $107.1 million in 2034.

Based on staff’s current estimate, Fort Lauderdale is facing a $28 million deficit in fiscal year 2028. In the most extreme scenario, property tax reform could increase the shortfall by another $72 million.

“That’s possibly a $100 million deficit if the worst-case property tax proposal passes,” Sorensen said. “This is a huge number. Share with me how we start thinking about this and how we start preparing for a worst-case scenario.”

The city manager said Fort Lauderdale is preparing for that scenario, just in case.

“I believe we will have to potentially sacrifice some of the services that we offer or find opportunities to generate revenue that we have not yet pulled the trigger on or leveraged,” she said. “That scenario will lead us to making some dramatic changes in the way that we operate and staff at the city.”

Last year, the city was bracing for possible shortfalls based on an anticipated drop in property tax revenues, Bill Brown, chair of the city’s Budget Advisory Board, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

“Then the property tax reform came up,” Brown said. “We were already preparing for a shortfall. And the tax reform just compounds it.”

The 10-member Budget Advisory Board meets monthly to provide input on the city’s annual operating budget, analyze financial data and brainstorm ways to bridge projected budget shortfalls.

Layoffs, pay cuts and hiring freezes rarely happen in the public sector, though they can happen during extreme budget deficits and economic downturns.

“That would be a last resort,” Brown told the Sun Sentinel. “First we’d look at cutting services. But when you cut services, what do you do with the surplus of employees? There’s no need for them.”

For years, some members of the budget advisory board have recommended the city stop giving away millions every year to local nonprofits, but the commission has continued the practice.

“There’s $2.6 million going to nonprofits and city-sponsored special events,” Brown said. “The nonprofits feel entitled to it because they’ve gotten it for years. I would recommend those be eliminated.”

City-sponsored festivals and drone shows might also have to go, Brown said.

“That’s a nice to have,” he said. “But is it a need to have? At the end of the day we have to balance the budget. It’s going to be a chess game in prioritizing the most essential services required. The nice to have vs. the needs to have.”

Chris Williams, a longtime resident and former member of the budget advisory board, says he does believe there’s fat in the budget that can be cut.

“There’s always fat in any government budget,” he said. “If they end up with a $100 million deficit, they may have to cut employees. Salaries too. When it’s that big of a deficit, you’re looking at scaling back salaries and hours. I’d get rid of any new hires or newly created positions. If you lived without it before, you can live without it now. I’d also eliminate the practice of donating money to the nonprofits. You have to look at everything.”

Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan

“We responded to a train accident where a pedestrian was struck by a moving train. When we arrived, he was still alive, pinned under the train,” said Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue spokesman Frank Guzman in an email. “Despite a valiant effort utilizing resources from throughout our department, Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue, the Florida East Coast Railway, and others, the patient lost a pulse during the rescue attempt and was pronounced deceased on scene shortly after being extricated.”

The victim was not identified. The incident, reported in the 700 block of North Andrews Avenue, occurred around 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

Rail corridor deaths involving Brightline trains have drawn intense scrutiny and public attention since the higher speed rail line started service in 2018. A count by the Miami Herald placed the number of deaths at just below 200 through 2025.

Millions have been spent by the railroad and local, state and federal governments to improve the safety environment along the Florida East Coast Railway corridor. Brightline shares the rail line with the FEC to operate multiple train trips daily between Miami and Orlando with stops in Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and West Palm Beach.

State and local transportation planners are studying the possibility of constructing tunnels or overpasses in Fort Lauderdale to enhance safety and ease traffic gridlock at roadways with railroad crossings.

Palomas and classy Aperol spritzes are in, mocktails and nonalcoholic beers are rising, and espresso martinis aren’t disappearing anytime soon. In conclusion, the state of our drinking union is strong.

The newest class of bars calling the shots in our region include sky-high cocktails with sumptuous sunset views, a back-door speakeasy, a Spanish tapas hot spot, and a sleek pop-up of an acclaimed aperitivo bar.

Here are four that have recently opened in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Salut!

Broward County

Bar Betty 

2465 E. Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale; 954-491-6611; SunnessSupperClub.com/bar-betty

When owner Michael Stanley first opened Sunness Supper Club in Fort Lauderdale, he pictured a speakeasy on the second floor.

Then he found the “strange rooms” upstairs, he said: Odd crawl spaces that fed into secret closets. Mysterious numbered doors with deadbolts on the outside. Cramped, cobwebbed hallways that went nowhere. It all gave Stanley, who spent more than a year transforming the space, the creeping suspicion that “nefarious stuff went down here” at some point in the building’s history.

Did the upstairs house potentially illicit goings-on? He found zero evidence to support his theories, but either way, it’s intriguing Bar Betty lore that Stanley will share with any customer who asks.

“This place was built to hide things,” Stanley insists. “I think it was a den of iniquity.”

Now it’s a 1920s-style speakeasy. After a thorough cleaning and a stunning transformation, this classy drinking den that debuted Dec. 18 now crowns Sunness Supper Club. Customers enter through the building’s rear, up a flight of stairs and through a red door, which spills out into a sumptuous, 2,000-square-foot lounge with low tin ceilings, moody lighting and a mammoth Buddha statue.

Take Bar Betty’s checkered past with a grain of salt, preferably on the rim of a margarita. Their version is James and the Giant Peach (ghost pepper-infused tequila, Cointreau, agave, Ancho Reyes Chile Liqueur, lime juice, peach syrup). There’s also a Caramel Espresso Martini and an elixir called Fluffy Dreams (gin, zesty syrup, lemon juice, aquafaba, Luxardo Apricot Liqueur, elderflower, citrus bitters). Teetotalers can try the Black Betty (THC-infused nonalcoholic liquor, guava puree, lime juice).

Entertainment is plentiful, with Postmodern Jukebox-style jazz from Ginetta’s Vendetta on Mondays, backgammon on Tuesdays, local singer-songwriters on Wednesdays and burlesque on Thursdays — and more live music rounding out the weekend.

Ibis Sky Lounge 

1850 SE 17th St., 29th floor, Fort Lauderdale; 754-224-3700, OmniHotels.com/hotels/fort-lauderdale

Picture this: A $50 showstopper dessert from a secret menu called The Garden of Eden.

It’s a green matcha sponge cake, with chocolate crumble and sake-soaked green apple, served nestled at the base of a bonsai tree on a long, slender pedestal, backlit with a glowing halo light. Beside faux-edible moss, there’s also a goldflake-dusted apple sculpture, filled with elderflower mousse, guava gel and lemon poppyseed cake, that you crack open with a spoon, according to Ibis Sky Lounge manager Fabian Vazquez.

To call Ibis an elevated lounge is an understatement. When it debuted Dec. 18 atop the Omni Fort Lauderdale Hotel, it became Broward’s tallest rooftop bar at 29 stories. Floor-to-ceiling windows wrap the circular lounge and its central bar, which is distinguished by a massive birch tree with gray feathers instead of leaves suspended from branches.

Open Thursdays through Sundays, its menu serves global tapas and caviar, including tuna tartare, short-rib empanadas and spiny lobster cocktails. But there are no main courses, executive chef Cristian Mosquera says.

“They could have a full meal if everyone shared, we see it as somewhere people go before or after dinner,” Mosquera says. “These are intricate bites with sweetness and crunch that pair well with cocktails.”

The menu’s 12 cocktails include a Cinnamon Roll Old Fashioned (spiced pear cinnamon reduction, bourbon); a Pink Paloma (tequila blanco, grapefruit cordial, tangerine, guava lime); and two mocktails (Vazquez recommends Amaretti Sour with amaretti, lemon juice and fee foam.)

And that secret dessert? Mention the Ibis logo on the menu to your server and they’ll wave a blacklight over the surface, revealing a scannable QR code that unlocks two more bites and two cocktails. Among them: A 28-gram tin of Grade 000 Beluga caviar from Marky’s Caviar Lounge in Hollywood sitting atop a Rolex-designed box for $750.

ViceVersa Four Seasons

525 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., Fort Lauderdale; FourSeasons.com/fortlauderdale

Tucked inside Fort Lauderdale’s Four Seasons Hotel and Residences is an Italian aperitivo bar pop-up of effortless cool, touting a mighty Negroni to match. ViceVersa, now in residency through May in the hotel lobby, is awash in luminescent ambers and leather tones, with acclaimed barkeep Valentino Longo pouring digestivos, bubbly spritzes, and Italian wines.

It’s a foodless offshoot of the Michelin-recognized, James Beard-nominated pizza restaurant-bar Longo also operates at The Elser Hotel Miami. But by no means is it small or stripped-down. The sleek 22-seat lounge (eight at the bar, 14 at tables) lounge has leather-backed chairs, a soundtrack of Italian and American beats and 23 drinks, including riffs on martinis and margaritas.

Case in point: The Martini Doppio is a Gibson twist with Cocchi Rosa Americano aperitivo, Tio Pepe sherry and pickled onions; while its ‘rita blends Patron Blanco and spicy mango with barolo and vermentino wines. And its Negroni is elegant and Florida-inspired, built with ViceVersa’s in-house dolce amaro blend called Mi-To.

There are also drinks exclusive to Fort Lauderdale: a White Wine spritz (Italicus, peach, white wine, elderberry and soda) and Coast to Coast (Aperol, coconut water, prosecco).

Palm Beach County

Barcelona Wine Bar

22 W. Atlantic Ave., Suite 140, Delray Beach; 561-501-0300; BarcelonaWineBar.com

The stars have aligned for exotic wines at this Spanish tapas bar in recently opened Sundy Village, where garlic prawns are paired with crisp, white Riojas.

Barcelona, which has chain outposts in 11 states and Washington, D.C., debuted Jan. 18 with executive chef Javier Narvaez at the helm, serving exotic charcuterie boards with aged goat’s milk cheese and 20-month cured hams, rich paella and tapas that range from Berkshire pork tenderloin to salmon al la plancha.

They have 400 Mediterranean, Spanish and Latin American organic and biodynamic wines, plus wine-based cocktails and zero-proof drinks in a warm space of repeating archways, terracotta pots, Turkish jars and natural woods that’s inspired by “sherry bodegas of Lustau in Jerez, Spain,” according to a news statement.

There are dry and sweet sherries (by the pour or bottle), wine flights, white and red sangria, and 13 cocktails, among them Alebrijes (mezcal, quinquina, salted honey syrup, dragonfruit and tangerine powders) and Laird’s Way (scotch, vermouth, amaro, walnut bitters).

Fort Lauderdale commissioners said yes to the faux grass Tuesday night, reversing an earlier ruling by the city’s Historic Preservation Board.

Leone Padula, who owns the restaurant along with his sons, was thrilled.

“Everybody loves it,” he said. “It looks better than the pavers (underneath). It’s more cozy. We serve 1,000 people a day on average, and the pavers turn black really quick and get dirty. It’s hard to keep them clean.”

Yet controversy flared when Cafe Del Mar installed artificial turf in its outdoor dining area.

Normally no one would have batted an eye, but Cafe Del Mar happens to be located on a site with a historic landmark designation.

The site was once home to the Lauderdale Beach Hotel, an Art Deco hotel built in 1936. The hotel was knocked down in 2005 to make way for the Las Olas Beach Club condo, but the facade was preserved thanks to intervention by historic preservationists.

Within weeks of installing the new carpet, the restaurant was cited by the city and told it needed approval from the Historic Preservation Board if it wanted the turf to stay.

The board rejected the request, saying it did not meet historic preservation guidelines.

That rejection went out the window Tuesday night.

“I don’t know how we can say no to what is basically a carpet,” Commissioner Steve Glassman said.

The vote was unanimous to approve the artificial turf.

Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan

Two new Hall of Fame buildings will flank the pools and dive tower at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center that all share the same city-owned peninsula at 501 Seabreeze Blvd., just a block west of State Road A1A, south of Las Olas Boulevard.

The design plans for the six-story building on the west side of the peninsula sailed through commission approval Tuesday night.

The unanimous vote came after months of back-and-forth discussions over the right height for a building that will perch so close to the Aquatic Center’s 27-meter dive tower.

In a nod to critics who worried the building would dwarf the famous dive tower, developer Mario Caprini and his team scaled back the west building’s height from the equivalent of 13 stories to six.

The redesign will mean less on-site parking for visitors, but Mayor Dean Trantalis and Commissioner Steve Glassman say it was a necessary compromise to safeguard views of the dive tower and surrounding neighborhoods.

The ambitious vision — launched more than five years ago with an unsolicited proposal to City Hall — will cost an estimated $220 million.

The new Hall of Fame is expected to have an impact of $70 million a year on the local economy, according to Caprini.

Crews will break ground on the west building as soon as June, said Caprini, CEO of Capital Group P3 of Florida and a partner in the project with Hensel Phelps Construction.

Caprini said he expects to have design plans for the east building ready for commission approval in the next six months.

Plans for the east building call for a dive grandstand, retail shop and cafe, elevated promenade, dryland training and teaching pool.

Under current guidelines, the entire site requires 405 parking spaces but will only have 259, leaving the development short by 146 parking spaces.

Critics have expressed concerns about the lack of parking, but none spoke up during Tuesday’s commission meeting.

Debby Eisinger, a member of the Swim Fort Lauderdale Masters Team, did send an email to the commission Tuesday morning saying the shortage of parking remains a concern.

“One of the most significant and consistently voiced concerns has been the loss of on-site parking,” Eisinger, a former Cooper City mayor who now lives in Fort Lauderdale, said in her email. “Parking has been and continues to be a major concern. The option of off-site parking is not being well received by swimmers, particularly those who train daily and require convenient, reliable access.”

Bill Brown, president of the Central Beach Alliance neighborhood group, urged the commission to approve the design plan so the developer can finally get shovels in the ground.

“Some residents had concerns about this building being too high,” Brown said. “They brought the height down a couple floors. I know we’re losing parking spaces. But I think at the end, we’re all going to one day look back and just be so proud of what’s been accomplished.”

The west building went through significant design changes due to feedback from the swim community and neighboring condos, Glassman noted.

“We took two floors off that western building,” he said before the vote. “That means some parking was lost. You can’t have both. You’re either going to have the height, which no one wanted, or you’re going to lose some parking. It’s very difficult to have both.”

Stephanie Toothaker, attorney for the developer, told the commission that 176 parking spaces are required for the Aquatic Center and Ocean Rescue headquarters alone. The museum requires 61 spaces, the aquarium 43 and the restaurant 62.

But many people who come to the Hall of Fame might also swim at the pools or head to the restaurant, she added.

“So you don’t double count those spaces,” Toothaker said. “We are providing 259 parking spaces on site, which is a lot of parking. And there’s a tremendous amount of foot traffic. Not everybody is driving.”

Glassman and Trantalis suggested a shuttle service operated by the city or the developer could help get people from the Las Olas garage to the Hall of Fame.

“You might consider a dedicated shuttle service as an amenity so you don’t lose customers because people go there looking for a parking space and can’t find one and go away,” Trantalis said.

Vice Mayor John Herbst echoed that concern.

“I’ve had a number of calls about the parking as well,” he said. “I will just say I think this is probably a mistake. My personal preference would be to restore the height and put the parking back. I think cutting the height of the building and losing all that parking space is a mistake. Every time we’ve done a parking reduction in the city, we’ve always come back to regret it.”

Glassman defended the decision to lower the height of the building.

“People complained that we were dwarfing our beautiful high-diving tower,” Glassman said. “We made it very clear we were eliminating two floors of parking. It’s so hard to please everybody. But that’s why we did it. We didn’t just take two floors off for the heck of it or the fun of it. We took them off because that’s what everyone was clamoring for.”

Herbst said he was worried the lack of parking might hurt the bottom line for the new aquarium and museum — and the city.

Fort Lauderdale is expected to recoup money on the public-private project through revenue-sharing from tenants.

Fort Lauderdale is not borrowing the money, but is guaranteeing the debt.

If the project is a success, the city would see a gain of $1.1 million a year.

Under the deal, Fort Lauderdale will be required to contribute up to $13.6 million a year in lease payments over 30 years, bringing the city’s overall payment to $408 million. Under the original comprehensive agreement, Fort Lauderdale would have contributed up to $11 million a year toward the project, for a total of $330 million.

To help offset the increase in the master lease payment, the developer has agreed to increase other revenue that would be paid to the city from $2 million to $4.75 million.

The changes were approved by the commission in January.

“Anything that takes away from the customer experience is going to cut the number of patrons they have,” Herbst said on Tuesday. “And the reason I’m concerned about that is because we are guaranteeing the debt on that entire project. So if it doesn’t hit its revenue targets, we are the payer of last resort.”

Herbst told the commission he is less concerned with whether the swimmers are happy with the height of the building and more focused on whether the project is a financial success.

“I think this (lack of parking) has an impact on the business model,” Herbst said. “I hope I’m wrong.”

Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan

The project is slated to rise on city-owned land next to the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center and its iconic dive tower, one of the tallest in the world at nearly nine stories high.

Developer Mario Caprini plans to transform the two Hall of Fame towers on the east and west end of the peninsula at 501 Seabreeze Blvd.

Commissioners are expected to approve the latest design plan for the west building during a City Hall meeting that begins at 6 p.m.

A nod from the commission will pave the way for a groundbreaking of the six-story building in June or July, said Caprini, CEO of Capital Group P3 of Florida and a partner in the project with Hensel Phelps Construction.

The west building will include a family-friendly aquarium and museum, a rooftop restaurant overlooking the Intracoastal and space for events and exhibits.

Design plans for the east building would likely come to the commission in the next three to six months, Caprini said.

The east building would include a dive grandstand, retail shop and cafe, elevated promenade, dryland training and teaching pool.

If all goes well, the entire project would open by December 2028, Caprini said.

“The design plan has come a long way,” Commissioner Ben Sorensen said on Monday. “I’ve had multiple meetings with the swimmers and the developer and they’ve made several changes. We are now in a good place.”

The project is expected to transform the Swimming Hall of Fame into another landmark destination for Fort Lauderdale.

“This really does accomplish all of the changes we’ve been looking for in terms of wrapping up the bookends of the peninsula,” Commissioner Steve Glassman said.

Glassman said he has “not heard a peep” from anyone worried about the projected lack of parking on site.

The project is short 146 parking spaces, but hopes to make that up by providing parking at the nearby Las Olas garage.

“We are also looking for off-site parking solutions,” Caprini said. “We have a parking study and there is enough with the shared parking to meet the need. But we’re looking at other options, including creating packages for families to park at the mall or downtown and grab a boat. It could be a Water Taxi or our own boats. They’ll have a choice.”

Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan

There are more cancellations to come, airport officials and the airlines said. And now that President Trump has declared the war with Iran could last for another several weeks, a resumption of full service to some of the world’s core commercial aviation hubs — Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi — could take longer than travelers and industry leaders had hoped.

“Dubai has flights that link all six populated continents,” Henry Harteveldt, president of Atmosphere Research Corp. in San Francisco, told the Sun Sentinel. “There are ripple effects of reduced air transportation all around the world.”

Dubai International Airport, he noted, handled more than 92.5 million passengers last year, Doha 53 million and Abu Dhabi more than 33 million. By contrast, in 2025, Miami International handled a similar amount of traffic as Doha, 55.3 million passengers, and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International had 32.2 million.

“All three Middle Eastern hubs had been growing with the expectation that 2026 would be another year of growth,” Harteveldt said.

But now, warfare has interrupted the status quo, and from South Florida to other U.S. cities whose airports connect travelers to Israel and the Arab states, airlines and their customers have found air travel to be a day-to-day proposition. Israel’s airports are closed to scheduled commercial traffic, and many of the region’s national carriers and U.S. airlines have suspended service to the Middle East.

“EL AL has notified us that their next flights tomorrow, Wednesday, and Thursday are canceled,” Greg Chin, spokesman for Miami International, said in an email Monday. “Qatar Airways has canceled their flight today.”

Shortly after that message, Chin reported that Emirates had canceled its Monday afternoon flight from Miami to Dubai International, which has been closed since Saturday. The airline operates wide-bodied Boeing 777 service to and from Miami, four times a week. UAE airports reportedly allowed limited operations to help move stranded passengers.

Qatar Airways, which started Miami service in late 2024, flies to Doha.

Chin also said all three carriers canceled their flights to and from the Mideast on Saturday, the day hostilities broke out.

EL AL cancellations through Thursday

EL AL, which now operates only a Monday flight every week to Tel Aviv from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International, canceled the flight, airport spokesperson Arlene Satchell said.

This was in the wake of a company announcement Monday that the airline had canceled all flights between Sunday and this coming Thursday as Tel Aviv came under attack from Iranian drones and missiles.

“Following the declaration of a special situation on the home front and the closure of Israel’s airspace for departures and arrivals, as directed by the security and aviation authorities, all EL AL and Sundor flights to and from Israel that were scheduled to depart through Thursday, March 5, at 2:00 AM (between Wednesday and Thursday) are canceled,” the company said in a website announcement.

“We are preparing for an operation to bring Israelis back home as soon as Ben-Gurion Airport reopens for activity.” the airline added.

All around the Mideast, a weekend-long outburst of drone and missile strikes reportedly kept thousands of tourists and business travelers stranded in hotels and airport terminals in multiple Arab countries, as well as at airports on other continents where Mideast-bound commercial planes remained stuck with nowhere to go.

Airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha all remained closed to commercial traffic after taking direct hits from airborne attacks by Iran.

U.S. carriers cancel flights

Major American air carriers with service into the region have canceled flights from various U.S. cities.

Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines canceled flights from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to Tel Aviv through March 8, and from Tel Aviv to JFK through March 9.

American Airlines of Dallas suspended all flights between Philadelphia and Doha, and delayed the resumption of service between JFK and Tel Aviv. The flights had been scheduled to start March 28.

United Airlines, which is based in Chicago, canceled service to Dubai and Tel Aviv through March 4 and March 6.

All of the airlines posted various fee waivers and flight change options on their websites.

“The U.S. airlines tend to restart their flights after other airlines from other parts of the world,” Harteveldt said. “EL AL tends to be the last to shut down and the first to resume into Israel. Right now it is a very uncertain environment.”

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report. 

Broward Sheriff’s Office Airport District deputies responded to the call just before 10 a.m. in Terminal Four and removed the passenger, Robert Albanese, 76, from the plane, police confirmed with the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

While deputies took Albanese into custody, the JetBlue flight and all passengers aboard were briefly evacuated “as a precaution,” according to BSO.

A BSO K9 unit searched the plane and discovered there was no bomb on board. Passengers re-boarded the plane, which eventually took off.

“There was no additional disruption to airport operations,” BSO spokesperson Carey Codd said.

Albanese was not listed among current Broward County inmates as of 5 p.m. Sunday, according to BSO arrest records.

Staff writer Phillip Valys can be reached at pvalys@sunsentinel.com or Twitter/X @philvalys.

This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.