HIALEAH… HIALEAH… IS THE PLACE TO BE, OPA LOCKA, HIALEAH, OPA LOCKA, HIALEAH…”     

LAZARO FERNANDEZ:  AQUI YO, CON UNA CAJA DE ZAPATO Y DESTORNILLADO. SE REIAN DE MI. YO ABRIA LOS TELEFONOS Y SE REIAN DE MI.

JENNIFER TORNA: LAZARO FERNANDEZ, A CUBAN MERCHANT, HAS SPENT 15 YEARS SELLING PRODUCTS IN ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FLEA MARKETS IN SOUTH FLORIDA - THE OPA-LOCKA HIALEAH FLEA MARKET. 

HE STARTED SELLING SHOES IN HIS SMALL BOOTH AND LATER MOVED ON TO CELLPHONES AND ACCESSORIES  - LAZARO A PSYCHOLOGIST FROM CUBA SAID MOST OF HIS CLIENTS ARE IMMIGRANTS, AND THEY COME TO HIM BECAUSE THEY CAN TRUST HIM. THE FLEA MARKET ALSO SERVES AS A MEETING PLACE FOR THE COMMUNITY.

LAZARO FERNANDEZ: LA GENTE PREFIERE VENIR A MI CARA A CARA, LE GUSTAN MI ESTILO Y SABE QUIEN SOY YO.

JENNIFER TORNA: LAZARO SAYS HE HAS PAID OFF HIS HOUSE, HIS BOAT, AND HIS VINTAGE CAR WITH HIS FLEA MARKET SALES. 

LAZARO FERNANDEZ: Y ARREGLE LA TIENDA Y LA FUI PROSPERANDO, PROSEPERANDO Y ARREGLANDO Y ARREGLANDO HASTA QUE ME QUEDO BONITA.

JENNIFER TORNA: ACCORDING TO LAZARO, HE NEVER RECEIVED A FORMER LETTER FROM MANAGEMENT ABOUT THE ONE-MONTH NOTICE. HE FOUND OUT THROUGH THE NEWSPAPER. 

AFTER FOUR DECADES IN OPERATION, THE OPA-LOCKA HIALEAH FLEA MARKET IS SHUTTING DOWN ON SEPT. 30.

LAZARO FERNANDEZ: Y YA, SE ACABO LA DISCORDIA.

JENNIFER TORNA: SOME VENDORS MAY RELOCATE TO A SMALLER INDOOR SPACE AT A NEARBY CLOTHING WHOLESALER, ATLANTIC HOSIERY.

LAZARO, LIKE MOST MERCHANTS, DOESN’T KNOW HIS NEXT MOVE. HE SAID THE RENT AT THE ATLANTIC HOSIERY IS TOO EXPENSIVE AND IS ALREADY CROWDED. 

ITS NEW YORK OWNERS, GRAMERCY PROPERTY TRUST, PURCHASED THE 43 ACRES IN 2017. AS PRICES OF DEVELOPMENT SITES CONTINUE TO SOAR IN SOUTH FLORIDA, SO HAS THE VALUE OF THE REAL ESTATE THAT SITS BETWEEN HIALEAH, MIAMI LAKES, AND MIAMI GARDENS IN NORTHWESTERN MIAMI DADE COUNTY.

THE END OF THIS MASSIVELY POPULAR LOCATION HAS ANGERED MANY SMALLER BUSINESSES, A RESULT OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHANGES SUPPORTED BY REDEVELOPMENT AND GENTRIFICATION ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA. 

AS FLEA MARKETS CONTINUE TO DISAPPEAR, THE SMALL ECONOMY THAT ONCE HELPED SUPPORT MINORITIES AND IMMIGRANTS CONTINUES TO DECREASE.

FOR NEARLY FORTY YEARS, RENTING A FLEA MARKET BOOTH WAS A WAY FOR UPCOMING STRUGGLING MIAMI FOLKS TO MAKE MONEY. NEWCOMERS FROM CUBA, HAITI, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, AND ELSEWHERE DISCOVERED THE IMPORTANCE OF CONNECTION AND LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT THROUGH THEIR BOOTHS - LONG BEFORE MALLS. 

MASSIVE REDEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH FLORIDA HAVE LEFT MANY LOCAL RESIDENTS WITH ANXIETIES THAT A LOSS OF AFFORDABILITY WON’T CONSIDER THEM IN FUTURE PLANS WHEN IT COMES TO NEW HOUSING, RETAIL, AND MORE.

THE FEAR OF DISPLACEMENT IS VERY DEEPLY ROOTED HERE.

*PROTEST SOUNDBITES*

JENNIFER TORNA: OLIVER TELUSMA, BORN IN HIALEAH, IS AN EQUAL JUSTICE WORK FELLOW AT THE COMMUNITY JUSTICE PROJECT, A MIAMI-BASED GROUP OF COMMUNITY LAWYERS THAT PROVIDE LEGAL AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT TO “SOCIAL JUSTICE MOVEMENTS,.” 

IN JUNE, THE COMMUNITY JUSTICE PROJECT FINISHED LEADING A TENANT-CENTERED CAMPAIGN HELPING HIALEAH RESIDENTS WHO GOT THEIR RENTS RAISED 65% IN JANUARY OF THIS YEAR. 

OLIVER TELUSMA: HIALEAH IS LARGELY REPRESENTED BY LATINOS, AND THEN YOU KNOW BLACK FOLK AS WELL. SO THEY'RE JUST IT, YOU KNOW, ANY PROTECTIONS WOULD AFFECT BROWN AND BLACK PEOPLE.

JENNIFER TORNA: ACCORDING TO THE FLORIDA BAR, IT IS AGAINST STATE LAW TO INCREASE A TENANT’S RENT OR DECREASE SERVICES TO A TENANT IN A DISCRIMINATORY MANNER, OR THREATEN TO BRING AN ACTION FOR POSSESSION OR OTHER CIVIL ACTION PRIMARILY IN RETALIATION AGAINST THE TENANT. 

OLIVER TELUSMA: HIALEAH IS NOT IMMUNE TO WHAT'S KIND OF BEEN PLAGUING SOUTH FLORIDA AS A WHOLE.

JENNIFER TORNA: THE COST OF RENTING AND BUYING HOMES BECOMES MORE DIFFICULT BY THE DAY FOR PEOPLE IN THIS CITY, FORCING PAINFUL DISPLACEMENTS AND EVICTIONS.

HIALEAH RESIDENTS ARE AMONG THE MOST BURDENED BY RENT COUNTYWIDE, MANY OF THEM PAYING BETWEEN HALF AND NEARLY 70% OF THEIR MONTHLY INCOMES ON HOUSING.

ALTHOUGH HIALEAH IS THE MOST DENSELY POPULATED CITY IN THE UNITED STATES THAT DOES NOT HAVE A SKYSCRAPER - IT DOES NOT MAKE IT IMMUNE. 

HIALEAH MAYOR ESTEBAN BOVO JR. SAID IN AN INTERVIEW THAT THE LONG-TERM SOLUTION FOR APARTMENT RENTS IS LINKED TO THE ECONOMIC RULE OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND. “RIGHT NOW,” HE SAID, “THE NECESSARY SUPPLY DOESN’T EXIST, NOT ONLY IN HIALEAH BUT IN THE COUNTY, AND IF GOVERNMENT RULES MAKE IT HARDER TO BUILD, THOSE PRICES ARE GOING TO KEEP GOING UP.

ESTEBAN BOVO JR: ESE VINCULO DE CINCO MINUTOS DE LA PLAYA, DOS DEL AEROPUERTO, DIES DE CENTRO DE BROWARD COUNTY, PONE A HIALEAH EN UNA SITUACION DONDE HAY PERSONAS QUE QUIEREN VENIR A INVERTIR Y ESTAMOS VIENDO CONSTRUCCIÓNES VERTICAL.  (COURTESY OF MIAMI HERALD)

JENNIFER TORNA: ITS LOCATION MAKES IT AN IDEAL DESTINATION FOR TRANSPLANTS. 

GENTRIFICATION IS NOT INEVITABLE, BUT IT’S STARTING TO FEEL THAT WAY. 

‘GENTRIFICATION' AS IT IS OFTEN USED, CONFUSES FOUR DISTINCT PROCESSES: DEMOGRAPHIC DISPLACEMENT, PHYSICAL UPGRADING, ECONOMIC UPGRADING, AND SOCIAL CHANGING. 

SPEAKING OF PHYSICAL UPGRADING, BILLIONAIRE DEVELOPER MASOUD SHOJAEE IS PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN SHOMA GROUP, THEY ARE ALMOST FINISHED BUILDING A TWO EIGHT-STORY "LUXURY" APARTMENT BUILDINGS ON HIALEAH DRIVE. A DEVELOPMENT CALLED SHOMA VILLAGE.

WHERE RENT STARTS AT $1,700 FOR STUDIO APARTMENTS. ONLINE PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL CLAIMS THAT HIALEAH IS THE BROOKLYN OF MIAMI, WHERE A WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES BECKONS YOU TO BOUTIQUES AND EATERIES.

AS NEW HOUSING AND RETAIL CONTINUE TO APPEAR, LOCALS FEAR THE CULTURE OF HIALEAH WILL VANISH. PATRICIA KELLY, AN ANTHROPOLOGIST FROM PRINCETON WHO IS WRITING A BOOK ABOUT HIALEAH AND ITS PROGRESSION SINCE THE 70S, THINKS OTHERWISE. 

PATRICIA KELLY: HIALEAH’S HISTORY HAS BEEN ONE OF MARKET DEPREDATION FROM THE BEGINNING.

JENNIFER TORNA: HIALEAH BEGAN AS A WHITE WORKING-CLASS CITY IN THE 1920’SS. IN THE PAST 90 YEARS, HIALEAH HAS GONE THROUGH A MASSIVE CULTURAL CHANGE. A PREVIOUSLY NEGLIGIBLE LATIN POPULATION NOW COMPRISES 90 PERCENT OF HIALEAH'S RESIDENTS.

PATRICIA KELLY: COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENTS ARE TRYING TO REDEFINE HIALEAH IN ORDER TO PURSUE COMMERCIAL PROCESSES. THE REALITY IS THE FOUNDERS OF HIALEAH, WERE DOING EXACTLY THAT.

JENNIFER TORNA: THE CITY OF HIALEAH IS JOINING OTHERS LIKE ALLAPATAH, LITTLE HAITI, LITTLE HAVANA, WEST COCONUT GROVE, AND MORE TO FIGHT AND KEEP ITS CULTURE. THE HOUSING MARKET CRISIS THAT IS AFFECTING THE ENTIRE NATION IS MAKING IT MORE DIFFICULT. 

PATRICIA KELLY: SO NOT ALL WILL BE LOST.

JENNIFER TORNA: LAZARO, THE OPA LOCKA FLEA MARKET MERCHANT, IS PREPARING TO SAY GOODBYE TO HIS FIFTEEN-YEAR BUSINESS AND A COMMUNITY THAT HAS LONG BEEN MARKED AS A CULTURAL SAFETY NET. 

FOR MANY NEW TO SOUTH FLORIDA, THE SOCIAL TENSIONS AMONG NEWLY ARRIVING WAS DIFFICULT BUT THE FLEA MARKET ALSO WAS PERHAPS THE ONE PLACE WHERE THOSE TENSIONS WENT AWAY 

LAZARO FERNANDEZ: TANTOS AÑOS TRABAJANDO AQUI, TRABAJANDO DURO, TODO EL DIA, NO ES FACIL

JENNIFER TORNA: GENTRIFICATION TRANSFORMS PHYSICAL SPACES AND BREAKS COALITIONS OF CULTURES; IT IS A COMPLICATED PHENOMENON WITH MANY MOVING PARTS. 

WILL HIALEAH - THE MOST CUBAN CITY IN AMERICA, BE AT RISK OF LOSING ITS TRADITIONS?