Shoe repair still in business without water, electricity

Miami-Dade County wants Tyrone Greene to move out; Building deemed unsafe by City of Miami

MIAMI – A Miami business owner says he's still in business despite having his water and electricity cut off by Miami-Dade County.

The shoe repair shop on NW 62nd Street in Miami that Tyrone Greene's parents opened 50 years ago is now running on generator power.

"Tyrone Greene isn't going nowhere," he said.

Since Local 10 first reported on this story three months ago, heavy equipment has been brought in and Miami-Dade County is moving forward by tearing down the buildings around Greene. The county owns the property and is his landlord.

Rendering of the NW 7th Avenue Transit Village.

Miami-Dade County plans to tear the building down to build the NW 7th Avenue Transit Village, but Greene is currently in the way. The NW 7th Avenue Transit is an apartment/retail complex with a bus terminal and theater. It will have 104 apartments.

The City of Miami previously deemed Greene's building unsafe. Photos from inside the building showed the roof coming apart.

Greene has been ordered out in July 2010, November 2011 and last month. He was given a final notice last week.

But Greene has a valid lease until May 2014 and says the county should be fixing the building as his landlord.

The case has gone to court more than once and the courts have ruled in Greene's favor.

The county says they aren't spending over $500,000 to fix the building for Greene, only to tear it down for the transit village. They have offered to move him and put him back in the new building at the same rent.

"Regardless of the validity of the lease, we try to be a good steward for the taxpayers' money. We feel it is a huge waste of taxpayers' money in order to do that," said Albert Hernandez Assistant Director of Engineering, Planning and Development for Miami-Dade Transit.

When Local 10 asked Miami Dade Transit if they plan on locking Greene out or taking him back to court, Karla Damian, an information officer with Miami-Dade Transit, issued a statement saying: "Our intention is to comply with the order of the City of Miami's Unsafe Structures Board."

It's unclear what the county's next move is.