Steven Meiner didn’t wait long after he was reelected mayor of Miami Beach, Fla., to invite New Yorkers, who had just elected anti-Israel socialist Zohran Mamdani as mayor, to move south.
“To our friends up in New York. If you crave a law and order city, sunshine, ocean breezes, where economic growth is on the rise, Miami Beach is ready,” wrote Meiner, an Orthodox Jew. “No state income tax, year-round warmth, world-class culture and neighborhoods that feel like home.”
Meiner, who included his email address “if I can help in any way with your move to Miami Beach” in his post, told JNS shortly before Shabbat that his reelection reflects the desire of Miami Beach voters for safety and stability.
“Crime is down about 19%, our homeless numbers are at historical lows. We offer services, but we also enforce our laws,” he told JNS. He noted “calm in our streets,” after years of what he called the “chaos” of spring break.
The mayor stressed his commitment to Jewish security since taking office. “We had some Hamas-related demonstrations getting increasingly aggressive, intimidating and harassing Jewish residents,” he told JNS,
Meiner noted that he passed legislation “consistent with U.S. Supreme Court law that allows reasonable time, place and manner restrictions.”
“If they breach it, they can and will be arrested,” he told JNS.
Many told Meiner that the ordinance would anger protesters, drawing larger demonstrations, he said. Instead, “it ended,” he told JNS. “We haven’t had an issue since.” He called Miami Beach a “model other cities should use, and university campuses certainly should have used.”
As commissioner and then as mayor, Meiner introduced legislation supporting Jews and Israel, including prohibitions against contracting with those that boycott Israel and a resolution authorizing a donation on his and the city commission’s behalf to American Friends of Magen David Adom to buy an ambulance.
Jewish turnout was particularly strong this year, according to Meiner, who told JNS that Floridians are “fortunate down here.”
“Some people say we live in a bubble,” he said. “We’re an election or two away from it changing very quickly.”
Meiner told JNS that he was recently appointed chair of a Jewish mayors panel, which the Combat Antisemitism Movement launched. The group has identified some 15 Jewish mayors across the country who will coordinate on Jewish issues and “work together with other mayor coalitions,” he said.
He and his wife Shanyn have been married for nearly 24 years. Their daughter Michal is nearly 14 and their son Matisyahu, 18, is studying in a yeshiva in Israel, he told JNS.
Matisyahu and “about 40 of his friends” gathered in the early morning hours in the school’s computer room to watch election results, according to Meiner. “Knowing how important this election was, they were celebrating and jumping,” he said.
Meiner attended a Torah class on Wednesday night in Miami Beach. “Everyone was sort of applauding. There’s an excitement,” he told JNS. “It’s something else.”
