Sobel, Peter interview

Permanent Link:: http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpService/dpPurlService/purl/MBVM000025/00001

Material Information

Subjects / Keywords:: Oral histories -- Miami Beach (Fla.)
North and Central America -- United States -- Florida -- Miami-Dade -- Miami Beach
Hotel Industry -- United States -- Florida -- Miami Beach
Cuba -- Emigration and immigration -- Mariel Boatlift, 1980
Genre:: Video Recordings
Spatial Coverage:: United States -- Florida -- Miami Beach
Coordinates:: 25.8116481 x -80.1927944

Scope and Content:: Peter Sobel is a retired attorney who has lived most of his life on Miami Beach. In 1949, he arrived as a teenager with his parents, who migrated from New York to Miami Beach to establish themselves in hotel management. They leased the Dorset Hotel, where young Peter served as bellman. He gained a lot of experience in the ups and downs of hotel management at a time when Miami Beach was a seasonal resort, busy in the winter, dead in the summer. Mr. Sobel relished life on Miami Beach, especially the night life. He talks about seeing the famous Sophie Tucker and famed comedian Martha Raye, regular performers in live productions in the clubs and hotels on Miami Beach. Most of the interview is about Mr. Sobel’s experience as a hotel owner prior to and during the infamous Mariel exodus. He was owner of the Habana Hotel at 13th Street and Drexel. He had some vacancies at the beginning of the flood of refugees from Cuba and contracted with the U.S. government to provide inexpensive housing. He discusses the crime wave which ensued and the negative impact on Miami Beach and his hotel. He witnessed a brutal and fatal stabbing in his hotel lobby between two “Marielitos” engaged in drug dealing. ( English )