The Cesar Pelli-designed Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts is
a tumbling marble reef overlooking Miami's Biscayne Bay. Since it
opened in 2006, the publicly and privately funded venue has struggled
to attract audiences to a downtown known for its seediness and crime,
and to meet its operating costs. In the last year -- already in its
short history -- it has gone through massive changes, including a name
switch (from the Carnival Center, when banker Adrienne Arsht outgifted
the cruise line) and new director. Under Lawrence Wilker, the center
seems to be making great strides forward.

Unfortunately, Tuesday
night, I had the kind of terrifying, mystifying, criminal experience
that keeps people away from this part of town.

The evening started magnificently. After a dinner at Michael's Genuine Food & Drinks -- the kind of meal that
Frank Bruni recently raved about, when he picked Michael's as the
fourth best new restaurant in the country -- Mom and I went to see the 25th anniversary edition of
Forbidden Broadway at the center's Studio
Theater. It was the first time this hilarious and sometimes quite
hard-hitting satire of musicals has played South Florida. Created and
written by the witty Gerard Alessandrini, Forbidden Broadway is a show
for people who hate to love and love to hate the theater. Gina
Kreiezmar is a brilliant mimic -- of Liza Minnelli, Sarah Brightman, Patti LuPone, Ethel Merman, etc. -- and quite a good singer. I was all set to write a nice little review.

Then we walked out to the PAC parking lot to find out my car had been stolen.

I'll
try to make this long story short: After calling 911, it turns out my
PT Cruiser had been towed at the request of the American Parking
Company, the operators of PAC lot F. After a very stressful couple of
hours, of dealing with police and PAC security and Galactic Towing and
American Parking, my husband had to pick us up and take us to the tow
lot in Liberty City -- not a part of town you want to take your mom,
who's in from out of town late at night -- and pay $101 to get my
vehicle back.

Now, I know tow company scams are rife in big
cities. But this one is particularly heinous. My car was not illegally
parked. I was in a designated Arsht Center lot, as you can see on this map.
Dozens of other patrons parked there that night. It's one of the lots
Wilker is referring to when he tells the press there is plenty of
parking around the center. The lot is owned by the Florida Grand Opera,
one of the center's resident companies. The tow truck pulled up to take
more cars when I was on the phone with the police, but at that point,
the show was over, and the other patrons managed to get away without
being robbed.

After I filed off an angry email to the Arsht
Center's publicist Wednesday, Larry Wilker called me to apologize for
this incident. He said he was "angry and mortified and embarrassed."
FGO COO Mark B. Rosenblum also emailed me, saying he has "asked
American Parking to stop the current towing policy. We will be
reviewing all policies and procedures, and making adjustments as
necessary." They are also reimbursing my $101.

That's
great; I
appreciate it. I doubt the center or the FGO is a direct part of this
towing scam (although it does seem to me that towing a few cars is a
way
American Parking can make money on what would otherwise be a slow
night, and FGO does presumably profit from its financial relationship
with American Parking). But this is just the kind of thing
that's going to keep people away from downtown. Other patrons saw what
happened to us. Word gets out -- um, I am a journalist. Wilker told
me there had been one other incident. That he knows of.

The other day, I blogged about
the superiority of the cultural nightlife on the west side of the
Dade County causeways. I stand by what I say. But I'm also once
burned.