Palm Trees on 41st Street to Get Permanent Lighting

41st Street will soon be a lot brighter. Miami Beach Commissioners this week approved a resolution to spend $400,000 on year-round LED holiday-type lighting to wrap 251 palm trees along the street. (Photo above, holiday wrapped palm trees on Belle Isle.)
 
The resolution was the first sponsored by new Commissioner Steven Meiner who said he heard from residents throughout the City about the need for more lighting. The proposal for 41st Street was a recommendation from the Mayor’s 41st Street Blue Ribbon Committee. 
 
Meiner said a recent survey indicated 41st Street is an area highly frequented by residents. “It’s the third most populated street visited by residents,” he said. “It’s also a gateway to our city… I think certainly a more aesthetically pleasing looking area will definitely benefit Miami Beach.”
 
Meiner also said the lighting would make the area feel safer and increase pedestrian traffic which will benefit local businesses and help attract new ones. Recently, he said, he spoke with owners of two businesses that looked at 41st Street but chose to open elsewhere “partly because they believed that the foot traffic would not benefit their businesses.” 
 
The lighting, Meiner said, “should be a good first step in helping [with pedestrian traffic] and help revitalize the area and will be a boon to our residents and businesses.”
 
Seth Gadinsky, chair of the Mayor’s 41st Street Committee, said, “Lighting is going to go a long way to change the perception [of 41st Street] which is really what we’re trying to change. I’m excited about the future of 41st Street and this is going to be a big help.”
 
City Manager Jimmy Morales said, after the initial expenditure, the lights will cost $23,000 each year to maintain. 
 
In an email to residents, Meiner said he expects the lighting to be installed in the Spring.