National and local media outlets are heavy-handedly broadcasting from Wynwood as if the very sky were imploding upon itself in a biblical deluge of brimstone and unsupervised toddlers. Hell, let's throw some flaming chainsaws in there just to be safe.To get a better handle on how the torrent of fear was affecting the food industry and adjacent businesses in the Wynwood area, I reached out to Goldman Properties, which owns, among other local businesses, Joey's, one of the oldest restaurants in Wynwood. Jessica Goldman-Srebnick, CEO of Goldman Properties—whose father, Tony, helped develop New York's SoHo and then was a pioneer in the gentrification and revitalization of Wynwood—said the restaurants and businesses of Wynwood were hanging tough.Mosquito control is underway Stay healthy and Zika-free, Peeps.
A video posted by Kush Wynwood (@kushwynwood) on Aug 10, 2016 at 7:08am PDT
"The Zika issues concerns everyone, not just those of us in Wynwood, Midtown, and the Design District, but in all parts of the world," Goldman-Srebnick said. That's a pretty damn good point, because we're almost positive that a mosquito isn't going to somehow abide by a human construct like a neighborhood boundary, let alone sequester itself in one. In any event, she continued in what could be a mantra for all the restaurants in the neighborhood: "We ask that the South Florida community, both private and public, show their support however they can. There is a quote that my dad, Tony Goldman, lived by: 'Never give in to fear.' In Wynwood we are FEARLESS and open for business."READ MORE: Mosquito-Eating Fish Can Help Fight the Zika Virus
Right near Joey's, smack in the center of Wynwood, sits The Wynwood Yard, which bills itself as a "hub of food and culture." The Yard voluntarily closed for a few days, but re-opened on Wednesday. A representative said that employees submitted to voluntary Zika tests; according to an internal account based on the employee's self-disclosure, two employees tested positive. Still, Roxana Rauseo, the bar manager at the Yard told us, "Our customers aren't very worried. I think everyone is sick and tired of the 'Zika' word. Customers are more interested in how we are going to recover and make this place more amazing. We just need to make sure that the media or anybody else is not making people scared to come here."Wynwood has been taken over by journalist, news trucks, and politicians. Please try not to scare the shit out of everyone. #zikahotzone A photo posted by Zak The Baker (@zakthebaker) on Aug 4, 2016 at 1:24pm PDT
READ MORE: How a Pot-Dealing Suburban Boy Became Miami's Best Baker
Zak told me that the media frenzy has been the worst of the area's troubles. "With all due respect to the realities of Zika, It's hard not to point out the absurdity in the overreaction to the very predictable arrival of Zika in Miami. We've got a media orgy in Wynwood probing our skyline with their phallic antennae, and I'm simply asking, 'Is this really necessary?'"Sure, business has slowed down, Zak says, but the man is intent on keeping up his own spirits and those of the people who work for him. He said, "After a few days of intense media coverage and slow business I felt helpless and cynical. The press circus was unstoppable, federal government was cautiously vague, state government immediately politicized things, and local government contained the neighborhood by drawing a red box around Wynwood; we were left to fend for ourselves." Zak posted an image on Instagram of his team mischievously warding off Zika with a shrine of sage sticks, crystals, oils, and incense placed right outside the bakery doors. "I think most people enjoyed the whimsy," he said.Watch out Zika, Palo Santo has just been dispatched.
A video posted by Zak The Baker (@zakthebaker) on Aug 3, 2016 at 8:39am PDT
Another local restaurateur—who wished to remain nameless simply on the basis of not wanting his name associated with Zika—agrees. That restaurant owner told me that the media coverage was what is killing off business. Still, he wants the world to know that, "We are not scared, our staff is great and our regulars still come every day."In the end, though, Miamians are accustomed to strange wildlife problems and weird events of the natural and man-made ilk. As Zak puts it, "We got through the face-eating zombie on bath salts, we got through Elian Gonzalez, we'll get through this."Comments have be edited and condensed for clarity and length.We got your back CDC. Calling all sage sticks, crystals, oils, incense, reiki masters, etc. #cdc #elpueblounidojamasseravencido #eleggua #osho #taylorswift #zikasucks A photo posted by Zak The Baker (@zakthebaker) on Aug 4, 2016 at 4:17am PDT