Wilton Manors Mayor Justin Flippen dies at age 41

If they don't like my new haircut, I'm just gonna die.

I’ll just die if I don’t get this recipe!

Heart attack? So sad.

A little suspicious don’t you think?

So Wilton Manors gays, some scoop? I always assumed like 20% of DL was WM retired gays. Or maybe 10% WM, 20% Palm Springs.

Not normal to just die at 41...

“Mayor Justin Flippen dies”

I feel Flippen sad.

How did this whippersnapper get elected Mayor of Wrinkles Manors in the first place?

Gah, kidding aside, this is indeed sad. Sounds like a smart guy with a good heart.

That, combined with the humidity, is probably what killed him.

This is sad.

Did learn his out from the school of Chris Burrous?

Has Mayor Pete commented on Mayor Justin's demise?

It's sad... he was a cute bear.

Hopefully, whomever replaces him will support building a parking garage by City Hall. It blows my mind that WM didn't build one there right from the beginning.

Oh, and a pedestrian tunnel under Wilton Drive at NE 6th ave.

Some attempt at a serious pedestrian crossing of Wilton Drive needs to be made. I’m curious to see how the expanded sidewalk thing works. That that whole strip mall parking area around George’s/Hunters should be reconfigured too.

Hew? He was ugly. Next.

Wilton Manors has a Mayor? I thought it was just an area of Ft Lauderdale.

I was surprised too R15. WM is a random, not pretty suburb of FTL. A hike from the beach with no redeeming natural or architectural merit filled with $700,000 concrete shacks. How did our people go so wrong in picking a place to gentrify? And how did it become the ONLY gay area left in SW FL? So odd.

I know city planners tend to frown upon pedestrian box tunnels under roads because they often attract muggers, but I think that specific intersection has so much pedestrian crossing activity Wed-Sat, the worst "crime" that might occur down there is a drunken 5am Tuesday morning blowjob (clutches pearls in horror!). Worst-case, WM could build a tunnel, keep the crosswalk, and put gates to close the tunnel outside of peak usage hours.

R10 What??

Could be the AIDS.

r16, Wilton Manors' location was a deliberate attempt to prevent it from gentrifying out of gayness the way WeHo and Boystown did. The surrounding area was basically ghetto black suburbia for miles, ensuring that gay twentysomethings have plenty of nearby areas remaining to gentrify into, long after Wilton Manors itself has become unaffordable to anyone besides rich middle-aged guys with demanding careers & no time to go out during the week.

Happenin’:

^ Oops wrong pic:

also, r16, Miami still has gay life... sort of... but Miami-gay is like Los Angeles... mixed. Wilton is pure gay, and that's exactly how we like & want it to be. Wilton's most noteworthy attribute is its absolute determination to be and stay absolutely gay.

Also, if you want gay + beach, the area between Vistamar & Riomar at the beach southeast of Wilton has become de-facto "Wilton Beach" & is rapidly becoming as gay as Fire Island.

Dos dam cheeburger wil git u evvvvery time!

Did he eat the bouffett at CHARDEE'S ?

That's really young to just drop dead. Any one from that area know the dirt? Cancer? Drugs? Suicide? There's gotta be something more.

Every Justin is gay. I've never known a straight one.

Gawd. He was hot. So my type. Sad.

Was he related to Lucy Lee?

r27, at 41, aortic dissection is a real possibility. Some people are genetically predisposed to it, and ~40 is roughly enough wear & tear to make it happen. I think that's what killed John Ritter.

r30 ..... or Jay C.?

Jesus he was hideous, but that is sad to die so young

This guy is now the nee mayor.

R32 Or Ruth Brooks?

Was he the youngest person in Wilton Manors? I always assumed everyone there was at least 75. Isn't it the East Coast version of Palm Springs?

Wilton Manors is considered a high class version of Palm Springs.

Just what we need a city of rich shrieking entitled queers. And don't forget all the head popping.

> Was he the youngest person in Wilton Manors? I always assumed everyone there was at least 75.

I'd say an average WM resident is

* a 50 year old former New Yorker who made a shit-ton of money on Wall Street, then realized he had enough money to retire early & spend the rest of his life enjoying a year-round Fire Island lifestyle.

* a 30-50 year old with a lucrative career, who enjoys having a 100% gay home life. About half of this group occupies Oakland Park, Victoria Park, and the condos within walking distance of the train station.

Plus, lots and lots of younger/poorer guys who've colonized adjacent areas & spend all their time in Wilton Manors.

I'd say most of the actual eldergays live in Pompano Beach.

Florida is trash. It’s for people who aren’t wealthy but can live a D list lifestyle without working. That is WM. It’s no Palm Springs. It’s full of olds and their low IQ hustlers who are too dumb and unattractive to go to L.A or NYC. It is what it is. It’s the kind of place Miss Lindsay would live if he were out of the closet.

[quote] Sounds like a smart guy with a good heart.

Well, maybe not the heart part.

I live in the dreary northeast and keep hearing about Wilton Manors as a vacation spot—local gays hop on a relatively cheap direct flight for a long weekend or whatever. Is it really that nice of a place to stay? I mean, Key West level or South Beach level picturesque and fun?

R42 absolutely NOT.

Welcome to Wilton Manors

Is Wilton Manors the enclave that our dear boy Kegan Keller has landed in now that he's in Florida? Is it to racy for the Amish?

Wiltin' Flowers for the funeral.

I love the idea of a gay soap opera called WILTON MANORS. It's perfect.

He was an early endorser and I think personal friend of Pete’s.

Wilton Manors development was definitely not planned. The gay life used to be centered around Las Olas boulevard, which is a very nice area but now is outrageously expensive.

It started becoming gay when Alibi relocated to that strip mall. It was a former bank, but it drew a lot of business and houses were cheap to buy. Straight and euro trash had killed the gay vibe of South Beach, so a lot of people moved north to Ft. Lauderdale.

Victoria Park and the area around the gay beach was already built up and expensive. So it just made sense that more would gravitate to the WM area. Now Oakland Park is heavily gay as well.

But it has got to be one of the ugliest gay cities (yes, it is its own city) around. And it's only a mile away from very run-down areas, so there's always a criminal element. Drugs, hookers, and a ton of drunk drivers. Everyone seems to drive drunk there because it's not walkable and no good public transportation.

I used to go all the time and tried to fall in love with it. After 20 trips over a few years, it just never stuck with me. There was never a feeling of 'oh yeah, this is where I want to spend the rest of my years'.

Bugs, humidity, white trash, hurricanes, ugly houses and stores, no culture. But that's Florida for you. I wish we could start gentrifying some other place instead of expanding the WM area.

[quote] Is it to racy for the Amish?

Oh, dear!

But are Wilton Manners up to DL standards? Do the denizens hold the door for ladies and drink tea with their pinky up?

A high-class version of Palm Springs? I have been to both places if WM is supposed to be a high-class version of PS they got it very wrong.

I have a good friend who worked closely with Justin. Word is he had a heart attack while driving

The stress of being mayor of such a sprawling metropolis must’ve taken its toll on the poor lad.

[quote] Was he related to Lucy Lee?

No, but he was related to Flipper.

Update: It wasn’t a heart attack, it was a brain aneurysm.

Some really good descriptions of Wilton Manors here. I’ve been a few times and while it was a dissapointment at first because it was so ugly and far from the beach, I get its attraction.

A nice escape from the cold up north. Outside of Hells Kitchen and WeHo, it has the largest, most concentrated number of gay bars - which is amazing given the towns size. I also like that I totally fit in as a middle aged gay man.

I tend to stay at the beach - as someone said area NW of Sebastian Beach is the gayest area though there is a frustrating lack of nearby services such as coffee, convenience stores, cheap food and the hotels are obscenely expensive except for some old motel type lodgings. I then Uber to Wilton Manors for a night out. I love Hunters Sunday Tea Dance/Beer Blast. Reminds me of NYC in the 90s. I like that older gay men dance and there is very little judgment. I like being able to bar hop. I wish there were more late night diner type food places.

A nice long weekend in the winter. But I can’t imagine living there - ugly, surrounded by sketchy areas and really not that cheap. Plus, I think I would become an alcoholic - not much else to do and so many gay bars which I could see becoming a regular routine.

[quote]Wilton Manors is considered a high class version of Palm Springs.

Nothing in Florida is a "high class version" of ANYTHING.

More like Wilting Manors, amirite?

R57 - true enough. It's nice to go out and not feel old. The Sunday tea dances are great and it does make you long for when dance clubs were happening in the gay community.

It's like revisiting some time that was lost years ago. It's sad what the gay scene has become nowadays.

But it's not really enough of a reason to live there. Plus the inevitable sea rise is going to make that whole area more difficult in the next 10 years.

One last negative comment about WM - the fucking train that goes through all hours of the day and night. By law, it has to blow its horn at every intersection.

I never got used to that noise - particularly in the middle of the night. It's awful. Locals say you get used to it - but I don't know how.

It’s a shame - if that train actually stopped in Wilton Manors it would be great. I think it’s the new train to Miami right? Would be awesome to hop on in Wilton Manors and take it straight to downtown Miami.

A great idea r62, but it is too logical, useful, fun and modern for Florida.

R62 - no. It's a freight train line only. There's already the train that goes to Miami airport, but it's not exactly close and it doesn't run that often.

Florida brings in a sleazy element and always has. It brings to mind the movie The Paper Boy. Like living in a stale terrarium. Everyone drinks and stagnates.

Was he any relation to me?

He's cute . I never got to suck his sweet toes .

The Paper Boy did capture that trashy Florida vibe really well. And Lee captured Zac at his peak - pre-meth. (I kid - kinda)

r64, you're wrong. Brightline/Virgin passenger trains are the majority of daytime trains on the tracks. Freight trains run mostly overnight.

The passenger station (off Broward Blvd. near Andrews Ave) is about a 10 minute drive from Wilton Manors... 80% of the drive time involves getting across Sunrise Blvd. Once you're south of Sunrise, it's a 2-3 minute drive.

Via Brightline, Miami & WPB are both about 30 minutes away. It's not for the poors, though... fares are around $10 each way WITH frequent-rider discounts. The alternative is a hellish 90+ minute drive in total dead-stop gridlock.

I wouldn't be caught dead in Florida, but apparently he would.

I thought so R69. I remembered seeing the name on the side as it went by. A shame because it is right there in the middle of WM - but there is no quick or easy way to get to the actual Brightline station in Fort Lauderdale. If it at least made an occasional stop in WM, it would make staying in Wilton Manors much more attractive.

A car is a waste in FL/WM. but would be nice to be able to make day trip(s) to Miami. There is really nothing to do in WM - or even FL beach - except for the nightlife.

Yeah, Wilton's great for nightlife and afternoon sex, but there really isn't much else to do within a mile besides drink & fuck. Especially in the summer, when it rains all afternoon.

At one point, there was a MakerSpace near Ramrod, but unfortunately the building had code violations & it was forced to close when the building got condemned. Sigh. Tuesday night 'bot battles at Ramrod would have been awesome. Drunk gay geeks & combat robots at a leather bar... :-)

r66, see r30, and try to keep up.

[quote] At one point, there was a MakerSpace near Ramrod,

What’s a MakerSpace?

He looks trans.

r75, it's just a non-flattering picture. He wasn't a porn star, but he had solidly normal good looks. I'm sure at least a third of the guys who went to his campaign events secretly hoped he'd walk around afterwards like a rock star and say, "you, you, you, you, and... you... back room, strip, and get warmed up for me".

In any case, no, he definitely wasn't trans. And before anyone asks, sizemeat verificatia would be thoroughly inappropriate during this time of mourning.

Oh who the fuck cares? People die every day. He isn't famous. He didn't do anything important. LGBT people have been elected to municipal offices or decades now

^^You sound nice.

Then let's see a flattering picture, R76. Because otherwise, I tend to agree with R75.

He looks pretty much the same in all photos I've seen of him - not that there's anything wrong with that.

I’m sorry, r79, did you say flattering or fattening?

Cause there’s plenty of the latter.

So I was born in Ft Lauderdale in 1965, in Lauderhill to be exact , but we left in 1969. A co-worker said it it Ghetto Ghetto now, but she is from Miramar and I think it's now ghetto too, so she might be just saying that. Looking at Google street view it really does look like a skank-o-rama place. Is it as bad as it looks? We lived on NW 12th street and it was the edge of the Everglades then, there wasn't even houses behind ours then, but its a cluster fuck now. BTW, my parents always put my big sister in the Miss Little Plantation pageant but poor thing never won,LOL.

r82, the average new home in Miramar is either a $600,000 townhome built in a demolished older neighborhood (east of I-75) or a $1.5 million+ McMansion on a manmade lake (west of I-75).

One noteworthy example was a small neighborhood at Pembroke Road & Hiatus Road. Late-80s/early-90s 3 & 4 bedroom single-story homes on relatively large lots, completely normal middle-middle class. Bulldozed away last year & replaced by $640,000 townhomes.

The same happens on larger scale in Wilton. Old duplexes get bandaged up with new kitchens to wring another 10 years or so of escalating rents, but old houses just get scraped away & replaced by new ones... lately, mostly $1.5 million 3 story homes with roof decks whose first floor is mostly garage, and the remainder of the lot is either backyard-pool and paver-driveway with landscaping shoehorned in around the edges.

Who is paying all this money for these crappy houses on sinkhole lots in crappy neighborhoods that will be blown to pieces in the coming years? Wilton Manors’ social scene and weather is kinda attractive - but the architectural and natural ugliness of the area combined with the insane prices prevent me from ever considering it.