Flying in the face of Violations

By Angelica Wells

Published by the Biscayne Times

Kassandra Rubio’s heart is racing as she climbs the ladder for what feels like an eternity. She arrives at the small platform, harnesses in, and grasps the fly bar, a thin metal bar. She inhales and leaps off the 24-foot-high perch.

Rubio, 22, is not a circus performer. She is under Miguel Quintero’s supervision in his Pinewood backyard.

“It’s up there with sex,” said Quintero. “Once you fly without a harness, there is no feeling in the world like that. That is better than skydiving, a hundredfold, better than a trampoline...better than anything you can imagine.”

But Quintero has been facing tough times. A quixotic run for county mayor failed last year when he finished last. Most recently, he’s been squarely in the sights of county code enforcement officers who want to shut down his school. And now he’s facing financial struggles, with his wife, Gaby, 40, setting up a GoFundMe page to raise money.

Yet through all his troubles, his beloved trapeze school remains active – for now.

“This is my art,” said Quintero. “This is my gift to the community.”

Together for 11 years, the Quinteros have run one of South Florida’s few trapeze schools. It is a place where adrenaline-seekers of all ages and skill levels can soar.

“I’m super burnt out,” Quintero said of trying to fend off the county’s code enforcement officers. “It’s hard to keep this place up. We enjoy it. I could live my life out doing this. But when I’m trying to be a litigator, it’s tiring.”

He said he’s having health issues and has been told by his doctor that he needs to slow down.

His battle over code violations began in 2021, a year after the Quinteros moved into their home west of I-95 near Miami Shores. That same year, county records show he was cited for “failure to obtain a Certificate of Use,” a violation typically issued when a business operates without proper authorization.

Quintero does not have a certificate of use and said will never need one due to double jeopardy. In August 2023, he won a civil case against Miami-Dade County after the hearing officer was unable to prove that he owned his property. Quintero described the victory as a technicality, saying he wished he had won the case based on the law rather than what he called “bullshit.”

The Miami-Dade County Mayor’s Office did not respond to Biscayne Times’ requests for comment.

“I don't know much about [Quintero],” said Jennifer Altbuch, 42, an instructor and performer at the Aerial Trapeze Academy in Royal Palm Beach, another at-home trapeze school. “I know that he’s at home, like us. We don’t trust anyone else. We have a business permit and insurance.”

Quintero discovered aerial silks for the first time at age 30. He took classes in Miami Beach and performed professionally at clubs across South Florida. After a performance in The Cabaret, a now-closed gay bar in Miami Beach, the owner of the Flying Trapeze School in Bayfront Park asked Quintero to be an instructor.

In 15 minutes, he was hired. He never missed a class in his five-year run with the school, which closed in 2021.

“I was already in a circus and had aerial abilities, so it wasn't hard to pick it up,” Quintero said. “I loved every moment of it and it never went away.”

Quintero says he is a businessman at heart and used to run a car dealership and two restaurants. In 2020, he decided to open his own trapeze school and searched for suitable commercial sites without much luck.

That is, until his wife Gaby was scrolling on Zillow at 2 a.m. and found their dream location.

The trapeze was built two months before the Quinteros moved into their yellow house in 2020. The one-acre lot was a necessity to start their new school, the Miami Flying Trapeze. They hit the ground running, offering classes every day for two years.

“Miguel can tell if somebody’s really good at first,” Gaby Quintero said about running the classes. “And I don't have that. I think you have to be born with that.”

Rubio, one of the students in a recent class, first encountered trapeze at French Woods Summer Camp in New York six years ago. She worked on the skill every day for two months. She gave trapeze another go with the Quinteros after discovering them online.

“It was surreal to be back up there,” said Rubio. “It reminded me how good it feels to step outside my comfort zone and push my body to its limits.”

Sasha Baly, 19, an EMT student in Miramar, first tried trapeze at a Club Med when she was 9 years old. She met Quintero when he was an instructor at the Flying Trapeze School and followed him to his new backyard business.

“I know him as this person that’s like my second home,” Baly said. “It’s so comforting because Miguel always makes it such a safe and amazing place.”

After taking a break in high school to focus on cheerleading, Baly came back to Quintero.

“I do it because I feel like it’s such a good way to de-stress yourself after a long day of work, a long day of school,” Baly said. “It just helped me. It’s like a breath of fresh air.”

Newcomers and professionals share the same two-hour class, giving each student three to four turns. Quintero tailors the classes to each student’s skill level, guiding them through short routines while they are harnessed for safety. From the ground, he assists by holding the rope, supporting their weight as they attempt each trick.

“It’s not always fun flying alone,” said Quintero. “So I’ll fly during the classes, and it’s kind of nice because I get a small little show of my own.”

Starting in November, classes will be on Saturday and Sunday from 6 to 8 p.m. for $80. The school will be closed in December.

“After Christmas, I’m not sure what we’re going to do,” said Quintero. “We might have to close altogether.”

The couple started GoFundMe and Change.org petitions to cover over $150,000 in legal fees and protect their trapeze school and home. As of Oct. 20, they had raised $100. More than 330 people had signed to back them.

“Miguel and Gaby are truly dedicated to sharing trapeze,” Farah from Key Largo wrote on the petition. “They’ve created a safe, unique, and uplifting experience that so many children and adults would never otherwise have access to. Please don’t take this away from the community.”

Quintero’s fight with the county has fueled his political ambitions. In his 2024 mayoral run, he won 3,314 votes, or about 1% of the total votes, coming in last in the field of seven candidates. He said he knew he had no chance of winning, but ran to make his voice heard.

He’s not done with politics, either. Quintero said he will run for Miami-Dade County Commissioner Marleine Bastien’s District 2 seat in 2026.

“I want accountability and transparency in government, so I’ve got to be the change that I want to see,” said Quintero. “In order for me to protect my property from bad leadership, I have to protect everybody else’s first.”