New York with Palm Trees (Miami nickname)

Miami Beach has had so many visitors and residents from New York City that it was called “New York with palm trees.” “Miami, eh? The playground of the rich and the lazy, little old New York with palm trees: was cited in print in 1942. “I once heard somebody say that Miami Beach was New York with palm trees” was cited in 1958.
 
Los Angeles has been called “New York with palm trees” since at least 1979. “Fort Lauderdale, which is New York with palm trees” was cited in 2009.
   
 
Wikipedia: Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on a series of natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter which separates the Beach from Miami city proper. The neighborhood of South Beach, comprising the southernmost 2.5 square miles (6.5 km2) of Miami Beach, along with Downtown Miami and the port, collectively form the commercial center of South Florida. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 87,779. Miami Beach has been one of America’s pre-eminent beach resorts since the early 20th century.
 
20 October 1942, Cleveland (OH) Plain Dealer, “Officers’ School Turns Out to Be No Pink Tea” by Philip W. Porter, (Captain, Air Corps, United States Army), pg. 7, col. 3:
MIAMI BEACH, Fla.—“So you’re going to Miami Beach for a few weeks!”
(...)
Miami, eh? The playground of the rich and the lazy, little old New York with palm trees.
 
Google Books
Love Is Enough
By Peggy Gaddis
New York, NY: Arcadia House
1958
Pg. 179:
“I once heard somebody say that Miami Beach was New York with palm trees.”
 
23 December 1970, Playground Daily News (Fort Walton Beach), “As I See It” by John O’Connor, pg. 9, col. 1
Miami Beach is plush and very, very Jewish. It’s like New York City with palm trees.
   
Google Books
The view from Sunset Boulevard:
America as brought to you by the people who make television
By Benjamin Stein
New York, NY: Basic Books
1979
Pg. 65:
And blending in with that image is Los Angeles, laid back a little but, on the screen, still the psychic re-creation of a city much like New York with palm trees.
 
25 March 1983, The Daily Herald (Chicago, IL), “‘Sunshine state’ reflects shape of nation to come” by Ruth Walker, sec. 1, pg. 5, col. 4:
Florida, it is said, is the only state that becomes more Southern the further north you go. Miami is sometimes referred to as “New York with palm trees,” especially by people outside Miami.
 
New York (NY) Times
Talk to the Newsroom: ‘This Land’ Columnist
Published: February 15, 2009
Dan Barry, columnist for the national desk, is answering questions from readers Feb. 16-20, 2009.
(...)
Q.  Your column is terrific, a can’t miss entertainer. Have you visited any town or city that you’ve thought, I could live here? I know you’re a New Yorker who lives in Jersey so you’re answer can’t be Fort Lauderdale, which is New York with palm trees. When they visit other areas of the country, most folks from the NYC area want to know where the bakery is and why isn’t it open on Sunday. That and why does everyone drive so slow. When they return to NY/NJ, they tell everyone how nice people are where ever they’ve visited, “they’re friendly to you there.” Continued good writing.
— George Smith
 
Twitter
Ryann Torrero
‏@rdtorrero  
“It’s like New York with palm trees!” 😂 @GeorgiaKP6 #hollywood
11:08 PM - 12 Jun 13 (GMT-07:00)