They moved to the New Paltz area in 1988 after what Mr. Barra calls "the alternate side of the street parking meltdown," when he was unable to find his car for five days.
In recent years, Rio has rapidly grown westward, expanding into the Barra da Tijuca area, which has had some of the most magnificent beaches in the metropolitan area.
In Barra, a waterfront area where surfers still catch waves off sun-kissed beaches, an Italian owner of a small hotel was bludgeoned to death in late 2010.
Hickey, 71, was detained at a hotel in the Barra da Tijuca area on Wednesday and later taken to Samaritano hospital with chest pain before he underwent cardiac tests.
And, most troubling for the city's largely working-class population, the ten-mile line served primarily to link two wealthy beachside areas — Barra and Ipanema — while a planned extension into the poorer north side of town remains on the drawing board.
Reminiscent of a chunk of suburban Florida, Barra is an affluent area, accounting for less than 5% of Rio's population, but paying 30% of its tax.
According to the priest's 1991 account, before the town existed, the area of Barra do Parateca belonged to one large Portuguese landowner whose massive holdings stretched across the hinterland.
In response to Arlene's formation, the government of Mexico issued a tropical storm warning on June 29 for coastal areas from Barra de Nautla northward to Bahia Algodones.
According to Climate Central, a temperature rise of 3C would cause flooding of not just Rio's famous beaches such as Copacabana and its waterfront domestic airport, but also inland areas of the Barra de Tijuca neighbourhood, where last year's Olympic Games were held.
Mr Oliver said he was not surprised by the falling building and said: "The infrastructure is poor - only areas such as Barra de Tijuca are modern and well regulated, but behind the main streets in the centre of Rio there are crumbling dirty sidestreets where safety is not the top priority". Engineers say age is unlikely to have been the cause of the buildings' collapse.
But working-class Brazilians commuting from far-flung, lower-income areas to work in Barra say the Olympics brought them few tangible benefits.
