Despite
the
coronavirus,
spring
breakers
return
to South
Beach
and walk
along
Ocean
Drive
that is
closed
to
traffic
on
Thursday,
March
12,
2021.
Miami
Beach
officials
are
imposing
an
emergency
8 p.m.-6
a.m.
curfew
effective
immediately,
saying
large,
out-of-control
spring
break
crowds
crammed
the
beaches,
trashed
some
restaurant
properties
and
brawled
in the
streets.
Tourists
and
hotel
guests
are
being
told to
stay
indoors
during
the
curfew
hours.
(Al
Diaz/Miami
Herald
via AP)
Miami
Beach
declares
state of
emergency
for
entertainment
district
due to
spring
breakers
By
Morgan
Hines
usatoday.com
MIAMI,
FL -
Miami
Beach
has
declared
a state
of
emergency
in its
entertainment
district
due to
an
influx
of
spring
breakers
who have
inundated
the
city. A
curfew
will be
in
effect
at 8
p.m. for
72
hours,
starting
Saturday,
Miami
Beach
Interim
City
Manager
Raul
Aguila
announced
Saturday.
All
restaurants,
bars and
businesses
are
required
to be
closed
by 8
p.m.
"As
we hit
the peak
– at the
peak of
spring
break,
we are
quite
simply
overwhelmed
in the
entertainment
district,"
Aguila
said at
a press
conference
Saturday.
"Folks,
this is
not an
easy
decision
to make,
we are
doing
that to
protect
the
public
health
and
safety."
The
decision,
Aguila
said, is
necessary
to
protect
residents
and
spring
breakers
alike.
"The
problem
is
there's
a few
things
happening
simultaneously,
there's
a
confluence
of
challenging
circumstances,"
Mayor
Dan
Gelber
told USA
TODAY.
"We've
got too
many
people
and too
many
looking
to act
out
while
there's
a
pandemic
going
on. So
we've
got all
this
happening
simultaneously,
so it's
become a
tinder."
"I
stay up
at night
and
worry
[as to]
when I'm
going to
be
getting
a phone
call
about
some
event
that's
happening,"
Gelber
continued.
"We see
the
videos,
the
photos
of
throngs
of
people,
sometimes
something
happening
that
creates
unrest...
or worse
and
there's
just no
reason
to
endure
that."
The
city has
been in
a state
of
emergency
for a
year due
to
COVID-19,
Gelber
said,
noting
that the
"emergency
powers"
employed
by
Aguila
to enact
the
state of
emergency
are in
addition
to the
COVID-19-related
state of
emergency
in Miami
Beach.
People
walk
along
Ocean
Drive
during
spring
break
festivities
ahead of
an 8pm
curfew
imposed
by local
authorities,
amid the
coronavirus
disease
(COVID-19)
outbreak
in Miami
Beach,
Florida,
U.S.,
March
20,
2021.
(REUTERS/Marco
Bello)
There is
simply
too much
disorder
for the
Miami
Beach
Police
Department
to
handle,
Gelber
said.
As
part of
the
state of
emergency,
the
following
directives
have
been
implemented,
according
to a
release
from the
city:
Curfew
is
imposed
in the
"High
Impact
Zone" of
Miami
Beach,
which
includes
the area
"bounded
by" 5
Street,
16
Street,
Pennsylvania
Avenue
and
Ocean
Drive.
Eastbound
lanes on
Julia
Tuttle
Causeway
will be
closed
to
traffic
9 p.m.
through
6 a.m.
Eastbound
lanes on
the
Venetian
Causeway
will be
closed
to
traffic
9 p.m.
through
6 a.m.
except
to
residents.
Eastbound
lanes on
MacArthur
Causeway
will be
closed
to
traffic
9 p.m.
through
6 a.m.
except
to
residents,
hotel
guests
and
employees
of city
businesses.
Ocean
Drive
will be
closed
to
pedestrian
and
vehicle
traffic
except
to
residents,
hotel
guests
and
employees
of local
businesses
at 8
p.m.
Other
roads
within
the
"High
Impact
Zone"
may be
closed
at the
discretion
of city
officials.
Sidewalk
café
operations
including
expanded
outdoor
seating
are
suspended
in the
"High
Impact
Zone" as
of 7
p.m.
Saturday.
Restaurants
in the
"High
Impact
Zone"
can stay
open
until
midnight
for
delivery
only.
Some
local
businesses
have
already
taken
steps of
their
own to
address
the
stress
of so
many
visitors
to the
area
that
have
been
causing
disturbances.
The
Clevelander
South
Beach, a
Miami
institution
on Ocean
Drive,
opted to
halt its
food and
beverage
services,
closing
the
doors to
its
on-site
restaurants
temporarily
amid
spring
break
chaos
until
Wednesday
at least
after
witnessing
spring
break-related
situations
getting
out of
control,
including
damage
done to
a
neighboring
restaurant.
"We
do not
want to
wait for
something
more
terrible
to
happen,"
Gelber
said at
the
press
conference.
Spring
break
chaos
due to
'anything
goes'
mentality
Because
most
pandemic
restrictions
have
been
lifted
in
Florida,
people
are
coming
with an
"anything
goes"
mentality,
Miami
Beach
Mayor
Dan
Gelber
told USA
TODAY on
Monday.
The
Miami
Beach
Police
Department
made 163
arrests
over
seven
days,
spokesman
Ernesto
Rodriguez
told USA
TODAY on
Monday.
Monday,
the
Miami
Herald
reported,
a man
was
fatally
shot
near a
residential
area
tied to
a South
Beach
shooting.
"It's
like a
triple
threat:
We've
got too
many
people,
too many
coming
with a
desire
to go
wild and
we have
the
virus,"
Gelber
said.
"It
really
poses a
multifaceted
peril
for us."
The
city has
also
implemented
"zero
tolerance
for all
of our
ordinances,"
Gelber
said,
which
means
Miami
Beach
Police
are
making
arrests
for
having
open
containers
and
more.
This
article
originally
appeared
on USA
TODAY:
Miami
Beach
institutes
state of
emergency
for
entertainment
district