‘It’s become a tinder’: Miami Beach declares state of emergency for entertainment district due to spring breakers
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.”
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.
