{"id":1629,"date":"2022-03-24T14:30:21","date_gmt":"2022-03-24T14:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linksus.net\/miami-beach-shootings-bring-emergency-curfew-to-spring-break-the-washington-post\/"},"modified":"2022-03-24T14:30:21","modified_gmt":"2022-03-24T14:30:21","slug":"miami-beach-shootings-bring-emergency-curfew-to-spring-break-the-washington-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/2022\/03\/24\/miami-beach-shootings-bring-emergency-curfew-to-spring-break-the-washington-post\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami Beach shootings bring emergency curfew to spring break – The Washington Post"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mitch Novick had a late dinner Saturday in Miami Beach. When he stepped onto Ocean Drive, a block away from the Sherbrooke Hotel he owns in the neon-trimmed, Art Deco-infused nightlife hub of South Beach, he had a feeling the night might take a turn. So he opened the camera app on his phone.
\u201cThat internal barometer told me something\u2019s going to happen,\u201d Novick said.
He started recording in the first minutes of Sunday morning as several men walked along a blue sports car. Police sirens blared, and officers on ATVs rode by. Then shots started firing, and crowds ran into a park full of palm trees wrapped in lights. \u201cI took cover,\u201d Novick said, continuing to film<\/a> the scene playing out during another chaotic spring break.
The shooting Novick witnessed was the first of two over the weekend, leaving five innocent bystanders injured, city leaders said. In Miami Beach, some officials wish the party would end permanently, even if that comes at the expense of local businesses.
\u201cWe don\u2019t ask for spring break, we don\u2019t promote it, we don\u2019t encourage it; we just endure it,\u201d Mayor Dan Gelber said during a Monday news conference<\/a>. \u201cAnd frankly it\u2019s not something we want to endure.\u201d
State of emergency in Miami Beach extended as spring breakers overwhelm the city<\/a><\/span>
The violence over the weekend prompted officials in the island city to declare a state of emergency during the March holiday window for the second straight year, instituting a midnight curfew and cutting back hours for retail alcohol sales in stores.
During a meeting Tuesday, one city commissioner suggested paying businesses to shut down preemptively. Another asked why they couldn\u2019t declare the island full and turn visitors away.
Starting Thursday through early Monday morning, the curfew begins at 11:59 p.m. and lasts until 6 a.m., restricting the clubs, bars and restaurants that typically stay open until 5 a.m. In the curfew area, which includes all of South Beach, the sale of alcoholic beverages to consume off-site will be prohibited after 6 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.
Meanwhile, belabored comments from officials about a spring break crowd that includes many Black tourists has once again drawn criticism from Black community leaders.
\u201cDidn\u2019t you hear? Black people on the beach is a natural disaster!\u201d Stephen Hunter Johnson, a member of Miami-Dade County\u2019s Black Affairs Advisory Board, wrote<\/a> in a tweet. Michael Grieco, a Democrat in the Florida House of Representatives, tweeted the midnight curfew was an example of \u201cembarrassing government overreach.\u201d
The City of Miami Beach\u2019s fake-hustle \u201cSpring Break\u201d midnight curfew is an embarrassing government overreach. These types of measures are reserved for natural disasters, not neglect and poor\/lack of planning. Law-abiding businesses and residents are being unfairly punished.
Miami Beach saw a similar meltdown over spring break last year, when crowds flocked to the town after the pandemic brought an early end to festivities in 2020. Citing an \u201coverwhelming\u201d number of visitors<\/a> in 2021, a time when many other destinations still had coronavirus<\/a> restrictions in place, authorities set an 8 p.m. curfew in the entertainment district and restricted access to causeways that allow traffic onto the island. Video footage showed police firing pepper balls as they enforced the curfew.
\u201cIt\u2019s almost as if hitting repeat,\u201d Novick said of this year\u2019s spring break, noting that 2020 was chaotic as well.
Unmasked spring breakers are descending on Florida. Officials are begging them to behave.<\/a><\/span>
City manager Alina Hudak said she has spent six months trying to ensure a different outcome this year. During a news conference, she said the city had enhanced its parking enforcement, code enforcement and police presence, coordinating with other departments in the region to bulk up coverage.
And the city introduced a weekly concert series in March featuring Wilson Phillips, Alanis Morissette and Juanes to draw an older demographic than the beachfront revelers. This weekend\u2019s event, a Bernadette Peters concert, has been postponed due to the state of emergency.
Hudak said there had been \u201cmultiple safe weekends\u201d for spring breakers \u2014 until the crowds swelled and gunfire erupted.
\u201cOur city is an island with limited capacity,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was not built for these types of crowds and it is not possible to accommodate the volumes of people we have seen this weekend in our public park, in our public streets and on our sidewalks.\u201d
Airports are slammed. Here are 6 ways to manage the chaos.<\/a><\/span>
Police chief Rick Clements said Monday that 100 weapons were seized during the first four weeks of spring break this year, compared to 85 during the same time period in 2021. Nine police officers had been hurt on duty, though none of the injuries were \u201cextremely serious,\u201d he said.
Between mid-February and Sunday, 618 people have been arrested citywide, Miami Beach Police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez said in an email. He said more than half of those arrested were from Miami-Dade County, meaning the city can\u2019t point the finger only at tourists.
The city has not extended the curfew past this coming weekend. And it\u2019s not clear what will change next year. Novick said Tuesday his business is already taking a hit: he said the hotel received three cancellations from guests in 12 hours.
Novick said the curfew might prevent some bad behavior, but he is disappointed the city was again playing defense.
\u201cThey had all year for the last several years to do something, and now they\u2019re just reacting,\u201d he said.
Joshua Wallack, chief operating officer of the company that owns Mango\u2019s Tropical Cafe South Beach, said in an interview that March should be the best time of the year for hospitality businesses: There is perfect weather, tons of tourists and dollars flowing. It\u2019s \u201csacrilegious,\u201d he said, for people in the industry to dread this time of year.
\u201cThese shootings were random acts of some idiots who ruined it for thousands of people who were there having a good time,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen that happens, you have to throw your hands in the air and say, \u2018Party\u2019s over for everyone.\u2019\u201d
While operating hours for his businesses will be cut because of the curfew, Wallack said he supports the effort to make residents feel safe.
\u201cThis needs to get figured out in the long term,\u201d he said.
Gelber, the mayor, said he hopes the city will be successful at spreading a new spring break message: This is not the place to cut loose.
\u201cOur hope is that we can, through this kind of messaging, tell the world, \u2018Hey, if you want to come to spring break, go somewhere else,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cI hear there\u2019s some wonderful all-inclusive resorts elsewhere. Go there, don\u2019t come here. We don\u2019t want that raucous crowd that is intent on doing whatever they want.\u201d
Safety: <\/b>Travel after covid recovery<\/a> | Maskalorian<\/a> | CDC travel advisories<\/a> | Kids and masks<\/a> | Travel warnings<\/a> | Traveling while trans<\/a>
Airlines: <\/b>What to expect in 2022<\/a> <\/b>| Fare sales<\/a> | Unruly passenger no-fly list<\/a> | <\/b>It\u2019s physically impossible to open a plane door<\/a> | Refund battles<\/a> | Disruptive behavior<\/a> | BYOB rules<\/a> | Wheelchair damage<\/a>
Destinations: <\/b>Highly vaccinated U.S. cities<\/a> | Top vacation spots <\/a>| Disney prices<\/a> | Australia reopens<\/a> | Hawaii rules lifting<\/a> | Passport-free travel<\/a> | Russia cancellations<\/a> | Mexico shooting<\/a> | Moving to Rome<\/a> | Test-free countries<\/a> <\/b>
Airbnb: <\/b>Accidental break-in<\/a> | Ukrainian refugee housing<\/a> | <\/b>Pet-friendly additions<\/a> | Vacation rental startups<\/a> | Cleaning fees<\/a>
On the road: <\/b>Hertz police reports<\/a> | Rental car woes<\/a> | How environmentalists travel <\/a>| Road trips with pets<\/a> | Road trips with babies<\/a><\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mitch Novick had a late dinner Saturday in Miami Beach. When he stepped onto Ocean Drive, a block away from the Sherbrooke Hotel he owns in the neon-trimmed, Art Deco-infused nightlife hub of South Beach, he had a feeling the night might take a turn. So he opened the camera app on his phone.\u201cThat internal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":869,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1629"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/869"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1629\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}