MIAMI BEACH, United States, March 21, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Throngs of revelers
flocking to Miami Beach, Florida for spring break have become so
uncontrollable that authorities imposed a curfew Saturday they hope will
spoil the party.
For the next 72 hours, visitors will have to leave streets and restaurants
will close their doors at 8:00 pm in the main tourist areas of South Beach,
the epicenter of the city’s party scene, authorities announced.
In addition, the three bridges that connect the island with mainland Miami
will be closed to traffic from 10:00 pm.
Only residents, workers and hotel guests will have access.
“This is all about the public safety folks,” said acting City Manager Raul
Aguila.
Referring to photos of huge crowds gathering on the main Ocean Drive
strip, he added: “It looked like a rock concert. You couldn’t see pavement
and you couldn’t see grass.”
The move followed weeks of wild partying in Miami Beach, which is no
stranger to uncontrollable spring break crowds.
But this year the volume is clearly higher than in previous years, said
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber.
“I think it is in part due to the fact that there are very few places open
elsewhere in the country, or they’re too cold, or they’re not open and
they’re too cold,” he said.
Over the last several days viral videos have emerged showing fights in
restaurants which caused serious damage in addition to prompting diners to
flee without paying expensive bills, according to local press reports.
Miami Beach Police Chief Richard Clements said he is concerned the
situation will become unmanageable.
On Thursday night “we had an issue where hundreds of people ran at one
particular time. Tables and chairs were thrown and used as weapons,” he said.
He added that police had hoped it was a one-time event but “last night we
had three of those situations and we had a young lady that got hurt as a
result of trying to run away from a crowd.” “We can’t continue to be
fortunate. We have to do some things that are going to mitigate those
circumstances,” he said.