Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber told CNN’s Anna Cabrera, “Too many are coming, really, without the intention of following the rules, and the result has been a level of chaos and disorder that is just something more than we can endure.”
At an afternoon news conference, Mayor Gelber announced an 8 p.m. curfew for the South Beach entertainment district. He also said shore-bound traffic on the city’s causeways would be shuttered. The restrictions and curfew are expected to last 72 hours, and an extension of the curfew is being debated by city officials.
Miami Beach officials had decided they were going to crack-down on the unruly spring break crowds this year, adding more officers, enforcing laws more stringently, and closing streets, according to NBC News.
Spring break partying – Miami South beach. This isn’t going to end well next month. #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/8VNplhYvbO
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) March 20, 2021
On Thursday night, police were called to the Kantina Restaurant at 834 Ocean Drive in response to a fight. Police ended up arresting six people, but only after dispersing pepper balls to break up the large crowd. A restaurant server told police that tables were being overturned and silverware was being thrown as weapons, the arrest reports said.
“We’re seeing these crowds turn on officers, we’re seeing these crowds surround the officers and we can’t wait for an officer to be attacked, we have to be proactive,” Miami Beach Police Sgt. Ernesto Rodriguez said.
“Listen, I hate what I’m seeing as the mayor, as a resident, and someone who loves this city, and we’re doing everything we can with volume policing, we’re arresting dozens and dozens of people every single night to try to create a sense of order,” Mayor Gelber said Friday in response to the arrests on Thursday night.
All three major causeways entering Miami Beach will be closed starting at 9 PM – 5 AM. A dedicated lane will be open for residents, hotel guests and workers. pic.twitter.com/sgmMREFFHl
— Joel Franco (@OfficialJoelF) March 20, 2021
“Listen, I’m not the mayor in ‘Jaws,’ I’m not gonna say ‘everything is great.’ This is really challenging, it’s very disappointing, and I can’t stand it and until we get rid of this district as an anything-goes district this is what we’re gonna have to try to manage,” Gelber said.
“We don’t need 145 bars that are open ‘til 5 am, that tells the world ‘we’re open all night, come and party hard, do whatever you want,’ that’s not what we should be, we want to be a cultural destination with beautiful restaurants, great hotels, shopping, art, galleries things like that and we can do that.”