MIAMI BEACH, Florida (AP) – Florida’s famous South Beach is in desperate search for a new image.
With more than 1,000 arrests and nearly 100 gun seizures already during this year’s spring break, officials are thinking that it may finally be time to clean up the trendy neighborhood from its lawbreak and party vibe all night.
The change comes after years of increasingly stringent measures – banning alcohol from the beaches, canceling shows and food festivals – have failed to prevent the city from being invaded by uncontrolled parties and antics of everything that will happen.
Just this weekend, spring break and pandemic-tired tourists drawn by Florida’s loose virus control rules gathered by the thousands along the famous Ocean Drive, sometimes getting into street fights, destroying restaurants and causing several dangerous riots. The situation got so out of hand that the Miami Beach police brought in SWAT teams to disperse peppercorns and called officers from at least four other agencies. Finally, the city decided to order an emergency curfew at 8 pm, which is likely to last until April, after the end of the spring break.
“We definitely want people to come and have fun,” Miami Beach commissioner Ricky Arriola said on Monday. “It is a city with nightlife. We want people of all races, genders, sexual orientation. But we cannot tolerate people thinking that they can come here and represent a scene of ‘Fast and Furious’, running through the streets and shooting into the air. “
Some tourists are irritated by the curfew, which, according to them, hindered the long-sought vacation, for which they paid well. In the meantime, some officials say they should have enacted more stringent measures earlier – as was done in New Orleans before Mardi Gras last month – instead of reacting in the midst of chaos.
But Arriola and other commissioners argued that the city may need an entirely different approach.
They note that, in recent seasons, the city has steadily increased its bet with new rules and regulations, such as banning scooter rentals after 7 pm, restricting alcohol sales after 8 pm and cracking down on loud music – to no avail.
“Every year, new restrictions come up and they have no impact, so at what point are we going to try something new?” asked Arriola, who suggested hosting more family and business events.
The pandemic provided the perfect storm for large crowds: an exceptionally cold winter, pent-up demand to be quarantined at home and the attraction of a sunny climate with miles of beaches in a state with few restrictions on COVID-19.
New Orleans, which attracts thousands of tourists each year to Mardi Gras, has successfully avoided the chaos that broke out in Miami. Governor John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, had already instituted a masking mandate across the state, as well as occupancy limits in bars, restaurants and other businesses.
New Orleans’ Democratic mayor, LaToya Cantrell, also a Democrat, went even further by shutting down the city’s bars, even those authorized to function as restaurants. City officials also closed off iconic Bourbon Street for cars and limited pedestrian access on the last weekend of the season.
Despite strong opposition from Republicans and business leaders, Edwards and Cantrell were determined not to repeat Mardi Gras 2020, which state officials later said contributed to New Orleans being one of the first southern hot spots in the coronavirus pandemic.
“If people think they are going to come to Louisiana, anywhere … and get involved in the kind of activities they would have before the pandemic, then they are wrong and, frankly, they are not welcome here to do that.” Edwards said at a news conference before Mardi Gras.
Miami Beach took less proactive steps under Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who refused to implement a mask rule and insisted on allowing companies to remain open. Instead, city officials this year sent text messages alerting tourists to “vacation responsibly or being arrested” and spelled out a long list of rules. The city also canceled all concerts and food festivals, trying to avoid large crowds, but this only caused the crowds that showed up anyway to gather at random at improvised street parties.
Some visitors were frustrated by the mixed messages after being attracted to the state by a $ 5 million national tourism advertising campaign, the largest in 20 years.
Reg Mac, an Orlando legal assistant, spent $ 800 on his trip to Miami, which he said was a failure thanks to the 8 pm curfew. He was eager to let go – and even reserved special clothes for the scene after hours.
“I was hoping to go out and enjoy the nightlife,” said Mac, who instead went back to his hotel room to sleep. “The food was awful and the service was terrible.”
Added Deaja Atwaters, who traveled from Harker Heights, Texas: “It’s a shame that you can’t do everything we want to do, what we plan to do, but we are going to get the best out of it.”
Miami Beach officials said the crowd of partygoers consisted mainly of out-of-state adults, not college students. They said that many of them didn’t even go to local restaurants and businesses.
“Not all people who visit Miami Beach are bad and come to Miami Beach with the intention of breaking the law and impairing our quality of life, but this is a different situation and requires drastic measures,” said interim city manager Raul Aguila , who decreed the emergency curfew.
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This story has been corrected to show that New Orleans officials, not Edwards, closed Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras.
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Kennedy reported from Fort Lauderdale. Associated Press writers Kevin McGill in New Orleans and Anila Yoganathan in Atlanta contributed to this report.