A popular restaurant in Florida will close its doors for the rest of spring break amid concerns of further damage to the place after fights there.
The popular Miami Beach party venue, the Clevelander Hotel, saw fights break out last week as crowds tried to crowd in during peak hours.
As a precaution, the hotel will continue to operate for its guests, but food and beverage operations will remain closed to the public until “at least” March 24, he said.
Miami Beach, Florida, USA – March 4, 2019: View of the cityscape from the classic art deco architecture of the Clevelander Hotel along the popular Ocean Drive.
(iStock)
“For decades, Clevelander South Beach has been one of Ocean Drive’s most famous and prominent businesses,” says a statement posted online and on the property’s front door. “Recently, we have grown increasingly concerned with the safety of our dedicated employees and valuable customers and with the city’s ability to maintain a safe environment.”
The hotel said it will reevaluate the situation to see if it will reopen or not. The hotel guaranteed to pay its employees the full salary, despite the closure.
Miami Beach recently saw an increase in visitor numbers during spring break, some causing confusion with them.
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The problem started last week, when the police arrested 150 spring breakers at a party that went out of control.
A fight at Kantina Restaurant on Thursday forced police to use pepper balls to disperse the crowd and stop a fight, NBC Miami reported. The video of the scene showed people struggling to get out of the way while the fighters staggered.
ARCHIVE – On this March 14, 2020, photo archive, Tabatha Hannah, a student at St. Clair Community College, in the center, speaks with Miami Beach police officers in Miami Beach, Florida. Colleges in the United States are reducing spring break or canceling it entirely to discourage seaside parties that could increase infection rates on campus. (AP Photo / Lynne Sladky, Archive)
((AP Photo / Lynne Sladky, Archive))
Several people were arrested for disorderly conduct at the scene.
A similar incident at Social, alongside the Clevelander, resulted in a street fight, with broken tables and chairs, reported the Miami Herald.
ARCHIVE – In this March 14, 2020 archive photo, Amaya Herron, a spring break student at the University of Memphis, on the left, speaks to a Miami Beach police officer in Miami Beach, Florida. Colleges in the United States are either cutting back on spring break or canceling it entirely to discourage beachside parties that could increase infection rates on campus. (AP Photo / Lynne Sladky, Archive)
“Last weekend, there was a stampede very close to us and people invaded our property, running inside, to the restaurant, to our kitchen, to our lobby,” said Jessica Francos, vice president of operations at Jesta Hotels. “We saw the situation get out of hand and yesterday it happened again.”
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said he did not “blame them for wanting to close”, already making difficult decisions to try to contain last week’s chaos. He described it as “looking like this city was under siege” due to the number of people in the area.
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“We have transformed this area into an area where anything goes, it is a kind of area to play, play, play instead of a live work and leisure area,” said Gelber, according to CBS 4 Miami. “So, for me, I want to diversify there, so that there are only 105 bars open until 5 am”
Miami Beach police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez said: “In the past [five and a half] weeks, we saw more than 900 prisons here in our city. We issued more than 5,000 traffic citations. Last night alone, nearly two dozen arrests were made in our entertainment district alone. “
The city called for reinforcements from the Miami-Dade police to increase police presence on the streets after a fatal shooting on Monday.
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“It is a dangerous situation for our community. It is a dangerous situation for the police and that is why it is important to act quickly and use tactics like pepper balls to disperse the crowds,” added Rodriguez.