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The city has instituted a 20 hours. curfew to curb the party.
Miami Beach officials have declared a state of emergency amid the “overwhelming” spring break crowds, imposing an 8 p.m. curfew this weekend for its entertainment district and temporarily closing several roads leading to the city.
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber announced the new measures, saying the city sometimes felt “out of control.”
“At the end of the day, not all police services in the world will stop something terrible from happening if it were to happen,” Gelber said at a press briefing on Saturday. “Our city right now in this area has become a tinder, and we can’t have a policy that is just to hope it isn’t enlightened.”
The new emergency orders will be in effect for up to 72 hours, officials said.
The 8 p.m. curfew begins on Saturday. A county-wide curfew was already in place from midnight to 6 a.m. due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Eastbound traffic on three lanes will also be closed to traffic, with some exceptions for residents and hotel guests, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. The Ocean Drive main lane will also be closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic starting at 8 p.m., except for residents and hotel guests. and company employees.
There are additional emergency measures impacting nighttime restaurant activities, including sidewalk cafes.
The city is encouraging all businesses located in what it has considered a “high impact area” to close during this time and urges hotel guests not to step off the streets after 8 p.m.
“It was not an easy decision to make,” Acting City Manager Raul Aguila told reporters at the briefing. “We are doing this to protect public health and safety.”
“Most of you saw, if not covered, the crowds last night in the entertainment district numbering in the thousands,” he added. “As we reach the peak of spring break, we are just overwhelmed in the entertainment district.”
Friday night along Ocean Drive in particular was “just overwhelming,” he said.
“It looked like a rock concert,” Aguila said. “You couldn’t see the sidewalk and you couldn’t see the grass.”
The mayor said this season’s spring break has attracted more visitors than in previous years as access to other destinations may be limited due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“People tend to come to the place that is open,” Gelber said.
At least twice last week, Miami Beach police have used pepperballs to disperse crowds near Ocean Drive. Two police officers were injured last weekend as they took a suspect into custody, the department said.
“We have done everything we can to try and mitigate the behavior that we are seeing, but frankly I’m concerned the behavior will become a bit more important for us to manage,” Miami Beach Police Chief Rick Clements said. declared during the briefing.
Clements said there was an incident Thursday evening in which property was destroyed as hundreds of people dispersed. Three such incidents resulted in injuries on Friday evening, he said.
Some businesses have chosen to close during the school break period. The Clevelander in South Beach, a famous hotspot in the city, announced on Friday that it would cease food and beverage operations until at least Wednesday.
“Recently, we have become increasingly concerned about the safety of our dedicated employees and valued customers and the ability of the city to maintain a safe environment in the surrounding area,” the management team said in a message. Instagram.
ABC News’s Victoria Arancio and Joshua Hoyos contributed to this report.
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