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The Miami Beach party got cut short for the second year in a row. Last March, it was because of the pandemic that was beginning. This year, the illusion that the coronavirus is under control brought so many tourists to this island of Florida, that it was necessary to close the door again.
The crowd is so uncontrollable and the damage so much that the authorities decreed a state of emergency and a curfew on Saturday.
“It sucks,” said John Perez, a Texas student who had a few beers with a group of friends on the sand, despite police efforts to prevent alcohol consumption on the beach.
“It’s been a lot of fun here, you know, in this warm weather, this beach,” the 22-year-old lamented.
However, after episodes of violence and vandalism increased in recent days, the authorities decided that visitors leave the streets and that restaurants close their doors at 8:00 p.m. local time.
This will be in the main tourist areas of South Beach, the epicenter of the Miami Beach party.
In addition, the three bridges that connect the island with the mainland – Miami – will be closed to traffic from 10:00 p.m. local time until 06:00 a.m. Only residents, workers and hotel guests will have access.
“This is a matter of public safety,” said acting city administrator Raúl Aguila, announcing the measures.
Referring to photos showing crowds gathering along Ocean Drive, he added: “That looked like a rock concert, you can’t see the pavement, you can’t see the grass.”
Miami Beach Police Chief Richard Clements said he is concerned the situation will become unmanageable.
“On Thursday hundreds of people ran at one point and threw tables and chairs as weapons,” he said. “We expected it to be a one-time event, but last night there were three such situations and a young woman was injured.”
“Go get vaccinated!”
The measures come after weeks of intense partying in Miami Beach, which is no stranger to the uncontrollable crowds of tourists: every year in March, this small island hosts thousands of students from all over the country who come to spend their vacations in spring.
But this year, with about one in 10 residents receiving at least one dose of the vaccine in the United States, the air is particularly festive.
At night, people practice everything except social distancing, in a kind of “crazy 20s” that anticipate the post-pandemic.
“Go get vaccinated so you can come here and have a good time like us because we have been vaccinated,” Jalen Rob, another student vacationing on the beach, told AFP. “Vaccination 2021! Point!”.
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber commented on Saturday when announcing the curfew that “the volume of people is clearly higher than in previous years.”
“I think it is partly because there are few open places in the rest of the country, or they are very cold, or they are closed and they are also very cold.”
In recent days, images of fights in restaurants that left serious damage have been viralized.
One of the most iconic venues on Ocean Drive, the Clevelander, announced on Friday that it was closing its restaurants and bars and would keep only the hotel running.
The island of just 92,000 people attracts 200,000 visitors and workers every day, Gelber said Monday.
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