Miami Beach bistros bow to spring break curfew after weekend mayhem

[March 24, 2021]  By Francisco Alvarado and Rich McKay

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - David Rivero, manager of Miami Beach's Puerto Sagua restaurant, expects to lose three hours of business a night during "spring break" due to a curfew imposed after thousands of young people brought unmasked pandemonium to city streets last weekend.

Even so, Rivero sees the early closure as necessary to keep residents, tourists and workers safe in one of America's top party destinations amid coronavirus concerns.

Miami Beach officials on Saturday ordered the curfew after young spring breakers by the thousands thronged the city's Art Deco Cultural District for the annual celebrations, spawning a wave of unruly behavior, drunken brawls, vandalism and arrests.

"There's been multiple shootings on multiple nights, gang fights, stabbings and a dead body in the middle of the intersection," the 55-year-old Rivero said.

Miami Beach business owners interviewed by Reuters voiced a mix of disappointment and resignation over the crackdown.

The 8 p.m.-to-5 a.m. nightly curfew in a "high impact zone" within the South Beach neighborhood has cut deeply into the revenues of restaurants, bars and other establishments still struggling to recover from pandemic-related financial losses.

Spring break is usually the annual, beer-soaked rite of youthful revelry for visiting college students converging on Miami Beach and neighboring South Florida communities. Rivero feels the event has only exacerbated crime in the Art Deco district.

Police officers patrol Ocean Dr as revelers enjoy spring break festivities, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Miami Beach, Florida, U.S., March 22, 2021. REUTERS/Marco Bello

"It has been increasingly bad every year," Rivero said. "It's unfortunate. Calling it quits is not under consideration, but it has been a thought in our heads."

Jonathan Plutzik, owner of the Betsy Hotel South Beach on 14th Street and Ocean Drive, said his 130-room inn was operating near full capacity and he expected it to remain so well into May, with the cheapest rooms going for $449 a night.

"In 2020, no one had any expectations we would be as busy as we are now," Plutzik told Reuters. "That is both a blessing and a challenge."

"Our city leadership, including law enforcement, doubled down to get ready for spring break. Clearly it wasn't enough, so the city imposed some stricter rules, like the 8 p.m. curfew, which I am deeply supportive of," he said.

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