What to know about the new curfew in South Beach during spring break
A curfew will be imposed in South Beach for spring break this week, for the second year in a row.
City leaders on Monday announced a midnight curfew after two separate shooting incidents injured five people over the weekend on Ocean Drive.
The Curfew
The curfew will be imposed starting on Thursday at midnight until 6 a.m., and again at midnight Friday and midnight Saturday in the area south of 23rd Street down to South Pointe Drive, from the Atlantic Ocean to Biscayne Bay. That includes Ocean Drive and other party strips in the South Beach entertainment district.
State of Emergency
City Manager Alina Hudak said she will declare a state of emergency which will allow her to impose a curfew for 72 hours unless the City Commission votes to extend it.
The City Commission will meet Tuesday to vote on whether to extend the curfew to include Sunday evening and the following weekend, which Hudak recommended.
Concert Postponed
A spring break concert organized by the city of Miami Beach scheduled for Saturday has been postponed. It featured entertainer Bernadette Peters and a 28-piece orchestra.
Traffic Blockade
Police Chief Richard Clements said his department is working with the Florida Department of Transportation to create a traffic blockade near the Fifth Street entrance to South Beach and only allow residents or visitors with business in the city after midnight.
Hudak said the city was not legally allowed to close its major causeways as it did last year when it imposed an 8 p.m. curfew during spring break.
“Our city is an island with limited capacity,” Hudak said at a press conference. “It was not built for these types of crowds.”
The new curfew would mean businesses that rely on the busy March tourist month will be forced to close early. Joel Stedman, owner of the Twist bar on Washington Avenue, said being closed early for the next two weekends would be bad for business and inconvenience tourists trying to enjoy the nightlife in town.
“That is incredibly reactionary and heavy handed,” he said.
This story was originally published March 21, 2022 at 7:08 PM.
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