It is almost that time of the year again, where Miami Beach is filled with tourists and even locals as schools embark on their spring break. Almost a year ago today, residents and workers of Miami Beach witnessed fights, gunfire, dangerous crowds and destruction to their property.
A resident of South Beach shared what she hopes police enforcement would do this year, stating, “If you go there (South beach) during spring break, everyone is gonna be super close to each other, there’s no sand or water. So, I guess I’m hoping for crowd control.”
No telling what this year will hold, but for some, they are hoping for a change as they await the quiet before the storm.
While party-goers are out enjoying themselves until the wee hours of the night, just a few months ago, their night would have ended at 2 a.m. We stopped by the Clevelander, a popular hotel and hangout on South Beach, but staff denied a response due to their pending lawsuit against the city of Miami Beach.
According to official documents, the Clevelander filed to end the alcohol rollbacks, which prohibited the sales of alcohol from 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. back in May of 2021.
The courts found the alcohol sales rollback illegal because it was a regulation of land use requiring a 5 to 7 supermajority vote, rather than a 4 to 7 simple majority commission vote.
The rollback was lifted in June of 2021.
With the hours extended to 5 a.m., Miami Beach officer Ernesto Rodriguez stopped by Baller Alert to share a message regarding safety for the city of Miami Beach. Rodriguez stated, “We want people to come out, have a good time, but do so responsibly.”
He listed several rules that are in place with hopes of keeping the city safe.
“There are a lot of restrictions: drinking in public, smoking marijuana in public, we’re not gonna tolerate any street fighting. We have restrictions out on our beach as well: no tables, coolers or tents.”
For some colleges, this week kicked off their spring break, while the rest of the month will welcome spring breakers from all over the world.
