Miami Music Week is usually the most lucrative week of the year for nightclubs across the city, but it won’t be this year.
Tourists who flock to the area for Spring Break come to enjoy world-renowned DJs and nightlife, which generates massive revenue that helps venues to weather the slower months.
But all that will change now that Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber announced a state of emergency and imposed a midnight curfew covering all of South Beach, a policy that will run through Sunday, March 27.
The City of Miami Beach imposed the curfew on Monday in response to several incidents last weekend — including two separate shootings on Ocean Drive that left five people injured.
According to the Miami New Times, the newly imposed curfew requires that businesses, including nightclubs, shut down from 11:59 p.m. to 6 a.m. and give patrons enough time to get off the streets by midnight, which means businesses are closing even earlier than that.
“We have had multiple shootings literally in front of police officers. We can’t balance safety against revenue or anything else, frankly. We only implemented the curfew when it became clear we had no other options,” Mayor Gelber told New Times.
