Miami Seaside on excessive alert as one other lengthy Spring Break weekend begins – CBS Miami

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Another long spring break weekend kicked off Thursday and Miami Beach is on the alert.

“What we are seeing this year is not a typical spring break,” said Steven Meiner, Miami Beach Commissioner, of what many call South Beach chaos.

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CBS4 was able to obtain surveillance video from South Beach Liquor that recorded last Monday’s gunfire that sadly resulted in the victim’s death.

“It’s awful, it’s awful,” said Shaul Menashec, the owner of South Beach Liquor, where the shooting took place. “The fact that people come and do that, especially on vacation for other people, is terrible.”

But the shootout was just one of several that has taken place on the beach since spring breakers flocked to the area.

To curb the above-expected crowd and increase in crime, Miami Beach officials unanimously approved curfew and dams to close at 8 p.m.

“Our officers are vastly inferior and we really don’t have the resources to contain the crowd and behavior we see. We had seized over 100 illegal weapons, drugs, at that point it really became a necessity to impose the curfew, ”said Commissioner Meiner.

Many Miami Beach residents, like Manni Maharaj, support the curfew.

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Maharaj, the owner of Diya Indian Kitchen, said it changed the way they work.

“From the basics on, your dishwasher, this person is quite dependent on public transportation. Just for example, I would actually have to drop some of these people off at 1 or 2 a.m. That’s the cost of doing business and closing the dam so we can have law and order in the city, ”added Maharaj.

It is a price Maharaj is willing to pay.

To offset the negative impact on residents and business owners, the commission also voted to extend delivery times for restaurants that had to close early for personal meals.

And Meiner also suggests a city-wide decal so that residents don’t get stuck on the embankment when lanes are closed.

“Miami Beach would display decals for the Miami Beach residence and have a business-only lane so that residents can easily access their homes in the future, whether it is public safety or hurricanes,” he said.

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The curfew goes into effect Thursday through Sunday from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. through April 12.