Miami Beach is again imposing a curfew across the city as coronavirus cases keep popping up.
The curfew will be from 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. every day, city administrator Jimmy Morales told the city commission in an email on Wednesday. The curfew comes into effect on Thursday.
“This will reduce social interaction and help police enforce against loitering,” Morales said. “After midnight there is nothing more to do.”
In March, the city imposed a curfew on parts of South Beach at noon. However, this order was lifted on June 11th. Mayor Dan Gelber said the new curfew will apply across the city.
The curfew, which Morales signed on Wednesday afternoon, bans retail stores – from supermarket chains to neighborhood liquor stores – from selling alcohol after 8 p.m.
Miami-Dade County issued an order Tuesday night forcing restaurants with more than eight people to close personal dining at midnight.
Morales, who invoked the state of emergency in Miami Beach in March, will exercise unilateral decision-making powers while the state of emergency continues. Prosecutor Raul Aguila said his emergency orders will last until July 17, following a recent extension.
In his email to the commission, Morales said he intended to close liquor stores “every night until further notice during the pandemic to prevent people from leaving the MXE [South Beach’s mixed-use entertainment district]Buy bottles and then bring them back to the MXE or elsewhere. “
The Miami-Dade restaurant rollback includes an outsourcing for delivery and pickup functions that may continue after midnight. Miami Beach does not allow takeout orders after midnight. Residents have noticed small crowds in front of takeaway windows in the restaurant in recent weeks.
The new orders come two days after city leaders expressed concern about nighttime gatherings along South Beach’s Ocean Drive boardwalk. As part of a district ordinance, the beaches are closed from Friday to Monday as the crowd is expected on July 4th. During the long weekend, hotels are required to close their pools at 8:00 p.m., restrict pool access to guests only and reduce the pool deck capacity to 50%.
The beach holiday weekend closure coupled with the ongoing Ocean Drive closure to cars could create enforcement problems along the boardwalk, Commissioner David Richardson said during a commission meeting on Monday. Crowds expecting to visit the beach might instead gather on Ocean Drive, where sidewalk cafes offer cheap drinks and loud music, he said.
“With the clubs and bars closed, it seems to me that Ocean Drive has become an open-air club,” he said. “It seems like it turned into a party town. We can make this possible by closing this street. “
A nightclub and shisha lounge, Voodoo, were closed by the city on Tuesday for violating COVID-19 rules after police responded to a chaotic scene after 1 a.m. The crowd dispersed after someone fired shots.
Gelber hopes the curfew can “reduce” the crowd on Ocean Drive, which “sometimes feels like Bourbon Street”.
“The curfew doesn’t solve all of the problems, but it certainly creates some of them,” said Gelber.
Martin Vassolo reports on Miami Beach politics and government for the Miami Herald. He started working for the Herald in January 2018 after attending the University of Florida where he served as Editor-in-Chief of The Independent Florida Alligator. He previously worked as a general reporter at the Herald’s subway counter and as an intern in political reporting.
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