US /

Miami Beach Grounds Spring Breakers for Weeks

Curfew, causeway closures will continue through April 12
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 22, 2021 2:11 AM CDT
Miami Beach Extends Spring Break Crackdown
City of Miami Beach Police officers arrest several males on Ocean Drive and 10th Street as spring break has officially begun Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021 in Miami Beach, Fla.   (Pedro Portal/Miami Herald via AP)

Spring breakers were grounded by Miami Beach over the weekend, and on Sunday, that grounding was extended for more than three weeks. At an emergency meeting, the Miami Beach City Commission voted unanimously to extend the 8pm-6am curfew, business restrictions, and causeway closures on Thursdays through Sundays until April 12, the Miami Herald reports. City code only allowed the emergency measures to be implemented for an initial period of 72 hours. Spring breakers have descended upon Miami Beach despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and more than 1,000 people have been arrested since February amid rowdy, largely maskless, sometimes violent crowds. With the measures in place, restaurants and other businesses must close (other than for takeout) by 8pm, CBS Miami reports.

Despite the emergency measures, spring breakers could still be seen thronging in some areas, regrouping after being dispersed by police enforcing the curfew. And the causeway shutdowns aren't going over well with non-spring-break tourists, or the locals who've been hindered from getting home as a result. While residents, hotel guests, delivery drivers, or people driving to work are allowed to use the otherwise closed lanes of the causeways, traffic was at a standstill Saturday night after the measures went into effect, 7 News reports. "It literally took me three and a half hours to get to my room," says one tourist. Another says her Uber driver was forced to drop her off when he couldn't cross the bridge, and she walked the remaining nearly four miles to her Miami Beach hotel. (More Miami stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X