There's a common thread that runs through all of the reporting about how fucked up Spring Break is this year...
took effect at 11.59pm, the sale of alcohol for off-premises consumption was halted from 6pm to 6am - measures that came after two horrifying shootings that left five people injured in recent days.
The curfew kicked in on Thursday night and will also be in effect on Saturday and Sunday, and could be extended next week as desperate officials attempt to reign in wild crowds.
Last year police, also imposed a curfew after arresting more than 1,000 people over the course of six weeks for street fights and vandalism.
Miami Beach officials have spent recent years trying to control the raucous crowds, public drinking and growing violence associated with the city's world-famous South Beach neighborhood during spring break.
Business owners claim they're being unfairly targeted by regulations, and civil rights advocates say the city is trying to scare away Black tourists who make up many of the visitors.
Two shootings that wounded five people last weekend, prompting the city to impose an emergency midnight curfew this weekend, have refocused attention on the glamorous waterfront's future - as an entertainment district or something else entirely. The city's mayor, a Democrat, insists the crackdown is about bad behavior, not race.
The 10-block stretch of Ocean Drive known for art deco hotels, restaurants and bars lies between areas that cater to more affluent tourists, as well as locals. Many longtime residents have learned to treat spring break like a hurricane: Stay inside and hunker down until it's over.
Must have been 1966. I was stationed in Key West FL and hitchhiked to Ft. Lauderdale during spring break. There was a liquor store around the corner from that bar that was in the movie "Where the boys are". I can't think of the name any more. Walked into the liquor store and there was one bottle of booze left in the entire store. A bottle of Hennessey Black berry brandy. Why the guy was even open, I'll never know. I bought the brandy and he closed up. The shit I saw there during spring break, you wouldn't believe.
ReplyDeleteI expected a glimpse of Jane Goodall in the shrubbery,, taking notes.
ReplyDeleteThere's another common thread if you look at these pictures and others from Miami - very unlikely college students
ReplyDeleteThose ain't college kids. They're high school drop outs...
ReplyDeleteI suppose all of these "spring breakers" are from Florida A&M or Bethune Cookman....things that make you go hmmmmm....
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