Miami Beach Spring Break problems -- Curfew & Causeways closed

[JimMIA]

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I'm here in Delray Beach, definitely busy but no issues. My kids want to go to the beach but we have had man o wars for weeks so we have not been in the water.
Wanted to go to Disney but every day is full

We have some visitors here we'd like to send your way for the unique opportunity to Swim With The Man-O-War! That would be so cool for them!

 

[NYCgrrl]

Well last year a guy was arrested living it up on south beach with 5 or six stolen credit cards and had previous warrants out for his arrest. Also last year girl fell out of her car onto the highway sitting out on the rim of the passenger window saying “bye” to Miami on the way to the airport. To me “low rent” has nothing to do with $ but with a type of people who make idiotic choices.

Oh I get it. “Low rent“ is synonymous with “Florida Man” in this telling .

 

[JimMIA]

The Miami Beach Police Department updated information on last night's shooting.

The shooting occurred on 6th Street, between Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue, in Miami Beach's famous entertainment district. The victim was a South Florida resident, Sowe Amadu, 27 years old. No other information (residence, occupation, etc, etc) was released.

Someone apparently transported Mr. Amadu about 20 blocks from the shooting scene. My assumption is that they were first fleeing the scene and then trying to get help for him. Eventually (30 minutes later) they ended up at the Miami Beach Fire Rescue headquarters, where paramedics tried unsuccessfully to save him.

Obviously there is a lot of information that the police are not willing to release at this point.

It has not been stated whether this shooting is directly related to spring break, although the actual site of the shooting is in the epicenter of the action.

 

[JimMIA]

Oh I get it. “Low rent“ is synonymous with “Florida Man” in this telling .

I'm the one who initially used the term, so just to clarify -- to me, "Low rent" means neither "Florida Man" nor "212."

By "low rent," I meant people who lack basic respect for other people, property, rules and laws, or generally accepted standards of conduct in public. They make fools of themselves during events like spring break, for whatever reason, creating both disruptive and dangerous situations sometimes.

It has nothing to do with economic status or residence -- it's about character...or lack of character.

 

[HeatherC]

Last night, we had a fatal shooting in South Beach. There is very little information available, other than the victim was a male.

Piecing together the minimal information, it sounds like he was shot in the main area where police have been having problems and someone tried to drive him for help. They ended up at Miami Beach Fire Rescue HQ where paramedics were unable to save him.

The city needs to crack down on the local bars and clubs and enforce rules. Loitering rules, occupancy rules, open container rules, that kind of thing. They also should not allow the clubs to offer tons of drink specials to drum up even more crowds during Spring Break.

 

[J'aime Paris]

I'm wondering who the spring breakers are this year? I'm a college professor and I don't know of any institutions of higher education that are doing spring break this year. We've changed our break into 5 days off strategically placed in the middle of the week so students won't leave the campus. Other institutions cancelled entirely.

Our public schools, though, are having a traditional week-long spring break, in addition to giving the kids a bunch of "learn from home" days during the semester. I wonder if these are high school kids partying like this? Surely not...

Not having the traditional spring break built into the schedule isn't stopping any of these college age kids.
With so many classes online and no penalty for non attendance (aka self quarantine), plenty of college students are going on spring break.

 

[kdonnel]

Doesn't seem to be exclusive to 2021.

https://www.remiamibeach.com/citywide/crime-in-miami-beach-is-perception-reality/

Oates presented a set of slides detailing the number of narcotics arrests in the City. He noted that through the end of August, there were a total of 3,800 arrests in Miami Beach involving approximately 1,100 people. “About 250 of those arrests are multiple times, the same people,” Oates said. “Almost 30% of people arrested are arrested with at least one narcotics charge… the bulk in the Entertainment District.”

Showing a heat map of arrest activity, he said, “Our challenge is basically between 7th and 11th Street.” He noted “47% of arrests in the Entertainment District involves a narcotics arrest.”

With “1,200 plus arrests” involving about 600 individuals, “several hundred of them arrested multiple times,” Oates said, “There’s a couple ways to read this data. One of them is that we are in fact making a lot of narcotics arrests. Our cops are out there making those arrests but another way to read it, of course, is the challenge remains that this is where the concentration of the activity is.”

Sounds like at least in 2018 there was a core group of local people arrested over and over involving narcotics.

I guess an argument can be made that the increase in visitors brings an increased need for narcotics.

 

[mom2rtk]

Not having the traditional spring break built into the schedule isn't stopping any of these college age kids.
With so many classes online and no penalty for non attendance (aka self quarantine), plenty of college students are going on spring break.

Bingo. Being online has encouraged more travel rather than less.

 

[JimMIA]

The city needs to crack down on the local bars and clubs and enforce rules. Loitering rules, occupancy rules, open container rules, that kind of thing. They also should not allow the clubs to offer tons of drink specials to drum up even more crowds during Spring Break.

They are doing some things, but it's difficult to understand unless you know South Beach.

First of all, you don't have to worry about "drink specials." An Ocean Drive "drink special" is likely to be a 2-for-1 "special." It's about a 5 gallon fishbowl of fruit punch with 2 ounces of cheap rum...for $65! But it's a BOGO! One BOGO per customer, no sharing.

They are bringing in extra police from Miami-Dade Police and Coral Gables. Miami-Dade will be there from tonight forward, and has the size to really ramp up their contribution. Coral Gables will be there on the weekend.

They are closing all parking garages in South Beach at 8 PM on the weekend, and they are considering closing the causeways from the mainland to Miami Beach at some point. They may also close portions of the main N-S arteries through the "entertainment district" (Collins Avenue and Washington Avenue). Should be interesting!

 

[JimMIA]

Doesn't seem to be exclusive to 2021.

https://www.remiamibeach.com/citywide/crime-in-miami-beach-is-perception-reality/

Sounds like at least in 2018 there was a core group of local people arrested over and over involving narcotics.

I guess an argument can be made that the increase in visitors brings an increased need for narcotics.

I can tell you from experience that you really need to take "drug arrests" with a huge helping of salt. In every context.

Charges for possession of narcotics are usually incidental to the main charges against that defendant. Not always, but usually. Obviously there are narcotics investigations that result in drug arrests, but often the charges flow from other crimes.

For example, Joe Loser is arrested for armed robbery and auto theft, and in the process of searching him and impounding his personal property the officer finds a little heroin, crack, fentanyl, weed, and/or meth. So those charges are added to his list.

But the primary reason for arrest is armed robbery and auto theft and he wouldn't have been arrested if he hadn't done those major violent felonies. That central fact gets lost in a lot of discussions about criminal behavior, and in particular behavior of lifetime career criminals.

 

[floridafam]

It does seem out of this year. DS went to college in Miami and I don’t recall it ever being so chaotic.

Even out little sleepy town has a lot of tourists here right now. Everything seems busy

DD’s college cancelled spring break and is ending the year a week early.

 

[*DisneyDreamer]

You would have been fine, because you would probably have stayed in a nice hotel in downtown. If you went to the beach, it would have been in the daytime and you would have avoided the crazy zone just because it was so busy. Shuttle or Uber to the port the next day, and enjoy your cruise.

PortMiami is the busiest cruise port in the world, and people don't have problems there.

Good to know!

 

[izzy]

I'm in Myrtle Beach and I noticed that it seemed way busier than a typical Spring break. We've become a hot spot for crime so I'm surprised that I haven't heard about any shootings yet. All of that happens about 10 miles from me thankfully. I'm more in the Inlet where the marsh walk restaurants are and the yuppies hang. You don't go to Myrtle anymore if you're from here. It's way too dangerous.

Whoa! Exactly what type of crime is going on in MB and where is it happening? We used to go there every year when I was a kid (60’s and 70’s) but I have also been there many, many times as an adult. The last time was a few years ago. I will say that I thought MB was looking a little “tired” and rundown, but I certainly didn’t feel uncomfortable there. I’m not one to hang out in the Pavilion area (if it’s still called that LOL!).

My 91 year old mother and I were thinking of going there for a week, but now I’m wondering if we should. We normally stay in the northern part of Ocean Drive Around the 7200 block area. The most we do is hit the outlets, Broadway at the Beach, and Barefoot Landing.

is the crime as bad in NMB? Maybe we’d we better staying there?

TIA!

 

[Alicefan]

Whoa! Exactly what type of crime is going on in MB and where is it happening? We used to go there every year when I was a kid (60’s and 70’s) but I have also been there many, many times as an adult. The last time was a few years ago. I will say that I thought MB was looking a little “tired” and rundown, but I certainly didn’t feel uncomfortable there. I’m not one to hang out in the Pavilion area (if it’s still called that LOL!).

My 91 year old mother and I were thinking of going there for a week, but now I’m wondering if we should. We normally stay in the northern part of Ocean Drive Around the 7200 block area. The most we do is hit the outlets, Broadway at the Beach, and Barefoot Landing.

is the crime as bad in NMB? Maybe we’d we better staying there?

TIA!

Yeah, the pavilion area is where you need to avoid. From there down to the Family Kingdom amusement park on the south end. All of the places that used to be where everyone loved is now being taken over by thugs and prostitutes. You will be fine up in the North end. Anywhere where there are nice neighborhoods doesn't tend to draw the trash. If you go to the pavilion area, you need to do it in the day time. And never ever come during Memorial Day weekend. You won't be able to move or get out of your hotel. NMB is ok as long as you avoid Atlantic beach as they get their fair share of trouble too. Either go up near Cherry Grove or as far down as Pawleys Island for the nicer areas. A lot of people come here to Garden City because there's a pier and some little thrill rides and food and bars all in a compressed little area and I've never heard of anything bad happening here in the 30 years I've been here.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I'm the one who initially used the term, so just to clarify -- to me, "Low rent" means neither "Florida Man" nor "212."

By "low rent," I meant people who lack basic respect for other people, property, rules and laws, or generally accepted standards of conduct in public. They make fools of themselves during events like spring break, for whatever reason, creating both disruptive and dangerous situations sometimes.

It has nothing to do with economic status or residence -- it's about character...or lack of character.

I’m so confused...so what does “Florida Man“ mean?

 

[izzy]

Yeah, the pavilion area is where you need to avoid. From there down to the Family Kingdom amusement park on the south end. All of the places that used to be where everyone loved is now being taken over by thugs and prostitutes. You will be fine up in the North end. Anywhere where there are nice neighborhoods doesn't tend to draw the trash. If you go to the pavilion area, you need to do it in the day time. And never ever come during Memorial Day weekend. You won't be able to move or get out of your hotel. NMB is ok as long as you avoid Atlantic beach as they get their fair share of trouble too. Either go up near Cherry Grove or as far down as Pawleys Island for the nicer areas. A lot of people come here to Garden City because there's a pier and some little thrill rides and food and bars all in a compressed little area and I've never heard of anything bad happening here in the 30 years I've been here.

This makes me really sad. I have so many wonderful memories of our family vacations in MB. I always thought it was such a family friendly place, but apparently not so much anymore.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

I’m so confused...so what does “Florida Man“ mean?

If you have not played Florida man you should!
On google type/ or say Florida man and a birthday.
You will understand what Florida man is.

( in Florida the newspapers print Florida man ...instead of the mans name)

 

[kirstenb1]

Whoa! Exactly what type of crime is going on in MB and where is it happening? We used to go there every year when I was a kid (60’s and 70’s) but I have also been there many, many times as an adult. The last time was a few years ago. I will say that I thought MB was looking a little “tired” and rundown, but I certainly didn’t feel uncomfortable there. I’m not one to hang out in the Pavilion area (if it’s still called that LOL!).

My 91 year old mother and I were thinking of going there for a week, but now I’m wondering if we should. We normally stay in the northern part of Ocean Drive Around the 7200 block area. The most we do is hit the outlets, Broadway at the Beach, and Barefoot Landing.

is the crime as bad in NMB? Maybe we’d we better staying there?

TIA!

Hey, we've stayed at the Avista Resort the week after Christmas for the last 2 years. North Myrtle Beach was fine. It was the off season, so not busy. We felt very safe. We went to the Aquarium, Alligator Adventure and the outlets. Would recommend the Avista as a budget friendly oceanfront condo/hotel. We were able to get a 2 br with full kitchen, washer/dryer and directly oceanfront for $125 a night. Safe neighborhood to go for walking/jogging. I think you'd be fine in NMB. Our neighbors stay south of MB, and they said that's a safe area too.

 

[JimMIA]

Getting back to MIAMI Beach -- the topic of the thread -- here's a quick update on where we are right now. Hopefully Channel 10's reader comments won't get too nasty. They tend to be a bit unvarnished.

This week seems to be the peak week, but we have two more weeks that officials are worried about. One is April 11-18, and the other is May 22-25, right before Memorial Day.

https://www.local10.com/news/local/...all-on-south-beach-amid-chaotic-spring-break/

 

[JimMIA]

Incidentally, when you see the people twerking on top of cars, the driver of one car had his arm crushed and is in the hospital.