CNN
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Miami Beach may be breaking up with spring break, but spring break isn’t moving on just yet. It’s a complicated, sometimes toxic, affair.
City officials and business owners have had to balance the billions of dollars generated by visitors during the annual ritual with successive years of unruly crowds and spring break violence. Two fatal shootings in 2023 led to a state of emergency and a midnight curfew in the popular destination for partying college students.
Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he was dispatching 140 state troopers throughout the Sunshine State – 45 of them in Miami Beach – to keep raucous spring breakers in check.
The tough love comes amid a City of Miami Beach breakup campaign that includes hefty fines, curfews, bag checks, restricted beach access, DUI checkpoints, $100 parking fees and nonresident towing rates of more than $500.
00:50 – Source: CNN
Miami Beach wants to break up with spring break
“This isn’t working anymore,” a young actor says in a viral YouTube video announcing the “breaking up” campaign. “And it’s not us. It’s you. We just want different things.”
For David Wallack, the owner of Mango’s Tropical Cafe in South Beach, a breaking point in the long love-hate relationship came after a series of stampedes last March.
“That was like the final straw for me,” Wallack said.
The mayhem unfolded outside Mango’s, which was packed inside and out with diners and revelers. Overlooking the beach, the restaurant/club is one of Miami Beach’s better-known nightspots, an Ocean Drive institution for more than 30 years.
Wallack said there were multiple stampedes in the area last spring. The mad rush can be sparked by a fight, a scream, a firecracker and, of course, a gunshot, he said.
CNN
David Wallack outside Mango’s Tropical Cafe on Ocean Drive in South Beach.
“Hundreds and hundreds of people running in panic,” Wallack recalled. “Tables and chairs go flying. People have to run for their lives.”
He contemplated shutting down his establishment. “But time and months and months soften you. So you become hopeful again.”
On a visit to Miami Beach on Tuesday, the Republican governor stood with Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner to announce the deployment of state troopers to enhance security.
“Florida is a very welcoming state. We welcome people to come and have a good time. What we don’t welcome is criminal activity. What we don’t welcome is mayhem and people that want to wreak havoc on our communities,” DeSantis told reporters.
“Make no mistake about it: If you’re coming here in order to enjoy Florida and have a good time, fine. If you’re coming for these other reasons, if you’re committing crimes, causing havoc, you are going to pay the price and we will hold you accountable.”
The troopers will assist multiple local law enforcement agencies, and a rapid-response team of 24 troopers will be on standby in the state’s most popular spring break destinations – Panama…
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