Midnight curfew brings late night calm to South Beach

Tourists were left disappointed and surprised on the first night of South Beach’s midnight curfew.

The curfew, which affects Miami Beach’s entertainment district, went into effect at 11:59 pm and was lifted at 6 a.m. The curfew will be reinstated each night throughout the weekend.

Miami Beach’s city commission voted unanimously Monday to instate a state of emergency which called for a curfew following two shootings the previous weekend that left five people injured.

“We didn’t know,” said Torben Fischer, who is visiting Miami Beach from Germany with his friend Mats Trosce.

“It’s just like sad because we’re just stuck here, and we can’t do what we want to do,” said Trosch who, along with Fischer, told CBS4 they were buying food from a nearby restaurant when they were told they had to go back to their hotel.

“They kicked us out there. We managed to get one of these burgers, now we’re back at the hotel,” said Fischer.

Thursday night areas that were swarming with spring breakers just days ago were calm. Business owners who spoke with CBS4 said they support the decision to maintain safety on Miami Beach, but they hoped for a different solution.

“It’s definitely affecting small businesses,” said Corey Shellow, who manages the C.J. Crab Shack restaurant on Ocean Drive.

He added that he felt the curfew was an overreach.

“If you look at everything in its totality it’s a very small percentage, but I think that the city went over the top with the punishments,” said Shellow.

Business owners that are blocks away from Ocean Drive where the shootings took place also questioned if the curfew was causing more harm to local businesses that are recovering from the pandemic.

“I feel like we’re all being punished for something that should not be, it’s not in our vicinity or in our area,” said Megan Nazari, owner of the ‘Do Not Sit On The Furniture’ event venue.

The curfew covers 23rd Street to South Pointe Drive from the ocean to the bay.