Miami Beach is reining in spring break revelers, with city officials declaring a state of emergency on Monday and announcing a curfew for parts of the South Beach area.
This comes in the wake of two shootings over the weekend that left five people injured. During spring break, tens of thousands of people come to Miami Beach, forming a "young, party-hard crowd," Mayor Dan Gelber said. "We can't endure this anymore, we just simply can't. This isn't your father's, your mother's spring break. This is something totally different."
"We don't ask for spring break, we don't promote it, we don't encourage it, we just endure it, and frankly, it's something we don't want to endure," Gelber added.
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The curfew, which runs from 12:01 a.m. to 6 a.m. Thursday through Monday, applies to an area of South Beach with several bars and restaurants, The New York Times reports. It will be finalized by city commissioners on Tuesday.
The shootings took place on Ocean Drive early Sunday and Monday, and are under investigation, Miami Beach Police Chief Richard Clements said. Since spring break visitors first started arriving in mid-February, nine officers have been injured, Clements said, and in the last three days, law enforcement officials have confiscated 37 firearms.
Miami Beach is connected to Miami via several bridges, and city manager Alina Hudak said the island cannot safely accommodate the large crowds that flock there during spring break. "We haven't been able to figure out how to stop spring break from coming," Gelber said. "We don't want spring break here, but they keep coming."
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