Miami Beach mayor declares emergency as 'wall-to-wall' crowds descend on city, sparking virus fears

(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

last updated 22 March 2021

Miami Beach, Florida, Mayor Dan Gelber on Saturday declared a state of emergency, set an 8 p.m. curfew, and closed roads in the entertainment district as large crowds arrived in the city, sparking fears of another coronavirus surge.

Law enforcement officials said people flocked to Miami Beach because they were looking for a place with fewer pandemic restrictions — Florida reopened earlier than most states — but city leadership thinks it's gone too far, The New York Times reports.

"Too many people are coming, really, without the intention of following the rules, and the result has been a level of chaos and disorder that is just something more than we can endure," Gelber told CNN, adding that at night the city "feels like a rock concert, wall-to-wall people over blocks and blocks." Raul Aguila, the interim city manager, said "you couldn't see pavement, you couldn't see grass."

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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