A popular Florida restaurant will close its doors for the rest of the spring break, amid concerns about further damage to the venue.
The popular Miami Beach party venue, the Clevelander Hotel, has seen fights erupt over the past week as crowds try to climb in during rush hour.
As a precaution, the hotel will continue to operate its guests, but the food and beverage operations will remain closed to the public until “at least” March 24.
Miami Beach, Florida USA – March 4, 2019: View of the cityscape from the classic art deco architecture of the Clevelander Hotel along the popular Ocean Drive.
(iStock)
“Clevelander South Beach has been one of the most well-known and prominent businesses on Ocean Drive for decades,” reads a statement posted online and on the front door of the business. “Recently, we are becoming increasingly concerned about the safety of our dedicated employees and valued customers and the city’s ability to maintain a safe environment.”
The hotel said it would reconsider the situation whether it would reopen or not. Despite the closure, the hotel will guarantee to pay its full salary to its employees.
Miami Beach recently saw an increase in visitors during the spring break, and some are bringing chaos along.
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The trouble started last week when police arrested 150 springbreakers during a party that got out of hand.
A fight at the Canteen Restaurant Thursday forced police to use peppercorns to disperse a crowd and break up a fight, NBC Miami reported. The video of the scene showed people struggling to get out of the way while the fighters tumbled around.
FILE – In this file photo of March 14, 2020, Tabatha Hannah, a student at the St. Clair Community College, in the center with police officers in Miami Beach, Florida. Colleges across the U.S. are reducing the spring break or canceling it altogether to discourage beach parties that could increase infection rates on campus again. (AP Photo / Lynne Sladky, file)
((AP Photo / Lynne Sladky, file))
Several people were arrested at the scene for disorderly conduct.
A similar incident at the Social, next to the Clevelander, led to a street fight with tables and chairs smashed, the Miami Herald reported.
FILE – Amaya Herron, a student at the University of Memphis during the spring break, spoke to a police officer in Miami Beach, Florida on March 14, 2020. Colleges across the US are scaling back the spring break or canceling it altogether to discourage beach parties that could raise infection rates on campus again. (AP Photo / Lynne Sladky, file)
“Last weekend there was a rush near us, and people dumped on our property, inside, in the restaurant, in our kitchen, in our lobby,” said Jessica Francos, vice president of Jesta Hotels. “We saw the situation get out of hand and it happened again yesterday.”
Dan Gelber, mayor of Miami Beach, said he did not “blame them for wanting to close” and that he had already made difficult decisions to try to quell the chaos over the past week. He described it as “feeling like this city was under investment” because of the number of people in the area.
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“We’ve made this area an all-and-go environment. It’s a kind of come-play-play-play-play area instead of a work-play-living area,” Gelber told CBS 4 Miami. . “So for me, I want to diversify there, so it’s not just 105 bars open until 5am.”
Miami Beach Police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez said: ‘In the past [five and a half] We have seen more than 900 arrests here in our city. We issued more than 5,000 traffic quotes. Last night alone, nearly two dozen arrests were made in our entertainment area alone. ‘
The city has called for reinforcements from Miami-Dade police to increase the officer’s presence on the street after a fatal shooting Monday.
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“This is a dangerous situation for our community. It is a dangerous situation for officers and therefore it is important that we act quickly and use tactics like peppercorns to disperse crowds,” Rodriguez added.