Spring Break

Volkonski · #1

Never went anywhere for Spring Break when in college. Didn't have the money or the time.

Miami Beach is 'breaking up' with spring breakers
In a social media ad campaign, Miami Beach, Florida, said it would be implementing new rules ahead of the popular time of year for visitors.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/miami-beac ... rcna141650

The city of Miami Beach sent out a strong message to spring breakers this month: "We're breaking up with you."

The Florida city released a new ad campaign Friday in which it outlined its plans for stricter rules for tourists.

The social media campaign comes a year after Miami Beach declared a state of emergency following two fatal shootings during spring break. It was the third year in a row that Miami Beach had to enact emergency measures to control disorderly crowds.

The video ad shows a number of people, who appear to be locals, “breaking up” with spring breakers. It calls out visitors who “want to get drunk in public and ignore laws” rather than enjoy the city’s culture. It also shows clips of the chaos from last spring break and calls the incidents “our breaking point” with spring break.

Miami Beach officials said the city would implement curfews, bag checks, restricted beach access, DUI checkpoints and expensive parking fees. It also said it would increase law enforcement.

The city's plans to crack down on tourists were first unveiled in a news release in February.

Volkonski · #2

As Miami Beach spring break begins, ‘law and order’ plan exposes political tensions

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/ ... rylink=cpy

Miami Beach leaders have sought to portray a unified front in their efforts to crack down on spring break chaos in March, declaring that the city is “breaking up with spring break” and detailing severe measures to shut down the party, ranging from parking garage closures to Slingshot rental bans. “Enough is enough, and that’s why we’re so united,” Mayor Steven Meiner said at a Feb. 15 press conference. But at public meetings and behind the scenes, political tensions have contributed to a thorny planning process and plenty of second-guessing in the final days before March, raising questions about whether officials are truly in sync and prepared to tackle the complex challenges that spring break presents.

City commissioners on Feb. 21 voted for substantial changes to a previously approved parking plan, sending administrators scrambling to interpret the new measures and to staff the city’s parking facilities — an 11th-hour move almost a year after officials had begun discussing plans for March 2024. The commissioner who proposed the changes, David Suarez, later suggested “political pressure” had prevented the city administration from pursuing certain safety measures and left it up to the commission to propose them, as Suarez did for parking garage closures. Tensions between part-time elected officials and full-time city administrators have been rising in part because of Suarez’s confrontational style, and four high-ranking city officials recently announced they are leaving their posts after spring break concludes. In a statement, city spokesperson Melissa Berthier denied that politics have “played any role in the administration’s approach,” adding that “we always welcome City Commission input.”

Meanwhile, the president of the Miami Beach police union has publicly skewered the administration’s spring break plans, saying in a Feb. 15 Instagram post that the city is “doing nothing different” than it has in the past and is “refusing to use things that have worked,” such as a South Beach traffic loop that was previously deployed during Memorial Day weekend. He also criticized the city’s plan to close beach entrances on Ocean Drive at 6 p.m., saying people shouldn’t be prevented from entering a public beach “barring an emergency.”

Rolodex · #3

They have had the same problems at Panama City Beach. There have been shootings, people getting hit with cars, people falling off balconies (sometimes fatal falls), noise, trash. They're doing all they can to make it inhospitable for spring breakers. It's a balance because businesses like the money. Funny that in this "terrible economy" there are so many thousands of college students who can afford to go on spring break. Kids did back in my day, but I don't think it was most kids. I went home for a week and worked to be able to have some money to get me through the rest of the semester till summer.

tek · #4

They did similar last year, it didn't work out so well.. so maybe they are smarter this year...

Slim Cognito · #5

Hopefully we'll get a break this spring. There's still not much down on the beach. Ian wiped it clean and recovery has been painfully slow.

#6

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... n-desantis

Florida’s rightwing Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, will deploy state troops to help with crowd control during the spring break season, warning that the Sunshine state will not “tolerate lawlessness”.

About 140 state troopers will be sent across Florida to assist 17 law enforcement agencies, as thousands of college students make their way en masse to popular spring break destinations, the Miami Herald reported.

At least 60 of those officers will be stationed in south Florida, mostly in Miami Beach, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. Spring break hotspots such as Daytona Beach and Panama City will also have an increased police presence, DeSantis said.

During the announcement on Tuesday, DeSantis warned potential visitors that there would be consequences for lawless behavior, WPLG reported.

“We’re a law-and-order state,” DeSantis said. “You are going to pay the price and be held accountable if you’re coming for reasons other than to have fun. That is not gonna fly in the Sunshine state.”