MIAMI (WSVN) - After being declared “Zika free,” Wynwood celebrated with some awesome dining deals, Friday night.
Wynwood businesses suffered for the past month as ground and aerial spraying, along with a travel advisory, kept customers away from the area. Some restaurants and shops saw their business decrease 50 percent.
“The last few months have been extremely quiet,” Danielle Pino of Wynwood Art Gallery said.
Now, with the recent lifting of the advisory, last Monday, more than 20 restaurants offered specials Friday to bring people back into the community.
Local leaders joined Florida Gov. Rick Scott for the one-night event, called “Dine Out Wynwood.”
“With hard work, mosquito abatement efforts, education efforts and all these things, we were able to control the spread of Zika here, and so now we gotta get this community back to work,” Scott said.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez was in Coyo Taco showing his support. “The zone has been lifted. We have really low mosquito counts here,” he said. “We still need to be aware and protect ourselves, but it’s good, and I’m just here to say, ‘Hey, come back to Wynwood.’ It’s a cool place; you’re gonna have a good time.”
Wynwood Kitchen and Bar offered deals such a $7 margaritas and $7 nachos to welcome diners back.
“We’re welcoming back all the great guests that we have had and missed for the last month,” owner and chef Miguel Aguilar said. “As soon as the governor came out and lifted the warning from that evil thing we won’t talk about, immediately, the next day, you saw more people out in the streets.”
More than 20 businesses took part in the event. Scott hopes it gives a boost to the area’s fortunes.
“I will be going there tonight. Hopefully everyone in this community will be there to get the businesses back,” Scott said.
Those nachos at Wynwood Kitchen and Bar are made fresh by the owner.
“Anywhere you can have these, I would be there,” Aguilar said. “I’m here already. Let’s eat!”
“I’m excited for the night tonight. I think it will bring a lot of people to the neighborhood that haven’t come out in a while,” Pino said. “So it is an exciting time for us to bring them back.”
The Florida Department of Health discovered five new cases of non-travel related Zika in the Miami area, including one in Miami beach, where there is still a Zika advisory zone.
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