Miami Beach business owners oppose restrictions after weekend shootings

MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A battle is brewing between business owners and city leaders in Miami Beach, days after a string of violent incidents during Memorial Day weekend sent the tourist destination spiraling into chaos.

Shootings, some of them fatal, stabbings, street fights and other violence during Memorial Day weekend, on or near Ocean Drive, has triggered calls for a rollback to a 2 a.m. closing time and other restrictions on the famed street.

At a community meeting hosted by Miami Beach Police, Thursday, area residents expressed their disapproval over the recent violence. “I live in a crime zone,” said one woman.

“We got three bullets coming through the front door,” said another resident. “The president of my condo building had to take shelter on the floor.”

The event was filled with tense exchanges between irate residents and local business owners like David Wallack, who owns Mango’s Tropical Cafe on Ocean Drive. At one point, the event’s moderator warned Wallack he would have to leave if he kept interrupting.

At the top of most participants’ lists was Ocean Drive — their bars, their hours and noise.

Many at Thursday’s meeting blame these businesses for the uptick in violent crime, not just on holiday weekends but year-round. “It sends a signal that anything goes in this town,” said one resident.

Activist and hotel owner Mitch Novick and others said they want bars on Ocean Drive, like Mango’s, to stop serving alcohol at 2 a.m.

“You need to lower your music,” Novick told Wallack during the often argumentative meeting.

At a news conference held earlier on Thursday, Ocean Drive business owners emphasized a 10-point plan put in place in 2016 that called for more money to increase police patrolling on Ocean Drive, better management and improved space on the sidewalks and outdoor cafes.

“We want the chance to finish the 10-point plan and continue the tremendous things on Ocean Drive that are happening, that are outstanding,” said Mike Palma, owner of the Clevelander and Essex: House hotels.

Wallack also spoke in opposition to the rollback. “In a live music cabaret district, it’s the only one of its type in the United States,” he said.

Opponents of the rollback and other restrictions argued that people who come to Ocean Drive do so to party late. “The headlines around the world will be, ‘South Beach shuts down,’ or ‘South Beach nightlife shuts down,'” said one business owner.

Some business owners said they would be open to a rollback of closing times on Ocean Drive but only if the same rules apply for the rest of the city.

Others said a few bad apples, not the businesses, are to blame for the violence. “Gangbangers, those are the problem people,” said Wallack.

Mango’s owner said he does what he can to keep his restaurant free of problems, but on Tuesday night, Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and others said the noisy club and others like it make their city worse.

7News cameras captured Levine and Wallack’s escalating war of words during a news conference. “Do you know what you did? You inherited a business,” Levine indicated as he pointed a finger at Wallack. “Go get a job. Go build a company.”

Then there’s a city commissioner’s take. “If I had the opportunity to replace the chief of police, I most certainly would,” said Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez.

Rosen Gonzalez, who is running for Congress, said she blames Miami Beach’s crime problem on policing and Chief Dan Oates. “I don’t think he’s what Miami Beach needs right now.”

Oates issued a statement in response to the commissioner’s remarks. It read in part, “To be a police chief is to occasionally take criticism from many quarters. It comes with the job. I always try to learn what I can from criticism and move forward.”

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