MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - City officials have closed South Pointe Park in Miami Beach until further notice after, they said, thousands of people refused to adhere to social distancing guidelines.
Monday’s decision comes as Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez defended his decision to open public spaces like parks, marinas and golf courses.
“I’m glad to see that a lot of people took advantage of it, enjoyed our beautiful weekend and did it in a safe manner,” he said during a news conference.
But not everyone was safe. In a tweet sent Monday morning, Miami Beach announced the re-closing of South Pointe Park.
7News cameras captured signs at the park entrance saying it is “temporarily closed.”
“It was kind of expected, because when you were there, you were like, ‘Oh, this is going to be an issue,'” said resident Andres Asion.
Monday evening, area residents expressed their frustrations at the abrupt re-closing.
“This is stupid. I don’t know why the park is closed again,” said resident Mariusz Sosnowski. “I’m angry because I don’t understand these rules.”
“How does this make sense?” said resident Jeanette Donatti. “People that are exercising, biking or running, they don’t spread the virus by not wearing a mask, but the people that are sitting, standing or walking have to wear a mask.”
Others supported to decision to close the park.
“Really happy for the police and for the city [for closing] the park,” said resident Salome Steiglitz, “because it cannot continue like this — people going without masks.”
“I would say that 10% of people that were at the park had a mask on,” said Asion.
Asion shot video footage of the park on his Sunday visit. He said people were out getting ready to watch the sunset, exercising and playing games.
He said the way park rangers were enforcing the rules were confusing.
“It’s kind of weird, because if you’re jogging, and if you’re running, if you’re on a bike — you don’t have to wear a mask,” he said, “but if you’re walking, you have to wear a mask.”
Some residents said they want the police to be more strict.
“If they would give fines, like $200 or $100, to people without masks, they will put masks,” said Steiglitz.
Miami Beach City Manager Jimmy Morales said that while most parks weren’t a problem, “South Pointe Park is the most egregious exception.”
Morales went on to say that city employees who were on to enforce the rules “were met with hostility and non-compliance.”
“They got excited, we opened the parks, and they came out in big numbers, and unfortunately violated the rules,” said Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Gongora.
From Friday to Sunday, park rangers in Miami Beach issued thousands of verbal warnings about face coverings and social distancing, and more than 1,000 people had to be asked to leave after closing time. Most of the violators were at South Pointe Park.
Gongora said he’s gotten an earful from residents over the past few weeks, and now city leaders face the difficult task of figuring out how to move forward safely.
“We’re going to have to figure out a plan for reopening our city,” he said. “We can’t stay closed down forever. Most of the parks are open. South Pointe has closed until further notice by the city manager, but he can open it any day.”
Compared with South Pointe Park, it was a much calmer scene at other parks and marinas across South Florida. Cameras captured vehicles lined up outside Everglades National Park. Other residents headed to Flamingo Marina.
“Definitely, 100%, we’ve been waiting to come back,” said a boater.
Park rangers supervised to ensure people followed social distancing guidelines.
“We’re keeping our masks on, making sure, after we touch anything, use hand sanitizer,” said fisherman Nicholas Karolewicz.
In Fort Lauderdale, lanes of A1A from Las Olas to Sunrise boulevards closed down over the weekend with the goal of helping people keep their distance.
“I think it’s great because it gives a lot of people a lot of room to spread out,” said area resident Jeannie Cave.
Boaters in Broward County are taking advantage of marinas reopening. The boat ramp at Everglades Holiday Park is open, but airboat rides and other activities remain on hold.
The next step for state officials is to allow more businesses to reopen, but that phase doesn’t include Florida’s virus hot spots — Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties — for the time being,
“The next step, obviously, is opening up more of our businesses, and we want to do that as quickly as possible,” said Gimenez, “as quickly and safely as possible, but we’re moving in that direction.”
Gimenez said all decisions on reopening are done with the advice of medical experts and following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Meanwhile, City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has not yet reopened public spaces.
Miami Beach commissioners are scheduled to meet on Friday, and officials said they may discuss reopening South Pointe Park.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.