A beautiful steakhouse in Miami Beach is suing city officials in response to a curfew that reduces working hours during the busy spring break.
The lawsuit, filed by Papi Steak on First Street, describes the curfew as “arbitrary” and “unauthorized at sea” and calls for injunctions south of Fifth Street as well as costs.
“The curfew is excessive and not closely tailored to promote an overriding government interest because it bans activity on South Fifth Avenue in Miami Beach, which has not had crowds associated with the spring break and the violence they have sought to address. traffic ban “, the lawsuit. reads. “The curfew is arbitrary and capricious because it seeks to restrict activities to a wide section of South Beach without taking into account any legitimate government need to ban travel, rallies and other constitutionally protected activities throughout the curfew.” .
While the lawsuit alleges that the curfew was unfairly targeted at a luxury area that was quieter than the busiest part of the city popular with young springers, the steakhouse on Monday was the scene of a brawl between two UFC fighters, Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington.
SPRING AID FOR CRIME IS PROHIBITED IN A POPULAR DESTINATION
After two shootings in the heart of the South Beach entertainment district that injured five people between Sunday and Monday, city leaders imposed a curfew from midnight to 6 a.m. Thursday through Sunday. On the first day, the nightlife was visibly and audibly sluggish.
In addition to forcing bars and restaurants to close at midnight, the curfew cut liquor stores at 6 p.m. and the city cut off off-street parking on the busy Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue highways.
Police said on a calm afternoon after the curfew, with Miami Beach Police Public Information Officer Ernesto Rodriguez telling Fox News Digital, “Fortunately, we had no problems with the curfew.”
He confirmed jokes on Friday morning after Fox News Digital saw a smooth end to the night when police announced a curfew at midnight.
“No problem,” said an officer who parked at an intersection on Collins Avenue after the crowd dispersed. “Very calm. I did not hear anything on the radio – people just went home.”
VIOLENCE ON MIAMI BEACH WAS DRIVED BY HUMANITARIANS WHO ARE HUMANITARIANS COMING BY CAR
But the response for business owners and their employees has been mixed. Bartenders at many major beach clubs and hotels said they expected to miss the tips, but were happy to take a break from the chaos. The janitor of another restaurant on Ocean Drive said that despite losing his business, he wished the curfew had been lifted sooner before things got out of hand.
“The curfew started too late,” he said. “We will lose our jobs, but it is what it is. The city said so, and we want to stay here.”
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Others hailed the lawsuit and blamed the city for overreacting, pointing to the spring break seasons in Daytona and Fort Lauderdale, where everyone sees huge crowds this season but has not seen similar violence.
The night was not without some evidence of criminal activity.
Police said a curfew was imposed in South Beach shortly after midnight on Thursday, March 24 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Michael Ruiz / Fox News Digital)
Fox News Digital witnessed at least two arrests earlier in the day, one at the intersection of Eighth Street and Ocean Drive and the other at 10th Street and Collins Avenue. Details were not immediately available, but in both cases the men were handcuffed.
Later that night, a man tried to leave the Collins Avenue Walgreen store with two cans of Modelo beer – when the clerk stopped him. She let them down and she let him out the door.
Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf contributed to this report
