Miami Beach fortifying up for Memorial Day Weekend.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/28/2 ... orial.html

Come Friday of the holiday weekend, Ocean Drive will be closed, Collins Avenue will be one-way heading north, and Washington Avenue will be one-way heading south, creating a loop to control cruising and lead drivers into city parking lots. Roadblocks will be erected on many of the cross streets off Fifth, Ocean, Collins and Washington.


Police will stage a DUI checkpoint from 8 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday on the MacArthur Causeway, east of the entrances to Palm and Hibiscus islands. They will not stop every car, but if you are stopped and have an expired registration, you’ll get a ticket. If you have an outstanding warrant or fail a DUI roadside test, you will be arrested, police say. This is the first time police are establishing a checkpoint since the parties began in 2001.

thats some bullshit, creating a DUI checkpoint in an area where there will obviously be drinking an partying involved.

I hope the folks coming down from Atlanta, DC, NY, Chicago etc are informed about this. Its a great way for the Miami Beach Police to ruin a fun weekend of festivities.

thats some bullshit, creating a DUI checkpoint in an area where there will obviously be drinking an partying involved.

I hope the folks coming down from Atlanta, DC, NY, Chicago etc are informed about this. Its a great way for the Miami Beach Police to ruin a fun weekend of festivities.

That's the whole point actually. The Beach residents are sick of Memorial Day Weekend. Whether it's politically- or racially-motivated or both, I don't know. Fact is, the residents are sick of the Beach being on lockdown for the weekend, and now they've got the cops taking the gloves off. It might suck for business or tourism and not do much for the perception that Miami Beach is run by racists, but fact is, it's their beach, and not ours (unless you live there) and they can do what they want with regards to parties and events.

On a practical level it doesn't bother me anymore because even on normal days and nights, I do not go to parties on the Beach. 99 percent of the parties are lame and uncreative.

That's the whole point actually. The Beach residents are sick of Memorial Day Weekend. Whether it's politically- or racially-motivated or both, I don't know. Fact is, the residents are sick of the Beach being on lockdown for the weekend, and now they've got the cops taking the gloves off. It might suck for business or tourism and not do much for the perception that Miami Beach is run by racists, but fact is, it's their beach, and not ours (unless you live there) and they can do what they want with regards to parties and events.

On a practical level it doesn't bother me anymore because even on normal days and nights, I do not go to parties on the Beach. 99 percent of the parties are lame and uncreative.

People in the SOBE are such snobs, they want to have their cake and eat it too. SOBE, since the early 90's has promoted itself as a party destination, come to SOBE to enjoy the beaches, go to bars and clubs etc. This is what occurred in Ft. Lauderdale in the late 80's, Ft. Lauderdale Beach was once the biggest Spring Break destination until the residents started to complain about it.

Its like setting up a DUI Checkpoint right outside of Ultra or a club, its obvious your going to get arrests.

I don't like zero tolerance, it hurts more than it helps. Example if some dude is smoking a joint at an event what is the point is arresting him thus creating a potential violent situation? Old school cops know who to bust and for what.

I do like the scanners, low hanging fruit to get those with warrants off the street. As for the DUI checkpoint, don't drive and drive and your problem is solved...

I am going to do my part and spread the news to the folks in the Hip Hop Community that are coming down. I forwarded the link to a couple of Hip Hop sites and hopefully they can put the story up for their readers/viewers can see.

I say, blacklist SOBE from the festivities. I am sure other cities around the US would love to have the tourism and money from the African Americans that come year in and year out to SOBE.

FUCK SOBE!!

That's actually a little spooky that they're going that route. You could be commuting to and from the Beach for work and get nabbed just because you forgot to renew your plate or have some ticket from years ago you forgot about. Plus that does nothing about the crime rate on the beach since the problem children are all tourists and will be driving rental cars which get their tags auto-renewed every June and any tickets issued to those plates have a note on them that it's a rental car. Or they drive their own vehicles from out of state and I don't think this system connects to the DMVs of all 50 states.

Like Club Legend alludes to, the only thing that will actually work is good old-fashioned Officer Friendly police work. Have a police presence, yes, but this is one of the few remaining jobs where the human element still matters. A computer can't make a judgement call on a person smoking a joint.

As for the "snob" element? Maybe so. However, the Beach has successful parties and event weekends which make far more money than MDW. So that's the way they see it. If they don't want hip-hop weekend, WMC, or anything else for that matter, it's their choice. Just because it's a pretty beach destination doesn't give the tourists the right to fuck it up. MDW, Conference, or whatever, I agree 100%, that if you are a tourist, it doesn't give you the right to fuck up the environment for those who live there year-round.

Level, I know you're more than thrilled that MDW still goes on, since it's the weekend you get to thug it out, but the fact is, regardless of race, the crowd can be problematic, and I think the Beach residents have had enough. The MDW parties should probably consider going somewhere else at this point.

And yeah, if they don't show up, so what? The Beach thrived for a decade prior to the Memorial Day Weekend festivities, and will continue to do so if the hip-hop community goes somewhere else. Heck, just so you don't call the NAACP on my ass, WMC could leave too and the Beach would not suffer too much economically. One party weekend does not define South Beach. Someone leaves, someone else will come in to fill the void with something else. Tell your thug friends that, they're not critical to the Beach economy. I'll tell the dance crackheads just so we're all fair and you don't have Al Sharpton beating down my door.

What the fuck are you talking about, Level? Are you really saying that people should be allowed to drive drunk and risk the lives of everyone around them because it's South Beach and that's what they do there? That's Icon dumb.

The police are announcing the checkpoint early so that people know not to drive drunk. What's wrong with that? It might even save lives. They didn't wait and put it up at the last minute to fuck people over. They gave warning.....not that I think they need to.

I can't believe that you, or anyone else, would take that attitude. There was a checkpoint while I was there last weekend so please don't say this is a racist plot to keep the black man down. It's not. It's the police trying to keep people safe from drunks on the road. I'm all for it.

Level you drinking again? No city wants urban beach week. Every city in the NE that had a similar event tossed them out.

It's a such a touchy issue just because of that, the race of the bulk of the partygoers. The minute the cops clamp down, the people throwing the events pull the race card. It's sad. You don't see the party organizers of WMC parties pulling the "Oh it's because we're Eurotrash" card when they get shut down, or you don't see LP complaining that he's the punching bag for the City when the cops give him shit during WMC. They just go with it and keep moving.

So what, they're setting up a DUI checkpoint? They're telling you it's on the Macarthur. Come in via the Venetian or the Tuttle if it bothers you that much. And pay your traffic violations too I guess. I know I'm gonna pay that parking ticket I got at Buster's wedding just to be safe. I have business on the Beach that Friday so I'll be prepared.

And yeah, raise a ruckus all you want over on wherever hip-hop people congregate. I'm sure Jesse Jackson will send you a check or something.

Get with the program, the Beach residents don't want the MDW party anymore. They live there, it's their right, for better or for worse. And unfortunately you can't tell them that "they should know better since they live on the Beach", since unfortunately it doesn't work that way.