Miami Beach: Mayor Levine proposes new prohibition

• Tweet
• Sumo

• Tweet

In New York City, the mayor banned super-sized soft drinks.

In Miami Beach, Mayor Philip Levine wants to ban cocktails — after a certain hour.

Levine has proposed a new prohibition — a ban on outdoor alcohol sales after 2 a.m. Forget all the after hours parties on one of the most famous tourist strips in the world.

Levine apparently had a bad time on Ocean Drive recently. He told commissioners at the meeting Wednesday that it was “turning into a Bourbon Street.” Like that’s a bad thing.

“It’s turning into a terrible place that’s become a blight, a cancer that spreads to our entire city,” he said.

Did he get tossed from Wet Willie’s?

More likely he is wincing at the recent headlines from Ocean Drive, which include a shooting during Spring Break and a video of a cop getting drunk with patrons at Mango’s.

City Attorney Raul Aguila is to draft an ordinance the commission could hear as early as next month.

So, this Memorial Day weekend may be the last call on a post 2 a.m. Ocean Drive.

Cheers.

  Philip Levine