"Same AM" discussion at City Hall is tonight
The Coconut Grove and City of Miami bar closing issue is scheduled to be heard by the City Commission tonight, January 28, at City Hall (3500 Pan American Drive) after 5 pm.
Commissioner Marc Sarnoff says he is very concerned about the late night (early morning) drinking and driving, (and rightly so), especially in light of the recent tragic accident on Key Biscayne. Will he move to change all of the City of Miami to a 3 am closing time? Or will the Grove still suffer under the unfairness of 3 am while the rest of the city parties until 5 am, 7 am and 24 hours in some cases? Which ironically, is where the drunk driver in the tragic accident was coming from -- a downtown Miami club with a 24 hour liquor license, in Mr. Sarnoff's Commission District.
It appears that a stacked deck of cyclists have been summoned to appear before the Commission by Mr. Sarnoff to plead their case of keeping drunk drivers off the streets in the early morning hours, due to 5 am and 7 am bar closing times. (What about the happy hour drinkers or dinner time drinkers and drivers?). It's ironic that if Mr. Sarnoff had really cared about this issue with bicyclists, he would have instituted the 3 am bar closing time for the whole City in 2008, and not just a small section of Coconut Grove, and the tragic bike accident may not have happened last week, according to his thinking anyway.
So in all fairness to the bicyclists and nurses and doctors and school teachers and children on their way to school in the early morning hours, that are affected by early morning drunk drivers, according to Mr. Sarnoff and his plea to parents at a local school not too long ago, let's hope Mr. Sarnoff demands the SAME AM for bar closings citywide, maybe countywide -- 3 am.
This should be an interesting meeting.
Commissioner Marc Sarnoff says he is very concerned about the late night (early morning) drinking and driving, (and rightly so), especially in light of the recent tragic accident on Key Biscayne. Will he move to change all of the City of Miami to a 3 am closing time? Or will the Grove still suffer under the unfairness of 3 am while the rest of the city parties until 5 am, 7 am and 24 hours in some cases? Which ironically, is where the drunk driver in the tragic accident was coming from -- a downtown Miami club with a 24 hour liquor license, in Mr. Sarnoff's Commission District.
It appears that a stacked deck of cyclists have been summoned to appear before the Commission by Mr. Sarnoff to plead their case of keeping drunk drivers off the streets in the early morning hours, due to 5 am and 7 am bar closing times. (What about the happy hour drinkers or dinner time drinkers and drivers?). It's ironic that if Mr. Sarnoff had really cared about this issue with bicyclists, he would have instituted the 3 am bar closing time for the whole City in 2008, and not just a small section of Coconut Grove, and the tragic bike accident may not have happened last week, according to his thinking anyway.
So in all fairness to the bicyclists and nurses and doctors and school teachers and children on their way to school in the early morning hours, that are affected by early morning drunk drivers, according to Mr. Sarnoff and his plea to parents at a local school not too long ago, let's hope Mr. Sarnoff demands the SAME AM for bar closings citywide, maybe countywide -- 3 am.
This should be an interesting meeting.
posted by Tom Falco at 10:00 AM
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5 Comments:
The should be the same rule worldwide: Open for business, 24 hours, 365 days. In most civilized cities the Government doesn't impose a particular time to close, especially not 3am, and only in a small section of the city. As an avid cyclist and morning runner I can tell you that's not the problem at all. Law enforcement is the issue, let the people be out in the streets whenever they want, it's called Freedom for Adults. If they break the Laws (noise, littering, drunkeness..) it's Jail time or heavy fines. Papa Sarnoff just wants a FEW streets in his backyard shut down early, while everyone else goes out right around the corner, until whatever hour they want to stay out. CI
As an early morning runner (sometimes as early as 5 a.m.) I feel safer when there are people on the streets. It's when it's dark and deserted that crime is more likely to happen.
The issue of Bikers' safety has nothing to do with bar closing times. We get hit by cars all the time, day or night, usually by sober drivers. The REAL issue is infrastructure, Bike Lanes, better roads, signs and education for both cyclists and car drivers. 3rd worst city in the USA. That's what Sarnoff cannot deal with. FIX the roads, educate people, THEN there will be less accidents. I see about one accident involving cars and bikes about every couple months. And it ain't pretty. About 3 weeks ago, this girl fell in a peloton, right in front of me, slashed her forehead on the floor, deep wound, bleeding. I called 911 3 times, it took the first Police car to arrive over 25 minutes. Same thing happened to the dead cyclist, the ambulance took forever to get there, could have saved his life. Now deal with THAT, Papa Sarnoff.
I broke a helmet hitting the floor once, full daylight, because this lady was getting into traffic talking on the phone. Now fix that. Expect many more accidents in places like South Bayshore Dr. real soon. and it has nothing to do with bar closings, papa Sarnoff. CI
Bikers would be a whole lot safer if there was just a smidgen of traffic law enforcement. (This includes stopping cyclist who are just as regular and blatant about running red lights and riding 'peloton' style 5 abreast down Bayshore.)
I run after work, as opposed to in the morning. Usually, by the time I get home, change, etc. I'm running from about 7-8:30 pm. Why does Sarnoff care less about my life than those that run or bike in the morning? A lot of people drink at happy hour too.
If this rule is put into effect it is legislating that my life is worth less based upon when I run. Commissioner Sarnoff - Can we have the bars closed until after 8pm? they can be open from 8pm-3am, then I'm safe too. Or, why not full-on prohibition of alcohol in Dade County?
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