Wednesday, June 1, 2011

The Violence of Urban Weekend Has Activists Calling for it to End

BY TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA

TOLORUNNIPA@MIAMIHERALD.COM

For the past 10 years, the Art Deco District on South Beach has turned into a hip-hop street party during Memorial Day weekend, with a bulked up police presence monitoring hundreds of thousands of young revelers.

Monday’s early morning shootings, which resulted in one dead, four bystanders hit by stray bullets and three police officers injured, has renewed a call to replace the hip-hop themed festival with a less rowdy event — or do away with it altogether.

“There isn’t a residential street in South Beach not affected by tons of garbage, crime to our vehicles, excessive noise 24 hours a day, and simply a lack of respect for our community, citizens and property,” activist Herb Sosa wrote in an open letter to the Miami Beach City Commission. “Make the difficult but correct decision to put an end to Urban Weekend in Miami Beach.”

On Facebook, Miami Beach Commissioner Jerry Libbin supported a Memorial Day weekend curfew, which he said was proposed by City Manager Jorge Gonzalez.

“I think we need to take back the city for the residents,” said Libbin, who is also president and CEO of the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce. “It’s just not right that people live in fear.”
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/30/v-fullstory/2242766/activists-ask-if-urban-week-has.html#ixzz1O19Bdy3t
 

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