Fort Lauderdale City Commission tightens drinking restrictions in wake of shootings. Business owners say that's not the solution
On Tuesday night, the Fort Lauderdale City Commission voted to get rid of open container and outdoor consumption of alcohol in its entertainment districts in the wake of recent shootings near the area.
The safety push comes after 17-year-old Joshua Gipson was shot and killed outside Beach Place on State Road A1A on New Year's Eve. Days before that, five people were injured after a shooting around 2 a.m. in the Himmarshee District on Southwest 2nd Avenue.
The recent violent events have renewed concerns over safety.
"The people who are causing those problems are the people who are having the parking lot parties, bringing their own alcohol," said Micah Harris.
Harris is the bar manager at Original Fat Cats on Himmarshee Street. He told CBS News Miami that their late-night crowd is typically regulars in the service industry.
"There's bad apples in every bunch, but the bad apples aren't the people that are coming to the bars; they're the people that are having the parking lot parties and bringing their own alcohol, and they're walking around downtown, and they're not contributing financially to the district," Harris said.
The city hopes the measures will make streets safer. Bar owners and managers say it's a slow death
The city hopes this move will address that issue and create safer streets.
"Underage children were drinking, and it was very hard to police that," said Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis. "There's no enforcement mechanism to be able to enforce that, now we're giving the police the authority to do that and we're also telling the bars that they cannot sell from windows outside their bars, they can't have kiosks selling liquor."
While some businesses agree with the move, Julie Olszewski, who runs Con Murphy's and McSorley's on A1A, said that's going to hurt their bottom line.
"Thirty percent of our drinks are to-go during spring break, during the six weeks of March and into April, especially Tortuga, we sell drinks for people to walk down to the festival, so we're looking at a pretty big loss not being able to take containers to-go," Olszewski said.
The city is also considering scaling back last call from 4 a.m. to 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays in all of the city's entertainment districts.
Dicey Riley's owner, Mike Brennan, told CBS News Miami that it would force him to close.
"The place on the corner, The Den, just closed a week ago, and the place across the road closed nearly a year ago, called Lucky's more, will close if this happens," Brennan said.
The mayor said they will do a study with businesses that are willing to pay for extra security to see if it helps.
Harris said if last call changes, it would be a slow death sentence for the district. The bar has links to a petition against it posted all around the bar.
"Research other options, I don't think that is the answer," Harris said.
The ordinances are expected to be discussed again at the next commission meeting on February 3, 2026.