The youthful crowds who celebrated spring break at Fort Lauderdale beach over the past five weeks were gone Wednesday. But be prepared: The thousands of music fans who will be lured to the Tortuga Music Festival on Friday have yet to arrive.
Before that big party begins, how did the city and its barrier island fare with the hordes of college-age kids who came to let loose and party?
Not bad, according to police and some beach residents, who didn’t see the overwhelming crowds and violence that happened on Miami Beach.
As dads pushed strollers, bathers soaked up the sun and athletes ran their miles beneath palm trees, snowbirds Suzy Schenburg and George Walters strolled Wednesday along A1A.
They arrived in town a few weeks ago, when spring breakers’ partying was at peak levels. Their “right-in-the-middle-of-everything” condo is three blocks north of East Las Olas Boulevard, Schenburg said.
“The police did a fantastic job,” she said.
Walters said he didn’t mind the crowds of kids who were fun to watch.
“It’s a rite of spring,” Walters said.
Fort Lauderdale police arrested 154 people, and more than half of those were for possession of narcotics, Detective Tracy Figone said. Two people were taken into custody for disorderly conduct and three were arrested for driving under the influence, she said.
“The 2019 Fort Lauderdale spring break went very well and the department does not foresee making any major changes for next year,” Figone said.
Officers also wrote 2,896 citations. Uber driver Jay Cullimore, who also lives on the beach, got two of those tickets.
He was blocked in heavy traffic and picking up fares on A1A near the temporary police command post at Poinsettia Street when he said he was written up for obstructing traffic and not wearing his seat belt.
Cullimore said despite the pain to his wallet from $280 in tickets, he had made money with “surge pricing,” increased fares charged during periods of high demand.
But after he was cited, Cullimore said he stopped working on the barrier island for the rest of spring break.
Police did not set up official pickup and drop-off sites. A spokeswoman said on March 15 that drivers could use byways like Almond Avenue or Castillo Street and streets north to get passengers and avoid being ticketed on the main roads.
“I won’t do it next year either, unless they announce specific pickup and drop-off spots,” Cullimore said. “I’m hoping they coordinate with Uber next year. That would be great.”
He said Tuesday he’s feeling relieved that the multitudes — and the pedestrian barriers erected to keep them on the sidewalks and prevent jaywalking — are gone.
“You can do the normal things you normally do,” said Cullimore, who lives near East Las Olas Boulevard. “Dropping people off at the side of the road is the normal thing to do.”
In contrast to Fort Lauderdale’s experience, the crowds and videos of fights on Miami Beach that were posted on social media prompted police to put 371 officers — from its own department and borrowed from other agencies — to patrol during at least one spring break weekend.
Miami Beach police said 632 people were arrested during the month of March; 196 of those were for felony offenses and 35 were nabbed on warrants.
Only 46 people were identified as students, Miami Beach Police Officer Ernesto Rodriguez said. The majority of those taken into custody — 404 — were Florida residents and 265 of those were from Miami-Dade County, he said.
Back on Fort Lauderdale beach, two blocks along East Las Olas Boulevard between A1A and Seabreeze Boulevard will be closed through this weekend during road construction, workers said.
A city ban on scooter use on the barrier island that was enacted for spring break is being extended through April 16.
Tim Schiavone, 68, a co-owner of the World Famous Parrot Lounge at East Sunrise Boulevard and A1A, said he enjoyed spring break this year.
Even though the landmark bar is “one mile north of ground zero from spring break insanity,” Schiavone said. “We get a very considerable bump in business, huge, one that we count on and one we look forward to.”
Repeat customers who appear at the lounge during the college holiday season are now several generations deep, and include parents and grandparents. Schiavone said he came to Fort Lauderdale for spring break when he was 22, and he never left.
“A hundred thousand kids on the beach, drunk and naked,” Schiavone said. “If you’re a kid, that’s a great time.”
He said college students nowadays have the cash to travel to South Florida and enough money left over to enjoy their vacations, too.
“Young people don’t necessarily look for the same tomfoolery as they did when this whole thing got started,” Schiavone said. “They’re a bit more sophisticated. … They’re drinking craft beers and top shelf beers and whiskeys and they’re a much more educated customer. They know the value of a dollar. We get a very nice crowd.”
A member of the Central Beach Alliance, an association of residents and business and property owners, Schiavone said the crowds were well managed during the five weeks. And as a barrier island resident, he said he understands neighbors may complain about what the crowds may bring.
“There is a limit to how much noise we can put up with and how much trouble comes with this particular time of year,” Schiavone said. “But I have yet to see it get to my threshold for trouble. I enjoy and envy young people having a good time.”
And after surviving spring break, starting this Friday and lasting until Sunday night, city and barrier island residents can expect up to 30,000 music fans visiting the beach each day to see performers such as Kenny Chesney, Sheryl Crow and Flo Rida at the Tortuga Music Festival.
Fort Lauderdale police have not yet released crowd management plans for the festival that will be held at Fort Lauderdale Beach Park.
On Twitter, Tortuga organizers encouraged fans to take water taxis to the shows.
The outside lane of northbound A1A was partially blocked with cones Wednesday morning as vendors’ trucks lined up to enter the half-mile of sand between Holiday Drive and Southeast Fifth Street.
Schiavone said he’s ready for Fort Lauderdale’s next big party, and called Tortuga “another example of how well our city has progressed. Look at this fantastic, well-organized, perfect event.”
For drivers who may become stuck in gridlock, he suggested that rather than leaning on horns, they “get a book, meditate, call your mom. Everybody is in such a hurry to do nothing. I don’t like traffic any more than the next guy.
“But traffic means visitors, visitors means money and if everybody is paying their way to be here, I’ll deal with it,” Schiavone said. “Take a look out the window and thank God you’re not looking at some brick wall in Pittsburgh or Trenton or Dayton, Ohio. You’ve got an extra 15 minutes to appreciate that you’re here.”
ljtrischitta@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4233 or Twitter @LindaTrischitta
ALSO:
Tortuga 2019 visitor’s guide: What’s new, what’s gone, what’s to drink on Fort Lauderdale beach