MIAMI — The booze was flowing, music thumping and dancers grooving inside Mango’s Tropical Cafe on Wednesday, but it wasn’t your typical Ocean Drive shindig: Party-goers didn’t valet their cars and they were out by 7 p.m.
That’s because the guests of honor were Miami Beach seniors, bused in from senior housing buildings across the city for free cocktails and food, and to hear from the club’s owner about why they should vote against a ballot question asking if voters want to ban alcohol sales citywide after 2 a.m.
“Vote No in November!” Mango’s owner David Wallack chanted while holding a campaign sign from a stage surrounded by neon lights and Halloween decorations.
More than 100 seniors attended the campaign party, which was held a day after mail ballots went out ahead of the Nov. 2 election. Invited guests, who received fliers advertising the event at their buildings, danced and enjoyed food from a fully stocked buffet. They heard a speech about why the 2 a.m. proposal would harm hospitality workers and cost the city tax revenue. Then they were escorted onto several charter buses parked along Collins Avenue and driven back home with campaign literature in hand.
“We want them to know what they’re voting on,” Wallack said in an interview.
The event was organized by Mango’s and the political committee Citizens For A Safe Miami Beach, to which Mango’s is a contributor, Wallack said. The political committee has not yet reported its financial contributions or spending after filing paperwork with the city in early September.
After helping defeat a similar referendum question in 2017, which would have shut down alcohol sales after 2 a.m. on Ocean Drive, Wallack said he and his employees are again fighting to maintain their livelihoods. The 2 a.m. proposal was championed by Mayor Dan Gelber, who said it would be a key tool in repositioning South Beach’s entertainment district from a party area to a safer, calmer place amid concerns from residents about public safety in the district.
Wallack said the crime in the street, which flared up during spring break when the city was under a midnight COVID curfew, has nothing to do with how late businesses serve alcohol because people bring their own alcohol and party in public.
The city commission imposed a 2 a.m. rollback in the entertainment district for about a month over the summer but a judge ruled the restriction to be unlawful after another Ocean Drive mainstay, the Clevelander hotel, sued to challenge the law.
Wallack said the city should curb crime and rowdiness in South Beach, not blame businesses.
“It has nothing to do with our operation,” Wallack said of his club, famous for its scantily clad, feathered dancers. “They are not our customers standing in line, paying up to $40 to come in and paying $15-$18 for a cocktail.”
Milady Gonzalez, 74, who lives in the Stella Maris apartment building in North Beach, said she was “delighted” to attend the party, which marked her first time at Mango’s. She drank a margarita, ate some dinner and had dessert. It was all free, she said. She learned about the event from a flier left at her building.
She said she will vote against the 2 a.m. ballot question because she doesn’t think alcohol sales contribute to the crime in the city.
“The criminals can come at whatever time and any day,” she said in Spanish. “Not because the bars serve drinks.”
