‘Are we being punished?’ Miami-Dade, Broward excluded from Florida Phase 2 reopening

On Friday, bars and movie theaters will finally be allowed to welcome customers across Florida — except in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, where some business owners said they’re tired of feeling excluded.

“Are we being punished?” Adam Gersten, owner of the Wynwood bar Gramps, said. “Did our counties vote the wrong way?”

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Wednesday that bars, movie theaters and bowling alleys can open at half capacity starting Friday as most of Florida moves into the second of the state’s three-phase reopening in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

But there’s an exception for South Florida, whose counties have operated on different reopening schedules from the rest of the state because of the higher concentration of COVID-19 cases in the area. DeSantis’s order states that Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties can move to Phase 2 with a written request from their county mayors or county administrators.

Patty Abril, assistant director of communications with Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Giménez’s office, wrote in an email that there is “no target date” for the county to reopen bars, theaters or nightclubs.

However, Abril confirmed Wednesday that gyms in the county can reopen June 8 — about a month later than the rest of the state. Giménez has not yet signed the order allowing gyms to open but that could happen as soon as Thursday.

Ric Barrick, spokesman for Broward County Administrator Bertha Henry, wrote that there is no announced target date for the next phase of reopenings for Broward County either, but bowling alleys will likely be announced “within a week.”

Palm Beach County did not respond to a request for comment.

Gersten said that while he understands the concern for public health, he thinks it’s worth considering the economic impact of mandating that some bars remain closed.

“I’m definitely not saying everybody should just rush and be open. I am not a yahoo, let’s open, I cannot believe the oppressive government has got me down, type. At all,” Gersten said. “The counterpoint to that, again, is that I think families are in danger of losing their houses, their homes.”

Gramps has furloughed its 40 employees as Gersten awaits the announcement that Miami-Dade is entering Phase 2. While Gramps was previously filling take-out orders, Gersten said he is now completely closed. He said he was making only a couple hundred dollars a day with take-out, which was an “abyss.”

“I might not reopen. I don’t know,” Gersten said.

Bill Fuller, the co-owner of Ball & Chain in Little Havana, was all set to open last week alongside restaurants since his bar serves food. But he was stopped by police before he was able to seat a customer. And now, he still doesn’t know when he’ll be allowed to reopen.

“I think that bar owners in general have gotten the shorter end of the stick here,” Fuller said. “I believe that all bars should have the right to open no differently than a restaurant as long as they adhere to the standards of a restaurant.”

Fuller said Ball & Chain can seat 550 people, which would have allowed him to open up to 275 customers at half capacity. He was wiling to reduce it further, to 125 customers, as that’s how many seats he has inside the establishment.

Local movie theater operators are also ready to open. But Gregory von Hausch, president and CEO of the Broward County Film Society, which operates Savor Cinema in Fort Lauderdale and Cinema Paradiso in Hollywood, said he doesn’t mind being held back as the rest of Florida gets back to the movies.

“I’ll yield to science, I won’t yield to politics,” von Hausch said. “I think we’re ready, I just need the all-clear from someone who knows what they’re talking about.”

Von Hausch said he doesn’t want customers feeling “uneasy.” He also fears opening too soon to no customers if people still have questions about the safety of a night out at the movies.

Despite the economic impact of a two-month closure — von Hausch said he’d lost $45,000 by the end of April — both von Hausch and Vivian Marthell, co-director of O Cinema in Miami Beach, said they won’t raise the price of tickets to accommodate reduced capacity at their respective theaters.

“We don’t believe we’re going to charge more. We want to do extra things to get people to come out,” von Hausch said. “Once you break a habit like going to the movies, sometimes it’s easier to just stay home.”

Tattoo shops, massage parlors, tanning salons

DeSantis’s order also allows tattoo shops, massage parlors and tanning salons to open on Friday. Miami-Dade County has no target opening date for those businesses, said Abril.

Broward County, on the other hand, opened those businesses with restrictions on June 1. And Justin Zoellner, a body piercer with Electric Flamingo Tattoo in Cooper City, which reopened Monday, said it’s going well, even if things haven’t been normal.

Under new rules, all customers must have an appointment and have one-on-one sessions with artists or piercers, meaning they can’t bring families or friends along to watch. Customers must wear a mask and no children are allowed at any time.

“We have run into a couple of people that have been pretty angry — ‘You’re telling me I can’t be with my girlfriend while she’s getting a tattoo or a piercing?’” Zoellner said. “Some people are just not understanding. They don’t seem to understand that just because we’re open doesn’t mean that the pandemic has gone away.”

Zoellner also said that tattoo shops were “left in the dark” when DeSantis authorized other businesses, such as hair salons and restaurants, to reopen.

“They don’t care about us at all,” Zoellner said.

Gabriel Gajate, general manager of the Inkaholic Tattoos location in Kendall, agrees. He had only one word to describe the exclusion of Miami-Dade from DeSantis’s latest order: “horrible.”

“We’re at a standstill, we’re at the mercy of the government,” Gajate said. “All of Florida is opening but we’re excluding Miami-Dade as if we don’t have families to feed.”

Gajate, a divorced father of two, said he didn’t receive a stimulus package from the government and he doesn’t qualify for unemployment.

Across the three Inkaholik locations, 40-45 tattoo artists are out of work, not including piercers and other employees.

Gajate said that although tattoo shops follow “much more sanitary procedures” than other personal grooming businesses, he’s concerned the stigma surrounding tattoos is what’s preventing the shops from opening.

“It’s just sad because you see everybody else opening up around you,” Gajate said.

The Keys

People can return to their favorite watering holes in the Florida Keys starting Friday.

Monroe County, which was not exempted with other South Florida counties, will allow bars to reopen, said county spokeswoman Kristen Livengood, but bars must follow the restrictions outlined in the governor’s order.

The city of Key West also agrees with the governor, said Mayor Teri Johnston on Wednesday.

“Key West will move forward,” Johnston said. “People will be seated. You’re not moving around, not hanging on each other. We will put protective measures in place.”

In Key West, the famous Sloppy Joe’s has been closed since March 17 and management said Wednesday it will not reopen Friday.

“When we complete our new procedures and train staff, we’ll announce Sloppy Joe’s reopen date,” said Donna Edwards, brand manager for the Duval Street landmark.

But a few spots on Duval Street have already reopened, including Irish Kevin’s.

Irish Kevin’s on Monday had a guitarist doing cover songs and several doormen waiting to take temperatures of customers and have them wash their hands with sanitizer.

Irish Kevin’s has a restaurant license, which means it gets at least 51 percent of its revenue from food, so it was allowed to reopen along with other restaurant dining rooms.

Johnston said, “We want to regain the business we’ve lost by being locked down for two months.”

In the Upper Keys, most hot spots popular with locals and tourists alike have already been allowed to open under the existing restaurant rule, with a few notable exceptions. These include the Caribbean Club in Key Largo, Islamorada Brewery and Distillery and the Florida Keys Brewing Company, which are stand-alone bars.

”It has been a very big deal for them,” said Judy Hull, director of the Islamorada Chamber of Commerce.

Miami Herald staff writers Douglas Hanks and Aaron Leibowitz contributed to this report.