Holiday drew few to Miami parks reopened in COVID-19 pandemic. Fewer still wore masks

If anyone thought that the first day of the Memorial Day holiday weekend, with many parks in the city of Miami newly reopened after weeks of a coronavirus pandemic lockdown, would bring out the crowds of quarantine-weary folks ready to picnic and recreate in the open air, think again.

With beaches in Miami Beach and the rest of Miami-Dade County still closed until June 1, it appears a combination of overcast, muggy weather with a threat of rain and general wariness over a still-spreading virus kept most people indoors. Popular state parks like Oleta River in North Miami-Dade, meanwhile, remain closed — a disappointment for some hopeful visitors who drove to the entrance only to find the gates locked.

Dadeland Mall, on the other hand, was a busy place Saturday.

The real test of people’s eagerness to be outside — and their willingness to abide by new park rules that require masks in many instances and restrict large groups and contact sports — may not come until better weather settles in after the next few days of expected rain.

It could also come after beaches reopen across Miami Beach and the rest of the county. The county has yet to release its rules for beach use. Miami Beach city manager Jimmy Morales has said he probably won’t require masks on beaches, but the municipality would have to adopt any county rules as a minimum baseline. Beach reopenings in other parts of the state have brought criticism from health experts and others who say large crowds risk accelerating the spread of COVID-19.

The planned June 1 reopening of beaches apparently wasn’t soon enough for a small group of protesters in South Beach on Saturday. Three people were arrested after they decided to head for the water despite being warned by police, who had set up a designated protest area on the sand. One of the protesters, Kimberlee Falkenstine, 33, was arrested on May 10 during a similar protest near Lummus Park. She, Arthur Johnson III, 35, of Delray Beach, and Tara Higgins, 43, of Orlando face charges of resisting arrest without violence, violating an emergency order and trespassing after receiving a warning.

Meanwhile, the evidence at a range of county and city parks, recreational facilities and other open spaces was decidedly a mixed bag regarding observance of Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s “new normal” rules for parks and public facilities.

With no real crowds, there was plenty of space for park-goers to maintain proper distancing, and they mostly did — but many, if not most, did not wear masks.

People over age 2 in groups in Miami-Dade parks are supposed to don covering of nose and mouth unless undertaking “strenuous” exercise, or unless they have a health condition that makes breathing with a mask difficult. Experts say people passing one another outdoors while jogging, cycling or walking do not generally pose a transmission hazard, though social distancing of at least six feet is still encouraged. And while most coronavirus contagion is believed to happen indoors, experts say there is a risk for people congregating in close quarters outdoors.

At the Crandon Park Marina, open since the county lifted park closures in late April, policing of boaters by Miami-Dade personnel ensured full compliance on Saturday. The marina was busy, though not as much as normally, a manager said. Everyone not on a boat was wearing a mask. Most boaters removed theirs once at the boat ramp, but a few kept them on even while on board their boats. Social distancing and a maximum of 10 people on larger boats was also required.

The city reopened its biggest parks this week. At mid-day at its Grapeland Heights park, near Miami International Airport, one lone man exercised while wearing a mask fashioned from a bandanna. But a family of three, including a child, played in the grass, all maskless. The playground and sports fields remained closed, and so did the popular water park, likely discouraging potential park-goers.

Most of the activity in the area was next door, at the city’s International Links Melreese Country Club, the future home of David Beckham’s soccer team. None of the golfers observed in the course of an hour, most in small groups, wore a mask. Though golf may not be a strenuous activity, county rules do not require players to wear masks.

At the newly reopened Kennedy Park in Coconut Grove, some visitors in the small clumps of picnickers and strollers wore masks, but others did not. The popular AC’s Icees truck was back at the park after moving to a temporary location nearby, but of a dozen people waiting in line or standing nearby, few wore masks, nor was anyone maintaining proper separation.

At the entrance to Tropical Park in Miami-Dade’s Westchester area, a digital sign displays two separate, colorful messages reminding park goers to wear their masks. But they don’t seem to be listening.

Park visitors on Saturday afternoon — fewer than the popular regional county park typically saw on a pre-pandemic weekend day — were practicing a number of approved leisure activities, including running, cycling, skating, playing basketball and racquetball or just sitting on chairs in the grass, soaking up sun and eating lunch. But most were doing it without a mask, even though most seemed to have one at hand.

Most groups, though, did keep their distance from others.

Maria Bacmino was eating at a picnic table with friends. None wore masks. One friend said they were like “family,” and Bacmino said they didn’t need to wear masks while eating together because they all live in the same house.

She said they chose to visit the park because they’d spent “too many hours at home.” When a reporter asked the group why they weren’t wearing masks, one man started to pull his on and said the question was “killing the vibe.”

Another group sat in lawn chairs, all not wearing masks. A woman and young child played Frisbee, also not wearing masks.

One woman, Monica Ochandategui, sat alone in the park. She said that she comes to the park about three times a week to exercise now that gyms are closed, usually with her personal trainer.

Ochandategui, 26, said the park is less crowded now than it was before the coronavirus hit Florida. But she said most people at Tropical haven’t been wearing masks.

Ochandategui herself was not wearing one. She said that she keeps hers in her car and doesn’t put it on if she’s coming to run. She said she had just finished her run and was waiting on a bench for a phone call before returning to her car.

“I really don’t have any close contact with anybody, so it doesn’t personally bother me,” Ochandategui said of people not wearing masks. “But I recognize that it’s not safe. You should wear your mask.”

And while masks are not required in some popular recreational facilities such as the mixed-use trails along the Rickenbacker Causeway, Virginia Key and Key Biscayne, the vast majority of those out exercising or strolling, about half of them in groups, did not wear them. The trails have seen unusually heavy use since the pandemic lockdown began in March.

The paths along the Bear Cut bridge that connects the two keys were especially crowded, forcing groups close together.

Little mask use was in evidence in other public green spaces. At the weekly organic farmers’ market in Coconut Grove, less crowded than previously but still busy, fewer than half the customers wore masks amid narrow corridors between booths crowded closely together.

The tree-lined sandy shoulders of the Julia Tuttle Causeway, which connects Miami and the Beach across Biscayne Bay, have become an informal recreational destination while the entrances to beaches remain wrapped in yellow crime-scene tape and decorated with signs prohibiting trespassing on the sand.

On Saturday, parked cars dotted the causeway’s east and westbound shoulders, as their occupants fled their quarantines for a whiff of the bay’s breeze. Only some wore masks.

Watching jetskis zip by as the surf lurched toward his feet, 54-year-old Martin Martinez didn’t seem to mind that he was standing near a busy highway. Martinez, with a face mask pulled down around his neck, said he flew to Miami from Los Angeles on Thursday for the Memorial Day weekend, hoping to sink his feet into South Beach sands, but catching a breeze along the Tuttle would have to do.

“We’re here on the side of the road trying to get near the water; the beach is closed,” said Martinez, joined by friend Kin Lomeli, 43, also from Los Angeles. “We came from California to spend the weekend with our families and enjoy Miami’s beaches.”

Like Martinez, Justus Thompson, 29, one of a line of confused motorists outside Oleta River State Park around noon on Saturday, wore a mask around his neck. Thompson mistakenly thought the state park would be open.

He and friend Shane Zacharias, 35, drove to North Miami from Fort Lauderdale hoping to launch their kayaks there, but a sign out front said “CLOSED.” Bicyclists maneuvered their way around the park’s gate, but visitors with cars would not risk leaving their vehicles outside.

Though 80 state parks elsewhere in the state reopened May 4, those in South Florida, including Oleta and Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park on Key Biscayne, are still shut down.

“It sucked,” Zacharias said. “It seems like the rest of the state is pretty much open. To come here was kind of like a big blow to the face.” Thompson complained it seemed “counterintuitive” to refuse a small group entry at a park while allowing customers to shop at busy stores and supermarkets.

“Here you’re hundreds of feet apart in the water kayaking,” he said. “You’re closer to people at a grocery store than you would be at a park.”

Thompson and Zacharias later said they were turned away at Miami-Dade’s Haulover Park, too. Boats packed the Haulover Sandbar on Saturday, but the men said they were not allowed to launch kayaks there.

“Getting outside in the sunshine is vital for mental health,” Thompson said. “I think they really have to start opening things back up.”

But while weather or confusion about what’s open may have kept restless residents out of local parks, Dadeland Mall had better luck attracting visitors. The mall sported a good crowd late Saturday afternoon, especially considering that several popular stores still have not reopened.

At Dadeland, mask-wearing and distancing compliance were much higher.

Guests wore masks while perusing the shops. Shoppers did remove masks to eat at the food court, where some fast-food eateries are open. Some visitors also walked or sat in scattered seating throughout the mall, with masks lowered around the neck as they enjoyed food and drinks they had taken to go. Seating signs throughout the mall reminded guests to stay six feet apart.