What to Know
- New York is expanding a curfew to additional migrant shelters. Mayor Eric Adams’ administration will impose an 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew at 20 migrant shelters starting Monday, after initially placing the restrictions at four other locations
- The 24 shelters now subject to the restrictions represent a fraction of the more than 200 facilities currently housing some 66,000 migrants
- The expanded curfew comes after a spate of violence attributed to migrant shelter residents gained national attention in recent weeks
New York is expanding a curfew to additional migrant shelters, an announcement that comes after violent incidents attributed to migrant shelter residents gained national attention in recent weeks.
Mayor Eric Adams' administration will impose an 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew at 20 migrant shelters starting Monday, after initially placing the restrictions at four other locations. There will be exceptions for people working night jobs.
The curfew impacts about 3,600 migrants, with the largest of the emergency centers housing roughly 1,000 migrants in Long Island City, Queens. City officials initially placed a curfew on four shelters last month in response to neighborhood complaints.
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The additional curfews are set to be put in place after a spate of migrant-related violence and crime has prompted increasingly dire rhetoric from city and police officials. However, the mayor's office and City Councilmember Joann Ariola emphasized that there was no connection between the recent crimes linked to migrants and Monday's curfew expansion.
A 15-year-old teen from Venezuela was arrested Friday for opening fire in Times Square while fleeing from police after being stopped by security for suspected shoplifting. The shooting injured a tourist from Brazil.
A video showing a group of migrants brawling with police in Times Square last month also went viral and led to several arrests.
The total of 24 migrant shelters now subject to the restrictions represents a fraction of the more than 200 such facilities the city operates to house some 66,000 newly arrived asylum seekers. The city’s traditional homeless shelters have long had similar curfews, as has been the city's policy all along.
A spokesperson for City Hall acknowledged the curfew practice, saying its implementation would allow for greater efficiency.
"Beginning this week, we will be instituting a curfew policy at our HPD emergency sites, in line with curfews already in place at traditional DHS shelters and NYCEM respite sites that serve migrants and longtime New Yorkers experiencing homelessness. This policy will allow for more efficient capacity management for migrants in the city’s care," the statement read.
