New York is expanding a curfew to additional migrant shelters 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, spokesperson Kayla Mamelak said Sunday.
The curfew impacts about 3,600 migrants, with the largest of the emergency centers housing nearly 1,000 migrants in Long Island City, according to a listing provided by the mayor’s office.
City officials initially placed a curfew on four shelters last month in response to neighborhood complaints.
Mamelak said the curfews are in line with restrictions already in place at the city’s traditional homeless shelters and allow for “more efficient capacity management” of migrants in the city’s care.
“New York City continues to lead the nation in managing this national humanitarian crisis, and that includes prioritizing the health and safety of both asylum seekers in our care and New Yorkers who live in the communities surrounding the emergency shelters we manage,” she said in an emailed statement.
The additional curfews come after a spate of migrant-related violence and crime.
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.
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, echoing City Hall, said he thinks the prior incidents have nothing to do with the new policy, but it's rather a way to see if there are empty beds.
“The rationale they’ve stated is primarily to use this as a tool for managing bed capacity so if a bed is empty they can bring another individual in,” Levine said. “I don't think they’ve officially cited safety as a motivation.”
But there is concern about those who work during the night, especially those delivering food.
“It would not be good if someone’s work schedule was disrupted by the need to be home by 11,” Levine said.
City Hall says exemptions must be applied for daily. And while some residents are not concerned for themselves, they are for others.
“There are people. There are people who already have a work schedule and it affects them because I imagine they have their schedule,” shelter resident Jairo González told NY1. “But for example, not for me, because I’m just in the process of getting my paperwork to be able to.”
The Legal Aid Society in a statement they were also concerned about work exemptions.
“New arrivals seeking to move on from city shelter must work: Imposing a curfew impedes the ability of our clients — many of whom work night shifts-to earn the money they need to exit shelter,” the statement said.
There were already four shelters with curfews imposed last month after residents in some communities cited quality of life concerns. It is unclear how difficult it will be for those living in these 20 to get the daily work exemptions.
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 migrants.