Some skeptical if New York City's migrant shelter curfew will improve public safety
NEW YORK -- New York City is imposing an 11 p.m. curfew at more shelters housing asylum seekers after a recent shooting and assault on police officers involving migrants.
Starting Monday, the new restriction requires people staying at 20 more shelters citywide to be inside from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. The city had implemented the curfew at four shelters in January in response to community complaints.
Neighbors of the Gatsby Hotel on Houston Street, converted to a shelter for migrant families with children, are skeptical if the new curfew will improve public safety.
"I think it's a great idea but it's not going to work. Summertime is coming, and they're going to be in the streets," one man said.
"This is temporary until we get a better handle of how to manage and work with the incoming of undocumented people," said Jose Santiago, of SoHo.
The expansion was announced over the weekend, following a series of violent incidents in Times Square involving migrants that gained national attention, including a group assault on two NYPD officers and a shooting inside the JD Sports store.
"Anything that could keep us safe, that's the goal, public safety," Mayor Eric Adams said on Sunday.
Officials said the curfew is in line with restrictions already at traditional homeless shelters and will allow for more efficient capacity management of migrants in the city's care.
About 5,500 people are under the expanded curfew, a fraction of the tens of thousands of asylum seekers in the city's care.