New York City is expanding curfews for immigrants living in 25 shelters across the city after an uptick in crime and violence attributed to asylum-seekers that has gained nationwide attention from federal and state lawmakers.
The curfew in the city will now be from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. in 20 shelters across New York beginning Monday after initially being put in place at four shelters. The curfew hours will affect roughly 3,600 immigrants, Kayla Mamelak, a spokeswoman for Mayor Eric Adams’s administration, told the Associated Press. The 24 shelters represent just a fraction of the more than 200 facilities being used to house the nearly 66,000 newly arrived immigrants in recent months.
“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,” Mamelak said in a statement.
One of the largest shelters affected is located in Long Island City in Queens, which houses nearly 1,000 immigrants. City officials placed a curfew on the four initial shelters, including Long Island City, last month in response to complaints from neighborhood residents, according to the Associated Press.