NYC imposes curfew at more migrant shelters due to recent violent attacks

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 pm to 6 am curfew at 20 migrant shelters starting Monday, after initially placing the restrictions at four other locations, The Daily News reports.

The curfew impacts about 3,600 migrants, with the largest of the emergency centres housing roughly 1,000 migrants in Long Island City, Queens. City officials initially placed a curfew on four shelters last month in response to neighbourhood complaints.

The additional curfews come after a spate of migrant-related violence and crime has prompted increasingly dire rhetoric from city and police officials.

A 15-year-old teen from Venezuela was arrested on 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.

Spokespersons for the mayor's office didn't respond to an email seeking comment on Sunday.

But Kayla Mamelak, an Adams spokesperson, told the Daily News that broadening the curfew would "allow for more efficient capacity management for migrants in the city's care".