New York City implementing curfew at 4 asylum seeker shelters in response to community complaints
NEW YORK -- Mayor Eric Adams will impose curfews at four migrant shelters starting Tuesday, but officials told CBS New York he is considering expanding it to more in response to community complaints.
Adams decided to impose a curfew from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. at shelters catering to approximately 1,900 people, with thousands of migrants still arriving in New York City.
The shelters include the JFK respite center in Queens, another Queens shelter on 35th Street in Astoria, the Lincoln shelter on 110th Street in Manhattan and the Stockton Street shelter in Brooklyn.
"Part of it is just sort of to help us better manage things at the site. Part of it is community feedback," said New York City Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol.
Imposing the curfews at the four shelters is just the beginning. Iscol said the mayor is looking to expand it to many of the 200 shelters and respite centers.
"The mayor has asked us to take a hard look at figuring out how we do it across the system. The question is to whether it makes sense to do it across the system," said Iscol.
Community complaints ranged from panhandling, shoplifting, going door-to-door asking for clothing and violent episodes.
The mega shelter at Floyd Bennet Field was not included in the first wave of curfews, but NYPD data indicates robberies and thefts spiked in the 63rd Precinct after it opened.
"Look, all of the ones that don't have curfews, we're looking at how we could implement a curfew and what that would look like. Certainly that one is on the table," said Iscol. "One of the things we're always looking to do is figure out what can we do to keep people who are in our care safe, what can we do to have less of an impact on the communities where some of these shelters and respite centers are placed, and one tool of ours to do that is curfews."
Shelter residents can get passes to come in late if they have work, travel, legal appointments and medical needs.
