Four shelters for asylum seekers in New York City are enforcing curfews in response to community concerns.
NEW YORK Starting on Tuesday, Mayor Eric Adams will implement curfews at four migrant shelters; however, authorities informed CBS New York that, in response to community concerns, he is contemplating extending it to more shelters.
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Adams made the decision to enforce a curfew, which ran from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., at shelters that housed around 1,900 people, despite the fact that hundreds of migrants were still entering New York City.
The JFK respite center in Queens, the Lincoln shelter on 110th Street in Manhattan, the Stockton Street shelter in Brooklyn, and another Queens shelter on 35th Street in Astoria are among the shelters.
“We’re using it in part merely to assist us administer the site more effectively. Zach Iscol, commissioner of emergency management for New York City, stated that community input plays a part in it.
Curfews at the four shelters are just the start of the situation. According to Iscol, the mayor wants to extend it to a large number of the 200 shelters and respite facilities.
“The mayor has requested that we thoroughly examine how we handle it throughout the system. Iscol questioned whether it would be wise to implement it throughout the entire system.
The accusations from the community included violent incidents, door-to-door solicitations for clothing, stealing, and panhandling.
The first round of curfews did not include the massive shelter at Floyd Bennet Field, but according to NYPD data, once it opened, thefts and robberies increased in the 63rd Precinct.
“Hey, for everyone who doesn’t currently have one, we’re examining the best ways to impose one and what that would entail. That one is definitely on the table, Iscol stated. “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.”
If a shelter resident has an appointment for employment, travel, legal matters, or medical care, they can obtain a permit to arrive late.