Cuomo announces NYC CURFEW, doubles NYPD presence as civil unrest continues

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced a curfew for New York City and will double the number of police officers on the ground from 4,000 to 8,000 after Sunday night’s protests over George Floyd’s death devolved into looting.

The city will impose a curfew from 11pm to 5am, Cuomo declared on Monday following a conversation with Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Dermot O’Shea.

The decision came in the wake of several days of protests against the police killing of George Floyd, culminating in extensive looting in Manhattan’s upscale Soho retail district on Sunday night.

The governor added that the curfew isn’t meant to be permanent – merely an attempt to “toughen up” the city’s response after the wanton destruction of the previous night in the hope that New York can “turn a corner.”

“We will see where we are tomorrow,” he said. More than 250 people were arrested on Sunday.

Witnesses described the looters as acting in a coordinated manner, complete with getaway scooters and drivers with out-of-state license plates. Other city protests that night remained peaceful.

De Blasio weighed in to confirm the curfew on Twitter, adding that while he wants to “support and protect peaceful protest in this city,” he “can’t let violence undermine the message of this moment.” Lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn – the areas where the looting and violence took place on Sunday – would receive the additional officers, he said.

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