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 devolved into looting in some areas.
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.
