ALBANY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced a curfew for New York City, following four nights of sometimes violent protests following the death of unarmed black man George Floyd.
“There’s gonna be a curfew in New York City that we think could be helpful and more importantly there’s going to be an increase in the force in New York City,” the third-term Democrat said on the upstate radio show “WAMC The Roundtable.”
Cuomo noted around 4,000 officers were on duty during last night’s protests, adding: “There will be double that, about 8,000 tonight.”
“It’s from 11 [p.m.] to 5 [a.m.] tonight and then we’ll see where we are tomorrow,” he added. “Last night was a bad night in New York City. It’s just in New York City, by the way, not in upstate.”
Cuomo raised the possibility of a curfew earlier in the day.
When asked earlier Monday about a possible curfew, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said on NBC’s “Today” that he didn’t believe it would do any good.
“I’ll be honest with you, we could impose a curfew today,” he said. “The problem is, people need to listen to a curfew, that’s not going to happen, first and foremost. If people think it will, they don’t understand what’s going on.”
The NYPD did not immediately respond for comment.
Mayor Bill de Blasio could not be reached for immediate comment.
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