New York widens curfew at migrant shelters amid violent incidents

New York is expanding a curfew to additional migrant shelters after violent incidents attributed to migrant shelter residents gained national attention in recent weeks.

Mayor Eric Adams' administration will impose an 11 pm to 6 aa curfew at 20 migrant shelters starting on Monday, after initially placing the restrictions at four other locations, spokesperson Kayla Mamelak said on Sunday.

The curfew impacts about 3,600 migrants, with the largest of the emergency centres housing nearly 1,000 migrants in Long Island City, Queens, according to a listing provided by the mayor's office.

City officials initially placed a curfew on four shelters last month in response to neighbourhood complaints.

Mamelak said the curfews are in line with restrictions already in place at NYC's traditional homeless shelters and allow for "more efficient capacity management" of migrants in the city's care.

"New York City continues to lead the nation in managing this national humanitarian crisis, and that includes prioritising the health and safety of both asylum seekers in our care and New Yorkers who live in the communities surrounding the emergency shelters we manage," she said in an emailed statement.

The additional curfews come after a spate of migrant-related violence and crime has prompted increasingly dire rhetoric from city and police officials.

A 15-year-old teen from Venezuela was arrested on Friday for opening fire in Times Square while fleeing from police after being stopped by security for suspected shoplifting. The shooting injured a tourist from Brazil.

A video showing a group of migrants brawling with police in Times Square last month also went viral and led to several arrests.

The total of 24 migrant shelters now subject to the restrictions represents a fraction of the more than 200 such facilities the city operates to house some 66,000 newly arrived asylum seekers.