New York City’s curfew—prompted this week by ongoing protests over police brutality and ostensibly meant to curb looting in the city—has been extended through the beginning of next week and will be bumped up to 8:00 p.m. local time.
An executive order states that the curfew, which was implemented Monday and began at 11 p.m., has been bumped up by three hours after officials said looting continued last night. During the time that the curfew is in place between 8:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m., “no persons or vehicles” outside of those performing essential work or those seeking medical treatment should be outside.
“Failure to comply with this order shall result in orders to disperse, and any person who knowingly violates the provisions in this order shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor,” the order states.
The executive order was extended to transportation companies like Revel and Citibike on Monday, though ridesharing companies Uber and Lyft were permitted to continue operations. As with the day prior, Revel said it was suspending service in the city in compliance with the order. Lyft said it was still discussing curfew operations as of Tuesday afternoon. (Lyft also owns Citibike.) Gizmodo has reached out to Uber about whether or not its services will be available in the coming days after the curfew is in place.
The curfew comes as New York City was preparing to reopen after months of lockdown related to the coronavirus pandemic. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday that he did not expect ongoing protests of police violence following the homicide of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis to affect the city’s reopening plans.
Update 6/3/20: In a Twitter thread posted after publication, Citibike said it was required to shut down operations by the city, a decision it disagreed with. It said it would resume operations when the curfew lifts.
“We know how disruptive this is to everyone who relies on Citi Bike to get home — especially essential workers,” the company said. “When the system is shut down to new trips, anyone who has a bike out can still return it to a station. We’ll share another update about service as soon as we can. We encourage you to check local transit schedules.”
Source: gizmodo.com
