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LIVE UPDATES: Curfew takes effect in NYC after fifth night of protests

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Protesters and a line of police officers in Midtown Manhattan during a fifth day of protests on June 1, 2020. (Photo by Dean Moses)

BY ROBERT POZARYCKI, EMILY DAVENPORT AND ZACH GEWELB

The “city that never sleeps” is officially under curfew at this hour after the fifth-straight night of protests over the police-involved death of Minneapolis’ George Floyd, but the city’s set a limit on demonstrations this evening.

Earlier Monday, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a curfew that will take place citywide from 11 p.m. tonight until 5 a.m. Tuesday morning. This effort aims to prevent the looting, vandalism, fires and other incidents seen during protests in Brooklyn and Manhattan over the last four nights.

By all accounts, the evening’s protests — mainly confined to Brooklyn and Manhattan — were relatively peaceful. However, just as in the previous evenings, looters showed up amid the protest to do damage, undermining the intent of the gatherings.

Looters pilfering from a store in Manhattan on June 1, 2020. (Photo by Dean Moses)

Plywood and rolldown gates couldn’t stop looters from smashing through this Foot Locker at 716 Broadway. There have been numerous reports of looting across the borough tonight, prompting Mayor Bill de Blasio to declare a second curfew for Tuesday night — one that will start at 8 p.m., minutes before sunset.

 

There was also isolated looting in the Bronx.

 

Soon after Monday’s curfew began, de Blasio took to Twitter to tell the protesters to head home for the night.

“We support peaceful protest in this city. But right now it’s time to go home,” he tweeted. “Some people are out tonight not to protest but to destroy property and hurt others — and those people are being arrested. Their actions are unacceptable and we won’t allow them in our city.”

Looters breaching the gates of a Foot Locker store in Manhattan on June 1, 2020. (Photo by Dean Moses)

Marchers began gathering in Times Square this afternoon at 3 p.m. on June 1 and headed down through the island since then, making stops in Greenwich Village at Sheridan Square and Washington Square Park. Thousands attended, and the numbers went up as the day drew on.

There was some trouble reported at the corner of Broadway and 29th Street as cops and protesters clashed, resulting in a number of arrests made.

According to photographer Dean Moses, protesters met a line of cops there and things got heated between the sides. After someone began throwing traffic cones at a bike blocking the crowd off, the cops charged forth. No major injuries were reported at this time.

A protester arrested in Manhattan on June 1, 2020. (Photo by Dean Moses)

Another protest is scheduled for tonight outside the Barclays Center as well. The Brooklyn arena was the site of a wild scene on May 29 as a peaceful protest broke down into chaos as the sun set.

The peaceful crowd on Monday marched past the Barclays Center down Flatbush Avenue toward a rally outside Brooklyn Borough Hall. The more than 1,000 participants were seen heading for a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

 

Marchers heading toward the Brooklyn Bridge in Downtown Brooklyn on June 1, 2020. (Photo by Rose Adams)
Marchers flood Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn on June 1, with protesters carrying a sign reading “stop killing black people” leading the way. (Photo by Grant Lancaster)
NYPD officers struggle to detain a cuffed man who they arrested after he charged over a metal barricade in front of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 1. The detained man was bleeding from an injury on his temple before he leaped the barricade.

Meanwhile, in Queens, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Astoria Park for a peaceful protest Monday night in response to the police-involved death of Minneapolis’ George Floyd.

Hundreds marching in Astoria Park in Astoria, Queens on June 1, 2020. (Photo by Catherina Gioino)

Previous protests in Queens have have been relatively peaceful compared to the chaotic scenes in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

The trend continued Monday, as the protest in Astoria Park started at 7 p.m. and has remained peaceful.

Stay with amNY.com all night for the latest on the protests. 

Protesters embrace at the Brooklyn rally on June 1, 2020. (Photo by Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech)