The curfew decreed Monday in New York will be extended until June 7, announced Tuesday the Mayor of New York Bill de Blasio after a series of looting, while refusing to deploy the National Guard in the American economic capital as claimed. by Donald Trump. This exceptional measure will be in effect from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., said the mayor, after the heart of Manhattan and certain areas of the Bronx had been the scene of numerous scenes of looting Monday evening, the first day of the curfew.
Vandalized businesses
Many businesses have been vandalized, including the iconic Macy’s department store. “Intruders entered the store, (..) the police intervened and at this stage the damage is limited,” a spokesperson for the channel told AFP.
In view of these images widely relayed on social networks, President Donald Trump, who when he lived in New York lived on 5th Avenue, very close to certain targeted stores on Monday, in a tweet called on the city to “act quickly” and to “call the National Guard”.
Several cities across the country have already called in these soldiers for reinforcements after protests against police brutality against black Americans that have set the country ablaze for a week, after the death of George Floyd at the hands of a white policeman in Minneapolis.
But Bill de Blasio estimated that the city had “no need” thanks to its more than 36,000 police officers, that is to say the most important municipal police force of the country, better prepared according to him for such situations. “We will take measures immediately to restore order and calm,” he said. “I know we’re going to get over this, we’re going to have a few tough days but we’re going to get there.”
No National Guard deployment
The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, for his part considered “inexcusable” the looting of Monday evening, and estimated that the mayor and the police had “not done their job”. “I think the mayor is underestimating the scale and duration of the problem, I don’t think they used enough police officers to respond to it,” Andrew Cuomo said at a press briefing, whose reports with the mayor are notoriously difficult.
The governor, however, refused to impose a deployment of the National Guard in New York, stressing that this would imply suspending the mayor and that this would only “make the situation worse”. The New York curfew came into effect at 11:00 p.m. on Monday and now begins at 8:00 p.m.
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