NYC Mayor Says He Won't Call in National Guard

8pm curfew has been extended all week
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 2, 2020 6:00 PM CDT
NYC Extends Curfew All Week
Protesters gather at Foley Square on Tuesday, June 2, 2020, in New York.   (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York City extended an 8pm curfew all week and said it would prohibit many types of nighttime traffic in Manhattan as officials struggled Tuesday to stanch destruction and growing complaints that the nation's biggest city was reeling out of control night by night. After chaos erupted again overnight amid protests over George Floyd’s death—despite an 11pm curfew—Mayor Bill de Blasio doubled down on a citywide curfew but rejected urging from President Trump and an offer from Gov. Andrew Cuomo to bring in the National Guard, the AP reports. The police department announced it would allow no vehicle traffic south of 96th Street in Manhattan after 8pm, though it said residents, essential workers, buses, and truck deliveries were exempt.

"We’re going to have a tough few days. We’re going to beat it back," de Blasio, said in announcing that an 8pm to 5am curfew would remain through Sunday. As he spoke at City Hall, midtown Manhattan was pocked with smashed storefronts, with Macy's flagship store among those hit. Cuomo offered a particularly scathing assessment of the city's response to the unrest. "The NYPD and the mayor did not do their job last night," the Democratic governor said at a briefing in Albany. "Look at the videos. It was a disgrace." Unprompted, Cuomo brought up the possibility of using his power as governor to replace the mayor and deploy the National Guard over de Blasio’s objections, then immediately shot down the idea as legally impractical and unnecessary.

(More New York City stories.)

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