“Fuck your curfew!” chanted hundreds of protesters marching up Fifth Avenue just before New York City’s first emergency curfew in decades on the fifth day of protests against police brutality, while looters took to smash-and-grabs throughout Manhattan.
The 11 p.m. curfew set in place by Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio didn’t deter protesters, nor did a doubling of the police presence from 4,000 to 8,000 officers. But as the hour came, a phalanx of officers charged at one peaceful group from behind, making arrests on the street and sidewalk, battering some with batons, eventually chasing them up Eighth Avenue with pepper spray.
"The curfew man, that's just the law's way of making it legal for them to brutalize us now, chase us off the streets," said Matthew G., a 24-year-old Staten Island resident. He said he and six other peaceful protesters were surrounded by cops during the chase, and he was struck in the leg with an officer’s baton.
The group was intercepted by more officers as they approached Columbus Circle and violently dispersed.
Hours before curfew began, groups of looters surged through much of Manhattan, jumping into and out of smashed storefronts with duffel bags. As sirens echoed through the neighborhood, police vehicles sped through the streets, but in many cases were not seen stopping to intervene. The atmosphere on the ground was one of disbelief, as teenagers found themselves able to fill their bags without opposition.
At 10 p.m., a man in Herald Square yelled out, “One hour! One hour!” in anticipation of the curfew. Some 40 people picked over Urban Outfitters on 35th Street without a cop in sight. A trashcan burned below Macy’s—where officers showed up in time to catch kids running out the door. Some store workers were seen boarding up their storefronts anew with plywood.
While much of the scene in Midtown had slowed down by midnight, looters continued to ransack SoHo well into the morning. The neighborhood, which was heavily looted the previous night, was largely a free-for-all after 2 a.m. Teenagers with armfuls of clothing were seen calmly walking by officers in their police vehicles.
In the Bronx, looters took to businesses, sparking additional police to be sent to Fordham Road and Burnside Avenue after de Blasio visited the borough. Trash fires burned through the night.
Throughout the day of protests and into the night, nearly 700 people were arrested, NYPD commissioner Dermot Shea said on Tuesday. An NYPD spokesperson could not have a breakdown of charges. More than half a dozen people suffered injuries, including officers and civilians. One sergeant was seriously injured in the Bronx after being hit by a car, the spokesperson said. Another officer was hit by a car during a hit-and-run.
Earlier in the evening, thousands marched in various actions from Midtown and Washington Square Park to Crown Heights and East Village, where early last month, a plainclothes officer brutally beat a bystander during a “social distancing enforcement.” The officer, Francisco Garcia, who has a history of alleged brutality, faces internal discipline.
“Growing up in the Lower East Side before the gentrification, it was very, like the cops and the community weren’t together,” said James M., a 26-year-old Lower East Sider, who was among some 400 people joining protesters in a march from Avenue D and East Ninth Street through Manhattan and onto the FDR Drive. “It’s nothing new, it’s just being recorded.” Shortly after a moment of silence on East Houston Street for George Floyd, who was killed by police in Minneapolis, he added, “We just want justice for the black lives that have been taken by white police officers.”
Along the march, protesters were lined by police in helmets with batons through Chinatown to Pearl Street and St. James Place near 1 Police Plaza, where tensions between protesters and cops heightened when a water bottle was thrown, though protesters continued peacefully without major police action.
“I'm so happy right now that this has been mostly peaceful. And I hope that it continues because this will leave a mark, this will leave an impression,” said 28-year-old Lower East Side resident and teacher Amanda Deleon.
Another group marched over the Brooklyn Bridge after dark.
“I want to say I was surprised, but this happens so often, yet nothing has been done, especially since the Eric Garner incident,” Manhattan teacher Melissa Ortiz said on the Manhattan side of the bridge Monday. “I mean, I was still shocked, but heartbroken that people have such malice inside of them that are just so inhumane and so irresponsible to take someone down for nothing.”
A group of activists gather with candles and fists raised at Barclays Center before NYC's emergency curfew June 1st.
Two other groups of demonstrators converged at Barclays Center—one arm-in-arm in the streets after marching and another sitting in a circle during a candlelit demonstration. People “out there after 11, or close to 11, has the opportunity to get yourself killed, especially if you're black,” said an organizer of the candlelit vigil. “We can talk together, we can open a dialogue together.” Another protester walked off, telling other demonstrators they were surrounded by police, and yelled at a cop, “suck my dick, you fucking pig!”
A security guard near the Brooklyn Navy Yard stopped by the candlelight demonstration before a graveyard shift.
"I work a lot, so I didn't really get to partake...for the past two days," Polo Junior said. "I have to work tonight, but I just wanted to be out here with the people, you know what I'm saying, for the little bit of time that I can." He added, "I felt like this was important to come and experience this for our culture, our history."
Shortly after curfew, Barclays was empty while marches continued along Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic Avenue.
Back in Midtown at 1:30 a.m., homeless New Yorkers feared the curfew, combined with widespread looting, would make life more difficult on the streets.
“Where do I have to go? There’s nothing open. I can’t even buy a drink or something to eat,” said Melissa, a woman who typically sleeps near Herald Square.
Though those who sleep outside are exempt from the mayoral order, Melissa’s pandemic mainstays, Duane Reade and Target, had been destroyed. “There’s going to be nowhere to buy food or hygiene precuts. What are we supposed to do? It’s crazy.”
Melissa standing with her belongings.
On Tuesday, NYC’s curfew starts at 8 p.m.
With David Cruz and Nick Pinto.
