Curfew During Harlem Race Riots (1943)
Two years earlier during the Harlem Riots of 1943, Mayor LaGuardia put a 10:30 PM curfew into effect asking Harlem residents to stay home. The riot began when James Collins, a white police officer, shot and wounded an Black soldier named Robert Bandy. While at the Braddock Hotel, a white policeman tried to arrest Marjorie Polite, a Black woman, for disorderly conflict, and soon after Polite became confrontational with Collins. Polite protested after she was dissatisfied with her hotel room, and she was asked to leave by Collins.
Soon after Bandy hit the officer, and Collins then shot Bandy, who was incorrectly believed to be dead when the riot began. After stores were looted and windows were smashed, LaGuardia issued a curfew to prevent even more injuries and deaths. Despite the curfew, the riot resulted in six deaths and around 600 arrests