Newark begins enforcing nightly summer curfew for kids under 18

Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News on Jul 8, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

The New Jersey city of Newark began enforcing a nightly curfew this week, which runs from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. every night for anyone under age 18.

The curfew will remain in place until school starts again in September, WCBS reported. Prior to Monday, the curfew had been limited to the weekends, covering Friday through Sunday nights.

“When we are going out, we are not looking to arrest young people. We are not looking to criminalize young people at all,” Newark Assistant Deputy Mayor Barry Ford told the station. “It would take a very significant issue for us to” issue a summons.

Newark has had a summer children’s curfew on its books since 1992, but it was essentially unenforced until last year. Mayor Ras Baraka has said the goal is simply to bring children home and keep them safe, not arrest them.

City officials credited the curfew enforcement in part for a 7% decrease in summer juvenile arrests from 2023 to 2024, according to News 12.

“We don’t want young people just hanging out because they also can become targets,” Ford told the outlet. “If they’re out at that time, there’s a reason they’re out at that time. Is there something they can be doing, is there an issue at home that needs to be addressed?”

Baraka insisted there would be no arrests or fines for violating the curfew, News 12 reported. The city’s Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery is in charge of enforcement and conducts nightly patrols.