New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security on Monday, the 2nd, demanding that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents stop using city-owned parking lots in the Bronx and Queens as enforcement staging areas without permission. He warned that the city will sue if the practice does not stop. The same day, the city also issued new guidance for Parks Department employees on what to do when they encounter federal agents.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Monday demanding that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents immediately stop using city-owned parking lots without permission as gathering points for enforcement operations. He warned that the city will take legal action if the activity continues. According to amNewYork, the city also announced the same day new rules for Parks Department employees to follow when they encounter federal agents.
According to reports, ICE agents have been parking vehicles and holding meetings in unstaffed city-owned lots at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx and along West 111th Street near Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens. The Queens lot abuts a city-run preschool and several cultural venues that children frequently visit. According to the letter, ICE never received the city's approval to use the sites for enforcement purposes. The letter was addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Acting ICE Director David Venturella and Kenneth Genalo, director of ICE's New York field office. Mayor Mamdani demanded that the agency issue guidance expressly barring agents from using city parking lots for enforcement operations, and Corporation Counsel Steven Banks said the city is prepared to go to court if the practice does not stop. An executive order signed by the city in February bars non-city law enforcement agents from using city-owned parking lots as staging areas without a judicial warrant or an equivalent legal exception.
Under the Parks Department's new guidance, employees must ask federal agents seeking to enter non-public areas to identify themselves and must contact the department's chief legal officer. If presented with a warrant, employees are not to judge its validity themselves but to pass it to department lawyers. Without a valid judicial warrant or lawful authorization, access is not to be granted; if agents enter without authorization, employees should call 911 and, when it is safe, document the situation. Employees are prohibited from physically or verbally confronting agents, and those who violate the guidance may face discipline, including suspension or dismissal. If employees see federal law enforcement activity in areas open to the public, they must notify a supervisor and department lawyers and, where possible, record the number of agents and vehicles. If a request to use a parking lot comes in advance, the department's chief legal officer decides whether to allow it.
The measures came less than three weeks after a federal immigration agent opened fire in Marble Hill. The man who was shot had his 5-year-old son in the car, and the agents reportedly used a nearby private parking lot as a staging area. At that time, Mayor Mamdani and more than 100 elected officials urged private parking lot owners to keep ICE out.
The Queens site is along West 111th Street near Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Because the executive order and the Parks Department guidance apply to New York City-owned property, they do not cover parks or parking lots in New Jersey. The guidance recommends that employees consider providing residents who encounter agents with information about their rights and the city's immigration legal help hotline.