NEW YORK, Nov 3, CMC – New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani is demanding that United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency immediately stop its unauthorised and illegal use of New York City-owned property to stage immigration enforcement operations, warning that the City will take legal action if they continue.
In a letter to US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Acting ICE Director David J. Venturella, and ICE New York Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo, the mayor said that the City has not authorised ICE to use its property for immigration-related operations.
He also called on ICE to issue guidance “explicitly prohibiting agents from using City-owned lots to stage or conduct those operations.”
The mayor said ICE agents have reportedly parked vehicles and held meetings in several unstaffed City-owned lots, which he said in some instances sit next to a City-run preschool and several cultural institutions that welcome hundreds of children and families every day.
To further safeguard against ICE’s unauthorised use of City property and lots, as part of Executive Order 13, the mayor said his administration has been working with City agencies to update their policies and protocols related to non-local law enforcement attempts to gain access to City property and lots.
Alongside issuing the letter to ICE, the mayor said his administration was also announcing a new NYC Parks policy for frontline workers, which strengthens the procedures that Parks employees must follow when responding to attempts by non-local law enforcement, including ICE, to access non-public and public areas of Parks property.
“This new policy and ongoing training will ensure Parks employees are equipped to enforce our local laws and protect Parks spaces for the safe use and enjoyment of all New Yorkers,” Mamdani said.
“ICE has no right to use our property as a base for tearing families apart. That goes for every park and every lot this City owns. This unauthorized use of City property must end now.
“Today, I’m telling DHS to order its agents off our lots. If they keep coming back, we will see them in court.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said no family in New York should fear that going to the park or walking through their neighborhood could mean being torn away from their loved ones.
“I am deeply disturbed by reports that ICE is using public property to carry out aggressive immigration enforcement operations,” she said, stating that she was “proud” to sign the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act to prevent local resources from being used for federal civil immigration enforcement.
“And I stand with Mayor Mamdani in demanding an end to the unauthorized use of City property for these operations,” the governor continued.
Public Advocate, Jumaane Williams, the son of Grenadian immigrants, said that “when we say ICE out of New York, we mean it — and we’re not going to let this rogue agency use city property to terrorize our city’s residents.
“While private entities like Target are revealing themselves by failing to condemn ICE’s use of private spaces for staging, the city is sending a strong message about our public spaces, reinforcing our commitment to immigrant New Yorkers and their neighbors,” Williams added.
Mamdani said the letter came after ICE agents “recklessly shot” Dominican Republic native Oscar Belgal in the Marble Hill section of Upper Manhattan while his five-year-old son sat in the car.
CMC/nk/ir/2026