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Mayor Zohran Mamdani threatened legal action against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Monday, demanding that the federal agency stop using New York City-owned parking lots to stage immigration enforcement operations without the city’s approval.
In a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, acting ICE Director David J. Venturella and ICE New York Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo, Mamdani insisted that the agency stop using city property during its operations.
“ICE has no right to use our property as a base for tearing families apart,” Mamdani said in a statement. “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.”
ICE agents have reportedly parked vehicles and held meetings at several city lots, including one at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx and others along 111th Street on the western side of Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens. The Queens lots are next to a city-run preschool and several cultural institutions where children and families frequent them daily, according to the mayor’s office.
NYC Corporation Counsel Steven Banks reinforced that the city was prepared to pursue legal action if ICE continued using its lots without authorization.
“Now that the Department of Homeland Security is clearly on notice regarding its unauthorized use of city lots, there is no excuse for continuing to commandeer city property and we are prepared to go to court if it does not stop,” Banks said.
In response to the letter, a DHS spokesperson said in a statement that their use of city parking lots is “fully authorized under federal law.”
“Mayor Mamdani should be grateful to our brave law enforcement officers for cleaning up the streets of NYC since he won’t,” the DHS spokesperson said. “Luckily, no terminated parking will stop ICE from deporting criminal illegal aliens to make New York safe again.”
The letter comes after the Oct. 9 ICE shooting of 28-year-old Oscar Belgal in Marble Hill. Federal agents shot Belgal in the neck during an attempted arrest while his 5-year-old son was in the vehicle. ICE said agents opened fire after Belgal allegedly used his vehicle to threaten officers; the incident prompted renewed scrutiny of the agency’s operations and its use of a parking lot nearby.
On Oct. 16, Mamdani joined more than 100 elected officials in urging private parking garage and lot owners across the five boroughs to deny ICE access to their properties for operations. The administration cited reports of agents using two bank parking lots on Northern Boulevard in Queens and a garage on Morton Street in Manhattan. According to the mayor, the Morton Street garage removed ICE vehicles after neighbors raised concerns.
The administration also announced a new NYC Parks policy requiring frontline employees to follow strengthened procedures when non-city law enforcement agencies, including ICE, seek access to public and nonpublic areas of parks property.
NYC Parks Commissioner Tricia Shimamura said the policy would help ensure that public spaces remain accessible to residents and visitors without fear.
“Our city parks are our backyard, and both NYC residents and visitors deserve to feel safe when enjoying them,” Shimamura said.
The new measures build on the city's Executive Order 13, which Mamdani signed on Feb. 6 to strengthen city protections against abusive immigration enforcement. The order prohibits non-city law enforcement personnel from using city-owned or leased lots as staging areas, processing locations or operational bases unless due to a formal agreement or a judicial warrant.
In May, the administration released an audit of city agencies’ policies governing interactions with federal immigration authorities, recommending updated protocols for access to city property and improved employee training.
Governor Kathy Hochul backed Mamdani’s latest demand, saying New Yorkers should not fear being separated from their families while using public spaces.
“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,” Hochul said. She also cited the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, which she signed into law earlier this year to restrict state and local police forces from entering agreements to carry out federal civil immigration enforcement.
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