Mayor Mamdani Threatens Legal Action If ICE Continues Using City Park Lots

Mayor Zohran Mamdani sent a formal letter to the Department of Homeland Security on November 2, 2026, demanding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement immediately stop using New York City-owned properties as bases for immigration enforcement operations, warning that the city would pursue legal action if the activity continued. Reports indicated that ICE agents had been parking vehicles and holding meetings in unstaffed city lots at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx and along 111th Street on the western edge of Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, lots that sit adjacent to a city-run preschool and several cultural institutions frequented by children. Mamdani stated, 'ICE has no right to use any city property or lots for anti-immigrant operations.' His administration simultaneously announced new rules for Parks Department workers: staff must ask federal officers for identification, contact the department's general counsel, and if agents present a warrant, forward it to agency attorneys rather than assess it themselves; without proper judicial authorisation, workers must refuse entry to non-public areas. Governor Hochul and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams voiced support, while the Department of Homeland Security said ICE's presence was 'fully authorised under federal law.' Republican City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino opposed the directive.