Mamdani and 100+ Officials Urge NYC Parking Lot Owners to Voluntarily Bar ICE From Their Properties

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and more than 100 New York City and state elected officials sent letters to parking lot and private garage operators across the city, urging them to adopt voluntary policies barring Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from using their properties to surveil, stage, or carry out immigration arrests. The initiative was reported on October 22 and comes amid a sharp increase in ICE street enforcement operations in the city, including the high-profile Marble Hill shooting earlier in October. Officials argued that private property owners have the legal right to deny access to federal agents without a judicial warrant, and that doing so would help shield immigrant communities from operations that have spread fear across the five boroughs. The campaign is part of the Mamdani administration's broader sanctuary city strategy, which also seeks to limit information-sharing between the NYPD and federal immigration authorities. Critics said the effort amounts to obstructing federal law enforcement. Immigrant advocacy organizations called it an important step toward building a city-wide network of safe spaces.