New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has demanded that federal immigration authorities stop using city-owned properties to stage enforcement operations, warning that the city will pursue legal action if the practice continues.
In a letter sent Monday, November 2, to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director David Venturella and ICE’s New York Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo, Mamdani said the city had not authorized federal agents to use its parking lots for immigration-related activities.
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The mayor cited reports that ICE agents had parked vehicles and held meetings at several city-owned locations, including a parking lot at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx and lots near Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens.
“Today, I’m telling DHS to order its agents off our lots. If they keep coming back, we will see them in court,” Mamdani said.
The mayor maintained that the properties were intended for public use and should not serve as staging areas for federal immigration enforcement. He warned that continued unauthorized use would prompt the city to take legal action.
The administration also announced updated New York City Parks Department procedures to guide frontline employees when federal law enforcement officers seek access to park property. The measures are intended to strengthen enforcement of existing city policies governing non-local law enforcement access to public and non-public spaces.
However, the Department of Homeland Security disputed the city’s position, stating that ICE’s presence in public parking lots is authorized under federal law and represents standard law enforcement practice.
The latest move follows an October 16 letter from Mamdani and more than 100 elected officials urging private parking lot and garage owners not to make their properties available to ICE as staging areas for enforcement operations.
