NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani Threatens Legal Action Against ICE Over Alleged Use of City-Owned Parking Lots for Immigration Operations
Zohran Mamdani called ICE's use of city-owned parking lots 'unauthorized.'
Nov. 2 2026, Published 1:03 p.m. ET
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has threatened to sue Immigration and Customs Enforcement if federal agents continue using city-owned parking lots to stage immigration operations, calling the activity unauthorized, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Mamdani's letter, addressed to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Acting ICE Director David J. Venturella, and ICE New York Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo, demanded that the agency immediately issue guidance prohibiting agents from using any New York City parking lots to stage or conduct operations.
The Letter and Legal Threat
Mamdani addressed his letter to the DHS secretary, Acting Ice Director and the ICE New York Field Office Director.
"If your agents continue any unauthorized use of these lots, New York City will take legal action to prevent this unlawful commandeering of City property," the mayor wrote.
He stated that the city had not authorized the activity and that parking lots connected to city parks "are reserved for the safe use and enjoyment of New Yorkers and visitors."
The letter described the reported use as amounting to "unauthorized activity on City property."
Reports of Parking Lot Use in the Bronx
Mamdani issued an EO back in February limiting immigration authroories' use of cit property.
According to the letter, ICE agents have reportedly used a parking lot at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx and lots along 111th Street on the west side of Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens.
The reports follow a February executive order issued by Mamdani that strengthened protocols limiting federal immigration authorities' access to city property and lots.
City officials have said that, absent a judicial warrant or a limited legal exception, non-city law enforcement may not use municipal property as a staging area, processing location or base of operations.
Prior Private-Property Appeal
Mamdani is pleading for business owners not to rent their property to ICE.
The letter to federal officials comes weeks after Mamdani and more than 100 elected officials from across New York state urged private parking garage and lot owners to refuse ICE access to their facilities.
In an Oct. 15 letter to more than a thousand private operators, Mamdani wrote: "Our neighbors should not live in fear that the parking lot down the block could become a staging ground for an operation that puts their communities at risk. I am asking every garage and lot owner in this city to stop giving them that option. Do not rent your property to ICE. Do not lend it to them. Tell them they are not welcome."
That earlier appeal followed the October 8 shooting of Oscar Belgal, a 28-year-old Dominican man, by an ICE officer in Marble Hill while Belgal was picking up his 5-year-old child from school.
DHS Response
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DHS denies Mamdani's claims.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said that "ICE's presence in public parking lots is fully authorized under federal law and is a standard practice for law enforcement agencies nationwide."
The spokesperson added: "Mayor Mamdani should be grateful to our brave law enforcement officers for cleaning up the streets of NYC since he won't."
The exchange marks the latest public clash between the Mamdani administration and federal immigration authorities over operations in New York.
