New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Monday threatened to take the Trump administration to court if Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents keep using city-owned parking lots to stage enforcement operations, according to a letter released by his office. The Department of Homeland Security answered that the practice is legal and that ICE will not slow down, amNewYork reported.
The letter, addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, acting ICE Director David Venturella and ICE New York Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo, says ICE agents have reportedly parked vehicles and held meetings in unstaffed city lots at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx and along 111th Street at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, according to the mayor’s office. The mayor’s office said Mamdani called that use of city property unauthorized and illegal, and warned that the city will take legal action if agents continue.
Mamdani threatens to sue Trump administration over ICE ‘illegal commandeering’ NYC parking lots https://t.co/PH0f95A8VB
— POLITICO (@politico) November 2, 2026
“ICE has no right to use our property as a base for tearing families apart,” Mamdani said in a statement released by City Hall. “Today, I’m telling DHS to order its agents off our lots. If they keep coming back, we will see them in court.”
DHS: “ICE is NOT slowing down”
The Department of Homeland Security rejected the city’s legal argument. “ICE’s presence in public parking lots is fully authorized under federal law and is a standard practice for law enforcement agencies nationwide,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement to amNewYork. “Our message remains: ICE is NOT slowing down.”
The spokesperson also said Mamdani “should be grateful to our brave law enforcement officers for cleaning up the streets of NYC since he won’t,” and called on the city to cooperate with ICE, according to amNewYork.
New rules for Parks workers
Alongside the letter, the Mamdani administration announced a new NYC Parks policy that tells frontline employees how to respond when federal agents seek access to park property, the mayor’s office said. Under the rules, workers must ask federal officers seeking entry to nonpublic areas for identification and contact the department’s general counsel, and must not allow agents into restricted areas without a valid judicial warrant or other proper authorization, amNewYork reported. Workers are also told to document suspected staging operations, including the number of officers and vehicles, when it is safe to do so, according to the outlet.
Employees who fail to follow the policy could face discipline, including suspension or termination, amNewYork reported. Corporation Counsel Steven Banks said the city is “prepared to go to court if it does not stop,” according to the outlet.
Sanctuary city versus federal law
The move builds on an executive order Mamdani signed in February that bars non-city law enforcement from using city-owned lots as staging grounds without a judicial warrant or another legal exception, amNewYork reported. It also follows an October letter in which Mamdani and more than 100 elected officials urged private garage and lot owners to deny ICE access, according to the mayor’s office.
The New York Post also reported the mayor’s threat of legal action over the lots, which DHS has so far brushed aside.
Mamdani told reporters Monday that he has discussed immigration enforcement directly with President Donald Trump, calling ICE “one of the clearest examples of a stark policy difference between the two of us,” amNewYork reported. For now, the federal government’s position is unchanged: DHS says the lots are public and the law is on its side.
Sources
- NYC Mayor’s Office, November 2, 2026
- amNewYork
- New York Post
Sources cited
Sources
- Original post: POLITICO (@politico) on X, Nov 2, 2026
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