Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani led more than 100 elected officials from across New York State in calling on every parking garage and lot owner in New York City to deny U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the use of their property as a staging ground for anti-immigrant operations.
In a letter sent today, the mayor and elected officials urge more than a thousand owners and operators not to rent, lend or otherwise make their property available to ICE for their operations. They also call on property owners to tell the agency directly that it is not authorized to use their facilities.
The call comes one week after ICE agents surrounded a car on a crowded residential street in Marble Hill and fired multiple rounds at 28-year-old Oscar Belgal, striking him in the neck while his 5-year-old son also sat in the vehicle. The agents had reportedly been staging operations from a private parking lot a few blocks away. The incident is not isolated, for example, ICE has also operated out of two bank parking lots on Northern Boulevard in Queens and a garage on Morton Street in Manhattan.
"Last week, ICE agents shot a father in the neck in Marble Hill while his 5-year-old son sat in the car," said Mayor Mamdani. "City law already bars ICE from using City property as a base of operations. Federal agents are turning to private parking lots, including a lot just blocks from where they shot Mr. Belgal. 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. More than 100 elected officials from across New York are standing with me to make that request. We know this kind of action can already make a difference: After neighbors spoke up, a garage on Morton Street removed ICE vehicles from its property. Every owner has the power to do the same. 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."
More than 3.1 million New Yorkers - over one-third of the city's population - were born outside the United States. Immigrants make up 43% of the city's workforce, powering the restaurants, shops, construction sites, hospitals and small businesses that keep New York running.
When immigrant New Yorkers are afraid to drive to work, run errands or go about their daily lives, the consequences reach far beyond individual families. They affect neighborhoods, small businesses and the city's economy as a whole. Parking owners have a choice: They can help their neighbors feel safe in their own communities, or they can provide ICE agents with a place to stage their anti-immigrant operations. The Mamdani administration is enforcing and abiding by State and City laws and policies that limit the use of City property to official City purposes. These protections cover City-owned parking garages and lots, as well as schools, shelters and hospitals. Absent a judicial warrant or a limited legal exception, non-City law enforcement may not use City property as a staging area, processing location or base of operations.
In February, Mayor Mamdani issued Executive Order 13 which sought to strengthen protections on how City agencies interact with federal immigration authorities, including updating protocols on access to City property and lots. Following the EO 13 audit completed in May, the City issued updated guidance on this issue. But those protections do not extend to private property. That is why the mayor and more than 100 elected officials are now calling directly on the people who own and operate parking facilities across the five boroughs to keep ICE off their property.
"ICE continues to escalate its attacks on our communities, resulting in immigrant New Yorkers living under constant threat and making our city less safe," said MOIA Commissioner Faiza N. Ali. "While our city's local laws prohibit the use of City-owned properties and lots for federal civil immigration enforcement, including ICE staging, we urge private property owners to do their part to protect immigrant New Yorkers. This is an important step to defend immigrant communities and build a city where every New Yorker can live without fear in the city they call home."
New Yorkers seeking immigration legal assistance can call the MOIA Immigration Legal Support Hotline at 800-354-0365.
