Mayor Zohran Mamdani is pressuring private New York City garage and parking lot owners to bar federal immigration agents from their property — an attempt to extend the city's sanctuary policies beyond government property and into the private sector to obstruct federal law enforcement operations.
The stakes are straightforward: Mamdani wants private business owners to serve as a wall between ICE and the illegal immigrants the agency is charged with removing. City law already blocks ICE from using city property. Now the mayor is asking private citizens to voluntarily enforce his sanctuary agenda — or face the political consequences of refusing.
The letter, a draft of which was obtained by the New York Post, was sparked by the October 8 shooting of Oscar Belgal in Marble Hill. ICE agents shot Belgal, 28, in the neck as he tried to drive away from them; his 5-year-old son was in the car and was not injured. The Post reported that Belgal was an illegal immigrant. ICE agents had been using a Target parking lot owned by Kingsbridge Associates to stage operations across the Bronx for months — as far back as April, according to Gothamist.
Kingsbridge Associates told elected officials two days after the shooting they were unaware ICE was using their lot. A Target spokesperson previously told the Bronx Times the retailer has no formal agreement with ICE. AM New York reported that Councilmember Pierina Sanchez and other officials are exploring options to restrict ICE's presence in the city.
"City law already bars ICE from 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," Mamdani said, according to AM New York. "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."
The draft letter cited at least three other instances of ICE using private lots citywide — including two bank parking lots in Queens and a Manhattan garage on Morton Street that removed ICE vehicles after neighbors complained, AM New York reported.
The Post framed Mamdani's letter as a "guilt-tripping" appeal, noting it reminds owners that "every day, your garages and lots serve the people who make New York City work" and asks them to act in "solidarity with immigrant New Yorkers." AM New York focused on community fear and the shooting's impact on Marble Hill residents.
Behind the scenes, Mamdani faces pressure from his Democratic Socialists of America allies. DSA-backed House candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier — who was shoved to the ground by officers during protests when Mamdani deployed the Strategic Response Group — has targeted Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, accusing her of violating sanctuary policies. The Post noted the NYPD had no involvement in the ICE incident and that Tisch has presided over a steep drop in violent crime. Several progressives have broken ranks and called on Mamdani to fire Tisch.
Sen. Gustavo Rivera questioned at an October 9 rally whether Kingsbridge Associates was truly unaware of ICE's months-long presence: "If I was upstairs right now in this parking lot, and I put up — I don't know — a car wash, how long do you think I'd last there?"
The core question Mamdani's gambit raises: can a city mayor mobilize private property owners to frustrate federal law enforcement — and what happens when Washington decides to push back?
