Mamdani and New York Democrats urge parking owners to bar ICE staging

Zohran Mamdani and other New York Democrats are asking private parking garage and lot owners in New York City to deny ICE access to their properties for use as staging areas. The Washington Examiner reported that the officials made the appeal in a letter on Friday, after an ICE officer shot a 28-year-old Dominican immigrant in Manhattan’s Marble Hill neighborhood.

The shooting preceded the letter; the article does not establish that it prompted the request. The signatories included Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and state and local officials. Their request is directed at the owners and operators of parking facilities, asking them not to make their property available to ICE.

The Washington Examiner says a privately owned parking lot near the shooting scene was being used by ICE.

Mamdani described ICE’s use of private facilities around New York City as part of a broader pattern, saying it was “not an isolated case.” In the letter, the officials argued that such use could give ICE a launch point for operations and place properties, workers and customers at the center of them. Those are the signatories’ claims, as quoted by the Washington Examiner.

The letter also pointed to a Morton Street garage operator that removed ICE vehicles after neighbors spoke up. The article does not say when that removal happened or identify the operator. It presents the example as part of the officials’ appeal to property owners, rather than as evidence of a citywide change in parking operators’ decisions.

The shooting victim was identified in the article as Oscar Belgal, a 28-year-old Dominican immigrant. The Washington Examiner reports that an ICE officer shot him in the neck in Marble Hill. It does not provide an account of the circumstances of the shooting beyond that description.

The article also reports that Mamdani compared the plainclothes immigration officer who shot Belgal to a “mass shooter.” A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, quoted by the Washington Examiner through the Associated Press, criticized Mamdani and praised law enforcement officers for cleaning up New York City streets.

The spokesperson’s comment did not address the letter’s request to parking owners. The central question raised by the letter is whether private garage and lot owners will follow the officials’ request and deny ICE use of their facilities.

The Washington Examiner’s account describes one operator removing ICE vehicles after neighbors objected, but does not say whether other owners have made similar decisions or whether ICE has changed its use of private parking sites.